But Gu Hang considered himself to have one advantage, that is, he doesn’t overthink meaningless things.
First of all, since he had obtained the system up until now, over two and a half years, he had used it frequently, and this thing had never betrayed him.
Second, and most importantly, he had already been using the system for two and a half years, and he expected to continue using it frequently in the future. So under these circumstances, what’s the point in worrying about whether the system has any malicious intent? If it really were some Subspace Evil God’s conspiracy, Gu Hang would have already been deeply ensnared.
In such a situation, without much consideration, Gu Hang had Wu Jiarong dispatch people to investigate the scene and to bring back Irong Fetches’ body for research.
To tell the truth, he didn’t know whether this was the way to solve this so-called ‘Ironman Puzzle’, but anyway, he might as well do it.
Of course, while he trusted the system, he still needed to be careful in handling specific matters.
When Wu Jiarong was researching this thing, a new research institute would be established, completely isolated from those Black Boxes; throughout the research process, all researchers would be sequestered and must adhere to a series of research rules, undergo regular health checks, and try to avoid the problem of corruption as much as possible.
…
Regarding the [Ironman Puzzle], Gu Hang soon put it aside without giving it much more thought.
After all, it could only be considered a leisurely move; whether there were any benefits or what the rewards were, he would address those questions later.
Gu Hang was more concerned about the battle itself.
[Blackbird Battle Assessment: Resounding Victory, 22990 points of Grace Awarded]
[Total Losses 119384, Eliminated 764023]
[Star Realm Army – Dragonhawk Third Legion (Allies): Losses 74847, Eliminated 416167]
[Star Realm Army – Rage Bear Legion: Losses 12697, Eliminated 97016]
[Allied Counties – Central Group Army: Losses 31840, Eliminated 250840]
…
A total of seventy-six thousand enemies were eliminated, while the allied forces had a total loss of one hundred and eleven thousand.
These losses included not only those killed in action but also non-combat injuries and other reductions in manpower. Those who could return to the military and restore their combat effectiveness after not too long a treatment period were not included in these statistics.
The actual number of fatalities was approximately sixty to seventy thousand.
Overall, the casualty ratio was 1:7, which is quite a good number.
However, the actual combat power of both sides was not as disparate as the data suggests. The allied troops, fully equipped and with ample logistical support, if you eliminate ambushes, surprise attacks, and the like, could achieve a confrontation ratio of approximately 1:4 in a straightforward battle; the Star Realm Army was worse, only achieving 1:2.5.
However, sometimes the victorious side in a war, at certain critical junctures, can break through, encircle the enemy, and execute annihilation campaigns, after which the victory often becomes significantly greater.
The reverse is also true; regardless of what the exchange rate on the front lines might be, if you lose and let the enemy score a decisive annihilation victory, such as cutting off logistics or encircling you, preventing ammunition and supplies from reaching you, then whether allied soldiers or Star Realm warriors, all would be easily wiped out in large numbers.
It’s just a pity that all these things only happened to those mechanical monsters; humanity was the victorious side.
And this brought Gu Hang a bounty of over twenty thousand points of Grace.
Up to now, counting the monthly accumulations of Grace points from the past six months, his current total had already exceeded fifty thousand points.
It felt like he could do quite a lot with that.
But no rush.
Right now, Gu Hang wasn’t even on Rage Owl Star; he couldn’t go about making moves even if he wanted to.
He had already been here for half a year, returning to Rage Owl Star a few times in between, while spending the rest of his time on Korolya III, cooperating with investigations.
The death of Apostle of War Bojoya Galaraldo brought about an impact and aftermath that was even more severe than imagined.
First, the Tianma Star Sector mobilized elites from all sides as much as possible to form an investigation team. A Mother Superior and the State Archbishop of the Korolya diocese were considered major figures. It’s just that within the Tianma Star Sector, the influence of the Sect of Mechanics was very weak, with the highest-ranking individual being merely a Mechanical Priest; the Psychic Cultivator’s Association didn’t fare much better, their president being only a C-class spiritual energy wielder. Overall, however, they assembled the most outstanding individuals from all sides they possibly could.
Among them was Gu Hang, the person involved and also an A-class spiritual energy wielder.
The investigation by the Tianma Star Sector itself lasted about half a month, and their ultimate conclusion was that it had been a demon attack, where the Apostle of War had tragically fallen into an abyssal rift.
However, the explanation given by this investigative team from the Tianma Star Sector was clearly not convincing.
It wasn’t a matter of whether the evidence was sufficient, or whether the investigation methods could withstand scrutiny, what mattered most was that the identity and status of the deceased were too important, and the investigative team’s own status was too low.
Half a month later, an investigative group from the Dragonhawk Star Domain’s capital, Yunluo Star, arrived.
This team was considerably larger, headed by a Judge from the Tribunal, including a whole squad of the Tribunal’s elite; the State Church, Sect of Mechanics, and Psychic Cultivator’s Association all gathered, sending representatives from both the administrative and military affairs departments.
This entire colossal investigative team also brought along a fleet and land forces.
At their request, everyone who had participated in the banquet that day was not allowed to leave Korolya III and had to undergo the investigation again.
Their investigation hadn’t yielded any results yet when an investigative team from the Eastern Cosmos Domain arrived. Its structure was similar to the Star Domain’s investigative team, but the tier was higher.
Then came the recent news that an investigation group representing the Sun Lord and coming from the Solar Expedition Army was en route. However, given their great distance, it was estimated that the investigative group wouldn’t arrive until a year later.
The situation was getting more and more blown out of proportion.
The leaders Pei Desi and Governor Akuna both felt numbed already.
They had previously been considering how to lighten their responsibilities, but now they were resigned to the fact that there was nothing to hope for. They had a certain degree of influence over the Dragonhawk Star Domain’s investigative team, but by the time the matter reached the Space Domain Government, their influence was almost negligible, not to mention the team that would arrive a year later, carrying the wrath of the Sun Lord.
With such a grand scale of operation, even Gu Hang began to feel a bit nervous.
The universe was too vast, and the empire too large, teeming with capable and extraordinary people. Who could say for sure whether there wouldn’t be a few formidable individuals capable of uncovering something?
However, after much consideration, he was still relatively reassured.
Even if the arrivals were formidable to the point where they could pull Galaraldo back from the ‘Fatherly’ domain and interrogate him personally about what happened, Galaraldo could only say he was unlucky to have been attacked by demons. He hadn’t seen Gu Hang take action; the entire incident was caused by a Plague Demon, so the blame couldn’t be pinned on Gu Hang.
Nevertheless, being confined to Korolya III and unable to leave was quite troublesome.
In the half-year there, besides being investigated and investigating others, Gu Hang often made calls ‘home’, constantly maintaining communication with Osenia, Lambert, Tadeusz, Yan Fangxu, and others.
Currently, the situation on Rage Owl Star was good. In the six months of his absence, not only had there been no chaos, but they also relied on the Star Realm Army to completely exterminate Blackbird Heavy Industries and win the unification war.
This proved that the alliance system established by Gu Hang was reliable, able to operate even without him.
Yet, he still had a sense of crisis.
For a ruler, being away from the center of power for a long period was never a good thing.
He was planning a return trip to Rage Owl Star.
If it had been before, it would have been difficult for Gu Hang to go back. Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire
But now, there were ways.
Gu Hang sought out an acquaintance: Zhang Guang’en.
An A-class spiritual energy wielder, Chief Mage of the Dragonhawk Star Domain’s Star Law Hall, as well as a senior member of the Eastern Cosmos Domain’s Psychic Cultivator’s Association Mage Council, he represented both the Space Domain Government and the Star Domain Government, holding not an insignificant right to speak within the current investigative team.
Gu Hang had gotten along very well with him over the past few months.