Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 758

Chapter 753, High Lord Gu Hang

Martian Cult’s “crazy” behavior made Qi Bodu quite uncomfortable.

“No, buddy, what’s up?

According to the standards, have you received all the benefits you’re entitled to?”

A significant portion of the orders for the reconstruction of the Devouring Universe will be given to the Martian Cult, rather than those from afar.

While Martian products are the best, with the highest production capacity and relatively affordable prices, making them extremely competitive, when you factor in the nearly two-year round-trip shipping time, even the most competitive products will be significantly undervalued.

The necessity of traveling all the way from Mars while maintaining profitability on Mars means even more money and time will be spent on reconstruction. These costs are all meant to provide sufficient benefits to the Martian Cult.

Furthermore, the Martian Cult will also gain exclusive operating rights to over twenty mineral worlds in the Devouring Universe, which contain numerous valuable rare minerals.

Qi Bodu also hinted that he would greenlight the Martian Cult’s long-standing proposal to punish and sanction a disobedient medium-sized mechanical cult.

According to the tacit political understanding between the two sides, this price was already quite good.

“You bunch of idiots, what else are you not satisfied with?”

But Qi Bodu soon came to his senses.

He remembered that the Great Sage Caul had met with Gu Hang.

His spies hadn’t heard that conversation; it wasn’t Gu Hang who blocked it out, but Caul himself.

However, Gu Hang had shared part of the conversation with Qi Bodu.

Of course, he didn’t mention the things he shouldn’t have. Prophecies, future missions, the Final War… what was there to discuss?

However, Gu Hang did mention that it was Caul who had revealed clues to the assassination.

Qi Bodu found this strange at the time.

Prior to this, no intelligence had mentioned any connection between Gu Hang or the Alliance and the Martian Cult. The two cults that had fallen into Gu Hang’s hands were likely his collaborators or those under his control: the Ming Yang Cult and the Aramita Cult (Alfonzo Cult). They might have some connection to Mars, but it was unlikely to be deep.

So why would Mars, with nothing else to do, share this information with Gu Hang?

Or should I just go and tell him myself!

Is there some secret deal between them?

This was the thought that instinctively popped up in Qi Bodu’s mind when he heard the news.

However, from the time when Yu Jinwen’s mansion was raided by the imperial guards until now, he was too busy. He only had time to instruct the intelligence department to go to the Alliance and Mars to investigate the intelligence about this matter. After that, he had no time to take care of it.

Up to now, of course, no intelligence has been reported back in this regard, and he himself was even busy and forgot about it.

It was not until this moment that he realized it.

Mars wants to push Gu Hang to the position of high lord?

How can this be!

Damn it, I knew that this kid Gu Hang was not honest. When he asked me for the position of high lord before, he was so servile and subservient, as if he was a loyal minister who had completely surrendered to me. Now he turns around and finds Mars to show off to me, right?

Although he cursed, the thoughts in his mind were more like complaints than scolding.

In his heart, Gu Hang was certainly never a filial son and grandson. Even in their last secret conversation, Gu Hang’s series of statements, especially the one about asking Qi Bodu to choose a high lord representative for Gu Hang, only made him slightly tempted.

Really just slightly.

Only the name and the position cannot be borrowed from others, this is a famous saying of ancient Terra that Qi Bodu copied when practicing calligraphy.

He deeply agrees with it.

Gu Hang is not one of his own, and the high lord gave it to him. Even if it is just an empty title, in the future when time is long enough, Gu Hang may be able to realize it.

He will no longer underestimate Gu Hang.

An extremely powerful psychic, plus a thriving alliance that he has to look at differently after seeing all kinds of intelligence and reports.

It’s an empty title now, who knows what it will be like in the future?

It is said that as long as Gu Hang does not obey, he can use a majority vote in the Supreme Council to remove him from the position of high lord chairman at any time. But just as he couldn’t remove the Ecclesiarchy, Mars, and the Inquisition, if the Alliance’s power continued to grow, and its network of connections expanded, to the point where the Empire could no longer withstand the Alliance’s rebellion, or even that the Alliance’s rebellion might not be considered a rebellion, gaining support from other factions… then, no matter how many votes he had, he would be unable to remove Gu Hang from his position as High Lord.

He had to consider this possibility, especially after the Mechanicus feigned support for Gu Hang.

But he was also curious.

What had Gu Hang sacrificed to gain the Mechanicus’s support and become a High Lord?

Mars’s appetites were always voracious.

Only by understanding this could he truly understand Mars’s true plans.

Without this understanding, Qi Bodu dared not take any further action.

Now, he actually felt a sense of regret.

The “Alliance Plan” was signed too early.

But the signing ceremony, now broadcast live, was also passed by a high vote at the Supreme Lords’ Council. There was no going back on it. Even

if he went back on his word, the Alliance could still refuse to pay.

All current budgets are based on the additional 300 billion tax coins after the approval of the Alliance Plan; for the next ten years, the additional revenue of 2.1 trillion per year is taken into account.

If it is to be overturned, it is not just a little bit.

Qi Bodu can’t play cards with this chip.

He can only forcibly interrupt the second meeting on the Devouring Star Universe.

Afterwards, he summoned Gu Hang, and the two had another private talk.

This time, he directly showed an angry attitude and questioned him repeatedly.

Gu Hang was timid and gave an explanation.

The general content was that I don’t know what the Martian Sect is thinking.

In a sense, what Gu Hang said was indeed the truth.

However, Qi Bodu would definitely not believe it.

Gu Hang skipped the topic and brought out the several conditions mentioned earlier and repeated them.

His attitude was humble, but in fact he didn’t give in at all.

Qi Bodu told him to get out.

Gu Hang left quickly.

Then came the third meeting a week later.

To no avail.

After the meeting, Qi Bodu called Gu Hang over and had a detailed chat for an hour.

Afterwards, he privately conferred with various members of the Martian Cult for a long time.

In the end, Qi Bodu finally compromised.

In fact, if you carefully calculate, he didn’t lose anything. In fact, if you only consider the recent period, he even gained.

All the benefits originally promised to the Martian Cult were no longer necessary. The Martian Cult had to pay an additional price.

Gu Hang also had the two major benefits of his sixth rejuvenation surgery and the alliance army accepting Qi Bodu’s call.

Although the position of High Lord had been ceded, it was only a title.

The one exercising the authority of High Lord on Holy Terra, representing Gu Hang, was Jon Curtis. Gu Hang had only just met him.

Originally a member of Zibodu’s staff, this was a step up, a step into the spotlight.

Zibodu had secured everything he had expected.

In fact, thanks to concessions from the Alliance and the Martian Cult, he had even taken more than originally planned.

As for potential risks… that was a matter of the distant future.

At least for now, Gu Hang remained quite submissive.

Overall, it seemed Zibodu had not lost anything after this turmoil, but had actually gained considerably.

So, for now, that was enough.

Zibodu’s attention shifted from Gu Hang to the struggle against the Ecclesiarchy and the situation in the Devouring Star Realm.

The

inauguration of High Lord was a major event.

Whether in name or in reality, he would be one of the thirteen most powerful individuals in the Empire.

A grand inauguration ceremony was essential.

This became the third grand ceremony that Gu Hang attended in a row after arriving in Holy Terra.

He was the most popular person in Holy Terra in the past year.

Originally, it was thought that the triumphal ceremony was the peak of his popularity, but unexpectedly, the series of stories that happened afterwards were even more eye-catching.

For ordinary people, or middle and lower-level government officials, the signing of the alliance plan was very surprising, but for some people who liked Gu Hang, it was also a cause of joy: it meant that before this, many rumors that Gu Hang was a separatist force, might be disloyal to the empire, and was harmful to the empire, were all bankrupt.

If the signing of the alliance plan was a surprise to most people, then Gu Hang’s ability to become a high lord was even more incredible.

Gallardo was one of them.

“I never expected that, honestly,” Gallardo said to Gu Hang in the banquet hall. “Although I’ve wholeheartedly supported every decision and every undertaking of yours along the way, to be honest, I’ve always felt you were on a difficult path, and I wasn’t optimistic you’d make it. But I didn’t expect…”

He himself was a High Lord, and a very fast riser. Arriving in Holy Terra over thirty years ago, he spent a dozen or twenty years ascending from Vice Minister of Military Affairs to Prime Minister and High Lord.

But having experienced this firsthand, he knew just how difficult it was.

He believed the path to High Lordship he’d envisioned for Gu Hang should have been the smoothest and most prestigious one.

But Gu Hang insisted on taking the difficult path.

And he actually succeeded!

Gu Hang raised his glass, “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

He spoke with sincerity.

Gallardo’s assistance to Gu Hang at Holy Terra was crucial.

Without Gallardo, the Alliance’s very legitimacy would have been in jeopardy. Later, Gallardo played a significant role in securing numerous Imperial policies for the Alliance and garnering various political support for the Alliance within Holy Terra.

That casual move, a moment’s difference in perspective, would later prove crucial.

Gallardo waved his hand and said, “Let’s not be polite to each other. The hard times have been overcome, and there’s still a bright future for both of us!”

His natural attitude was that Gu Hang would inevitably gradually reclaim the High Lord’s power. By then, the two of them alone would hold two seats on the Supreme Council, a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps, with time passing further, they could even devise a way to overthrow Zibodu.

Gu Hang knew Gallardo well; he knew his good brother was a restless and ambitious man.

That was a good thing, too.

He wasn’t Gu Hang’s subordinate, but a collaborator. Their partnership was mutually beneficial, with no core conflicts of interest.

Of course, this might only be temporary.

Gallardo’s ultimate goal in the future might be to become what Qi Bodu is now. Gu Hang could strongly sense that Gallardo possessed a similar belief in Qi Bodu’s “replaceable” status.

If he became a centrally powerful prime minister like Qi Bodu, and Gu Hang continued to cling to his role as a powerful local lord, conflict between the two would be inevitable.

This kind of conflict couldn’t be erased by personal friendship, no matter how good their relationship was.

Fortunately, that day was still a long way off. Qi Bodu remained firmly in his position, his authority imposing. Though it was clearly his people who had caused the trouble, he not only maintained his position as High Lord and Chairman of the Universe within his faction, but also used his fame to buy off Gu Hang, the empire’s most sought-after hero in recent years, and even dealt a heavy blow to his political enemies…

This was the outside world’s perception of Qi Bodu, reinforcing his authority even more deeply.

In a sense, these perceptions were indeed true.

With such a powerful figure looming overhead, anyone’s ambitions, however grand, would be forced to hunker down.

Besides, would such a day ever come?

If the Final War truly existed, and took place within a few decades or a century, what would be the point of being its leader?

For this very reason, Gu Hang didn’t consider the possibility of future conflict between the two.

He wasn’t even that worried about the conflict between the Alliance and the Imperial Center.

When a massive crisis threatened to wipe out the entire human empire, all other conflicts would yield to the ultimate conflict of humanity’s survival.

Moreover, compared to promotion, while Gu Hang wouldn’t be stationed on Holy Terra permanently and currently held only a nominal title, it wasn’t certain who would rise faster in the future.

There was nothing to worry about.

…

“We’re getting ready. We’ll be leaving Holy Terra in nine days.”

Ye Lishia smiled heartily when she heard Gu Hang say this.

She hugged Gu Jing, rocked his little hand, and said happily, “We can go home!”

Little Gu Jing was still confused.

He had no concept of home. He had lived on a warship since birth. Then, for nearly a year, he lived in the palace on Holy Terra.

But it didn’t matter. He just wanted to be with his parents.

After coaxing her son to sleep, Ye Lixia said to Gu Hang with emotion: “These years have been like a dream…”

(End of this chapter)