Chapter 1002, Complete Restoration
In the sky, the huge flag symbolizing the Imperial Sky Eagle and the simple yet powerful Alliance Thunder Phoenix emblem stood side by side, fluttering in the strong wind.
A huge holographic projection device is pointed directly from the orbiting satellite to the center of the square, synchronously transmitting the scene here to every corner of Terra, and in the future it will be transmitted to every galaxy in the empire.
This moment is destined to go down in history.
Atop the platform sat the core power and might of the old and new empires. The solemn and awe-inspiring Ten Thousand Guards stood on either side, like a historical monument. Blood Angel Dante, representatives of the major chapters, the Cardinals of the Ecclesiarchy, high-ranking officials of the Inquisition, and the few surviving and loyal members of the High Lords' families...
Without exception, everyone's attention was focused on the forefront of the platform.
Robert, the Imperial Regent. His exquisitely crafted blue-gold power armor, weathered by millennia of war, gleamed in the sunlight.
When Terra's ancient, restored giant clock struck its twelfth long chime, the entire Newborn Square, as well as the empire's territory connected by radio waves, fell into a breathless silence.
Trillions of eyes, either physical or through images, were focused on this platform.
Robert, the son of God and regent of the empire, took a firm step forward.
"Citizens of the Empire! Guardians of Terra! Those who are rebuilding their homes amidst the rubble of Holy Terra! Warriors standing ready in the fortresses on the front lines of the Imperial Expedition! Compatriots anxiously awaiting the light of dawn in distant star regions! Brave warriors sailing the scarlet scar that separates Order and Chaos! —Please listen, and engrave my voice in your hearts!"
"We have just crossed an abyss! The darkest and most despairing abyss in the history of mankind!"
"Holy Terra, the heart of the Empire, the holy city of humanity, the home of our souls, has endured unprecedented desecration and corruption! The minions of the devil, the hateful traitors, have nearly torn the last bastion of human civilization to smithereens! Hundreds of billions of lives have perished in misery, the palaces that once held glory have been reduced to ruins, and the land that nurtured hope has fallen into a dead silence! This unforgettable pain, this deep-rooted shame, will be forever etched in the depths of the Empire's soul!"
"It warns us that if the foundation of an empire is rotten, even if it has ten thousand years of glory, it will be destroyed in an instant!"
"However, please always remember—that heart still beats! Terra still stands! The Imperium of Man has never surrendered! All this is because of you—because of your courage! Because of your perseverance in the face of despair! Because of your perseverance amidst the ruins!"
"I see mortal soldiers, armed with crude weapons, fighting to the last breath against the plague zombies, fighting for every inch of land behind them! I see nuns and priests, igniting the fire of pure faith, purifying the shadow of despair! I see Space Marines - the Emperor's angels - fighting like towering mountains in the filthy mire, just to protect this land where His Majesty once walked!"
"And finally, I witnessed the heroic torrent from the dark side of the Imperium! They crossed the vast starry sea torn apart by Chaos, rushing to the aid of the Imperial City on the brink of destruction! With iron will and unparalleled spirit of sacrifice, they tore a bloody path for us to final victory! The roar of the Titans of the Alliance, the cold gleam of the blades of the elite mortals, the figures of fearless warriors - their names will be immortalized along with Terra!"
"Their arrival is more than just a reversal on the battlefield. Their efficiency! Their tenacity! Their ability to rebuild order from the ruins! Like the blazing dawn, they have injected Terra's dying pulse! They have proven one thing to us: order can be rebuilt! Hope can be revived! When the entire Imperium abandons stale internal friction, breaks free from its rigid cage, and embraces the path of rebirth, human civilization will surely rise again!"
"The bloated, rigid, inexhaustible bureaucracy of the Old Empire, incapable of responding to crises, is the breeding ground and accelerator of this catastrophe! It has failed the expectations of the Father God-Emperor! It has failed the trust of billions of the people of the Empire! When the shadow of Chaos first appeared, when the Prime Minister's corruption had already sown the seeds of disaster, this huge machine turned a blind eye and even became an accomplice to the spread of corruption! It has proven its own decay and ineffectiveness - it must be changed! It is being changed!"
"Today! We are ushering in a rebirth unprecedented in the history of the Empire! It is the rebirth of the human regime, drawing lessons from the blood of its own failures from the ashes! To this end, the Imperial Regent Throne and the Imperial Prime Minister's Office will jointly exercise supreme authority and establish a Supreme Council representing all loyal forces in the Empire!"
This is the new empire we must build together! An empire that dares to confront historical trauma, bravely admits its mistakes, resolutely reforms, and looks firmly to the future! An empire that remembers the greatness and suffering of the sacrifices, but never wallows in sorrow, and will surely turn grief into the driving force for progress!
"The flame of reconstruction of Holy Terra has been ignited! The blade of the Imperial Crusade has never cooled! Those territories lost in the catastrophe! Those worlds tainted and enslaved by the shadow of Chaos! They call out for the light of order in the darkness! They are waiting for the liberation of the Imperial sword! They are waiting for the protection of the mother's embrace! They are waiting for us to bring them back into the glorious order of human civilization!"
"We will embark on a grand expedition, symbolizing humanity's indomitable spirit. The fleet will depart from Holy Terra, bringing the glory of the New Empire to every inch of the world that deserves the Emperor's light!"
"In the name of the Emperor! In the name of Holy Terra! In the name of all the billions of our fellow men who have perished for this dawn! The flame of human civilization—eternally unquenchable!"
Robert's voice is like an invisible hammer, hitting the depths of the soul of every listener.
After a brief, heart-pounding silence, the entire Xinsheng Square erupted with earth-shaking shouts like a long-accumulated volcano!
Countless shouts of "For the Emperor!", "Long live Terra!", and "Long live the New Empire!" merged into a torrent of emotion.
The guards responded by striking their breastplates with thunderous oaths.
On the high platform, even the most reserved nobles of the Old Empire straightened their backs.
Robert nodded slightly, acknowledging the surging crowd below. Then, with a subtle sense of relief and that familiar, slightly helpless yet gratified "as expected" expression, he calmly took a step back, turned sideways to look at Gu Hang, and simultaneously made a clear, inviting gesture to the holographic projection camera.
The camera captured the moment, and the focus of billions of eyes shifted like a tide.
The gentle and deep smile on Gu Hang's face, like the sea of stars, did not change at all.
He walked calmly forward and stood where Robert had stood. His voice, without any electronic amplification, resounded clearly in everyone's ears, as calm as a stream in a deep valley, yet with an indescribable penetrating power and rational soothing power:
"The Regent gave to our age a definition of power and historical weight—a new Empire."
"But what does 'new' mean?"
"This question tortures us: How can we make our new empire avoid repeating the mistakes of the old empire?"
"The foundation of the new empire does not rely solely on the lofty throne!" Gu Hang's voice suddenly became sonorous and powerful, with a steely conviction, "but rather the millions of people who burn themselves, silently contribute, fight for the future of the entire civilization, safeguard order, and rebuild their homes!"
"Only humans are truly worthy of the praise of long life!"
"So, how should the new empire respond to this glory? How should it safeguard the precious foundation built through this rational sacrifice? His Majesty the Regent has already pointed out the necessity of reform. The core lies in building a mechanism that allows this glory to flourish to the greatest extent possible and maximizes the value of this sacrifice—a governance system that is efficient, transparent, service-oriented, and deeply rooted in the consensus of hundreds of millions of citizens. It must ensure that every ordinary spark can illuminate the path forward, rather than becoming a new shackle."
"Terra's reconstruction process is a testament to the power of this system!"
"Fifteen years ago, post-war Holy Terra was ravaged by corruption and chaos. These were all firsthand experiences of the people. But now, water supply, sewage disposal, energy, medical care, food rationing... these life-sustaining blood vessels are recovering their flow and vitality."
"This isn't a miracle!" His voice was filled with undeniable objectivity. "Engineers, doctors, teachers, technical experts, and civil servants from all over the worlds of the Alliance worked side by side with the local survivors of Terra, day and night, relying on clear goal setting, scientific overall planning, strict execution standards, and selfless dedication to create this miracle."
"This is the most precious 'gift' bestowed upon Holy Terra by the Dark Side of the Empire! It lies not in gold, silver, or riches, but in a model for efficient organization and steady operation that has endured countless battles, even in the deepest despair of human civilization!"
"It lacks the 'red tape' of old traditions, and doesn't conform to some people's imagination of aristocratic 'respectability'... But even amidst the ruins and on the brink of war, it has demonstrated its unparalleled vitality and adaptability!"
"One of the most crucial tasks of the new empire is to thoroughly integrate the core essence of this system—the pursuit of efficiency, the respect for rules and science, and the recognition of the value and dignity of every 'person'—into every inch of the empire's body, reshaping it into an empire completely different from any previous era, truly oriented towards the future!"
"But the new empire needs the entire heartland of Terra, every world that has not yet fallen. We must gather them swiftly and resolutely! Resources! Manpower! Technology! Talent! Faith!—they must be condensed into an indestructible torrent of steel, rushing endlessly towards the territory tainted by darkness!"
"Your Majesty the Regent and I, along with the soon-to-be-formed Supreme Council, will reorganize the Empire's resources with lightning speed to build the most efficient and reliable expeditionary operation system. We will use Terra's rebirth today as the foundation and completely reclaim the light of order and civilization from the clutches of Chaos, inch by inch!"
"This is also the first solemn promise of the new empire: to lay a solid foundation for the survival of mankind - for all mankind! Free us from fear and extinction!" Gu Hang's gaze was like substance, sweeping across every face below, his tone extremely solemn.
"The New Empire's second solemn promise: to guarantee every survivor and every descendant the right to pursue a better life! The fundamental right to be free from fear and want! The right to pursue dignity and happiness in life!"
…
After the grand ceremony, there was a grand military parade and celebrations in various places, which were very lively.
But all this excitement belongs to the people.
In fact, the two leaders of the empire only had a quick encounter during the ceremony and immediately went back to their own business.
Needless to say, Gu Hang has too many things to do.
Sitting in the Kingdom of Storm God, maintaining the Thunder Torch Tower, suppressing the corruption in the entire area that has been occupied by the Alliance; observing the waves of the Warp, witnessing Emperor Laoden trying to repair and calm the scarlet scar bit by bit, and occasionally lending a little effort to help...
As for the affairs of the real world, although there are not many things he needs to deal with directly, he has handed over more work to the Union Government - oh no, it should be called the Imperial Government now.
A series of former Union government officials, including Ossena and Lambert, have now become high-ranking officials of the Empire. The former is the Prime Minister of the Imperial Executive Council, and the latter has become the Prime Minister of the Imperial Ministry of Justice.
To be honest, the current imperial central government is actually the alliance central government.
One team, two sets of brands.
In the future—no, it should be said that in the present—empire affairs are alliance affairs.
All the former power of the old empire will be completely reshuffled as the expedition progresses.
The Alliance's Dark Side Expedition is already doing this.
Next, the scale of the expedition will be further expanded.
That was Robert's job.
He claimed to be the "Regent," but there would likely be no more "political" powers for him to "regent" from now on. His main task at the moment was actually to organize the Imperial Expeditionary Force to launch the "Indomitable Crusade" he had mentioned in his previous declaration.
This unyielding expedition will be divided into three directions.
Head north, from the path of the real universe, towards the infinite universe.
Meanwhile, the Infinite Universe had also assembled an army and was advancing southward. Both sides hoped to achieve a victorious reunion within a few decades.
Going west is the weakest one, and they are basically just exploring the way.
Heading southeast, it is the largest force, and its goal is to strive to merge with the Alliance's own Dark Side Expeditionary Western Front within five years.
The Western Front, led by Yan Fangxu, had already crossed the Scarlet Scar from the Seven Star Corridor decades earlier and launched operations on the Holy Frontier side of the Empire. So far, they were close to conquering another star region and were heading towards Holy Terra.
After the two armies successfully joined forces, it could be basically declared that the area southeast of Holy Terra up to the Scarlet Scar was completely liberated.
Afterwards, the two armies will merge into one, one heading west to launch the real Western Expedition; the other heading south to launch the Southern Expedition.
Combined with the progress of the Dark Side Expedition, we hope to complete the complete recovery of all territories of the empire within a hundred years!
(End of this chapter)
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