Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 994

Chapter 985, Dilemma

Robert agreed to the Grand Marshal’s request.

He then called Gu Hang and had a brief conversation.

Gu Hang agreed to Robert’s request.

What does “at any cost” mean?

It’s what’s happening right now.

According to the original plan, the Solar Fleet would have been Robert’s first target.

Had that incident not occurred, the deal might have been concluded by now.

Not to mention that the Solar Fleet could help them redirect their attacks to bombard the ground, but at least they wouldn’t be a problem.

Then, the ground offensive would be much smoother.

With the entire Solar Fleet leading the way, what would the loyal forces on Terra, who hadn’t been corrupted, have to consider? Joining them would surely offer the brightest future.

However, the incident in orbit, which had originally been a good negotiation and contact, devolved into a chaotic battle, severely disrupting progress.

Although both sides were relatively restrained and rational, the saboteurs didn’t fully succeed, preventing a blood feud.

But reestablishing contact always takes time. Even if both sides knew the enemy was behind the sabotage, rebuilding trust was still a long shot.

Furthermore, many details remained unclear.

The ships suspected of corruption, attempting to sabotage the peace talks, had yet to be apprehended.

If there was one evil deity whose corruption was the most difficult to detect, it was undoubtedly Tzeentch’s.

Corrupted by Khorne, one could easily become brainless;

corrupted by Nurgle, one’s body could undergo particularly noticeable changes;

corrupted by Slaanesh, one’s debauched appearance and behavior were notoriously difficult to conceal.

But Slaanesh’s corruption was even more challenging to detect than the other two.

Tzeentch’s was the most challenging to detect.

Those corrupted by Tzeentch often appeared relatively unchanged. They might become more intellectually obsessed, more gloomy, or more volatile, but these changes were always subtle. Often, it took capturing them in specialized interrogation rooms and employing advanced technology to confirm the full extent of their corruption.

However, facing widespread potential corruption, using technology to identify each case individually is no easy task.

If it were just ordinary people, it wouldn’t be a problem. The Empire has always been unconcerned with such matters. As soon as suspicion arises, everyone is arrested and identified one by one. If they’re a little more slow and brutal, there might be some wrongdoing, but just shooting them all down would be enough to solve the problem.

But these were naval captains and officers.

These naval masters held a high position.

If they were asked to submit to interrogation, but refused, calling it an insult and denying interrogators entry to their ships, what could they do? Should they

simply label them traitors and destroy their ships?

But there were plenty of captains like that, and that wasn’t appropriate.

Besides, the captains themselves would have something to say.

In this chaotic situation, who would dare to put their lives in the hands of others? Who knew the interrogators and their superiors—the squadron commanders, vice-commanders, and interrogation chiefs—hadn’t been corrupted? If he were innocent, but those corrupt traitors above him branded him a corrupt element, he’d be left with a difficult situation.

Trust between superiors and subordinates, between peers, within the Solar Fleet; trust between the Solar Fleet and Robert’s expeditionary force… In this chaotic situation, it would be difficult to successfully negotiate again.

No one wanted a repeat of the situation that nearly sparked a decisive battle.

Even so, Robert’s original plan was to resolve the Solar Fleet’s situation relatively peacefully.

The Solar Fleet was formidable, at least comparable to Robert’s expeditionary fleet, which he had amassed from the Infinite Sector and later strengthened with the Alliance’s powerful reinforcements.

If things went wrong and the Solar Fleet were to become the enemy, combined with the ground-based orbital artillery and Holy Terra’s vast orbital defenses, the entire Terran orbital region would be invincible.

At least, not Robert’s expeditionary force.

Even if they could capture the Moon, Earth’s most crucial defensive node, reaching the surface would still incur a heavy toll in casualties and take a very long time.

Furthermore, he would need constant support from the Alliance.

But could the Custodians on the ground hold out for that long?

The situation wasn’t quite so bleak.

The Imperial Guards couldn’t defend the palace’s multi-tiered outer ring, stretching tens of thousands of kilometers across; nor could they hold the middle ring. But if reduced to an inner ring barely the size of a hive city, with millions of elite palace guards and the immense combat capabilities of the Ten Thousand Man Corps, they should be able to hold out for a considerable period.

Robert believed Yan Xinzhen’s earlier urgency to dispatch reinforcements stemmed primarily from the Imperial Guards’ pride and anxiety.

The Imperial Guards were so proud, having not suffered such humiliation in ten thousand years. Their reluctance to confront the situation, their desire for a swift resolution, was entirely understandable.

However, he harbored a lingering concern. While

the Imperial Palace was undoubtedly important, everything else could be put aside. The Golden Throne at the center of the inner ring must not be harmed.

It was the symbol of the Emperor, the remnant of the Empire after its ascension.

It must not be desecrated!

Robert shared this sentiment.

Beyond religious and spiritual considerations, Gu Hang had also specifically warned against this.

If the Golden Throne is defiled, the connection between the Emperor and the real universe will be greatly weakened, and the four evil gods will find a flaw, and it is not impossible to cut off the connection.

Once this happens, the Emperor will instantly fall into a huge disadvantage in the battlefield of the warp.

Even the Emperor himself may not be able to maintain his self-concept as a human being.

This is not a gamble.

Robert was a little skeptical.

These things are beyond his knowledge.

But he can still trust Gu Hang. He

can’t afford to gamble.

Under this summary, the difficulty of the next operation has increased significantly.

He can’t force the Solar Fleet to the opposite side – that will cause the situation to completely collapse, and it will be impossible to rush to the ground on a large scale in a short period of time.

But slowly resolving it peacefully and distinguishing the corruption may also take a long time and it will be too late.

The subtle differences in this are really difficult to grasp.

Robert can only bite the bullet.

(End of this chapter)