Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 912

Chapter 905, Terra Expedition

Robert, the Son of God, fully understood that his only option now was to cooperate with the Alliance.

He had to acknowledge the Alliance as part of the Empire, part of humanity, and acknowledge the authority of Gu Hang, High Lord and Archon of the Empire’s Dark Side. Furthermore, he needed to count on the Alliance, which was already doing a very good job against the Empire’s Dark Side, to continue their expedition and unify it.

He even hoped that the Alliance would provide him with support and help him launch a Dark Side-like expedition within the Holy Land.

Ultimately, he wanted to restore peace to the entire human Empire.

Of course, true peace was impossible. While that was the Son of God’s wish, he also rationally understood that absolute peace was impossible everywhere; that was unrealistic.

Achieving relative peace across the entire Empire, or achieving sufficient strength to unite and respond to major threats to peace, would be considered excellent.

He had to rely on the Alliance’s strength.

As for what would happen if half, or even more, of the Empire fell under the Alliance’s system, so that the Empire’s power came primarily into the hands of the Alliance… so what?

Did Robert care about power?

He didn’t.

He only cared about the Imperium of Man.

If the Alliance represented a better Imperium, then why not?

He didn’t have to be Regent.

It was a right, but more of a responsibility. After

reading the Imperium’s ten-thousand-year history and carefully studying its recent developments, he was filled with endless disappointment at its current state.

Ignorance, chaos, infighting, inefficiency, corruption…

these abysmal qualities could all be used to describe the Imperium.

Whether it was the center of the Empire or the various regions, it was a mess. It

wasn’t just rotten now, but had been rotten for a long, long time.

Upon awakening, Robert was dissatisfied with everything he saw.

Honestly, the two factions he supported most—the Infinite Warriors and the State Church—were the two he disliked the most.

In his mind, the State Church represented the most foolish.

In his glorious era, religion was no longer considered respectable. The Empire promoted rationality and scientific thought. The Emperor was the Emperor, a great leader. There was no such thing as “Sons of God.” His brothers, while certainly his children, were also his commanders, expanding humanity’s territory and leading its people.

For Robert, it all seemed like yesterday.

It was true that he hadn’t awakened until ten thousand years had passed, but to him, that time had been a blink of an eye. He was severely wounded and placed in stasis, where everything stopped. When he opened his eyes again, he was in this dark and twisted era ten thousand years later.

How could he accept the current state of the Empire’s ignorance?

The abhorrent existence of a state religion, worshipping his father, him, and his brothers as gods, struck him as absurd.

He felt the same way in his genetic offspring.

Which was why they were the ones who followed him, disappointed.

Reason, honor, fairness, justice… these were the things he had taught his offspring.

But they seemed to have forgotten the first principle, and they too began to worship the “God” Emperor and the “Son of God.” With

that crucial first principle lost, were the so-called honor, fairness, and justice he insisted upon still the virtues he had hoped for?

Yet, he could not even speak of this crushing disappointment.

He had slept for ten thousand years, but he had not lost his political wisdom.

In the Imperium’s current state, he went around publicly proclaiming, “The Emperor is not a god, but a human; I am not a god, but a mere human.”

How could anyone believe him, seeing your stature, which towered over even a Space Marine?

Even if he were the Son of God, his personal declarations would not change the people’s

ten-thousand-year faith. Let alone today, hadn’t his Saint brother already worshipped the Emperor as a god ten thousand years ago? In the Civil War, he chose to side with the mortals, handing over the Imperium to them, simply to follow the will of the gods, not because he considered them all human.

Now, Robert openly spoke of rationality, the need to eliminate ignorance, and the need to abandon religion… the result would hardly be the positive direction he hoped for. Instead, it would likely further entrench the fragile empire in chaos and division.

He had a desire to save the empire, but precisely because of this, he felt the current situation was difficult, even somewhat hopeless.

Even with his wisdom, he couldn’t come up with an immediate solution to these problems.

After much deliberation, he ultimately decided to take a long-term approach.

He had to proceed step by step. He might need to acknowledge his identity and the existence of religion to maintain the unity of the empire. Even if this made him feel a little disgusted, he would continue to do so to ensure that these forces could continue to serve his own purposes.

Later, through his words and deeds, through gradual religious and political reforms, he would address those things he disliked.

Of course, in the process, he might even be contaminated by the cesspool that is the empire. Who could say for sure?

He had already made a long-term plan, planning for a hundred years? Two hundred? Even longer, as he gradually changed and saved the Empire, he suddenly read about the Alliance.

While the Alliance had existed for over a hundred years, compared to the Empire’s long history, it was still relatively recent.

However, the Infinite Warriors had extensive records of the Alliance. After the initial bond of fighting side by side during the Ironclad War, the two sides developed a long-term trade relationship. During this process, numerous “spies” from the Infinite Legion entered Alliance territory, gathering intelligence.

The Infinite Legion operated in a clandestine yet respectable manner.

The term “clandestine” stemmed from their sophisticated methods and extensive experience. They instinctively gathered information from across the Empire, relying on the Infinite Star Region’s highly developed trade system. With this interconnected network, intelligence naturally began to gather.

Only with sufficient information can one make sound judgments—this was one of the ancestral teachings passed down to them by the Son of God ten thousand years ago.

As for being aboveboard, their espionage activities rarely touched particularly sensitive information. Military, political, or commercial secrets were rarely sought. Those spies were often ordinary sailors, merchants, or immigrants, going about their business, occasionally collecting public information they encountered, or any private information that accidentally came to their attention. Their goal was to consolidate this information and, upon returning to the Infinite Star Domain, gather it with the intelligence department.

Analysts would then integrate this intelligence and make their own judgments.

The Infinite Legion holds a strong interest in the Alliance.

Few regions within the Empire are as adept at business and development as the Alliance.

Infinite Warriors’ view, many of the Empire’s local elites are either content with a life of luxury or driven by ambition to ascend the imperial system. The former primarily seeks stable rule, while the latter seeks promotion and wealth. They place little emphasis on local development. It could even be argued that economic development is not a high priority among their own goals.

Even those who aspire to develop effectively often lack the capacity.

Even those who do possess the capacity are often constrained by various conditions and circumstances, preventing them from truly achieving their goals.

Most of the empire’s fertile regions benefit from advantageous environments and resources. Either the planets themselves are exceptionally well-suited for development, allowing them to flourish as long as their leaders remain disciplined; or their location or political significance necessitates the investment of significant resources by higher-level government agencies, accelerating their growth.

However, this is not the case with the Alliance.

According to the Infinite Warriors’ analysis, the Alliance’s growth relies on efficiency, relative integrity, a focus on development, sound policies, and unity.

They got many things right.

Of course, there were also some things they couldn’t fathom. For example, the Alliance’s military expansion, factory productivity, trade efficiency, and talent development efficiency all fared better than even their highest estimates.

This could only be attributed to the Emperor’s blessing.

The only unpleasant thing was that the Alliance had altered too many of the Empire’s traditional institutions, and the general lack of religious piety among the people. The Emperor was often just a catchphrase; they respected and worshipped him, but there was a lack of fervor. Many religious rituals and ideologies had vanished under the influence of so-called Protestantism.

The Space Marines had some complaints about this, but it piqued Robert’s interest as he later reviewed the analysis reports.

He thought it was amazing!

Amidst the cesspool of the Empire, there was actually such a pure land!

He had read many of the Alliance’s histories, and while there were many things he couldn’t understand—why so many troops suddenly appeared, how could their combat effectiveness be so strong, and how their economic development seemed to be on a whim—nevertheless, this didn’t stop him from greatly admiring the Alliance leader, Gu Hang.

So, he went to have a long conversation with Gu Jing.

During this conversation, he learned more about the Alliance’s century-long Dark Side Expedition.

Without a doubt, the Alliance had accomplished what he had intended.

It had fulfilled the role that Holy Terra was supposed to play.

Currently, the situation in the Empire’s Dark Side must be far better than that in the Holy Border.

This was quite ironic.

This side had Holy Terra, the most valuable region of humanity, yet it was in such a mess, completely inferior to the isolated Dark Side on the other side, where conditions were far worse.

As for Gu Hang’s “ambitions,” which everyone was concerned about?

That was fantastic!

If possible, Robert wouldn’t mind pushing Gu Hang, the “High Lord,” to a higher position.

Chancellor of the Empire? Rule the entire Empire?

Absolutely no problem.

He missed his father’s closest lieutenant, the Empire’s first Chancellor, who had made immense contributions to the founding expedition. Even the proud “Sons of God” had to admit that the First Chancellor, with whom they had so many conflicts, had achievements comparable to their own. Without this Prime Minister’s constant presence at the rear, the Great Expedition to Found a Nation would never have been as smooth.

He desperately wanted to communicate with Gu Hang.

Thanks to the opening of the Seven Star Corridor, Gu Hang had found a way to reliably transmit psychic signals through the Scarlet Scar. With Gu Jing’s presence at Robert’s side, acting as a signal tower, communication became feasible and reliable.

Their first exchange was a truly cordial one.

The visit from Blood Angels Chapter Captain Dante was merely a minor incident, a mere bystander.

They continued their conversation, discussing the expedition to Holy Terra.

The Alliance would use the Seven Star Corridor as its most crucial channel, channeling vast quantities of war resources and troops. The entire Western Front would completely shift its focus to Holy Terra, using the newly constructed Mursiphat Sector as its base for the next phase of the war.

This had already departed from the realm of a Dark Side expedition; Gu Hang dubbed it the “Terra Expedition.”

The Alliance’s Western Front wasn’t the central figure in the Terra Expedition, but rather a supporting role.

The true protagonist was Robert himself.

He would integrate the forces from the Infinite Star Region and advance southward, targeting Holy Terra.

However, he would not adopt the Alliance’s Dark Side Expedition model.

He acknowledged that it was a very stable approach, the right path.

Starting from the Infinite Star Region, he would gradually advance southward. As he liberated each region, he would build upon it, gaining a foothold before continuing southward.

Leveraging his status as the Son of God, his influence would be even greater.

However, he still felt that it was too slow.

The Alliance’s Dark Side Expedition had lasted a hundred years, and what had they achieved?

At the same rate, it would likely take another hundred years to advance from the Infinite Star Region to Holy Terra.

Even with the Alliance on the southwest, if they also attacked Holy Terra, it would take a long time for both sides to successfully join forces.

Robert’s anxiety was growing.

In the past hundred years, it was clear that the Empire was on the brink of collapse; what would the situation be like in another hundred years?

By then, even if he explored the entire Empire, apart from the Infinite Star Region and the areas of the Dark Side controlled by the Alliance, everything else would be completely hopeless!

He would take a faster, more violent, but somewhat risky approach.

He temporarily compromised with the things he loathed in order to unite greater forces and leverage the appeal of religion, so that he could lead enough forces to execute his adventurous plan. He would lead his Terran expeditionary force, guided by the Eldar’s divine messengers, on a primitive warp voyage, skipping all the intervening astral tunnels and heading directly to Holy Terra!

(End of this chapter)