“`
…
Nearly half a year whizzed by, with the Alliance developing methodically.
As the Alliance Premier, Osenia was constantly overwhelmed.
But she had gotten used to it.
Ever since she took up this position, she had never been free from busyness. Stay connected via My Virtual Library Empire
Overtime?
Except for eating and sleeping, there was no time for rest!
Talking about exploitation, she, as the Alliance Premier, was the most severely exploited.
Under her leadership, the Alliance Government had already achieved some of the goals set earlier. This was the third year since the Alliance’s establishment and the first year of unification. It was estimated that the total annual output for the coming year could grow from over 50 million to more than 68 million.
That was three million more than what she had promised the governors for a two-year increase.
Of course, this was a joyful achievement, yet another goal, the per capita productivity index, was estimated to be unattainable—
Mainly because Rage Owl Star was about to experience a population surge of ten million, and a substantial amount of the development budget was spent on settling and assimilating these people, which resulted in the neglect of construction projects in remote provinces.
Certainly, the added thirteen million in annual output did owe a great deal to the immigrants.
Most immigrants headed to Weixing City and Beiqing Valley. The former, as an industrial center, needed people, while the latter had ample land resources to be opened up, with enough capacity to absorb a large population without becoming congested and overburdened.
Gu Hang didn’t have any dissatisfaction with this situation; he was quite satisfied with Osenia’s work results. As for not meeting the per capita output target, it was expected.
Besides, wasn’t it still short of two years?
Just half a year so far.
During this period, Gu Hang’s time was mostly spent shuttling between Korolya III and Rage Owl Star.
On the one hand, he maintained his presence on Rage Owl Star to make some overarching decisions on planet development, and on the other hand, he actively participated in interstellar politics.
At the same time, he was also waiting for the investigative team from the Sun Lord to arrive.
On Korolya III, due to the same reason, many people who were stranded there were many. Some were present at the scene when Galaraldo disappeared, and others belonged to the investigative teams at the star sector, star domain, and space domain levels.
Everyone was waiting.
But today, the Sun investigative team suddenly issued new news—
They were not coming.
This message spread to Korolya III, causing an uproar!
Complaints and curses were heard everywhere.
What did they mean by not coming suddenly?
In previous communications, they had even set off and had been on the road for half a year. To say they wouldn’t come and to suddenly turn back—what was the meaning of that?
So what were we waiting for, for more than half a year for?
Waiting in vain?
Amidst the grievances, some politically astute individuals immediately sensed a lot from this information and perceived certain special signals.
Firstly, there were potential changes within Tianma Star Sector.
The apostle of war isn’t being sought after anymore? Responsibility not pursued?
Of course not.
The Sun investigative team still issued their demands and orders.
“`
First, they approved the joint investigation conclusion given by the third-level investigation team, acknowledging the disappearance of Galaraldo and demanding that the Dragonhawk Star Domain maintain a team to continue searching for the missing War Apostles—in life or in death.
The words were stern, but compared to their previous attitude, there was no question that it had softened a great deal.
The Space Domain Government had directly taken itself out of the equation; the Star Domain Government only needed to dispatch one team to maintain the investigation—that is to say, they just needed to go through the motions. After searching with such great effort for a year and finding nothing, could they really expect that a mere investigation team could find the War Apostles as time went on and clues grew fewer?
It was unrealistic.
As for the matter of responsibility, such a significant incident had occurred, yet no definitive culprit had been found, so the only conclusion could be an accident, a scheme of the Abyssal Demons. This also meant that it was impossible to find a ‘person’ to take the blame.
Well, you couldn’t expect the Demons to be responsible, could you? And you couldn’t solve it, either.
So, who should this responsible person be?
…
“I am about to die.”
When Pei Desi uttered these words, his gray hair was a bit disheveled. Despite having tried to conceal it with makeup, his bloodshot eyes inevitably revealed his despair.
This was the first time Gu Hang had seen him like this. In his memory, the head of the Pei Desi was always particular about his image: his hair never out of place, his demeanor full of energy, his smile always refreshing.
It seemed that, in the face of death, everyone was the same.
The others present, regardless of what they thought about this matter, at least outwardly, all showed grief.
This was a meeting, attended by the Tianma Star Sector circle centered around the head of the Pei Desi, six people in total. Aside from himself, there was his brother, little Pei Desi.
Beyond them were two other families of the ‘Tianma Iron Triangle’, the Gu Family and the Fufana Family.
Representing the Gu Family were Wang Qi and Gu Hang. Wang Qi was the actual operator of the Gu Commercial Firm, while Gu Hang was the Family Head and also represented the soon-to-rise Tianma Star Sector Psychic Association and Rage Owl Star.
The two members of the Fufana Family were General Fufana, dressed in a navy uniform, and Colonel Yelisia. The former was the Family’s stalwart sea anchor, while the latter was a rising star within the family and the future successor.
This meeting was the head of the Star Sector, Pei Desi, settling his affairs.
Little Pei Desi, beside him, had a gloomy face.
His shrill voice rose, “We could resist…”
He hadn’t finished speaking when his brother interrupted him:
“What nonsense are you talking?!. We Pei Desis have been loyal subjects of the empire since our ancestors! No matter what treatment we receive, we should accept it gladly!”
He scolded sharply and then observed the expressions of the four people from the Gu and Fufana families.
Being scolded like that, little Pei Desi eventually shut up.
Gu Hang maintained a serious expression on his face, but upon hearing little Pei Desi’s words, he almost laughed out loud.
Resist? With what would they resist?
If they really started some form of resistance, the first to cut supplies would be the Gu; the first to fire cannons at Flying Wing Star would be the Fufana.
Pei Desi sighed and faced the four ‘allies’ again, repeating his sentence, “I am about to die. The Sun Lord’s investigation team may not be coming anymore and have accepted the third-level government’s investigative conclusion, but they demand someone take responsibility. That person is me and Governor Akuna. Akuna tried to flee but was already intercepted by the Star Domain Justice Department, and by now, he is probably dead. I am ready to calmly accept my fate. The Star Domain and Space Domain, in a show of respect for me, will allow me some time before I end it myself, and with that, the matter will be closed.”
Pausing, he continued, “But what I… can’t let go of the most is my brother.”
Little Pei Desi stood on the side with a stern face, silent.
“After the death of Akuna and myself, our…” he emphasized ‘our’, “our biggest problem will be the weakened control over the Star Sector political situation and over Korolya III; no new heads or Korolya Governors have been appointed yet. The Fatches Family will surely not miss this opportunity.”
“I have no other requests, but we must not let go of these two positions. At least, they cannot fall into the hands of Fatches, or else we will all be in great trouble.”
With that, he looked at General Fufana, “General, I hope you will come out of retirement to run for the position of Star Sector Head that I leave behind.”
Having said this, without waiting for General Fufana’s reply, his gaze turned to Wang Qi and Gu Hang, “The Gu Family might have someone who can take on the responsibilities of the Korolya Governor.”