Chapter 297, Koroja 3
There are still 700,000 Astra Militarum troops "loading" in the Facheras system, and the estimated arrival time is two weeks later.
The 300,000 Star Army soldiers who had already arrived disembarked one after another at the Angry Owl Star Port.
The starport of Angry Owl is still small in scale, and the overall personnel throughput is not very good.
In addition, the journey from the ground part of the star port, Scarro City, to the Western Desert front by car is thousands of kilometers.
Even though there were paved roads along the way when the alliance was carrying out large-scale infrastructure construction, and there were sufficient logistical supplies along the way, the speed was not slow, but it still took a relatively long time for 300,000 troops to arrive at the deployment locations one after another.
Two weeks on, they are just getting into position.
While waiting for them to get into position, it was time for the seven divisions of the Angry Bear Legion to leave.
According to the transfer order from the Dragon Eagle Command, they had to leave now.
The transport ships of Gu's Trading Company that transported the 3rd Dragon Eagle Legion to the Angry Owl Star are still staying in the port of the Angry Owl Star System.
In fact, on the way here, they received a new order: to transport seven divisions of the Angry Bear Legion, totaling 77,000 people, from the Angry Owl Star to Koroga 3.
That's right on the way.
Gu Hang will go too.
The transfer order from the Astra Militarum Command did not contain any information related to him, so he could choose not to go. However, after a phone call with his mother, he realized that the opportunity he wanted came faster than he expected.
After leaving the Angry Owl Star, Gallardo will make a short stop at the Winged Star to meet some people, and then go to Koroga 3 under the pretext of "inspecting the spread of the Chaos Plague".
Of course, he was not that kind-hearted. In fact, it was not his responsibility as the Apostle of War to resolve the Chaos Plague and quell the Chaos Rebellion.
He went there to make money.
Koroja 3 is suffering. According to the current situation, the plague is unstoppable in a hive city on Koroja that covers a billion people. It has almost become a occupied area, and a large number of planetary defense forces are fighting in it. Rebels and plague zombies are emerging there in an endless stream.
If we use all the power of the planet, it is impossible that we cannot suppress it. Koroja is a huge planet with a population of 40 billion.
However, they did not dare to withdraw too many manpower from other hives to support the areas infected by the Chaos Plague.
What if other nests have problems?
In fact, there have already been sporadic reports of infection in other hives. And with the mobility of Koroja 3, if one report appeared in the open, then secretly, in the lower levels of the hive, the number of infected people must be a hundred times the number of reports.
Even the government of the planet Koroja 3 is considering an extermination strike against the infected city.
This is just a proposal for now and is still in the discussion stage, and there are many opponents.
A billion people, can they just give up? Are you kidding me!
Even if he is not a human being, based on pure profit calculation, this is 5 billion tax coins!
From these angles, it can be seen that the current predicament faced by Koroja 3 is really not small.
As for the bystanders, some watched the joke, some felt sympathy, and some worried that the situation there would deteriorate and cause even greater troubles...
But there are also people who will use disasters as bargaining chips, not only not providing help, but also gaining benefits.
Like Gallardo.
This guy came here because he smelled the fishy smell.
He went there under the pretext of 'inspecting the spread of the Chaos Plague', but in reality, he was planning to get the sector chief and Governor Koroja to pay a large sum of 'money'.
This money is used to buy 'peace'.
If they don't buy it, he will cause trouble for these two people by allowing chaos to spread and failing to do their job.
Chaos corruption is a big deal in the Empire. Generally speaking, if the planetary governor can suppress it himself and it doesn't get to the higher-ups, then everything will be fine. If it gets to the higher-ups and attracts attention, the planetary governor may be removed from office - especially if a senior official comes.
Gallardo did not have the power to remove a planetary governor, but he could use this leverage to make things worse.
Especially after hearing the proposal that the Koroga government intended to exterminate the hive city at the cost of sacrificing one billion people, Gallardo felt like he had found a treasure. He took this as a key handle, stood on the moral high ground, and angrily denounced the Koroga government for not taking the lives of the people of the empire seriously.
Ms. Wang Qi also repeated Gallardo's original words to Gu Hang:
"That's a billion people! I don't know how you can even say that!"
Gu Hang didn't believe that Gallardo really cared that much about human life, but there was no doubt that this became his most advantageous weapon of attack.
If the situation continues like this, everyone from Chief Pedes to Governor Koroja will be in trouble if they don't give a satisfactory answer.
The "discussion" that Gallardo was going to hold on Koroja 3 was a stage. He widely invited all the important figures in the Pegasus region, and they would be the audience to watch a play in which Gallardo played the leading role.
If Pedes and Governor Koroja comply, then this will be a serious meeting for the superiors to inspect and guide the work; if they do not comply, then this will become a trial in which the war apostles criticize the local officials for dereliction of duty and malfeasance.
Of course, the Gu family also received the invitation letter and sincerely invited Gu Hang and Wang Qi, mother and son, to attend.
Combined with what happened before, Gu Hang would understand it as Gallardo was demonstrating to them.
"I can easily control the leader and the governor of the largest planet, but I haven't done anything ruthless to your Gu family yet. Don't be ungrateful."
Originally, Wang Qi advised her son not to come and let her handle it.
But Gu Hang decided to go.
If you want to die, don't blame me.
…
Before leaving, there are some things on the Angry Owl Star that need to be explained.
Regarding government affairs, he talked with Ossena for a long time; regarding public security and stability maintenance, Lambert had to lead the Public Security Police Station; regarding military affairs, Yan Fangxu and Thadius would be responsible.
After giving them some instructions, Gu Hang left.
He estimated that this trip would take at least a month.
He still had a lot of confidence in the alliance government system that he had established. After he left, it would be no problem for them to maintain it for a few months without any problems.
The only thing that worries me is the war on the Western Front.
Although a large number of interstellar troops will come to support us, it may not be all good news.
He already knew that the commander of the Star Army who came here was an Imperial Major General.
With a high military rank and being a member of the Astra Militarum, he has a natural identity advantage over the planetary defense force.
If the major general does his job properly, there will be no problem, but what we are afraid of is that he will cause trouble.
However, Gu Hang was also prepared for this matter.
He just hoped that his preparations would not be needed.
After all, the other party came to help, and it was not Gu Hang's intention to create any conflicts. It would be best if he could smoothly rely on superior forces to flatten the Blackbird Heavy Industry in the west of the continent.
For this purpose, he even contacted Ye Lisia once.
Logically speaking, after completing the first installment of the imperial tax on the Angry Owl Star, Ye Licia and her ships should have left.
The original order she received was to stay in the orbit of the Angry Owl Star for two years.
The two-year period was up and it was time for her to leave.
But at Gu Hang's request and the fact that the new order from the Tianma Fleet Command had not yet come down, Ye Licia considered it and finally agreed to Gu Hang's request.
…
Nine days later, Koroja 3, named Yancheng.
This is the largest hive city on Koroja, home to three billion people.
It is a huge, honeycomb-like structure. The lower part almost hollows out the earth; the upper part is a huge multi-layered structure that reaches into the sky.
Before seeing it with his own eyes, Gu Hang always found it hard to believe how one city could accommodate three billion people.
He knows now.
Then it would really be like a bee or an ant.
People are crowded in it, and most of the hive residents may never see the sun in their lives. They live in the hive and work hard just to earn a little corpse starch and water for survival;
Some of them don't even have jobs. The local demand and productivity of Korojia can't provide so many jobs. The better ones like these join gangs, gather together for warmth, make a living by doing dirty work or exploiting others; some become unemployed vagrants, relying on a little government relief, doing odd jobs, barely avoiding starvation, trying hard to survive, and hoping that one day they will be selected to become the empire's tax and be handed over.
This is the original intention of the Koroja government in providing relief.
One population has 5 tax coins.
If we use the pure standard of not starving people to death to feed them, 5 tax coins can feed a person for 50 years - of course, if 0.1 tax coins are consumed per year, then most people cannot live that long. Long-term malnutrition, disease, bad social environment, accidents... can easily kill a person.
But what does it matter? Just keep the poorest from starving to death for a while, and then use them to pay taxes.
The largest output and tax-paying industry in Koroja is its population.
They really can treat people like pigs - even easier to treat than pigs.
After all, meat pigs cannot work, but humans can be thrown into factories to be exploited as child laborers a few years after birth, not to mention adults.
Mingyancheng is such a place.
But the city is not without its good points.
At the top of the city, the upper class lives a life of luxury. The huge glass cover filter makes the sunlight that leaks through the damaged atmosphere not only non-lethal, but warm and comfortable; the blazing storm sweeping the sand and dust will also be filtered and turned into a relaxing breeze; the burning incense, with its fragrance, sweeps across the entire upper area.
Apart from the severe shortage of water resources, which makes it difficult to grow too many green plants, this place is just like a garden.
And a grand banquet was held here.
Gu Hang stood in the 'open-air' parliament hall, gazing at the huge and gentle star in the sky for a long time.
And beside him, his mother was talking to Pei Desi.
In Gu Hang's impression, Pei Desi was always well-dressed, meticulous, decent, reserved and calm, with a certain kind of graceful nobility.
But today, although he was still dressed elegantly, he could not hide the red bloodshot in his eyes, and even more so the slight hoarseness in his voice.
Pedes asked, "Are you really going to sell the boat?"
"Yes." Wang Qi said with a wry smile, "Otherwise, how can we feed the absurd appetite of the War Apostle?"
"We shouldn't let him do whatever he wants. He's treating all of us like fat sheep to be slaughtered!"
"Yeah, I think so too. Why don't you take the lead, Chief Pedes?"
"......Alas." Pei Desi sighed deeply.
The two chatted for a few more words, and then the sector leader took his leave and went to talk to other people.
Gu Hang came back to his senses and said, "It seems that the news we released about selling ships and raising money to surrender should be credible enough. At least Pei Desi believed it."
Wang Qi took a sip of the wine in his hand and patted his son beside him: "We really want to sell the boat to raise money. We can't go against Gallardo. There is no benefit, only disadvantage."
Gu Hang didn't explain any further.
He didn't tell his mother about his plans.
In fact, he didn't tell anyone.
This matter must be kept completely confidential. It's not that I can't trust others, but there are too many ways to get certain information in this universe.
He just told Wang Qi that he did not intend to give in as Gallardo wished, at most he would just release some news of giving in to ease some of the pressure, and it would be best if he could delay until Gallardo had satisfied his appetite and left somewhere else in the Pegasus Star Region. After all, this guy did not have time to mess around in one star region for too long.
But obviously Wang Qi had different ideas.
She sighed and said, "Gallardo will indeed leave soon, but he is just gone, not dead. If he wants to maintain his deterrent power, he will not let go of anyone who disobeys him. As long as he is in power, even if he leaves, he will have countless ways to target us. Even the leader of Pedes has to give in, what can we do? Three hundred million... just give it."
When she said the latter sentence, she seemed to be gritting her teeth, and it was obvious that her heart was bleeding.
Gu Hang nodded absentmindedly, and suddenly his eyes fixed on the man who walked out from the backstage with a bright smile.
Not only Gu Hang, but everyone's attention was attracted by his appearance.
Is this his charm?
This is the charm of power.
He stood in the center of the stage, picked up the microphone, coughed twice, and his smile gradually faded, turning into calm and seriousness.
After everyone quieted down, he said: "We are facing a disaster."
"This disaster not only happened in Koroja and the Wrathful Owl Star, but also happened in every part of the empire."
"Glorious and great human beings have struggled to survive throughout the universe for countless years."
"Our people, with the blood of countless heroes and with absolutely fearless great sacrifices, under the leadership of the God-Emperor, established our empire and secured a place for survival in this dark and terrifying universe."
"But danger never goes away. Abyss demons, Chaos traitors, aliens, intelligent iron men... always threaten our survival."
"The great Sun Lord launched the largest crusade since the Emperor founded the Empire. The stars and the sea all submitted to the glory of the Sun Lord."
"This is a great era. The empire's territory is expanding every day. Countless worlds that have fallen into darkness have returned to the embrace of the empire and are bathed in the glory of the God-Emperor."
"I deeply feel the contribution of every citizen of the empire. It is hard, but also glorious."
"Chief Pedes and Governor Akuna have set an outstanding example!"
"I believe that under their leadership, Koroja will surely defeat those Chaos traitors and let the bright sunshine shine upon every corner of this world again!"
…
Hearing this, Gu Hang knew that Chief Pedes and Governor Ramiro Acuna of Corroca had indeed given in. Gallardo chose the one that praised him from the two manuscripts he had prepared.
But to Gu Hang, these don’t matter.
He raised his head again and looked at the sun.
An inconspicuous black shadow suddenly appeared.
A slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
It's finally here.
That's a dragon.
————
4.4k!
(End of this chapter)
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