Chapter 52: 52 chapters, not considered a beating

After activating the event “The Phoenix Shall Die,” Gu Hang had 36 grace points left.

Not few, but not enough.

For a moment, he was itching to use these grace points for drawing cards.

A 40% chance of winning, could he really not get it after three draws?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

But in the end, he chose not to do it.

He still wanted to level up. He would wait for the monthly fixed income to be disbursed, and along with these 36 points, it would be enough. If he spent the grace points now, he wouldn’t be able to level up in a few days.

Finally, he suppressed the urge to draw cards.

…

After Gu Hang had sorted out the various system functions, he had also rested quite well.

Although his head still hurt a bit, it was much better compared to when the battle had just ended.

This also reassured Gu Hang quite a bit: it seemed that the previous depletion of his spirituality was not severe and didn’t affect his foundation.

Leaving the combat vehicle, the work of cleaning up the battlefield continued.

The soldiers had collected a large number of monster corpses, or the remnants shattered in the battle. There was too much to transport in one go, so the leftovers were piled up to be transported later.

These were all raw materials for the synthetic starch production line.

In other places, “corpse starch” might be a dark term, but for Gu Hang, it seemed literal…

Despite the fact that people starving in the wastelands might not care about this, as long as they faced no illness or not too severe an illness from eating it, anything was better than hunger. But Gu Hang still strived to keep this information concealed. It wasn’t entirely secret, but he definitely wouldn’t promote it actively.

After all, it wasn’t something glorious.

While the troops were busy, Yan Fangxu came to find him again.

Seeing the Captain with a slightly crooked nose and a bruise above his left eye, Gu Hang was taken aback for a moment: “How did you get injured like this? That doesn’t seem to be the kind of injury a pus monster could cause, right?”

“Uh… it’s nothing much…”

“Oh!” Realizing something as he looked at the captain’s embarrassed face, Gu Hang suddenly understood and remembered something he had almost forgotten, “Were you beaten up by your former subordinates?”

Yan Fangxu immediately became anxious, “What beating up? How could you say it was a beating? I just… just accidentally lost one or two moves… It’s not a beating…”

“Hahaha!” Gu Hang laughed, “Right, right, not a beating, just a small beating.”

Yan Fangxu fell silent.

He didn’t want to talk to the governor anymore, but couldn’t help feeling eager.

He hesitated and nonetheless couldn’t resist saying, “That… Governor… regarding that intensive training… I…”

He was somewhat embarrassed to fully express his request.

Having been beaten by his former subordinates, and then having to ask the governor for special intensive training felt somewhat embarrassing to him.

Gu Hang patted Yan Fangxu on the shoulder and said, “How could I refuse such a small request? Not now though. You have greater potential, and you deserve more rigorous, more valuable training.”

Yan Fangxu’s eyes lit up, “Thank you, Governor!”

“Don’t be haste to thank me, but let me be clear, with gains come sacrifices, nothing in this world comes without a price. If you want to receive my grace, you should serve me with even greater sincerity.”

Yan Fangxu understood Gu Hang’s meaning.

But he dared not agree.

He was a member of the Imperial Navy, his future still lay in the stars and the vast ocean. Should he transfer allegiance to a planetary governor and join the Planetary Defense Force?

There is a disparity here.

The Imperial Military’s system is roughly divided into three parts: the Imperial Navy, the Imperial Star Realm Army, and the Planetary Defense Force (PDF). The first two are direct imperial forces with relatively higher status, theoretically taking commands directly from Central Empire and receiving supplies from it. As for the PDF, it’s just a planetary-level defense force, established and led by the planet’s governor.

The Empire does not take care of the training, equipping, or supplying of the PDF, but sometimes it would draft the PDF into the Star Realm Army, or when Imperial taxes evaporate. Often in intense interstellar wars, the PDF would also be used as cannon fodder by the Empire’s main forces.

Would those Navy bigshots even deign to glance at the Star Realm Army’s grunts, let alone a mere PDF?

Compared to a captain in the Imperial Navy, who would be stupid enough to choose the former?

But what if it were a general from the Planetary Defense Force compared to a Navy captain?

Well… that’s not so easy to say. A captain from the Navy Marine Corps, like Yan Fangxu, at his peak, only commanded a special Marine company, with just over a hundred men; now, he has even fewer, only thirty. But if he became a general, he might be able to become a pivotal figure on this planet.

But could he really become a general?

Relying on the governor would mean betting everything on this one person being able to win.

Yan Fangxu was a bit hesitant to wager.

He wasn’t a barefooted man, unlike the native residents on Rage Owl Star.

Watching Yan Fangxu, who was caught in a dilemma, Gu Hang did not press him. He smiled and patted Yan’s shoulder, saying, “Don’t rush, there’s still time. You don’t have to make a decision now. No matter what, you are my subordinate right now, you follow my orders. As for the future, I believe when it comes, you will make your decision.”

Yan Fangxu breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Gu Hang with gratitude.

Thankfully, the governor didn’t force him to make a choice right there and then.

He was afraid of choosing wrongly.

“Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. What do you need to see me for?”

“Actually, there is an important issue. A contingent from Revival City has approached our location. They seem to bear no hostility, and the person leading them claims to be the grandson of Lambert Hodgson from the Alliance Council, coming to ensure the governor’s safety.”

Gu Hang wore a strange expression, his tone somewhere between sarcasm or sigh, “A force from the Alliance Council… Whether they come with ill intentions or indeed to protect me, their arrival is a bit too late.”

“What should we do now? Drive them away?”

“No,” Gu Hang waved his hand dismissively, “The affair has concluded. I’m curious to see what they really want. Take the 3rd battalion up there, disarm them all, and then bring them here. The battlefield needs more people for cleanup, and I also want to meet this grandson of the Council Chairman to see what news he brings me.”

“Yes!”

Yan Fangxu went to work.

He didn’t keep Gu Hang waiting long, and soon he brought the people.

About five hundred soldiers, empty-handed and honestly started cleaning up the battlefield, moving monster corpses alongside Gu Hang’s own warriors.

Also, a young man dressed in military attire was brought before Gu Hang.

“Lambert Hodgson,” Gu Hang read his name.

The young Lambert saluted Gu Hang and greeted loudly, “Good day, Excellency the Governor!”

“Why have you come?”

“I have come to protect the Governor.”

“Does your grandfather know you’re here?”

“I’m here on the orders of the Chairman of the Council!”

“Then your timing is rather fortuitous, my battle has ended, and the enemy has been eliminated. You should have arrived earlier, no matter what you intended to do.”

Lambert said, “I apologize, Governor, for our tardiness… I understand your suspicions. But please believe that we indeed came to protect you. My men and I will unconditionally obey any of your orders, without complaint or regret.”

Gu Hang smiled.