Galaraldo could certainly see that Gu Hang now despised him to the extreme.
But he was all too accustomed to this feeling.
Over the past years, for the sun expedition, collecting extra war resources, he had used so many methods that were far from honorable, and the people he had offended were far too numerous.
From the elites on the planets, to the Planetary Governors or other Empire officers, up to the core members of certain major forces…
But so what?
His backing was the Sun Lord, the Living Saint favored by The Emperor, the de facto ruler of the Empire!
Who dares to touch me?
Nobody could do anything to him through legitimate channels. Any lawsuits pursued up the chain would never end in his defeat.
What about illegitimate means?
He wasn’t afraid of assassination.
For such matters, he had experience, for many had wanted him dead, and not a few had tried. He appeared relaxed and careless on the surface, but he was actually very cautious in this regard.
Moreover, killing him would not be so easy.
The Sun Lord was the most favored and powerful Living Saint within the Empire, a being capable of confronting and even obliterating the Great Demon. And he, as the Sun Lord’s apostle of war, was also graced with divine favor. Even if the blessing were only one percent of that of the Sun Lord, he was certainly not someone who could be casually assassinated.
Poisons, blades, bullets… none of these could claim his life. Silently killing him was near impossible.
As for rebellion, military ambush… even less likely.
Who would dare?
Take, for instance, Mr. Gu here, itching with hatred. If he were to order his one hundred and fifty thousand troops to fire upon me, then indeed I would die here. That would be an inescapable conclusion.
Then Gu Hang would have to die.
Not just Gu Hang, almost the entire Rage Owl Star would have to be buried with me.
This wasn’t just a matter of one person’s life, but a question of the Sun Lord’s dignity.
I am here on behalf of the Sun Lord, one of the forty-six apostles of war. My death anywhere would be a matter of great consequence.
Escape blame? Impossible. Even if Galaraldo truly choked to death on a sip of water, as long as it happened within the Rage Owl Star System, Gu Hang would be held responsible.
He would have to die.
Of course, Galaraldo never underestimated the madness of others.
Therefore, he never pushed people to their breaking point.
He offered Gu Hang a reasonable deal.
Look, I’ve granted you the rank of Star Realm Army Brigadier, allowing you to better control the Rage Bear Legion;
I can turn a blind eye to whatever you’re doing on Heijian Star, even instructing the Imperial Tax officials to ignore it, as long as you pay your taxes;
Moreover, aren’t you waging a war here? I can order the Tax Fleet to fire a few shots at Blackbird City when leaving. The firepower of three destroyers is far superior to that little naval cutter you have floating above.
All you need to do is pay three billion.
Although these things are far from worth three billion, when you take into account your legion might be relocated, you might be reassigned, your actions on Heijian Star might be labeled as rebellion against the Empire World; the commerce fleet of your family might be restricted…
All things considered, wouldn’t it then be worth three billion?
I’m not pushing you to the edge.
Galaraldo was confident in his plan.
…
Harboring thoughts of murder wasn’t just talk, nor was it a mere burst of anger in response to being targeted; it was a strategy, a method, carefully assessed amid rationality and calmness.
Assassination, creating accidental death, was of course a viable political tool. Gu Hang had not shied away from it in the past and didn’t exclude its use in the future.
It wasn’t the righteous path, but sometimes one needed to rely on unconventional means.
The assessment focused on two points:
First, the feasibility of killing him.
Second, the benefits and risks of killing him.
If Galaraldo had to die, there could be no slip-ups; whether success or failure, it must not be connected to oneself, and he certainly could not die within the Rage Owl Star System.
Otherwise, it would be a complete disaster.
Even if the Empire Government, with the Sun Lord’s more ‘reasonable’ nature, and Gu Hang’s utmost secrecy, such a significant event would inevitably result in an investigation.
And on Rage Owl Star, Gu Hang had too many secrets. Even if the death of the war apostle was not traced back to him, the discovery of any other matter would be unbearable for him.
The biggest issue was the Black Box. By now, Gu Hang had been able to exchange for many, many of them; the smaller ones were manageable, but the large ones, as big as workshops in some factories, were impossible to hide.
Once the Empire’s investigation began, there would be no hiding them, and Gu Hang couldn’t possibly slaughter every Empire investigator who came to Rage Owl Star.
He had no intention of pulling Galaraldo into a mutual destruction.
But it was not entirely without hope.
As long as the war apostle visited Korolya III.
As for the benefits and risks of killing the war apostle…
The benefits were practically nonexistent; after much thought, Gu Hang found it difficult to discern any additional gains he might receive from this act.
What he did was merely for self-preservation. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire
Money was one aspect, but the feeling this man gave Gu Hang was too terrible.
He even had the feeling that even if he now consulted with his mother and decided that the Gu Family would go so far as to sell iron pots, regardless of the detrimental effect this would have on Wang Qi’s control over the Chamber of Commerce Fleet, they’d scrape together the three billion by forcefully selling a few ships. But in the end, the outcome would probably not be much better.
Three billion sounds like a lot, but for an operation the scale of the sun expedition, what’s that but a mere trifle?
