Summary

Under the offensive of the three armed forces under Art Student's command, numerous cities in the Underhive, along with the settlements within the reach of those major cities, were captured. Defense Force personnel took over their administration, and the population under Art Student's command rapidly increased.

For the forces under Art Student's command, capturing a city was effortless. After occupying a large number of cities, they had gained more than thirty million people.

They killed over a hundred thousand gang members, various alien creatures, and others. Under their overwhelming firepower, none of the three armed forces under Art Student's command suffered any casualties.

After capturing many cities in the Underhive, every city required personnel to manage it, resulting in a continuous reduction in combat personnel.

Capturing a city was very simple, but managing one was incredibly troublesome.

As the population under Art Student's command surged, all kinds of problems gradually emerged. A single city contained hundreds of thousands of people, and beyond the cities lay the wilderness, where there were settlements of all sizes.

Within the area covered by a city, at least a thousand armed personnel had to be stationed there, and administrative personnel were also needed for effective management. Otherwise, the territory and population they had conquered would become as chaotic as the Imperium.

For Art Student, every piece of territory they conquered needed to be managed properly. Only through stable and effective management could they reap greater gains.

The people they acquired could become tangible resources. A person could become a civilian, soldier, logistics worker, or administrator, allowing the population under their command to grow like a snowball.

On the bridge of the warship, Art Student lounged lazily upon a throne forged from Adamantium. Several pretty young women stood beside him, attending to him by serving tea and pouring water.

Before Art Student was an enormous holographic projection, within which several high-ranking administrators were making their respective reports.

None of them paid much attention to the few maidservants standing beside Art Student.

"Since everyone is here, tell me about the problems you've encountered. I can help you resolve them."

Art Student spoke lazily as he lounged on the throne.

"My lord, the Defense Force is severely understaffed. Many cities now require personnel to garrison them, so we can no longer continue splitting up our forces to capture more territory."

Anrida lowered his head and reported.

"Then stop the campaign for now. Digest what we've gained first, and take it slowly. This is not something that can be rushed."

Art Student waved a hand and smiled.

Art Student had long been mentally prepared for the information Anrida reported. From the beginning, he had never intended to capture the entire Underhive in one breath.

Conquering territory was easy, but managing it was troublesome. The various Underhive-born personnel under Art Student's command had studied under Gaia for at most ten years. It was impossible for them to learn administration all at once; administrative work required accumulated experience.

What was more, there were large numbers of alien creatures hiding among the humans in the Underhive. They also had to be identified and purged one by one.

Art Student did not want to neglect things as the Emperor did, so long as the people under his command were governed by humans.

Under all heaven, is there any land that is not the king's land? Along every shore, is there anyone who is not the king's subject?

The Underhive was the largest region in the entire hive world, with roughly one billion humans. It also contained countless alien creatures and followers of the Chaos Gods.

"My lord, our population has grown immensely, and food and drinking water consumption is enormous. Our previous reserves are insufficient, and we need your assistance."

Anglie, the head of logistics, raised the problem he had encountered.

"Since food and drinking water are insufficient, I will have Gaia increase food starch and drinking water production to ensure that everyone under my command has sufficient supplies."

Art Student responded to Anglie's request.

"Gaia, increase the extraction of food starch and ensure that everyone has sufficient food and drinking water."

"My lord, I will increase the efficiency of food starch extraction."

Gaia's voice rang out across the bridge.

Food starch was extracted using industrial machinery. The previous production amount had been sufficient for everyone's consumption, but the sudden population increase required greater food starch extraction.

"My lord, this is the first time our civil administration personnel have formally managed so many people. We lack experience and need to learn while managing them, so we have held back the military personnel. I am very sorry."

Hogood, the head of administration, lowered his head and spoke apologetically.

"It is fine. Experience cannot be rushed; it must be learned gradually. No one is born knowing everything. With the Defense Force's assistance, this is your first time managing tens of millions of people, and yet no disorder has broken out. You have already done very well."

"Thank you for your praise, my lord."

Hogood revealed a delighted expression upon hearing Art Student's praise.

Hogood had not expected to receive praise, so after gaining Art Student's approval, he felt extremely happy.

"My lord, the navy has not encountered any problems."

Mendeleev, the naval captain, spoke calmly.

The navy's performance in the Underhive this time had been unremarkable. They had neither encountered problems nor delivered any particularly impressive results, so Mendeleev was in a good state of mind.

"My lord, the Space Marines have a small problem."

After seeing his colleagues finish reporting on their work, Gray spoke to Art Student with some embarrassment.

"Oh? What problem have you encountered?"

Upon hearing Gray's report, Art Student immediately became alert and sat much straighter on the throne.

The Space Marines were the force Art Student valued most, and he had poured a great deal of effort into their genetic enhancement. Yet they had encountered a problem in their very first battle.

"Our Space Marines are too few in number to fully display our formidable strength. In some larger campaigns, we need the Defense Force's help to complete missions more effectively. So we would like to ask whether the Defense Force can be placed under the Space Marines' command."

Only after cautiously glancing at Anrida did Gray carefully speak.

Upon hearing Gray's words, the other administrators all looked at him in surprise. In particular, the way Anrida looked at Gray became especially strange.

The other administrators were relatively unaffected, since Gray's proposal concerned only the Defense Force and had nothing to do with them. However, Anrida was in no good mood.

Anrida knew very well that although the Defense Force had a large number of personnel, its overall strength was the weakest among the three armed forces. Of the new recruits trained by the Defense Force, the Space Marines selected first, followed by the navy, while only the remaining personnel were assigned to the Defense Force.

The Defense Force's role had originally been to assist the other military branches, but under Art Student's structure, it still accepted Art Student's direct command and could barely stand on equal footing with the Space Marines and navy.

If Gray's proposal passed this time, the Defense Force's status would become even lower. Anrida was deeply unwilling.

However, Anrida also knew that the final decision rested with Art Student. He could only look at Art Student with hopeful eyes.