Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 804

Chapter 798: Letter to Fellow Compatriots in Disaster

The entire Alliance, along with the entire Eastern Universe, was completely connected in a months-long “power-up” operation.

With the final planet connected, Gu Hang could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, his base had been preserved during this catastrophe.

Post-power-up, interstellar navigation was still not as safe as before, but it was now usable.

In the current environment, achieving this level of security was already quite satisfactory.

At least the entire Alliance was jubilant. While times were still difficult, at least the worst was over.

While there wouldn’t be much celebration, at least life and the Alliance’s development could return to normal.

But Gu Hang wasn’t happy.

Thinking about the rest of the Empire, the situation was likely even worse than before.

The only good news was that Gu Hang observed that the aftermath of the disaster was gradually easing as the Warp torrent passed through.

This gave rise to a hope: would the disaster fade with time?

The reality proved otherwise.

Once the Warp surge subsided to a certain point, it ceased to weaken and entered a stable state.

Gu Hang, observing the Warp directly, could see that with the disappearance of the guardian world known as Cartier, a wound remained in the real universe, one that would never heal. The power of the Warp continued to leak out. Though not as turbulent as at the beginning, it was still sufficient to maintain the Crimson Scar and continuously and permanently alter the real universe.

And the Crimson Scar itself remained a chasm, completely separating the two ends.

Unless the root cause of the problem was addressed, the disaster would not end.

But how could the problem be eradicated?

Gu Hang had no idea yet.

At least, from his perspective, he was powerless.

In the Warp, even the God-Emperor could only temporarily avoid the attack, let alone him.

In the real universe, the Alliance was quite far away from the Hell Gate, almost from the northeasternmost tip of the Empire, corresponding to the southwestern border. When the Astral Tunnel was still functional, a single trip there took two or three years; now that it was disabled, it was practically impossible to get there.

What should he do?

Gu Hang felt a pang of compassion.

He wasn’t thinking about the Imperial Center or the insects on Holy Terra. It would have been better if those high-ranking officials had died one by one. To expect Gu Hang to be loyal to them, to share their burdens, was sheer wishful thinking.

However, Gu Hang was naturally concerned about humanity, and the “Empire,” the symbol that united it all.

The underlying tone of this universe was dark and terrifying. The Empire, as the collective of all races, no matter how many flaws it had, objectively seemed to be the greatest guarantee of humanity’s survival among the stars.

For countless years, it had borne countless pressures.

No matter how many conflicts the Alliance had previously had with the Imperial Center, Gu Hang had never imagined that the Alliance would improve without the Empire.

It wouldn’t.

Without the Empire, the “tall man,” the sky would fall, and the Alliance would have to bear the brunt of the consequences.

If human worlds outside the Alliance fell one after another, Gu Hang couldn’t imagine how powerful humanity’s enemies would become.

The Orks would occupy vast numbers of worlds suitable for reproduction; the Void Zerg, having devoured countless worlds, would expand to unimaginable proportions; the human souls sacrificed in the trillions and trillions would become the most delicious fodder for the evil gods of the Warp…

For now, the Alliance could maintain stability for a while, even waiving the trillions in annual Imperial taxes due to its lack of communication with the Imperial Center.

But who could guarantee eternal peace?

Once the outside world had been devoured, and the xenos and Chaos pressed onto the Alliance’s borders, the Alliance would be left alone to withstand these invincible enemies.

This could not happen!

Something had to be done.

The Alliance’s predicament at home had already been resolved, and the minor aftereffects were not a major concern. Thanks to timely and effective measures, no major Chaos invasions or rebellions had erupted. A small-scale suppression campaign would not pose a challenge to the Alliance’s current rule.

Now, Gu Hang’s gaze shifted beyond the Alliance.

His first priority was to establish contact with the Imperial Center and Holy Terra.

No matter how their relationship had deteriorated, at least they hadn’t fallen out. Currently, Holy Terra was the only region with the authority to unify the entire Empire.

Even setting these aside, the power wielded by the Imperial Center was still the strongest. Holy Terra alone, with its two trillion people, was equivalent to the power of an entire star region nearby. Not to mention, Holy Terra, accumulating countless secrets and profound knowledge over millennia, held within it.

Furthermore, the Solar Star Region, where Holy Terra resided, was the most developed region in the entire Empire. It was unclear whether the Dragon Eagle Star Region could currently match it, given the sheer scale of Holy Terra and Mars.

Furthermore, the nine cosmic regions within the entire Imperial Central Territory possessed the highest average production capacity in the entire Empire. Of course, if the Alliance’s fourteen star regions were considered a single cosmic region, they would likely be more developed than the cosmic regions within the Central Territory.

Bringing Imperial Central back to life, or at least confirming its current state, would be of great benefit to the Empire’s fate.

Gu Hang had originally thought he had the ability. “

I’m a top-tier psyker, if not first, if not second, then at least third-best in the entire Warp. Can’t I do this?”

It truly wasn’t possible.

It was now clear that the Crimson Scar had completely divided the Alliance and Holy Terra.

With the Great Rift piercing the Imperium, the two sides were already separated. In

the past, he could easily reach Holy Terra with a psychic call to Gallardo. In fact, if he wanted, he didn’t necessarily have to embark on a year-long journey by ship; he could simply travel physically and reach Holy Terra in just a few days.

The trade-off was simply the increased hassle of traversing the Warp, making it easier to spot. Furthermore, the arrival of Holy Terra would make a significant noise, inevitably attracting the attention of the Inquisition, the Custodes, and the like.

Compared to all that hassle, a year-long journey by ship was preferable.

However, at the moment he couldn’t even make a phone call.

The Warp surge unleashed by the Scarlet Scar was truly turbulent. What used to be an easy journey now required traversing countless unreliable astral tunnels, which Gu Hang could handle. But facing the Scarlet Scar was like a wall of sighs, intercepting all communication on this side, unable to penetrate.

If he absolutely had to penetrate, Gu Hang would have to reach the very edge of the wall—not only physically, but also in the Warp.

The latter approach was extremely risky.

In the current Warp climate, Gu Hang’s conceptual approach to the Crimson Scar within the Warp and the attempt to breach the wall would be a suicidal act. Nothing could protect him in the process. He would be completely exposed to the “hunters.” He would be a mouth-watering delicacy before the four great gods.

And unlike mortals, he was a delicacy. Sometimes, extradimensional beings within the Warp would have to go to great lengths to corrupt a mortal hero. But Gu Hang possessed a part of his essence within the Warp, so devouring him wouldn’t require any elaborate destinies or corrupting tactics.

Simply finding him and devouring him would be enough.

He had to thank the Emperor. Without the protection of any great being, he would have been consumed long ago as his psychic powers grew and his prominence within the Warp grew. He would never have reached this point.

And since he couldn’t physically reach the Crimson Scar and break through it in the Warp, he had no way of contacting Holy Terra.

All told, there were roughly three cosmic domains in the central empire, all thirteen cosmic domains in the eastern empire, two cosmic domains in the northern empire split in half, and eight cosmic domains in the southern empire…

all in all, that was practically half the empire.

Now, with Holy Terra on the other side of the scarlet scar, did this half of the empire on this side give Gu Hang free rein?

In a sense, yes.

However, Gu Hang wasn’t happy at all, only forced to smile wryly.

Thinking about the current troubles in the outside world gave him a headache.

Power always comes with responsibility.

But what could be done?

At this point, all he could say was, who else but me?

…

Although he was mentally prepared to shoulder the responsibility of half the empire, he still had to proceed with extreme caution in practice.

Gu Hang knew the outside world desperately needed the Alliance’s salvation, but food had to be eaten bite by bite, territory had to be swallowed up mouthful by mouthful… no, it had to be saved piecemeal.

Saving the empire, or even half of it, depended primarily on the Alliance’s own strength. Gu Hang couldn’t be too aggressive, for he wouldn’t sacrifice his main force and plunge the Alliance into crisis. That would be a huge loss.

While he was rescuing them, he didn’t know how many monsters awaited him outside.

The Alliance General Staff mapped out three cautious routes, each requiring a relatively modest effort. Their target was the Magre Realm, adjacent to the Spider Web Realm.

This realm was medium-sized, encompassing eight star regions. Nine interstellar tunnels connected it to the Spider Web Realm. Three of these routes were chosen, and with a modest fleet, they advanced cautiously.

Attacking the Outer Realm carried considerable risk.

The most significant challenge lay in the voyage.

While the Alliance’s departure world was undoubtedly equipped with a Thunder Torch Tower, the other side lacked one.

This process was similar to the previous “Electrify” operation, illuminating the numerous Alliance worlds, but with a slightly greater degree of difficulty.

Within the Alliance’s borders, Gu Hang’s Storm Kingdom could provide some protection. After all, while not everyone in the Alliance chanted Gu Hang’s name, his role as a leader was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Positive emotions like gratitude, trust, and love, as well as negative ones like hatred and fear, could be effective as long as they weren’t ignored or dismissed.

However, outside the Alliance, the protective effect of the Storm Kingdom was significantly diminished.

This meant that navigating the interstellar realm would be even more challenging.

Alliance ships were equipped with a greater number of anti-chaos measures, sometimes exceeding the standard.

This so-called “standard” was derived from valuable data gathered from tests like Jason Morgan’s previous voyage in the Fox Moon Star Region, as well as specialized tests conducted by the Alliance Central Committee, resulting in the “Hazardous Navigation Manual.”

However, this wasn’t necessarily reliable. The danger warnings were clearly spelled out in large letters on the first page of the manual.

This was primarily due to insufficient test data due to time constraints. Furthermore, this data was derived from voyages within the Alliance. Alliance technical experts believe that voyages within the Alliance are safer than those outside of it.

Although the manual had already been compiled with some adjustments above the existing data standards, its reliability was still questionable.

Even with triple the manual’s standard measures, the first three expeditionary fleets still felt insecure.

However, facts proved that the Alliance was powerful but overly cautious.

The triple safety measures were indeed quite effective.

Although some Chaos corruption inevitably appeared on the ships after passing through the Astral Tunnel and reaching areas outside the Alliance, it

was not severe and could be quickly resolved.

The fleet was not solely comprised of the navy. Saving external planets inevitably involved ground operations, and the army would inevitably deploy a large number of troops to accompany the ships.

And if Chaos corruption were to occur within these ships, there would naturally be ample manpower to address it.

While war may be the primary theme, disaster relief is a more pressing concern. The warships were followed by a large number of transport ships. Besides transporting troops and equipment, relief supplies were also plentiful.

The Alliance’s expeditionary fleet arrived in the Magre space domain, carrying a stick in one hand and a carrot in the other.

…

Compared to the cautious advance of the Alliance’s expeditionary fleet, Gu Hang’s other measure was much bolder and more radical.

That was in the area of communication.

If they couldn’t contact Holy Terra, could they still contact the other imperial worlds that were also isolated on this side?

Of course they could.

It could even be said to be relatively easy.

Even the Alliance, without the help of the Alliance Center, took nearly half a year to reunite all the planets, such as the Fox Moon Star Region, which did a better job. In other places outside the Alliance, the problem of isolation would only be more serious.

People always try to grasp at straws.

At this moment, Gu Hang could feel countless helpless communication signals flying out from various planets.

And Gu Hang intended to give them hope.

He asked the Alliance Ministry of Foreign Affairs to draft a “Letter to Fellow Compatriots in Disaster” in the name of the High Lord.

(End of this chapter)