Chapter 2, The Gift
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Actually, this was Gu Hang's first month since he had transmigrated.
He now found himself in a cosmic era, within a vast Human Empire that ruled over endless star domains. Ten thousand years ago, a Divine Emperor ascended and established the "Spirit Network," bringing spiritual energy to humanity. The current empire was governed by the Supreme Council seated on the Human Ancestral Star, Terra.
About 120 years prior, the planet on which Gu Hang was currently situated had been an ordinary world. A war devastated the entire planet's surface environment, turning Rage Owl Star into a wasteland planet.
Twenty-nine years ago, the Empire Government assessed that there was still hope for saving Rage Owl Star and dispatched a Planetary Governor for the first time to oversee reconstruction efforts.
Within the empire's system, a Planetary Governor could rule their planet in any manner, provided that, above all, the governor remained loyal to the empire.
What constituted loyalty? Paying taxes was loyalty. Not paying taxes, or not paying enough, meant execution, followed by the replacement with someone loyal.
To this day, over twenty-nine years, Rage Owl Star had gone through five governors.
Even the three who preceded Gu Hang each lasted only two years. The imperial tax on Rage Owl Star was due every two years, and all three of these unfortunate souls didn't survive past the first taxation period.
And now, Gu Hang had arrived.
A month ago, he had just transmigrated, still adapting to the memories of his new body, when he found himself on a starship headed for Rage Owl Star. He needed to ensure that in two years, Rage Owl Star would pay a quarter of the standard tax, with the Star Sector Government footing the bill for the insufficient three quarters. This was a favorable condition procured by his political family, the Gu Clan.
By the second tax payment four years later, full taxes must be paid.
A cruiser belonging to the Star Sector Navy was stationed in orbit above the planet to offer him support. The forces he brought to the surface numbered only 3000 slaves, 300 mech soldier servants who had their frontal lobes removed and underwent mechanical enhancements, and 30 Navy Marine Corps soldiers, led by Captain Yan Fangxu.
The main political power on Rage Owl Star, known as the "Alliance", was established by the first generation of governors twenty-nine years ago.
In theory, upon arriving on Rage Owl Star, Gu Hang should have landed in the Alliance Capital, Revival City, to take on the identity of the Alliance leader, and begin exercising the powers of the Planetary Governor based on the Alliance Government.
But he didn't do that. Instead, he set up a camp not far from Revival City with his people, and immediately began doing things that baffled others.
For example, Captain Yan couldn't understand why Gu Hang would train those 300 mech soldiers.
These slaves, stripped of their self-thinking, were ill-equipped to operate armored vehicles or artillery and could only be fitted with basic gear to serve as cannon fodder, having seemingly little value in training.
Yet, he had to feel ashamed of his shallow insights.
He watched in disbelief as the mech servants actually underwent a dramatic transformation in a very short period!
Under Gu Hang's command, he saw these mech soldier servants quickly complete a series of pre-departure tasks such as forming ranks and checking gear; during previous training, they also demonstrated tactical skills far surpassing their former abilities. Shooting, physical fitness, tactics... all of these were greatly improved, and combined with their innate fearlessness of sacrifice and absolute adherence to discipline, they became high-level soldiers.
This was already the standard of the Imperial Guard Star Realm Regular Troops.
Although he still didn't think these mech soldier servants could match his elite Marine Corps in one-on-one combat, that was beside the point. He had only 30 elite Marines, while there were 300 mech soldiers.
More importantly, Captain Yan had no clue how Gu Hang managed it.
It completely surpassed his understanding: Weren't mech soldier servants supposed to depend only on their level of enhancement at the time of their modification? Weren't subsequent trainings meaningless?
While he was lost in thought, he heard Gu Hang's resonant voice, "Captain Yan, make your squad move faster. How can the elite Marines be slower in pre-battle preparations than the mech servants?"
Coming back to his senses, Captain Yan, slightly abashed, saluted Gu Hang and then turned, bellowing at his subordinates who were equally stupefied by the transformation of the Mech Servant Battalion, "What are you loafing around for, you lousy bunch? Move it! The five slowest will sleep with the mech soldiers starting tomorrow!"
Watching Captain Yan go and kick his squad's butts into gear, Gu Hang chuckled softly, withdrawing his gaze and refocusing on the panel of information that appeared before him.
The ethereal, floating text before his eyes formed multiple options:
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[Current Favor Points: 2]
[Total Territorial Income: 5/Terra month]
[Hero]
[Troop Tags]
There were four items in total, and Gu Hang clicked on the second item,[Total Territorial Income]. Here, he saw more detailed information:[Governor's Temporary Camp: 5/Terra month].
There was only this one.
According to Gu Hang's understanding, this monthly total income depended on the sum of incomes provided by territories recognized by the system as belonging to him. And right now, his territory was only this temporary camp.
Upon seeing the system and learning that he had become the governor, he was initially eager to find out: with a planet as his territory, how much favor would it provide him each month?
However, after disembarking from the starship onto Revival City, this number had remained zero.
He guessed at the time that a territory in name only would not be recognized by the system; it had to be under his actual control.
For him, a governor parachuted in, to take control of a loose wasteland Alliance Government and to integrate the entire alliance was no easy feat. If it were easy, his predecessors would not have all failed.
Therefore, he decisively abandoned the paths taken by the previous governors, turned his head, requested servant slaves and some armed forces from the starship, left Revival City, found an open space, and planned to start from scratch, making use of the golden finger that had accompanied him through his travels.
After he led people and established a temporary camp completely under his control, the number finally changed from 0 to 4.
The initial 4, Gu Hang guessed, was from the population; the additional point that came later was likely because the camp had been built larger and more complete.
In the two items that followed in the system,[Hero]displayed his own panel, and in Troop Tags, there were two items.
[Navy Marine Corps 1st Squad, Comprehensive T4 level, Upgradeable]
[Number: 30],[Equipment: T4],[Training: T4],[Experience: T4]
This was the status of the thirty men led by Yan Fangxu.
The other was the just-upgraded Mechanized Infantry Battalion.
[1st Mechanized Infantry Battalion,Comprehensive T5 level, Not upgradeable]
[Number: 300],[Equipment: T5],[Training: T5],[Experience: -]
The "T" level likely corresponded to the overall strength of the unit; the smaller the number, the more elite. The Mechanized Infantry Battalion started off as a low-tier unit, equipped with rifles, hand grenades, machine guns for the squad; mortars and grenade launchers for the platoon, but lacked heavy weapons, only qualifying as a light infantry battalion.
He spent 3 Favor Points to enhance this light infantry battalion. Over four days, this brainless troop, which only followed orders and was considered of very low training value, cannon fodder, underwent a complete transformation.
Reaching a T5 level of training, it could almost be considered to have reached the standard of strength of the Imperial Regular Army. While the T4 level of the Marine Corps counted as a regular elite unit.
It was precisely because the originally cannon fodder Mechanized Infantry had been upgraded that Gu Hang had the confidence, after hearing about the situation with the Abandoned Cave Society, to forcefully get involved.
This was an opportunity, and he now had the ability to seize it.
He hoped to use this event to bring the Abandoned Cave Society under his actual rule, rather than merely being a governor in name. And in the future, he would expand his sphere of direct control, step by step, until it encompassed the entire planet.