Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 756

Chapter 752: This is the real thing

The meeting Gu Hang was awaiting the results of naturally focused on Asdai.

In fact, this wasn’t the first meeting to address this topic.

At the previous meeting, Asdai’s status as Imperial High Lord had been revoked. Simultaneously, a delegation of envoys, a joint force of the Inquisition, the Imperial government, and the Ecclesiarchy, was dispatched to investigate and hold the case accountable. The accompanying personnel were elite: the Inquisition’s Hunters, Stormtroopers drawn from the elite ranks of the Astra Militarum, and the Ecclesiarchy’s Sisters of Battle.

The total force exceeded 100,000.

This size of force wouldn’t be enough to wage an interstellar war. However, judging by their personnel composition, it’s clear they weren’t going to fight, but rather to conduct special operations.

The reason such a “small” operation required 100,000 troops was because such a small-scale operation could potentially cover the entire globe, or even multiple planets.

This scale was essential.

If the situation in the Devouring Universe remains relatively stable, and the local Imperial Navy and Astra Militarum are still able to follow orders, and the local forces are compliant after receiving clear directives from the Imperial center, then dispatching these elite special forces should be sufficient. They

‘d simply be used to deal with those Corrupted, Alien sleepers, high-ranking officials, and traitors who refuse to surrender…

Of course, if the situation in the Devouring Universe becomes truly dire, leading to a large-scale rebellion and major problems for the local military, these 100,000 elite troops, with their formidable individual combat capabilities, could secure certain areas of the planet and hold out until reinforcements arrive.

As for what kind of reinforcements… the Empire has already urgently mobilized troops from several surrounding universes,

including six Space Marine Chapters.

A full-scale attack wouldn’t be possible in such a short time. However, with multiple offensive spearheads, there wouldn’t be any problem.

Wouldn’t thousands of worlds in the Devouring Universe rebel?

Even the Ironclad Rebellion wasn’t that exaggerated.

The Devouring Stars Universe wouldn’t likely see a military conglomerate capable of sweeping across the entire universe in a single year or two, like Iron Armor.

Iron Armor could manage upwards of twenty battleships and aircraft carriers, along with tens of thousands of space marines. What does the Devouring Stars Universe have?

In short, even if there’s a risk of war in the Devouring Stars Universe, it’s unlikely to be of significant magnitude.

Furthermore, the core objective of this envoy mission sent by the Imperial Center is to stabilize the universe and minimize the risk of war.

While the Imperial Guards have already arrived and even departed, they’re the Imperial Guards, and Imperial officials are the Imperial Guards.

While the corruption of High Lords is not unheard of in history—indeed, there are quite a few documented cases—that doesn’t mean it’s not serious.

The Imperial Guards generally focus on their own affairs: investigating the cause of an incident, punishing the perpetrators, and dealing with traitors.

Once that’s done, they return.

But dealing with a powerful High Lord and the President of the Universe is simply a matter of dealing with the ringleader.

No, no, no, that’s just the beginning. There’s still a lot of trouble ahead.

The Imperial Guards won’t intervene,

but the Imperial Guards will. Furthermore, there’s another advantage to rushing there now: they can leverage their power.

If the central government didn’t send a team, the Imperial Guards would likely return after completing their mission. Even if there were a local rebellion, the Imperial Guards wouldn’t intervene.

But the central government has sent an envoy, and the mission is highly relevant to the Imperial Guards. With constant persuasion, requests for assistance, and on-the-ground cooperation, the Imperial Guards will likely find it difficult to stand idly by while they watch.

Rumor has it that the Imperial Guards will be sending an entire Golden Spear Company.

One hundred Imperial Guards!

Space Marines have always considered themselves to be top-tier warriors on par with the Imperial Guards. We’re all transcendental humans, so even if there’s a gap, it can’t be that much, at least not by a whole level!

There are historical examples of Space Marines defeating Imperial Guards!

By traitors, by duels…

However, the more this is emphasized, the more it proves that there’s actually a significant gap between the two.

Gu Hang estimated that the combat effectiveness of an average Imperial Guard soldier was roughly enough to defeat a company champion, but would almost certainly lose to a chapter champion. This

was already quite exaggerated!

And this was only the strength of the average Imperial Guard!

Within the Imperial Guard, there were also masters far superior to themselves. For example, the Captains of the Golden Shield and Golden Spear companies, who led their own companies, could certainly defeat the average chapter champion. Even top-tier warriors like Martins and Salilius, nearing the level of the Emperor’s Chosen, would probably only have a 60% chance of winning against a

company commander. And above the captains, there were the tribunes of the Imperial Guard.

Marshal Yan Xinzhen’s power was even more unfathomable.

Although he had never seen him in action, Gu Hang sensed the threat from him after witnessing him in person.

Perhaps, compared to the Imperial Guard Marshal, those Sons of God could defeat him, but not guarantee victory.

It was hard to say, after all, Gu Hang had never personally witnessed those ancient, long-vanished Sons of God.

Regardless, the value those one hundred Imperial Guards could bring was extraordinary. They could easily annihilate one or two ordinary warbands.

With them holding the fort, there was true peace of mind.

Generally speaking, the previous meeting regarding the Devouring Star Domain discussed how to ensure the Devouring Star Domain could navigate this turmoil relatively smoothly. Avoid war if possible, handle the situation on a smaller scale if possible, and use political means instead of v*olence.

But at the same time, prepare for the worst-case scenario where the situation spirals out of control. The elite envoys, the Imperial Guards, the war preparation notices issued to surrounding domains… all served as preparations for this.

That was serious business.

And the second meeting was about…

even more serious business!

Within the Devouring Star Domain, even considering the most minor scenarios, many positions would need to be cleared out, both at the highest and lowest levels.

And wouldn’t these vacated positions be the domains for the various powerful figures to share in?

This wasn’t just a struggle between political factions. For example, Qi Bodu is currently the largest faction, but within it, various smaller factions each have their own interests and vie for a piece of the pie.

While Qi Bodu’s demands maintain a good level of cohesion within his faction, allowing them to present a united front to the outside world, behind the scenes, any dirty collusion is undeniable.

Even Qi Bodu himself, even if he vaguely knows about it, sometimes turns a blind eye.

As the leader of his faction, he’s the leader, so sometimes unity is even more important.

Of all these positions, the most coveted are the two left by Asdai: the chairmanship of the Star Devouring Universe and the chairmanship of the High Lords.

These two positions are, of course, divisible, and everyone wants them.

Of course, the other political factions probably expect them to be unattainable. These two positions originally slipped through the hands of Qi Bo Du. With the power of this centralized Prime Minister, how could he possibly give them to someone else?

However, not getting them doesn’t stop them from using them as weapons to constantly harass Qi Bo Du. Overtly, they’re using various reasons for Qi Bo Du’s qualifications being unsuitable and rejecting his proposed candidates in favor of their own. In secret, they’re demanding other benefits from Qi Bo Du: “If you don’t satisfy me, I’ll continue to cause trouble for you on this matter.”

Unless Qi Bo Du uses his unwavering authority to directly enforce a vote by the High Lords Council if they can’t reach a consensus. With a majority of the votes, he can force any regulation. He holds seven seats, more than a majority, making him capable of pushing anything.

But this is a nuclear weapon, a table-turning tactic that should never be used lightly.

In theory, these seven votes grant him the power to do anything, but in reality, this is not the case.

Voting itself is not power; it’s power that brings the votes. These seven votes represent the power at Zippo’s disposal, exceeding half the Empire’s total strength. Therefore, when Zippo unleashes this ultimate move, everyone must consider carefully and accept it with a pinch of salt.

However, if the proposal is too radical, even a majority is useless.

For example, if Zippo suddenly goes crazy and decides to dissolve the State Church, a fact he despises the most, and demands that all special political power be abolished throughout the Empire. With just seven votes, and the Supreme Council passing it, would that accomplish the goal?

Impossible.

At the very least, the State Church would simply ignore Zippo’s orders, outright rejecting them, and then declare a holy war across the Empire, declaring Zippo’s betrayal of the God-Emperor.

What would be done then? An Empire-wide civil war?

Would the High Lords, like the Inquisition, Mars, and the Assassins’ Court, allow Zippo to do this? Which side would they side with?

If this situation came to pass, Zippo’s seven seats would immediately be swayed. No matter how much the Grand Admirals of the Astra Militarum and the Navy were loyal to Zippo, if he went crazy, would they truly follow Zippo’s lead and purge the State Church throughout the Empire?

That was impossible.

The only outcome of Zippo going crazy would be his own destruction, and his seven seats would crumble.

The same would apply to this matter. If he forced a vote and forced it through with only seven votes, the impact wouldn’t be enough to drive others crazy, but I’m afraid no one would accept it with a pinch of salt.

They would see Zippo as overturning the table and undermining the political consensus. The Inquisition might keep a close eye on Zippoto’s forces, catching heretics, traitors, and corrupt officials one by one; the Ecclesiarchy might be constantly stirring up trouble; the Mechanicus might protest by refusing orders from Zippoto’s factions; the Assassins’ Court might begin accepting assassination missions it had previously refused…

Everyone has their own tactics.

Politics is no joke, let alone a coercive one. It’s the art of distributing benefits, requiring wisdom.

Zippoto is a master of this.

He initially concealed the Ecclesiarchy’s exposed flaws and remained silent. When the Pope’s representative challenged the Prime Minister at the first meeting, claiming that Zippoto had pushed Asdai into power and that Zippoto was jointly responsible, using this as a bullet against Zippoto, Zippoto held back.

Once he obtained interrogation information from the Custodians, backed by the Custodians and confirming it matched Gu Hang’s information, he brought it out at the start of the second meeting, slamming it in the face of the Ecclesiarchy.

The State Church was in collusion with Asda, directing Asda to issue the despicable assassination order against Gu Hang, then a war hero and Imperial Commander.

This issue had already been discussed. When Gu Hang was assassinated, Gallardo made a big fuss in the Supreme Council, concluding that the order hadn’t been discussed by the Council, and the target was sensitive, requiring the person behind it to be held accountable and apologize.

It’s just that the identity hadn’t been identified.

Now, with this being brought up, the State Church is suddenly on the defensive.

Furthermore, the unclear issues under Governor Qi Bo have now become a common accusation, hurling mud at the State Church. Did the State Church allow, or even allow, Asda to be corrupted, allowing or even contributing to his collusion?

This is a bit far-fetched, but at least the Prime Minister is countering that Asda is his man, and therefore the Prime Minister is responsible.

Now, Asda is both the Prime Minister and the Pope’s man, and everyone bears the blame.

If the matter of Gu Hang’s assassination is further investigated, will the Ecclesiarchy be held accountable?

The interrogation results released by the Imperial Guards even reveal the Ecclesiarchy’s motive for ordering Gu Hang’s assassination: knowing the probability of success was low, they intended to exploit a failed assassination attempt to sow discord between Gu Hang and the Imperial government.

In the words of Qi Bodu, this act was “extremely heinous,” a horrific conspiracy that disregarded the greater good of the Empire.

The Ecclesiarchy was in a state of panic, unable to withstand the verbal sparring.

Other factions were unlikely to speak on the Ecclesiarchy’s behalf on this matter.

Qi Bodu had already crushed the Ecclesiarchy. This time, when it came to the distribution of benefits, the Ecclesiarchy would not only not get a share, but would also have to give up some.

Ultimately, the Ecclesiarchy surrendered a cardinal as payment. These were all orders from this cardinal, unknown to the Pope. The cardinal acted on his own initiative and was likely corrupt.

The Inquisition took over.

The new cardinal might even be chosen by the Inquisition, not necessarily by the Ecclesiarchy itself.

The Inquisition has a good relationship with the Ecclesiarchy, a position the Ecclesiarchy can barely accept. If the Inquisition receives this benefit, it will have to take less, or even nothing, from the benefits of the Devouring Universe.

A Cardinal is no less valuable than a Star Sovereign in the Devouring Universe.

By employing both tactics and tactics, both the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy have been dealt with.

Logically, the rest should be easy.

Increase funding for the Court of Assassins, symbolically grant them some espionage political authority; secure some orders for Mars; approve all the previously blocked budgets submitted by Su Lie, now representing the Space Marines, for rebuilding the Phoenix Chapter. Furthermore, expand several Chapters, including more Phoenix Chapters, as the Phoenix lineage suffered heavy losses in the Ironclad Wars…

With all this, things should be more than right.

The Devouring Universe will have regained most of its benefits, including the two highest positions.

As for the benefits within their own faction, redistributing them internally will make matters much easier.

Qi Bo Du was even considering how to divide the faction internally to better unite his faction or attract more forces to join his faction.

However, unexpectedly, during this second meeting, a new twist suddenly emerged. The

Martians, who usually kept a low profile and did not make a fuss unless they were involved, suddenly emerged.

They strongly opposed every new High Lord and Star Devouring Chairman proposed by Qi Bo Du, and fiercely attacked the many high-level personnel transfers within the faction that needed to be discussed at the Supreme Council!

(End of this chapter)