Advancing into the Abyss

After conquering Thane Plateau, Rayne did not immediately incorporate the plateau into the Empire's territory as he had promised at the High Council.

He was not trying to go back on his word. He was waiting for a better opportunity.

There were several purposes behind unifying the plateau. The first was its mining resources, and the second was helping Gileman develop believers and awaken. These two purposes were the most important. Only after that would he announce the expansion of the Empire's territory to its citizens and add to his achievements.

If he merely made an announcement without bringing any tangible benefits to the Empire, it would do little to improve his prestige.

Therefore, he had to wait until his rule over the plateau had stabilized and he had a general grasp of its mining resources before trying to see whether the plateau could drive the development of the Empire's western border provinces.

That required time and planning. It could not be done overnight.

Rayne was not in a hurry.

He left part of the Legion under Marius's command to handle the Mataki Tribe's affairs: rebuilding tribal order, suppressing resistance, taking over all the Mataki people's territory, establishing temples to Gileman, and gradually changing their faith.

These steps had already been carried out many times among the other tribes. Marius was thoroughly familiar with them, so nothing would go wrong.

The only concern was that the Mataki Tribe was backed by the King of Green Dragons. To prevent Deep Azure from suddenly killing his way back, Rayne decided to leave the Star Destroyer behind as well.

The Star Destroyer hovered high above Bakharu, its Invisibility Field activated. Ordinary people could not detect it.

The enormous warship could also serve as a Legion base.

As it happened, the Star Destroyer still