Chapter 489: If you can't play the game well, you'll die
Ou Juren wanted to work on the "Iron Fury Stone", and Gu Hang thought it was natural.
This is consistent with their centralized political philosophy.
At the same time, after Gu Hang came to Holy Terra, he found that working for the Iron Fury Stone also had huge political dividends. Someone was able to rise to prominence by "suppressing" a rebellion a hundred years ago, so a hundred years later, of course, someone could quell a rebellion and gain great merit.
In fact, this was not just a push by Ou Juren, Gallardo and the others. Gu Hang believed that the "multi-party" they mentioned was true.
Behind the scenes, the shadow of the Imperial Prime Minister cannot be ignored.
After the death of the Sun Lord, the current Prime Minister, named Qi Bo Du, is theoretically the highest-ranking person in the Empire. The position of Prime Minister is not only one of the thirteen High Lords, but also the highest person in charge of the Imperial Government. The four Prime Ministers all have to report to him.
Once the Iron Fury Stone is destroyed, the Silver Tribunal will either stand on the wrong side and die, or even if it stands on the right side it will inevitably suffer heavy losses. Ou Juren can take over many of the powers of the Ministry of Justice that overlap with the Tribunal in multiple universes throughout the East.
At the same time, Norberto, the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs who rose to prominence thanks to the Bauhinia Rebellion, will also be liquidated, and his entire faction may even be uprooted.
The large number of vacant positions were the spoils that the factions involved could fight for. Among them, the most dazzling one was the position of Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs, which Gallardo coveted.
There is a bright future for everyone, all they need is for Iron Rage Stone, Silver Tribunal and Norberto to contribute.
But their fate was their own fault. The expansion and arrogance of Iron Fury Stone was really too outrageous.
In this matter, Gu Hang is just a pawn, a knife in the hands of the "big guys" who are playing the game behind him.
The huge benefits were taken away by them, but you are the one who has to risk your life?
Gu Hang didn't feel too unbalanced.
First of all, he would not be, nor would he be willing to be, the first line in the fight against the Iron Armored Legion.
Fighting Fury Flame and Fighting Iron Armor are two different things.
Entering the Princess Star Domain, which is managed like an iron barrel, to face potentially tens of thousands of Space Marines, and billions of auxiliary troops who are specially trained to cooperate with the Space Marines in combat?
Gu Hang definitely won’t do that.
According to intelligence from all sides, the Iron Armor's auxiliary army may be even stronger than the Imperial Star Army. In terms of the navy, the light side has 18 battleships and 3 Zhuge-class space aircraft carriers, which are extremely powerful.
The current alliance, fight with the head?
However, they couldn't start the fight against the Iron Rage Stone right away. The leaders of Holy Terra still needed time to unify their thoughts, eliminate the protective umbrella of the Iron Rage Stone, and mobilize their forces to prepare for war.
Perhaps the alliance’s army will be one of the participants in the war, but it should not be the main force, and Gu Hang is not willing to be the main force.
You have to pay extra.
However, the first to open fire should be the Alliance.
In the secret meeting, after Gu Hang said "it is my duty", Ou Juren and Gallardo had already made it clear that before taking action against the Iron Fury Stone, they had to eliminate the Fury Flame first.
It just so happens that their main force, at least the main force on the surface, is in the Dragon Eagle Star Region.
It just so happens that they are fighting against the Alliance.
It just so happens that they have ready-made charges of "manipulating the star domain government" and "fabricating evidence to slander the loyal officials of the empire".
Killing Nuyan was indeed a duty-bound task for Gu Hang, and he would do it even without being paid.
What's more, they pay for it.
Everything else can be ignored. The alliance has been formalized and recognized by higher levels. It is no longer the temporary regime created by Gallardo before. Its legitimacy has increased immediately.
At least, no one would be able to cause him trouble in this regard in the future—unless the imperial central government issued a decree to terminate his position.
If this situation really happened, either Gu Hang had a falling out with the political faction of Ou Juren and Gallardo, or this political faction was overthrown by someone.
At present, it should not be the case.
At this point, Gu Hang’s goal of coming to Holy Terra this time has almost been achieved.
All that remains is to wait patiently for the marshal awarding ceremony in due course.
After that, he could return home with his marshal's baton and beat up Fury.
…
The marshal's investiture ceremony was grand and prepared very quickly.
The main reason is that, although the number of Imperial Marshals is small, it is actually quite large. In each space region, including the navy and the Star Army, there are at least two or three, and at most five or six. In some key areas, there may be more. In the entire empire, there are still three to five hundred marshals.
Don't think it's a lot, this is relative to the empire's infinite territory, infinite population, and infinite army. In proportion, it is quite rare.
At the very least, the status of a single marshal is no worse than that of a senior member of one of the four major ministries of the empire.
Moreover, most of these marshals had military merits, so a special and grand awarding ceremony was justified.
The grand ceremony was so grand yet it was prepared so quickly, that was naturally because there was a special team in Holy Terra to take charge of this task. There was a special magnificent building in the Terra Palace: the 'Star Tower', which was built for this purpose.
All necessary matters have been prepared long ago. Even if necessary, this set of things can be taken out immediately and arranged quickly.
Today, Gu Hang has put on a full set of marshal uniforms. The bright red gorgeous and solemn military uniform, paired with black boots and white pants, many medals on the chest, a ceremonial ribbon across the torso, and golden tassels and ribbons, embellishing the uniform with great complexity.
Gu Hang has become accustomed to similar clothing.
As the supreme leader of the alliance, he had to dress like this when attending many formal occasions.
Whether he likes it or not.
Sitting on the hovercraft heading to the 'Jiangxingtai', the speed is not fast and it will take a while to arrive.
Gu Hang began to think about the process of becoming a marshal.
Despite Ou Juren's assurance, the matter actually had some twists and turns in the past few days.
According to Gallardo, his superior, the Prime Minister of War, Mr. Norberto, strongly opposed this matter with a very fierce attitude.
Norberto gave Gu Hang the title of Imperial Marshal because he had little experience, had never truly led a proper interstellar army, had never fought for the interstellar army, was just a local force, and even a warlord whose legitimacy was questionable. It was simply a joke!
If even someone like Gu Hang can be given the title of Marshal of the Star Army, then what do those veterans in the Star Army who have remained at the level of general for who knows how many years and have fought in countless battlefields across the entire empire think?
In a way, what he said makes sense.
Compared to most of the Star Army generals, who fought in many battles and led their troops for countless years, they only got the rank of general or general. The war that Gu Hang participated in was limited to one star field and one war. Although his contribution was very great, was he really worthy of the rank of a Star Army marshal?
That is definitely not enough.
If Gu Hang was really a pure Star Army general, his achievements would at most allow him to be promoted from admiral to general, but not more. If he was a general, then at most he would be given an honorary rank.
And now, Gu Hang's military rank will be promoted directly from lieutenant general to marshal.
Gu Hang did not deny this.
But he certainly deserves it.
His rank of marshal and his military achievements are only a small part of it. What is more important is the strength he possesses.
This is different from the Astra Militarum generals, whose power comes from the Empire. If the central government of the Empire, such as the Ministry of Military Affairs or the Central Command of the Astra Militarum, thinks you are no longer suitable and removes you, then you will have no power left. But Gu Hang is different, because he has actual power and can command billions of allied troops that have reached the level of the Astra Militarum Army, as well as tens of billions of defense troops, the Empire needs to posthumously recognize him before he can be named Marshal.
The nature of the two is completely different. If the empire removes Gu Hang's position as marshal one day, it will not have any impact on Gu Hang's command of the army.
So Gu Hang would not feel guilty about this.
Doesn’t the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs understand this principle?
Yes, he understands it very well.
But because of this, we must oppose it.
Now that you have the 'reality' and then give it the 'name', won't you be able to ascend to heaven?
Or hostile elements.
Of course he would oppose it to the death.
The awarding of the title of marshal could not avoid the Prime Minister of Military Affairs.
This matter was even brought to the attention of the Supreme Council.
In the Supreme Council, according to Gallardo, after a fierce debate, everyone finally passed the proposal to promote Gu Hang to marshal with six votes in favor, four abstentions and three votes against.
It is quite rare for the awarding of the title of marshal to be put to a vote in the Supreme Council.
Gu Hang carefully asked about the composition of these thirteen votes.
Those who voted in favor were: the Imperial Prime Minister, the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Justice, the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Taxation, the representative of the State Religion, the Supreme Marshal of the Imperial Navy, and the representative of the Space Marines.
The four who abstained from voting were: the Prime Minister of the Executive Yuan, the Supreme Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition, the Martian representative of the Mechanicum, and the representative of the Chairman of the Provence Space Domain.
The three who voted against it were: the Prime Minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs, the Supreme Marshal of the Imperial Guard, and the representative of the Chairman of the Star-Swallowing Universe in the Northern Frontier.
From these compositions, Gu Hang could roughly get a glimpse of the attitudes of the major forces in the central empire towards dealing with the "Iron Rage Stone" issue.
Speaking of this, we have to mention the source of these seats in the Supreme Council.
There are indeed only thirteen seats in the Supreme Council, but there are actually more than twenty types. Some seats are fixed, and although there is no clear stipulation, they are always there, such as the Prime Minister of the Empire, the representative of Mars, the representative of the State Church, the representative of the Inquisition, and so on.
But there are relatively few such seats. Most of them are representatives of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, the four prime ministers of the government, representatives of Space Marines, and representatives of Psychic Orders. Sometimes they are there, and sometimes they are not.
Regardless of whether it is a fixed seat or a non-fixed seat, if one can occupy one of the thirteen seats, it must be because of his/her strong strength. Only when one has strength and influence can one get a seat.
Fixed seats must mean that these forces are strong enough and will always be strong; changes in non-fixed seats may reflect the changes in the influence of certain forces.
Those who voted in favor were not necessarily kind to him, and might even be disgusted by Gu Hang's excessive promotion. However, they must be planning to attack the "Iron Fury Stone" next, or they must want to share the benefits of this matter, and have reached a certain tacit understanding of interests with the political factions of Ou Juren, Tang Mili, and Gallardo.
The Space Marine representative is usually a Chapter Master elected by each Grand Chapter when the Space Marines have a seat. The current one is Jerry Earlgangron, the Chapter Master of the Angels of Death. His Chapter was reorganized from the First Legion in the past Legion period and is a founding Chapter.
It is hard to say how much political benefit the Space Marines can gain from this matter, but it is definitely their political will to eliminate guys like Ironclad who seriously affect the reputation of the Space Marines and blatantly violate the regulations of the Space Marine Code.
Space Marines have always been a rather delicate role in the center of the human empire. Their existence makes people love and fear them. They are superhumans created with the Emperor's genes as a template. When the empire was founded, they were led by the Emperor's adopted sons and established this huge country in the form of a legion. But they also tore and almost destroyed the empire after the Emperor ascended because of a great rebellion and mutual opposition.
From then on, the Space Marines were subject to various restrictions in the Space Marine Codex and almost withdrew from the central power field of the Empire.
Of course the major war groups would be disgusted when they encounter something like Iron Armor that ruins everything and ruins the overall situation.
The Prime Minister of the Taxation Department and the State Religion are similar. You, Iron Armor, have made up all the taxes for the several star regions you have occupied, and I pay them based on my mood. So what should I do? You don't allow me to preach, and you have a big conflict with my church, and even drove away the clergy. So far, the churches in the Princess Star Region are all wrong, and they are still being demolished. Their attitude towards the State Religion is far worse than that of the Alliance.
The other votes in favor were basically those who wanted to gain benefits from this matter, such as Imperial Prime Minister Qi Bodu, Minister of Justice Ou Juren, and the Imperial Navy.
Those who abstained from voting probably had nothing to do with the matter, such as the President of the Provence Region.
In addition to the Supreme Council, there is another parliament with a strong presence in the empire, that is the Presidium Council. The entire committee is composed of more than 50 cosmic domain chairmen of the empire, representing the largest collection of local forces. They will select some members to become one of the high lords. The specific number of seats depends on the situation at the time. There are two in this session.
Of course, like the Space Marines, these Domain Presidents or Chapter Masters cannot personally perform the duties of High Lords on Holy Terra, so they will send people to represent them.
The Provence region is located in the western border of the empire and has nothing to do with the eastern border of the empire, so it simply gave up.
The same is true for the Mars representative and the Executive Yuan.
The Inquisition has to say that it is true that the Silver Inquisition stands on the side of 'Iron Fury Stone', but the Inquisition is a fragmented organization. For example, the Inquisition is very dissatisfied with the behavior of the Iron Armor Chapter; and there is also the Inquisition of Internal Affairs, a faction that specializes in supervising the Inquisitors. It is also investigating many of the Silver Inquisition's cross-border behaviors and secretly wants to make a big news.
The chaotic and loose internal structure makes it impossible for the Supreme Judge to express a clear position.
Among the three opposing parties, Norberto naturally needs no introduction. He is the big fish that is about to be eaten and he must resist.
The Supreme Marshal of the Star Army would not stand on the side of the Iron Fury Stone. He just needed this vote of dissent to express his position to the countless marshals and generals under his command. Otherwise, it would be bad if Gu Hang, who had never been in the Star Army system, became the Marshal of the Star Army without even saying a word.
However, Gallardo also told Gu Hang that this was just a statement, and in fact, they had communicated privately. The Supreme Marshal would not really stop it.
However, the attitude of the chairman of the Star-Swallowing Universe is worth pondering. They are not far from the Spider Web Universe and have a certain relationship with the 'Iron Rage Stone', but is the relationship good enough to support the Iron Rage Stone?
Gu Hang analyzed that maybe they didn't want to fight a big war.
If a war breaks out, their Devouring Star Region might be part of the front line, and a large amount of resources will have to be requisitioned from the local area. If the Iron Armored Regiment strikes first, the main force of the empire may not have assembled yet, and the Devouring Star Region might suffer.
But his attitude doesn't matter.
Three votes against can no longer stop the overall situation.
Gu Hang's formal procedures for becoming the Imperial Marshal were also completed, and they were quite strict: approved by a vote of the thirteen-member High Lords' Council!
In the entire vast empire, how many things can be brought to a vote in this parliament?
There are so few! And each one is a big deal!
Ordinary marshals don't have this kind of treatment. It only needs approval from the Military Affairs Department, the Navy, or the Astra Militarum.
Marshal Gu Hang also has his own embarrassing moments.
The only two departments that should have the most influence, the Military Affairs Department and the Supreme Marshal of the Astra Militarum, were opposed to his taking the position.
However, Gallardo also conveyed one thing: during the inauguration ceremony, the Supreme Marshal of the Astra Militarum would be present to personally award the titles.
After expressing his position, he had already explained to his subordinates: This is the decision of the highest authority in the empire, and there is nothing I can do about it.
Then I can happily deal with Gu Hang, the upstart.
Gu Hang expressed full understanding of this.
Norberto, who was supposed to attend, would definitely not come. Of the two deputy prime ministers, Wang Suan, former chairman of the Eastern Universe and deputy prime minister of the Ministry of Military Affairs, has already retired. It is said that he is seriously ill and may only have one or two years left to live. The other deputy prime minister is Norberto's confidant and will not come either. But Gallardo will come, and his status as executive minister is barely enough.
…
While he was thinking, the tall General Star Platform appeared before his eyes.
Will be at the scene soon.
Finally, with the help of a waiter in the same car, Gu Hang tidied up his instrument to make sure everything was fine.
However, at this moment, Gu Hang's heart tightened and he suddenly felt a palpitation.
He sensed a great danger, and his spiritual madness was warning him.
He instinctively opened his psychic shield, however, the black stone bracelet on his wrist suppressed his psychic power.
But he didn't hesitate at all.
Although the consequences would be somewhat troublesome, he still called out to tear open a small rift in the subspace.
Of course, he chose to believe his own spiritual warnings, and no matter how serious the consequences were, they would not be worse than his own death.
It is very difficult to tear open the warp rift. The Terra Palace is obviously a place that seriously rejects the power of the warp, and Gu Hang's psychic power is also suppressed by the Blackstone Bracelet.
But just a tiny subspace crack was enough to give him a certain boost, allowing his psychic power, which was already close to the threshold, to exceed the limit of the Blackstone Bracelet.
The black stone bracelet shattered, and a psychic shield appeared on Gu Hang's body.
The next moment, the car window broke and a bullet shot towards Gu Hang's head.
The bullet was captured by his psychic power and stopped less than three centimeters away from his temple.
He used his psychic power to gently move the bullet in front of his eyes.
This is a bullet about the length of a palm and the thickness of a thumb. The bullet head is made of some kind of copper-green metal, and the tail is a complex mechanical device that supports a transparent tube with some green liquid inside.
Gu Hang had no doubt that if the bullet hit him, he would be dead.
In fact, this sniper bullet that came from nowhere put him under tremendous pressure.
This was no ordinary sniping. After breaking free from the Black Stone Bracelet, with the power of the subspace, his psychic strength suddenly reached the Alpha level. Conventional sniper rifles could not possibly break through his defenses.
A term flashed through Gu Hang's mind:
Assassin's Court.
This is a mysterious organization within the Empire, and as the name suggests, they specialize in assassinations. Most of their assassination targets are disloyal elements within the Empire; a few times they will assassinate aliens or leaders of Chaos.
They act in secret, and anyone in the Empire, including the High Lords of Terra, could die suddenly at any time, with varying causes. Whenever these things happen, it's probably the Assassin's Court doing the work.
All the assassins in the Assassin's Court have unique skills and have undergone a lot of biological enhancement modifications. In addition, since the Assassin's Court has special permission to "use any means or tools to complete the task", they always have various black technologies or alien equipment in their hands.
This bullet, and the gun that fired it, were most likely one of those items, with a strong penetrating effect on both psychic protection and physical armor, and containing a deadly poison.
If Gu Hang's psychic power was a little weaker, not reaching the Alpha level; if he had hesitated just now because he was worried that tearing open the subspace and releasing his power would cause uncontrollable consequences; if he had doubted his spiritual warning for a moment... he would be a dead man now.
However, the crisis is not completely over yet.
The driver of the hovercraft stopped the car in panic and tried to land; the same was true for several accompanying cars.
But Gu Hang, who was completely unblocked, could sense multiple strong auras on the ground through his psychic power. And another bullet was fired from a distance.
This time the bullet was not poisonous, but a high-explosive bomb.
The bullet directly caused a violent explosion, blowing the armored hovercraft that Gu Hang was riding into pieces in mid-air.
————
6K!
Still owe 68k
Stayed up too late...
(End of this chapter)
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