…
On the return journey aboard Yelisia’s starship, Gu Hang didn’t forget to communicate with Pei Desi.
Although he had started to view Pei Desi as a potential rival, a stumbling block to further expanding his influence in the future.
But for now, Pei Desi was still someone he needed to please.
At the moment, Gu Hang still wasn’t able to directly challenge the Star Sector leader, and he even required a lot of help from him.
The licking must be done.
The moment the communication connected, Gu Hang could tell from the tone of the person on the other end, Star Sector Head Pei Desi, that all was not well:
“Ah, Gu Hang, you’re really something,” Pei Desi’s face appeared in front of Gu Hang, wearing a smile that still had a distinctly icy undertone, “I’m quite curious, why did you leave Nes Luman alive? Why don’t you just kill him, and then I’ll put in a request for you to take over as Planetary Governor of Heijian Star, how about that?”
Clearly, these were all sarcastic remarks.
Pei Desi’s ridicule was something Gu Hang had expected.
But in reality, Gu Hang wasn’t all that nervous.
As long as the call was answered, it meant that things weren’t too bad.
Of course, even though he wasn’t nervous inside, Gu Hang still put on a sincerely fearful expression: “Mr. Head, I made this call because I was worried you might misunderstand. Please believe that I have absolutely no intention of taking on the role of Planetary Governor for two planets.”
“Ha, your troops are already stationed on Heijian Star, how am I supposed to believe that?”
“I need to maintain the stability of Heijian Star,” Gu Hang said, “My mother has made it clear to me that I must leave a contingent of troops there, after all, Heijian Star remains a core trading partner of the Gu Family.”
Blaming it on his mother was something he had discussed with Wang Qi. He didn’t expect it to fully deflect the issue, but at least it was an excuse.
Pei Desi didn’t care to dwell on this topic and directly stated his demands: “You must withdraw your troops and your influence from Heijian Star. Heijian Star must maintain their traditions, the King’s Council must remain. The Star Sector Government will set up a branch office on Heijian Star to oversee the King’s Council as they select their own Planetary Governor.”
“Fine.”
“Hmm?” Pei Desi was somewhat surprised now.
So readily agreed?
He was indeed quite unhappy. He had authorized the Blade Tiger, carrying the troops of Rage Owl Star, to go to Heijian Star under the identity of the Imperial Navy to coerce both sides into a ceasefire, allowing Gu Hang to rescue his mother. It was a bold stance he had taken during the power struggle within the Gu Family.
But his authorization was only supposed to enable Gu Hang to save his mother.
He hadn’t imagined that in less than two years, not only had Rage Owl Star developed nicely, but a detachment sent out was also able to completely topple a kingdom on enemy turf.
Even more unexpected was the fact that Gu Hang’s forces managed to gain the support of over a dozen interstellar warriors!
All this had made him increasingly wary.
In his view, since Gu Hang had already devoured the Luman Kingdom, there was no way he would easily regurgitate it.
Once the rice was cooked, one couldn’t just simply withdraw the troops, could they?
He was ready to have a proper negotiation with the Gu Family over this matter.
Yet to his surprise, Gu Hang had easily agreed to his demand for withdrawal.
This made him wonder: Had he misunderstood this young man?
Setting that thought aside, he figured, as long as Rage Owl Star’s troops withdrew, they should no longer be able to maintain influence over Heijian Star.
As for the Gu Family’s commercial impact on Heijian Star, that wasn’t a problem at all. It had always been there; it couldn’t just be taken away.
Overall, Pei Desi was fairly satisfied with the attitude Gu Hang had shown.
His tone softened a great deal as a result.
The two further discussed the details of the troop withdrawal.
Gu Hang expressed his willingness to withdraw, however, withdrawal wasn’t something that could be done at a moment’s notice.
With the military force of the Luman Kingdom depleted, Rage Owl Star’s troops needed to remain there for a while to maintain order in the nation, preventing any major shifts in the balance of the seven states of Heijian Star and suppressing the ambitions of the other six states.
Gu Hang promised that the number of troops stationed on Heijian Star would not exceed fifty thousand; the related withdrawal efforts would be progressively completed over the following two years, and his forces would gradually depart from Heijian Star. He assured that by the time of Heijian Star’s next King’s Council election for a new Planetary Governor, his forces would be completely withdrawn.
However, the substantial losses suffered by the Gu Family on Heijian Star would need to be compensated by the Luman Kingdom through yearly wartime reparation payments.
These conditions were all within the acceptable range for Pei Desi.
As long as the military forces of Rage Owl Star withdrew from Heijian Star before the next King’s Council election, ensuring that the election would not be manipulated by military influence and that Heijian Star would not fall into Gu Hang’s hands, he could accept it.
To ensure this, the institutions dispatched by the Star Sector Government would replace him in supervising everything.
As for the reparations the Luman Kingdom had to pay to the Gu Family, that was no concern of Pei Desi’s.
It was only right.
The conversation between the two men became increasingly harmonious as it progressed.
By the end, Pei Desi even felt he had gained from the exchange.
He originally had little involvement with Heijian Star, but now the Star Sector Government he led could dispatch agencies to this planet to supervise the election of the Planetary Governor in the name of “respecting tradition,” giving him a chance to intervene.
It was a good deal, indeed.
Pei Desi’s face remained smiling even as the communication ended, only reminding Gu Hang to remember their prior agreement to drive the Fatches Family’s forces off Rage Owl Star before he terminated the call.
After the communication ended, Gu Hang’s face also maintained a smile.
“Withdraw forces within two years… No problem. By then, the Luman Kingdom’s own military should have been rebuilt. In two years’ time, it is uncertain if the unification of Heijian Star would be feasible, but securing the ability to firmly hold the Planetary Governorship, that is certainly doable,”
“An independent and self-reliant Luman Kingdom… Tsk tsk.”
Gu Hang thought to himself.
He did not mind at all if the future Planetary Governor of Heijian Star was selected fairly through the King’s Council.
Upon his return, he would send a large number of agricultural machines, some government officials, and a few military experts to Heijian Star to “assist” the Luman Kingdom in rebuilding their homeland, upgrading their agricultural industry, and training their armed forces.
Gu Hang had seen before in the [Soldier Token] system that as long as one-tenth of a military unit was made up of indigenous population, with the remaining ninety percent being subjects of vassal states, it would suffice.
He was going to properly train an outstanding military force for the Luman Kingdom.
…
After a seven-day space voyage, Gu Hang returned to his main base.
The Blade Tiger docked at the Starport.
This was the first time Gu Hang had seen what his own Starport looked like.
Eight days earlier when he left, this was just a vast construction site.
After completing the ground segment of the Starport, a space station that had been constructed on the surface was launched up via a railgun.
Of course, that space station was not large and far from a Starport. However, a large orbital vessel, upgraded and transformed from the [Wind Falcon Rapid Attack Vessel] technology using the [Star Harbor Technology Blueprint], quickly transported personnel and engineering machinery to the space station through magnetic rail corridors.
After that, containers of components made on the ground were launched up; workers in specialized spacesuits, under the gravity effects provided by anti-gravity engines, steered the engineering machines, smoothly assembling those terrestrial-produced components in space.
Now, it was beginning to take shape.
Of course, compared to a Starport’s standards, it was too small and basic, with limited capabilities and services. This entire Starport was actually not as large as the Blade Tiger itself.
But at least it now provided a boarding bridge and a space station capable of accommodating a thousand individuals.
Once the Blade Tiger was docked with the boarding bridge, soldiers could directly walk on the floor, drive tanks from the bridge down into Rage Owl Star Port, and then take multiple orbital shuttle trips away from the Starport to the opposite side.
This operation speed was much faster than using landing craft trip by trip.
Looking at the Starport, though still small and rudimentary, Gu Hang felt a surge of pride.
He could almost see the future vision of it being wrapped in armor, bristling with guns, equipped with a shipyard, and turning into a Star Fortress stronghold!