stonecrandall Page 29
Page 29
"I will lead you on a secret mission, but before that, please familiarize yourselves with the energy within your bodies and use it skillfully."
Four hundred psionicists stood solemnly, their eyes no longer filled with fear and confusion, but with determination and strength.
They could feel the spiritual energy flowing within them, a sense of control they had never experienced before.
It is no longer a chaotic, uncontrollable force, but energy that is precisely guided.
This power is like a gentle kitten; it can be controlled at any time, rather than being recklessly unleashed to harm others. It is a power that can be controlled.
Zhou Qing left, leaving behind ten mechanical instructors.
Although the robots do not know how to use psionic energy, they possess sufficient knowledge.
They were inscribed with a wealth of knowledge by Zhou Qing on how to use psychic powers, knowledge that allowed the robots to mentor these people.
This is the limit of what Zhou Qing can do; he cannot stay here to mentor these psionic legions.
He still has a lot to do; he needs to continue researching federal technology.
Only civilian technology made him feel very uneasy; he needed military technology to provide him with some security.
Chapter 40: Preparing to Pay a Tax to the Human Empire
Zhou Qing had already done everything he could, and all that was left was to wait for time to pass. He wasn't in a hurry.
He has ample time to develop the civilization under his control. He can act as a mentor, guiding this emerging civilization to rise again.
Humanity has been like this ever since it stepped off that blue planet, and conquering the entire galaxy and the entire universe is humanity's destiny.
The Psionic Legion has begun training, and the Planetary Defense Forces have also begun their training.
Zhou Qing naturally could not accept that the planetary defense forces were as weak as the existing ones, so he planned a new planetary defense force for his planet.
Over the next eight months, Zhou Qing began building his own planetary defense force in preparation for paying the upcoming astral military tax.
This tax must be paid, after all, this is a fight for the survival of the human race.
Fighting for one's race is honorable, and it doesn't mean sending one's soldiers to their deaths.
Because on a battlefield, of course, some survive and some die; it all depends on the individual soldier's fate.
However, despite this, Zhou Qing would still equip his planetary defense forces with sufficient weapons and equipment and provide them with certain support.
Because the alloy factory was already operational, and because power armor was cheap, he issued power armor to all planetary defense forces, along with a Gauss rifle and four nuclear magnetic grenades to each person.
In addition, the Gauss rifle was equipped with a phase bayonet for close combat.
You may not need a bayonet, but you can't be without one.
Having something and not having something are two different things.
Zhou Qing finally understood.
Melee combat is a common occurrence in this universe, with the Chaos forces charging in like primitive humans to engage in close combat.
To ensure his troops wouldn't be at a disadvantage in close combat, Zhou Qing added these bayonets.
Those who join the Planetary Defense Force receive the benefit of genetic modification, which doubles their physical abilities to those of an average person, in order to supply them with the equipment used by the Planetary Defense Force.
However, the Planetary Defense Force can only join, not leave.
They are not allowed to withdraw from service, at least during their service period.
This is a rigid rule that Zhou Qing has set due to his current lack of resources.
After all, as I said before, he's a bit poor right now, so he has to be careful with his money.
It's not like someone can join the planetary defense force, get genetic enhancements, and then leave, right?
Although it turned out that Zhou Qing's idea was unnecessary.
Because no one wanted to leave the Planetary Defense Forces, they rarely had the opportunity to contribute to the Planetary Governor.
For the human citizens of the Betel Empire's hive world, there was simply no way they could repay Zhou Qing.
Many people can only keep sleeping to generate more energy to repay Zhou Qing, but can sleeping be considered a repayment?
This is clearly a holiday.
So, after receiving a conscription spot from the Planetary Defense Force, who among these people would be willing to withdraw?
This is a rare opportunity for them to contribute to the Governor and the Emperor, and they will never withdraw from the Planetary Defense Force.
Since the war with the Greenskins ended, Zhou Qing's planetary defense forces have seen a surge in manpower and an increase in food supplies, resulting in a large amount of resources.
He created a planetary defense force of 3,000 million people.
With a planetary defense force of 3,000 million, Zhou Qing likely has more troops than many of the Empire's hive worlds, not to mention that his planetary defense force is composed entirely of powered armor.
Although these power armors are made of Tier 1 alloy.
The first-tier interstellar alloy is called Plastic Steel in the Stars, and Zhou Qing has already compared this Plastic Steel with the Ceramic Steel used in the Warhammer world.
The comparison showed that his initial Tier 1 Alloy Plastic Steel and Warhammer's Ceramic Steel were roughly twice as good in various aspects.
The alloys of the interstellar era are naturally not the same as the Earth alloys of the 2K era; they simply continue to use the same name.
However, in terms of performance, it is incomparable to the materials science of the 2K era.
The power armor, crafted from Tier 1 alloys, provides these planetary defense forces with adequate protection.
However, due to energy and material shortages, these ordinary soldiers were not equipped with basic shields.
This may be Zhou Qing's only regret.
However, Zhou Qing can still announce to everyone that even if another four or five billion green skins came back then, if he had the current 3,000 million planetary defense force...
He could win the war even without deploying his own warships and bodyguard robots.
The Nest City World of the Betel Empire.
According to the information left by the previous planetary governor, it is clear that this hive world needs to pay the Empire 10 regiments of Astral Army every year.
Each Astral Legion has 3000 men, which is in line with the military standards of their hive world's infantry regiments.
In other words, when the next round of tax collection ships arrives, he will need to pay the Empire a force of about 30,000 men. He currently has a total of 30 million men.
Even by the standards of the Federation of Humanities, this is equivalent to 30 legions.
A mere 3 men, or 10 regiments, is nothing more than a drop in the ocean, and Zhou Qing can certainly provide that.
Meanwhile, the Psionic Legion had completed its preparations over the past few months, and now Zhou Qing was just waiting for the Empire's tax collection ships to arrive.
Time slipped away quietly in the world of Betel Nest City.
Zhou Qing stood atop the Governor's Mansion's tower, overlooking the city that was undergoing a transformation.
The ground floor of Chaodu is no longer a slum overflowing with sewage, but has been transformed into a neat residential area.
The factories in the middle zone operate day and night, producing enough resources to supply the entire planet.
The upper area became the training base and command center for the Planetary Defense Force.
Eight months is enough time for a world to undergo earth-shattering changes.
3,000 million planetary defense troops—this number would be staggering even in any of the Empire's hive worlds.
What's even more terrifying is that this unit is not a rabble, but an elite force fully equipped with power armor, Gauss rifles, and nuclear magnetic grenades.
The accompanying heavy weapons are also fully equipped.
Their training intensity far exceeds the standards of the Imperial Guard, and in some tactics they are even approaching the level of the Space Marines.
In just one year after he took over, this colony had become completely different from the colonies of the human empire.
Zhou Qing sat in the governor's palace, preparing to await the arrival of the human empire's tax ships and black ships.
He now wants to use this to determine the technological level and combat capabilities of the human empire.
Of course, this was all in order to avoid revealing their identities and to integrate into the human empire.
Zhou Qing also prepared a banquet for the tax collectors, following the customs of the human empire.
The food they used was all ordinary.
In order to prevent any other accidents, he also activated the simulation equipment to restore everything to the way the human empire should have been.
Chapter 41 No more taxes, Chaotic Energy strikes!
Zhou Qing waited for the human empire to collect taxes from him, but in the end, the human empire never came to collect taxes from him.
The war in Cardia was lost.
The thirteenth Black Expedition has been a success.
Given how things have progressed, how could the Empire's tax ships possibly still be able to pass through the warp?
Terrifying chaotic energy is flowing from the Eye of Fear.
Such a terrifying subspace, the energy of the Chaos Gods enveloped half the galaxy within them.
It's no longer possible for Imperial tax collection ships to come to this sector.
Zhou Qing keenly sensed the surging waves of subspace energy, and the chaotic subspace energy flowing in like a great river.
"Activate the high-energy shield to keep this shitty subspace energy off the planet's surface and prevent them from getting in."
Zhou Qing immediately issued an order, commanding his troops to activate high-energy shields at this moment to isolate this shit-like subspace energy from the planet.
Zhou Qing himself is not afraid of these subspace energies, but the citizens of the human empire are different; they can be corrupted. Zhou Qing has already seen this, so the high-energy shield was immediately activated.
Before the chaotic energy reached the planet, a massive planetary shield appeared on the surface of the Betel Empire's hive world.
A battle of energy ensued between the terrifying chaotic energy and the high-energy shield, but in the end, the chaotic energy flew directly over the high-energy shield.
The high-energy shield, equipped with several zero-point reactors, cannot be directly corroded by ordinary chaotic energy. After failing to corrode it, the chaotic energy eventually continued to move towards other areas.
Zhou Qing himself continued to stand on the planetary governor's palace and watch this scene unfold.
He didn't know what was happening in the universe, but he could feel the chaotic energy was disgusting enough.
Zhou Qing now felt some doubts; he wanted to understand why such a drastic catastrophe had occurred in the world. What exactly happened in the universe?
Since the Human Empire lacked any communication equipment and could only rely on the Star Speakers, Zhou Qing had no choice but to go to the Star Speaker Hall.