Grace

Actually, this was Gu Hang's first month since arriving in this universe.

He now found himself in a spacefaring age, under the rule of the vast Imperium of Man, which governed limitless star systems. The God-Emperor, who had ascended ten thousand years ago, had established the Spirit Web and brought Psionic Power to humanity. In the present day, the Imperium was ruled by the High Council, which held court on Terra, humanity's homeworld.

About 120 years ago, the planet Gu Hang now occupied had still been an ordinary world. A war had utterly destroyed the environment across its surface, turning Nuxiao Planet into a wasteland.

Twenty-nine years ago, the Imperial Government had assessed that Nuxiao Planet could still be saved. For the first time since the war, it had sent a governor to oversee the planet's reconstruction.

Within the Imperial system, a Planetary Governor could rule their world by any means they chose, on one condition: they had to remain loyal to the Imperium.

What did loyalty mean? Paying taxes. If a governor didn't pay, or didn't pay enough, they were executed and replaced with someone loyal.

By now, Nuxiao Planet had gone through five governors in twenty-nine years.

In fact, the three governors before Gu Hang had each lasted only two years. Nuxiao Planet's Imperial taxes were due every two years, and none of those three unlucky men had lasted long enough to pay them for the first time.

And now Gu Hang had arrived.

A month ago, when he had first crossed over and finished absorbing the memories of the body he now inhabited, he had already been aboard a starship bound for Nuxiao Planet. He had to ensure that, two years later, the planet could pay a quarter of its standard tax bill. The Sector Government would cover the remaining three-quarters. Those generous terms had been secured for him by the Gu Family, his politically powerful clan.

For the second tax payment, four years later, he would have to pay the full amount.

A cruiser belonging to the Sector Navy was stationed in orbit, ready to support him. But the only personnel he had brought down to the surface were 3,000 servant-slaves, 300 Servitor soldiers whose frontal lobes had been removed and whose bodies had been mechanically modified, and 30 Marine Corps soldiers led by Captain Yan Fangxu.

The main political power on Nuxiao Planet was called the Alliance. It had been established by the first governor twenty-nine years ago.

By rights, after arriving on Nuxiao Planet, Gu Hang should have landed in the Alliance's capital, Revival City, taken over as its leader, and then exercised his authority as Planetary Governor through the Alliance Government.

But he hadn't. He had brought his people to a spot not far from Revival City, established a camp, and then set about doing things that no one could make sense of.

For instance, Yan Fangxu couldn't understand why Gu Hang was training those 300 Servitor soldiers.

These servants had lost all capacity for independent thought. They couldn't even operate armored vehicles or artillery properly. They could only be given the most basic equipment and used as cannon fodder. There was no point in training them.

Yet Yan Fangxu had to feel ashamed of his own limited understanding.

He had watched with his own eyes as the Servitors underwent a complete transformation in a remarkably short time!

Under Gu Hang's command, the Servitor soldiers quickly formed up, checked their equipment, and completed all the other preparations needed before setting out. During their earlier training, they had also demonstrated tactical and combat skills far beyond their previous level. Their marksmanship, physical fitness, and tactics had all improved dramatically. Combined with their natural fearlessness in the face of death and absolute discipline, these qualities had made them high-caliber soldiers.

They were now on par with regular Astra Militarum troops in the Imperial Guard.

Yan Fangxu still didn't think the Servitor soldiers could beat his own elite Marines, but that was only one on one. There were only 30 elite Marines, while the Servitors numbered 300.

More importantly, Yan Fangxu had no idea how Gu Hang had done it.

It was completely beyond his understanding. Weren't Servitor soldiers only as capable as they had been when they were modified? Wasn't any further training pointless?

As he stood there dazed, he heard Gu Hang's strong, resonant voice. "Captain Yan, get your squad moving faster. How can the Marines' elite troops be slower than the Servitors at pre-combat preparations?"

Coming back to himself, Yan Fangxu gave Gu Hang a slightly sheepish salute. Then he turned to his subordinates, who were just as stunned by the Servitor battalion's transformation, and bellowed, "What are you lot dawdling for? Move it! The slowest five of you will sleep with the Servitors starting tomorrow!"

As Yan Fangxu went around kicking his men in the rear, Gu Hang chuckled, looked away, and refocused on the panel of information that had appeared before him.

The illusory, shimmering words in his eyes formed several options:

[Current Grace Points: 2]

[Total Territory Income: 5/Terra month]

[Hero]

[Troop Token]

There were four options in total. Gu Hang opened the second one, [Total Territory Income]. There, he saw more detailed information: [Governor's Temporary Camp: 5/Terra month].

That was the only entry.

As Gu Hang understood it, this monthly total income depended on the combined income from territories the system recognized as belonging to him. And the only territory he currently had was this temporary camp.

When he first saw the system and learned he had become a governor, he had been eager to find out how much Grace his own planet would provide each month.

But after he had landed in Revival City, the number had stayed stubbornly at zero.

He had immediately guessed that a territory in name only wouldn't count. He would need to control it himself.

As an outsider suddenly thrust into power, how could he possibly control the loosely organized wasteland regime, let alone unite the entire Alliance? If it had been easy, the previous governors wouldn't have met their ends.

So he had decisively abandoned the path taken by the past governors. Instead, he had requested servant-slaves and some armed troops from the starship, left Revival City, and found an empty plot of land. He planned to start from scratch and make use of the special ability that had come with him when he crossed over.

After he and his people had established a temporary camp under his complete control, the number had finally risen from 0 to 4.

Gu Hang guessed the initial 4 came from the population. The additional point that came later was probably because the camp had grown larger and better equipped.

Of the last two options in the system, [Hero] displayed his own status panel, while [Troop Token] contained two entries.

[Marine Corps 1st Squad, Overall T4 Rank, Upgrade Available]

[Number: 30 soldiers], [Equipment: T4], [Training: T4], [Experience: T4]

This was the status of the thirty soldiers led by Yan Fangxu.

The other unit was the 1st Servitor Light Infantry Battalion, which had just completed its upgrade.

[1st Servitor Light Infantry Battalion, Overall T5 Rank, Upgrade Unavailable]

[Number: 300 soldiers], [Equipment: T5], [Training: T5], [Experience: -]

The T-rank seemed to correspond to a unit's overall strength, with a lower number indicating greater elite status. At first, the Servitor Light Infantry Battalion had been below the lowest recognized rank. Its equipment had been complete enough—rifles, grenades, and squad machine guns, with mortars and grenade launchers at the platoon level—but it lacked heavy weapons, so it could only be considered a light infantry battalion.

He had spent 3 Grace Points to upgrade the battalion. In just four days, this mindless unit, which only followed orders and was considered to have almost no potential for training, had undergone a complete transformation.

Reaching T5 training meant they could be considered on par with the regular troops of the Imperium. The Marines' T4 rank, meanwhile, marked them as standard elite troops.

It was precisely because the Servitor infantry, who had once been nothing more than cannon fodder, had completed their upgrade that Gu Hang had the confidence to get involved decisively after hearing about the Waste Mine Society's situation.

This was an opportunity, and now he had the ability to seize it.

He hoped to use this incident to bring the Waste Mine Society under his actual rule, instead of remaining a governor in name only. And in the future, he would steadily expand the territory under his direct control until he ruled the entire planet.