Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 996

Chapter 987, Review of the Solar Fleet

attempt to defraud the Tzeentch-corrupted officer aboard the Flying Glory. Of course, it was Gu Jing, who possessed a Lord of Change as his “advisor.”

Using his Lord of Change to deceive particularly high-ranking beings was unrealistic. After all, this Lord of Change only had a facade. Its Warp essence had been manipulated by Gu Hang.

To the eyes of even the most powerful demons of the same rank, the difference was stark. They could easily discern that the object before them was merely a facade, its inner workings completely different from the real Lord of Change.

However, it was still quite effective in deceiving those of lower rank.

Ordinary people simply couldn’t discern the Warp essence.

Even those with profound psychic knowledge could discern it through sound, light, and color perception. Gu Jing’s “advisor,” a transformed Lord of Change, wielded power in the same patterns, methods, and flavors as the real Lord of Change.

Coupled with deliberate deception, his success was undeniable.

As for whether harnessing the power of the Myriad Demon Lord was considered blasphemy… at least, Marshal Song, in front of Gu Jing, didn’t dare to say much.

As Commander-in-Chief, he was supposed to be the supreme commander of the Solar Fleet.

But in reality, that wasn’t the case at all.

His position was difficult.

Before the Cataclysm, he had basic management responsibilities over the Solar Fleet. However, operational missions and strategic command were essentially entirely under the command of the Imperial Navy’s General Staff. After all, his immediate superior, the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Navy, the Grand Marshal, was with him on Holy Terra. As a subordinate, he was forced to accept orders directly.

Although he was a high-ranking member of the General Staff, he ultimately lacked the independence of other naval fleets. Even operational plans were not directly decided by him, but rather by the General Staff’s instructions.

After the Cataclysm, the situation worsened.

The suppression and overreaching of superiors persisted, and intensified. After all, the Imperial Navy Headquarters used to oversee all Imperial naval deployments, but now that they’re disconnected, they’re only in charge of the Solar Fleet. Isn’t that a problem?

Furthermore, Song Min is gradually losing control over his subordinates, individual fleets, and even individual combat vessels.

Everyone knows the importance of the navy. Forget about anything else. Holy Terra’s trillions of people consume an astronomical amount of water and food every day. Even with the best water recycling and the most advanced synthetic food technology, external resources remain indispensable.

Precisely because of the isolation brought on by the Cataclysm, the navy’s value has increased unprecedentedly compared to before.

Various factions on Holy Terra are increasingly reaching out to the Solar Fleet.

Initially, Song Min tried to stop them, but eventually, unable to do so, he faced numerous personal dangers and resorted to cautious tactics.

Now, he likely controls less than a tenth of the Solar Fleet’s ships, with a significant portion squeezed near the moon.

The arrival of Robert and his expeditionary force has brought a turning point.

Song Min was one of the most active individuals in contacting Robert,

both for the sake of the Empire and for his own sake.

Initially, things went smoothly, but he underestimated the chaotic state of his own forces.

The turmoil within his Solar Fleet stemmed not only from the infiltration and solicitation of various forces on the surface, but also from numerous traitors.

Even after the negotiations failed, he maintained communication with Robert, striving to maintain mutual trust. However, pushing forward the next round of negotiations, especially the peaceful transfer of the entire Solar Fleet to His Royal Highness the Regent, proved incredibly challenging.

He feared

a single misstep, sparking civil war and siding with a significant portion of the Solar Fleet. This would jeopardize Robert’s plans—

and clearly, his own future. Furthermore, if such chaos ensued, his own life would likely be in jeopardy.

Against this backdrop, he received word from Robert that he would send a special envoy to “resolve the issue.”

Of course, he welcomed it.

However, what made him uneasy was Robert’s deadline:

“This special envoy will resolve the issue within three standard Terran days.”

Song Min asked what would happen if the issue wasn’t resolved by then.

Robert uttered a single word:

“War!”

Song Min understood immediately.

This must be an ultimatum.

He could only greet his arrival with trepidation.

He knew Gu Jing.

Or rather, he knew Gu Jing’s father.

Gu Hang, one of the Empire’s High Lords, had been considered a challenger and threat to central authority in the era before the Cataclysm. But equally, no one could deny that he was the Empire’s most powerful figure in the local areas.

Over the past century, Holy Terra hadn’t been completely isolated from all news. News of the Empire’s dark side occasionally trickled in through various channels. At his level, he could still hear some of it.

The rulers of the Empire’s dark side… Dark side expeditions… Legions of Space Marines… Vast starship fleets…

Every tidbit of news resonated deeply with the Empire’s powerful.

The mindsets of the powerful are complex. Song Min didn’t know how to explain it to others, but from his perspective, he essentially had one thought:

It seemed that the events in the East had made the so-called Alliance more like an empire than Holy Terra.

He greeted Gu Jing’s arrival with respect,

both for Robert and Gu Hang.

But then, the so-called “method” Gu Jing presented stunned him.

In his office, Gu Jing laid out his plan—he claimed he would, over the next three days, identify as many Chaos-corrupted elements within the Solar Fleet as possible.

His specific method would rely on the shadowy figure of the Lord of Change that appeared behind him.

Honestly, if it weren’t for Robert and Gu Hang backing him up, the mere sight of the Lord of Change’s shadow would have been enough to prompt Song Min to call the ship’s Inquisitors to remove the men.

And you’re talking about finding corrupted elements? You’re carrying around a Tzeentch, aren’t you the leader of the corrupt?

But under Gu Jing’s reassurance, Song Min reluctantly believed him.

Mainly, there wasn’t much else he needed to do.

It was just a matter of preparing an interrogation room and a cell, preferably one that was large and private.

Then, he watched Gu Jing sit motionless in his office.

Then, the team that had come with Gu Jing, consisting of several Infinite Warriors and Inquisitors, along with a group of guards and Inquisitors on the ship whom Song Min trusted, formed a secret team.

In the interrogation room designated by Gu Jing, they “welcomed” officers and generals from various ships one by one. They identified their identities, took them away, and imprisoned them.

To Song Min, these people were all familiar.

After all, they were his subordinates—though not necessarily from the same faction, and often difficult to command. But there were still a few among them whom he had considered his own.

And so, they were all captured?

He was initially hesitant and conflicted, even distrusting Gu Jing.

Although Gu Jing’s methods were miraculous, silently transporting people from different warships to his “Eternal Flame,” he couldn’t really say who was a traitor, right?

He arranged an inquest, a deep-dive investigation into a person’s corruption, directly searching their memories and testing their genes and the purity and integrity of their skulls.

The results were remarkably effective, and the results were highly reliable. Previously, this method had been ineffective because it was slow. A thorough investigation of a single individual would take one or two days, and the inquest rooms that had been built could only examine one or two people, requiring specialized investigative officers to conduct one-on-one interviews… This was ill-suited for large-scale screening, especially when targeting disobedient, non-factional, and high-ranking naval officers and generals.

However, for the qualitative assessment of a single target, its accuracy was remarkably reliable.

The results proved that the individuals Gu Jing had apprehended were completely reliable.

While he couldn’t investigate every single individual, every one he interrogated was a corrupt element.

Only at this point did Song Min finally give up hope

and follow Gu Jing.

The entire inquest lasted two days.

Gu Jing apprehended a total of 1,638 individuals, spread across 273 warships, with each ship carrying between two and nine corrupt elements.

This nearly covered a quarter of the remaining ships of the Solar Fleet.

The damage they could cause in a moment of need was considerable.

Eliminating these corrupt elements was of paramount importance.

With these corrupt elements sabotaging the situation, any peace talks were absurd.

Only after they were eliminated could negotiations be successful.

Of course, Gu Jing had also told Marshal Song that he couldn’t rest easy for now. The number of corrupt elements was undoubtedly far greater than these thousand or so.

Having examined the senior officers and commanders aboard 273 warships didn’t guarantee the integrity of the senior officers of all the remaining ships. Some officers, perhaps due to caution or because Gu Jing didn’t have time to deceive them, hadn’t been apprehended.

After all, the time available to Gu Jing was indeed short.

All he could do was essentially use the Lord of Change’s special abilities to broadcast messages on specific “channels” most likely to be received by Tzeentch’s high-ranking followers. This could be done

through dreams and whispers in his mind.

If they didn’t believe him, there was nothing he could do.

Furthermore, even among those two hundred or so warships, the capture of the high-ranking commanders didn’t mean the situation was completely clean.

If even high-ranking commanders were corrupt, how many of the ordinary officers and sailors on board had also been corrupted by these individuals, exploiting their power? It was simply impossible to quantify.

But ultimately, what Gu Jing had done was of immense value.

At the very least, those two hundred or so ships, now freed of their corrupt leaders, would be much slower to react, or even unable to react at all, should they attempt to cause trouble later.

On the third day, Marshal Song Min, acting in accordance with Gu Jing’s plan, issued a final order to every ship of the Solar Fleet as Commander-in-Chief, bearing a copy of Regent Robert’s order:

He demanded that all remaining loyal Imperial Navy vessels depart Holy Terra’s orbit and assemble at designated coordinates—a space not particularly far from the lunar base—to submit to the Regent’s authority.

This order, of course, was not to be carried out smoothly, and it undoubtedly caused a huge uproar.

If it had been carried out smoothly, there wouldn’t have been much need for the preceding maneuvers.

Numerous voices of opposition arose, with many even questioning whether Marshal Song Min was the ultimate traitor, intent on luring them out and killing them.

But this time, Song Min’s stance was tougher than ever.

He divided all ships into three categories based on their behavior within a limited timeframe.

The first category consisted of those who followed orders and assembled in designated airspace for inspection. These individuals were true Imperial loyalists. They would receive the honors they deserved, and they would remain part of the glorious Imperial Navy in the future.

The second category consisted of those who hesitated and refused to accept orders. That didn’t matter; at the appointed time, the Regent’s fleet would enter orbit around Holy Terra and begin military operations. Those who refrained from obstructing the expeditionary fleet could barely be considered loyalists, but after the war, they would undergo due diligence to determine their true character.

The third category consisted of obstructionists.

This kind is unadulterated traitor, an enemy of the Empire. The Regent will unleash his unending wrath upon them!

This is the ultimatum. The appointed time—20:00 Standard Terran Time—is the moment of final judgment.

After issuing this ultimatum, Marshal Song Min decisively ordered his flagship to move forward, bringing with it a group of ships fully obedient to his command, to the assembly point.

However, things would not go smoothly.

The Solar Fleet’s public channels were filled with a cacophony of voices! The loudest voices denounced Song Min as a traitor, urging the “true loyalists” to fire on his ships.

There was no point in analyzing these individuals as corrupted or not.

It was pointless; they were all enemies!

Song Min ordered all ships to prepare for battle; they had to prepare to break out.

The greatest danger had arrived. They would not only face these artillery barrels, but also artillery fire from orbital defense stations and fortresses.

But at this moment, not far away, a terrifying fleet gradually emerged.

That fleet was led by three Glorious Queen warships.

(End of this chapter)