Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 783

Chapter 778, Acting on One’s Own Will

. “Reporting to the commander, the operation at Prison 176 has been successful. A total of 1,126 targets have been rescued, with only minor injuries and no casualties.”

“Good.”

Arno Chenko simply nodded, returning his attention to the operation at hand.

After Yinbarshim’s “rebellion,” the Alliance’s response was swift.

The vast number of covert agents already deployed in the Eastern Universe were fully mobilized, and in just eleven days, all preparations for the operation were complete.

Their core area of operations was Wujixing, the capital of the Eastern Universe.

Prior to this, the secret service struggle between the Alliance and the Yinbarshim government had been largely a joke, devoid of any seriousness.

Those battling Yinbarshim were merely agents from the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Military Intelligence Service.

In reality, far more than just that number were deployed to Wujixing.

The agents of the three foreign intelligence organizations weren’t even fully engaged, let alone the Demon Hunters, a special operations brigade affiliated with the Army, two thousand soldiers from the Honor Guard, and even four Space Marine companies!

These four companies, two each from the Yellow Springs and Blood Sharks

, totaled over twenty thousand men.

And they were all elite!

Even for direct combat, this was a formidable force, not to mention that they were all professionals versed in special operations.

Smuggling so many people and so much equipment into a planet undetected would normally be difficult.

But on Wuji Star, it was an exception.

The local dignitaries hated Yin Bashim with a vengeance. The Alliance had established a strong network of relationships there, with widespread support from the elite to the common people. They provided countless advantages to the Alliance’s operations,

whether during infiltration, undercover operations, or mobilization.

Twenty thousand men, not only completely hidden under Yinbashim’s tight defenses, but now fully mobilized, the commotion was considerable. Yet, even under the nose of Yinbashim, the Chairman of the Cosmic Domain, he remained completely oblivious.

The assault on several peripheral prisons holding members of the Alliance caravan was merely a minor component of the operation, carried out by the soldiers of the Special Operations Brigade in small groups. With the support of local forces, everything from intelligence to action was seamless.

Arno was technically the primary person responsible for rescuing the Alliance caravan members, so the results would be reported to him.

But to be honest, he didn’t care about these minor details.

What was there to worry about when success was inevitable?

His primary concern was the present.

He wasn’t the overall commander of the entire operation. Although he wanted to, his qualifications and status were insufficient. Besides leading the peripheral mission of rescuing the caravan, he also had a crucial responsibility: supporting the Alliance’s main task force in the assault on the Wuji Palace.

Wuji Palace was Yinbashim’s residence, a vast palace complex.

After he moved in, he replaced every single one of the palace’s personnel, from servants to guards, with his own men.

As the political situation he faced grew increasingly dire, his sense of unease grew. He continually increased the number of guards, until it reached nearly ten thousand.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want more; the truth was, if he added any more troops, the entire Wuji Palace would become a massive military camp.

But he still felt it wasn’t enough, his sense of security was unsatisfied. So, he simply converted several residential areas and mansions to the east and west of Wuji Palace into military zones. He carefully selected another three hundred thousand men from the most reliable troops he had brought from Holy Terra and stationed them in these areas. While

Wuji Palace didn’t become a massive military camp, the area surrounding it became a military zone, under strict martial law. Those who were untrustworthy were forbidden even to approach.

Only with this situation did Yinbashim feel a sense of peace.

With dozens of kilometers of territory completely occupied by our own people, there shouldn’t be any problems, right?

But is it truly safe?

Not necessarily.

When Arno was assigned to Wuji Star, he spent his days contemplating how to infiltrate Wuji Palace.

The main challenge was that this place presented a challenge. Other places didn’t require infiltration; they could move in and out freely, like a sieve.

This wasn’t just his thinking, and that of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), but also that of the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) within the military.

And the result… was, of course, quite good!

Besides the considerable expertise of the MIB and CBI, there was also the external factor: the vast military camp surrounding Wuji Palace, while supposedly comprised entirely of Yinbarshim’s men, was in reality impossible.

Could it be that everything from food, drink, and toilets came from Holy Terra?

Someone would have to be in there to deliver supplies, take out garbage, and even provide various other services.

To a seasoned man like Arno, these were all flaws. The supposedly tight defenses were, in reality, riddled with holes, prone to loopholes.

That is, within the Wuji Palace, Yin Bashim’s men were indeed maintaining tight security, making infiltration difficult.

But it wasn’t completely hopeless.

However, this would require the help of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau.

Their work within the Eastern Universe was relatively mediocre, primarily focusing on winning over and assisting local individuals within the region, with relatively few infiltration, espionage, and sabotage operations. The Military Intelligence Bureau and the Central Bureau of Investigation also tacitly excluded the Foreign Intelligence Bureau.

While collectively known as the Alliance’s three major external intelligence agencies, their respective responsibilities differed slightly, each reporting to a different authority: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Government, the Legal Affairs Center, and the Military. Most of the time, cooperation outweighed competition.

However, on the same major project, even with different responsibilities, they often competed to see who could contribute more.

If they could avoid asking for help, they would.

Unfortunately, seeking their help was essential to infiltrating the Wuji Palace.

For the past twenty years, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s primary focus has been Holy Terra, which is precisely why they initially performed less well in the Eastern Universe than the Central Investigation Bureau and the Military Intelligence Bureau.

But, what a coincidence, isn’t Yin Bashim from Holy Terra?

While he was recruiting personnel and even before he set out from Holy Terra, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s office there had already devised a hidden presence.

To infiltrate the Wuji Palace, they absolutely had to seek their help.

Otherwise, a brute force attack was the only option.

While it wasn’t impossible, there were faster, more reliable, and less costly methods. Why bother? If the Governor learned that they, due to interdepartmental rifts, had a better solution and didn’t use it, resulting in increased casualties and a high cost, they would be in for a

real disaster. Better to just stick to what’s needed.

The Foreign Intelligence Bureau’s handover was also smooth. After the top brass of the three bureaus communicated and signed off, Arno was given the detailed information and contact information for the undercover agents lurking within the Wuji Palace and around Yinbarshim.

After contacting them and agreeing on a time, Arno arrived in person with his elite subordinates.

Later, Arno worked with the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Foreign Intelligence Bureau to establish a direct route from the outer military camps to the interior of the Wuji Palace.

On the day the operation began, after the attack on the prison began, Arno suppressed his anxiety and waited patiently.

Soon, the news he’d been waiting for arrived.

A secret informant reported that Chairman Yinbarshim was taking the prison attack very seriously. He dispatched trusted troops from the military command near Wuji Palace to investigate.

He also requested that numerous local dignitaries meet him at Wuji Palace. He believed that the prison attack and the rescue of the Alliance members were inextricably linked to those dishonest local dignitaries, and he needed to call these dishonest individuals out and give them a good beating. The

time had finally arrived.

Yinbarshim’s close advisor, a prominent figure, had manipulated the troop movements and security arrangements for the upcoming meeting, intentionally leaving a gap of approximately fifteen minutes in the patrol and defense deployments.

Meanwhile, in the military command outside Wuji Palace, Arno was confident that a direct passage leading directly to the palace would remain unobstructed for an hour.

So, everything seemed foolproof, right?

Arno sent the message to his superiors that he could proceed, and then waited.

If the previous events were merely secret operations, a struggle in the shadows, then what followed was a full-fledged military operation.

Who would be in charge?

In the darkness, a convoy of armored personnel carriers, painted in the style of the Solar Auxiliary Corps, approached Arno’s position at a steady pace.

Arno, now disguised as a captain in the Solar Legion, saluted formally and then stepped forward to inspect his credentials.

The driver was an Astra Militarum soldier in Solar Auxiliary Corps uniforms, a familiar sight. But through the rear observation window, which had been deliberately opened, he could see six giants clad in dark gray power armor. The blood droplet emblem on their helmets and the blood-red sharks on their shoulders clearly marked their identity: the Blood Sharks.

There were twelve such armored personnel carriers, advancing in patrol formation, totaling over seventy Blood Shark Space Marines.

Was that enough?

Arno was skeptical.

Under normal circumstances, it would be. However, dealing with a high-ranking official from Holy Terra was a bit of a problem.

Yinbarshim was also protected by Space Marines.

According to intelligence, this group of Space Marines numbered a full two hundred, all of whom were within the Wuji Palace.

Fifty of them came from five different Chapters, all operating within the Central Territory and heavily influenced by the Imperial Central Government. These Chapters were frequently called upon by the Imperial Central Government for other duties.

Protecting key personnel was a routine task.

Another fifty were sent by a Fleet-Based Chapter called the Icewing Serpents, a Chapter Yinbarshim had recruited himself. Fleet-Based Chapters were required to earn their own livings, and since Yinbarshim was providing the funds and the missions were serious, it wasn’t surprising that he could recruit fifty Space Marines.

Another hundred warriors came from the Sword of the Dawn Chapter, a successor to the Infinity Chapter, whose homeworld was in the Eastern Region.

Four Space Marine Chapters had their homeworlds in the Eastern Region, and the Sword of the Dawn was one of them. They were also the Chapter most distant from the Alliance during decades of trade. Since Yinbarshim arrived in the Eastern Space Region, he had been diligently courting this Chapter, and relations between the two sides quickly warmed.

The title of Holy Terra and Imperial Center still held promise.

Last year, this Chapter had agreed with Yinbarshim to continuously deploy a full company to provide him with security on a rotating basis.

Arno knew the Blood Sharks’ strength; they had fully proven themselves during the Ironclad Wars.

But over seventy men against two hundred?

That seemed a bit much, wasn’t it?

Hadn’t four hundred of their own Space Marines infiltrated? Why only seventy?

He was puzzled, but he was only the frontline commander of a special operations operation, not even the overall commander. He had superiors. Furthermore, special operations differed from military operations. At the level of military operations, the official commander was a Blood Shark Captain.

After watching the Blood Shark convoy depart, Arno hesitated for a moment before making a decision.

The entire operation had no plans for evacuation. Their goal wasn’t simply to kill Yinbarshim; more importantly, they had to capture Wuji Palace, a clear political center. By then, a “rebellious” Wuji Star Provisional Government would take over, and an acting chairman of the Universe would be elected.

Therefore, there was no need to retain too many forces to take over the rear.

Arno could still spare about a thousand men as a mobile force for immediate action.

His original plan was to use these men to create chaos within the military zone surrounding Wuji Palace after the battle began, facilitating the subsequent battle against the Solar Auxiliary Forces within that zone.

But now, he decided to take these men and move them toward the core of Wuji Palace.

If the battle inside Wuji Palace broke out, he would immediately bring his men to support it.

He couldn’t say how effective a thousand special forces soldiers would be against a company-level interstellar marine system, but having this insurance policy was better than nothing.

However, the subsequent events left Arno somewhat embarrassed.

His act of self-determination wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He was also the person in charge of frontline operations, and this was within his authority.

However, he realized his worries were unfounded.

The moment the sound of gunfire erupted from within Wuji Palace, he led his men inside. After about twenty minutes of brief but intense firefights, his men reached the core area of Wuji Palace.

Then, he saw the bodies of enemy Space Marines strewn across the ground.

More than half were in pieces, their deaths gruesome.

(End of this chapter)