Chapter 71: Chapter 71, Life is the Coin of the Emperor
If Gu Hang knew Mondok’s thoughts, he’d surely laugh: I just need to kill a few people, why would I bombard an entire city?
Would he really order Yelisia to bombard Revival City?
Yes, and no.
Yes, meaning a small-scale, relatively precise military strike; no, meaning there would not be a destruction of Revival City until the very last moment.
The population of the inner city plus the slums outside Revival City roughly approaches a million.
And what is the population of the entire Rage Owl Star?
Six years ago, in the last year of the second governor’s era, when the last tax payment was made to the Empire, the number was forty-two million plus.
A planet with a population of forty-two million, that was 0.5% of Rage Owl Star’s population during its heyday before the war.
99.5% of the population was lost in that war and in the century of darkness and chaos that followed.
And after the end of the rule of the second governor, with governors changing every two years for the past six years, has the situation on Rage Owl Star improved?
Obviously not.
Given the circumstances here, the population is probably still in decline.
Compared to the population, the loss of productivity is probably even more severe. This has led to the situation where, although the population is already quite small for an entire planet, people are still cheap. This is because even this small number of people are barely sustained by the current output of Rage Owl Star.
So now, the answer to this question is very clear: why would Gu Hang absolutely not want to make a light decision to order the starships to bombard Revival City?
Because here lies one of the very few densely populated areas of Rage Owl Star. Based on a population of one million, that’s already 2.3% of the total population of the planet six years ago. And the actual proportion is only higher than this figure. By Gu Hang’s estimate, the current total population of Rage Owl Star may already be less than forty million, or even less.
Moreover, despite the poor people outside Revival City being destitute, the city is still a jewel of Rage Owl Star. This city, which gathers a million people from both the inner and outer areas, benefits from the scale effect, with an increase in productivity that a hundred settlements, each with a population of ten thousand, could not match.
Flattening Revival City and losing 2.3% or even more of the global population, along with more than 5% of global productivity, are already outcomes that Gu Hang is unwilling to accept. Not to mention, without Revival City as an existing hub of population, a massive potential for development would be lost.
If the city could be peacefully taken and controlled, a million people combined with Gu Hang’s technological system could unleash tremendous production capacity. Without Revival City, Gu Hang would have to wander the wastelands gathering people by the thousands or hundreds, searching for countless small, hidden, and highly guarded places like the Abandoned Cave Society to collect the population.
Peaceful control of Revival City is worth a thousand Abandoned Cave Societies to Gu Hang.
This is the greatest reason why Gu Hang would not order the destruction of Revival City unless absolutely necessary.
“Life is the coin of The Emperor,” fits the situation precisely, yet there’s a subsequent half to it: “Spend it wisely.”
If The Emperor still holds true to this, Gu Hang, who theoretically may possess less than forty million in total assets, has no reason to be so extravagant as to waste a million “coins.”
…
When they say six hours, it means six hours.
A transport vessel from the Quintet arrived with a Battle Nun Squad.
Under the leadership of Sister Chang Ge Ruite, eleven nuns came to the surface.
With their height stretching beyond one meter eighty, once clad in combat armor, they appeared both taller and more substantial. Their creamy white armors adorned with green patterns made them seem holy and elegant, truly like a living group of lily ladies.
As they emerged from the hatch, Gu Hang thought he saw another Battle Group walk out.
Of course, it was just déjà vu. The difference between the two was quite significant.
The red armor of the Phoenix made them look like battle-hardened warriors who had fought their way through rivers of blood; the tender green and creamy white of the Saintly Lilies’ armor made them look like elegant ladies spreading the gospel.
And their most significant difference lay in their size. The Battle Nuns, all towering over one meter eighty and already considered tall and strong among women, were even more massive with their powered armors compared to regular troops.
“`
However, compared to interstellar warriors, who averaged heights of two meters thirty or two meters forty and whose frames were substantial even in width, there was no contest.
Gu Hang collected his thoughts and advanced to meet them.
“Mrs. Georgette, welcome to your arrival. With your help, the traitors of Rage Owl Star and the heretic cultists will have nowhere to hide.”
Unlike the interstellar warriors who always maintained stern, deadpan expressions, the attitude of the battle nun leader was gentle and amiable—at least Mrs. Georgette was like this.
The woman with short white hair extended her hand with a smile and shook hands with Gu Hang.
Her voice was low, gentle, and very comforting, “I am also very pleased to meet you, Governor. I hope that we can cooperate well in the coming times.”
Having said that, she turned her gaze to Commander Matins, who stood not far behind Gu Hang.
She nodded with a smile.
Matins nodded back in response.
Gu Hang noticed this.
These two have a story.
Curiously, he asked, “Do you two… know each other?”
Mrs. Georgette smiled and said, “If Governor wishes to know, it might be better to ask Commander Matins. If he does not wish to tell you, it would not be appropriate for me to say too much.”
Gu Hang turned his gaze back to Matins.
Matins was silent for a while, and Gu Hang thought he wouldn’t get an answer, but in the end, the serious interstellar warrior spoke up, “We have fought side by side in the Organ Star Region.”
Mrs. Georgette said, “I have to thank you. Without you, the Order of the Blessed Lily might no longer exist.”
“No, it is I who should thank you. You could have retreated, but you chose to stand with us.”
Mrs. Georgette’s smile took on a hint of cleverness, “That’s not what you said at the time.”
Matins, uncharacteristically, looked somewhat embarrassed, “I… ”
“Hahaha!” Mrs. Georgette laughed heartily as she stepped forward; despite being much shorter than Matins and both of them wearing power armor, it didn’t stop the Sister Superior from giving the Commander a big hug.
“Anyway, I am very happy to see you again, my comrade-in-arms. Congratulations on redeeming yourselves, and may the Divine Emperor bless your future.”
…
It was rather miraculous for two comrades who had long been separated to run into each other again in a place as minor as Rage Owl Star, and to have the opportunity to fight side by side once more. Their so-called ‘Organ Star Region’ was quite a distance from the Tianma Star Sector.
But they didn’t have much time to reminisce.
The time to depart had arrived.
The reason for the delay was that Gu Hang was waiting for the arrival of the battle nuns. Although there were only eleven of them, they were still eleven exceptional warriors. Just two or three nuns working together could have a fair chance of defeating an ordinary interstellar warrior.
Not to mention they had Sister Chang Ge Ruite. Gu Hang could vaguely sense through psionic perception that the Sister Superior’s strength was probably not much weaker than Matins’s.
Admittedly, no further news had come from Revival City, and old Hodgson seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth, his fate unknown.
But Gu Hang was not willing to wait any longer.
The Mech Servant Battalion stayed behind to guard the home, while the combined forces of over fifteen hundred warriors from the 2-6 Battalions, the terrestrial troops, Phoenix Interstellar Warriors, and the Order of the Blessed Lily Battle Nuns… a whole team, escorted the Governor as they embarked from the camp, heading towards Revival City.