The Alliance isn’t Gu Hang’s alone; he can’t make all the decisions himself, or he’d be overwhelmed to death.
Right now, the gathering of opinions and gradually forming strategies are exactly what he wanted to see.
These people were all talented and capable individuals.
Through the system’s function, Gu Hang had selected them and, with the “Hero” template, accelerated their growth, aiming for the effect he was seeing now.
The three of them had discussed and come to a conclusion which Gu Hang reviewed and found no issues with, so it was time to execute it.
After sending the three away to their respective tasks, Gu Hang found himself alone in his office, deep in thought.
Honestly, after receiving the intelligence from Blackbird City, he didn’t want to start a major conflict right away.
Just being well-prepared was enough. Activating a level-two mobilization was just a precaution.
The best-case scenario would be to maintain the status quo. If Blackbird Heavy Industries remained quiet, so much the better; Gu Hang wouldn’t go looking for trouble. All he needed to do was wait peacefully for his mother to maneuver politically within the Star Sector and for the arrival of the Star Realm Army. That would be the best time to deal a fatal blow to Blackbird Heavy Industries.
For this reason, Gu Hang even refrained from using orbital bombardment to avoid an excessive reaction from Blackbird.
But evidently, Blackbird didn’t plan on giving him that chance anymore.
The commotion caused by more than ten Demon Hunters in Blackbird City wasn’t small. Certainly, it had provided Gu Hang with important intelligence, but clearly, Blackbird Heavy Industries was now aware that their cover had been blown.
Blackbird, taking the initiative, had already begun mobilizing.
This intelligence came from the continent’s west. The Alliance had dispatched a new Demon Hunter Squad and over two hundred special service intelligence operatives to the Western Desert.
It was difficult to infiltrate Blackbird City; attempting it was a near-suicidal mission, especially after the disturbance caused by Ilan Bird and others, which would surely have resulted in increased security. However, it was less risky to set up intelligence posts in the outlying settlements across those thousands of square kilometers of land in the Western Desert outside of Blackbird City.
And it was precisely these intelligence posts that noticed the unusual mobilization of personnel and deployment of forces by Blackbird Heavy Industries.
They observed the large-scale congregation and movement of materials within the areas controlled by Blackbird Heavy Industries; they saw the movement of personnel.
And if those were just preliminary warnings, even more alarming was the movement of military forces they witnessed.
Drones as small as a palm to ones as large as a car; mechanical dogs equipped with 360-degree rotatable light armament platforms; countless modified humans forming combat troops; numerous ‘Challenger’ tanks…
All of these could be seen without even needing to enter Blackbird City, visible from the outside.
Related intelligence was urgently sent back, one report after another.
If Blackbird was on the move, how could the Alliance stay still?
The instruction Gu Hang issued was to repel the enemy from beyond their borders.
If the war couldn’t be delayed, then it was to be fought; but it couldn’t take place on Alliance soil. It was unacceptable if the flames of war reached the Central Province, especially near Revival City and Weixing of the Twin Cities.
The West Desert Region was an excellent choice for a pre-designated battlefield. It was sparsely populated with vast expanses of desert, and most of the valuable oases relied on underground plantations, which made the area suitable for combat without fearing damage to the land.
It was precisely because of sensing Blackbird’s movements that the Alliance hastily decided to mobilize troops and push westward. At the very least, they aimed to extend the defense line one thousand kilometers out and build it in the desert area.
However, the war descended in a manner that nobody had anticipated, with greater speed and catching everyone more off guard than ever before.
…
Three days later, sitting in his office having just had another phone call with his mother, exchanging updates on the political maneuvering within the Star Sector, he learned that the Fatches Family was indeed getting anxious.
They had decided to use their influence with the Dragonhawk Third Legion stationed in the Tianma Star Sector to divert a portion of the Star Realm Army, originally planned to be dispatched to Korolya III, to Rage Owl Star.
The exact number of troops was still under discussion, the method of their deployment was still being negotiated, who would bear the cost of deployment was an ongoing conversation, and how to avoid making the Imperial Navy too sensitive was also being discussed…
Gu Hang urged for a quick resolution; the battle was about to begin and he needed the Star Realm Army forces to arrive as soon as possible.
And just as he hung up the phone, Gu Hang heard the piercing sound of alarms blaring over the skies of Revival City.
His face instantly turned somber.
The guards outside nearly burst into his office.
“Governor! Level one alert! Our intelligence personnel have discovered missile silos in the Western Desert! Missiles have already been launched eastward!”
“When did this happen?”
“Just now! Based on the timing, it’s been fifteen minutes since the missile launch!”
The guard didn’t mention how many missiles there were, the power of the missiles, nor their exact targets—or whether they could reach Revival City.
Yet, a sense of extreme urgency rang through Gu Hang’s heart.
How could they not reach? Otherwise, was Blackbird just setting off fireworks?
That was clearly not the case.
“Governor, please hurry to the air raid…” Stay connected via empire
“No.”
Gu Hang rejected the guard’s suggestion and immediately left the office. Harnessing his spiritual energy, he levitated and soared into the air, gazing westward with keen eyes.