Was Galaraldo, this War Apostle, visiting the Tianma Star Sector for a vacation?
Clearly, he was not.
The Solar Expedition Army was in the midst of its vigorous campaign, and as one of the 46 Apostles, Galaraldo was very busy.
In the Solar Expedition Army, an average of 1.5 planets were brought under control daily, and the Sun Lord’s ‘squeezing’ of the entire army was terrifying. He exploited the potential of the whole army to the limit, with every soldier contributing their strength to the utmost.
Not to mention the trust he placed in ‘War Apostles’ – members of the inner circle.
Some of Galaraldo’s colleagues, also War Apostles, independently led their own Expeditionary Forces, with fleets and Star Realm Army, conquering territories across the Star Sea; others were deployed into battle groups, even commanding sprawling battalions of starfighters; some took on additional roles like bishops of the state religion, mobilizing the church’s power, especially the Battle Nuns, to assist the legions in combat…
In the competition for honor and military achievements, Apostles, Marshals, and Generals divided themselves into numerous branches. Upon arriving at a planet, with a grand show of force, those who surrendered were enlisted as Planetary Governors, and the collection of Imperial Taxes would follow, marking the planet as reconquered;
Those who did not surrender faced orbital bombardments that lasted days, destroying military and civilian structures alike, regardless of whether the job was done thoroughly or not, then the army would land and swiftly sweep through, appoint a Planetary Governor, or temporarily find an officer, even a staff officer, to assume the role.
Once this was done, aside from a small contingent left to garrison, the army promptly moved on to the next battlefield.
When encountering civilizations spanning multiple star systems, the conflict tended to last longer. But even against such expansive civilizations, a single space battle, a destructive assault on their capital planet, could sometimes suffice to subdue several, or even a dozen worlds.
Of course, there were battles that dragged on, with the enemy demonstrating particularly fierce resistance. In such cases, more troops would be summoned for reinforcement, and sometimes even nearby Starfighter Battle Groups were called to action. With one or two battle groups, thousands of starfighters, any civilization would be flattened.
Currently, the main legions branched off from the Solar Expedition Army numbered over a dozen, and there were probably hundreds of squadrons operating and fighting simultaneously.
It was this kind of efficiency that fostered a rate of three worlds conquered every two days on average.
And Galaraldo? As a War Apostle, if he wasn’t on the battlefield, what was he doing here?
“His duties are quite important,” Gu Hang listened as his mother’s voice rose, laced with a hint of a sneer, “The grandeur of the Solar Expedition Army requires astronomical amounts of material support.
Even with the Empire’s full backing, the oceans of Imperial Taxes collected from countless worlds, when poured into the bottomless pits that are the Solar Expedition Army and Solaria, still can’t satiate this behemoth.”
“Galaraldo’s duty is to secure new reinforcements for the expeditionary force beyond what is obtained from Imperial Taxes. Over the past decade, he has traveled through many star domains, delivering ship after ship of resources to the expeditionary force, effectively supplementing what the Imperial Taxes couldn’t cover.
Though he does not lead troops directly, according to the Sun Lord, his contribution is ‘equivalent to the might of a billion-strong army.'”
After hearing all this, Gu Hang slowly recovered from the shock of a high-profile individual visiting the Tianma Star Sector.
“So, you mean, this person came here to scrounge up more resources?”
“Yes, but this resource-scrounger isn’t easy to dismiss.”
“Moreover, the situation in the Tianma Star Sector, already on the brink of chaos, is likely to become even more chaotic.”
The mother and son discussed for a while.
As a result, Gu Hang gained a general understanding of the entire backdrop of the coming situation in the Star Sector.
In the coming years, the entire Tianma Star Sector would probably transition from a relatively peaceful state to one of overall turmoil.
But Gu Hang also had a nascent thought:
Chaos presents opportunities.
Continue your saga on empire
If things had remained as they were, with Pei Desi maintaining firm control over the richest and most populous planets in the Star Sector, aligning with the navy, not getting on with the Fatches Family but also not explicitly confronting them, and all planets in a peaceful state…
Gu Hang would have had no other aspirations and would have been content to just farm on Rage Owl Star for many more years.
Now, however, many opportunities might arise.
This War Apostle might just be one such opportunity.
Scrounge up resources? Let him scrounge, as long as he brings Gu Hang what he needed.
“Alright,” his mother’s voice, pulling him out of his reverie, said, “I’ve shared with you the intelligence I have, along with my analysis. What do you plan to do next?”
“What are your thoughts, Mother? And how can our family leverage this series of events?”
Gu Hang was mainly referring to Blackbird’s violation of the Smart Mechanisms prohibition. The other two issues, whether the Korolya uprising or Galaraldo’s arrival, were widely known. Only the matter of Blackbird was freshly acquired intelligence.
But his mother responded, “You don’t need to worry about what the family can gain from this. I’m asking you, what outcome do you wish to achieve? Let’s focus on the situation on Rage Owl Star first, and I’ll do my best to facilitate that. From there, we’ll consider what the family should do.”
Since his mother put it that way, Gu Hang didn’t hold back.
After pondering for a moment, he said, “The scenario I want is quite straightforward: quickly eradicate Blackbird and any potential Smart Mechanisms crisis from Rage Owl Star, while trying to minimize the costs, preferably without destroying the continent of Zhi, otherwise it will cost a lot to rebuild.”