Chapter 1002, Complete Liberation

In the sky, the enormous banner symbolizing the Imperial Skyhawk and the simple yet powerful emblem of the Alliance Thunder Phoenix stood side by side, fluttering in the strong wind.

A massive holographic projection device points directly from an orbiting satellite to the center of the plaza, simultaneously transmitting the scene to every corner of Terra, and in the future, to every star system of the Empire.

This moment is destined to be recorded in history.

On the high platform, the core power and strength of the old and new empires converged. The solemn and imposing Imperial Guard, like a historical monument, stood on either side; Dante the Blood Angel, representatives of the major core warbands, the Cardinals of the State Church, high-ranking members of the Inquisition, and a few surviving members of the high-ranking lord families who had confirmed their loyalty…

All eyes were drawn to the very front of the platform.

Robert, the Regent of the Empire. His exquisitely crafted blue-gold powered armor, weathered by millennia of war, gleamed in the sunlight.

As Terra's ancient, restored, massive clock struck its twelfth long chime, a breathtaking silence fell over the entire Newborn Plaza and the Imperial territories connected by radio waves.

The gazes of countless people, whether in physical form or through images, are all focused on this high platform.

Robert, the Son of God and Regent of the Empire, took a firm step forward.

"Citizens of the Empire! Guardians of Terra! Those who rebuild their homes amidst the ruins of Holy Terra! Warriors who stand ready in the fortresses of the Imperial Expeditionary Front! Compatriots who await the dawn in distant star systems! Heroes who are sailing through the Crimson Scars that separate order from chaos!—Listen to me, and engrave my voice in your hearts!"

"We have just crossed an abyss! The darkest and most desperate abyss in the thousands of years of human history!"

"The heart of the Empire, the holy city of humanity, the sanctuary of our souls—Holy Terra—has suffered unprecedented desecration and corruption! The minions of demons, the hateful traitors, have nearly torn the last bastion of human civilization to shreds! Billions of lives have perished in suffering, palaces that once bore glory have turned to ruins, and the land that nurtured hope has fallen into a deathly silence! This unforgettable pain, this deep-seated shame, will be eternally etched into the soul of the Empire!"

"It serves as a warning that if the foundation of an empire is rotten, even the greatest glory will be destroyed in an instant!"

"However, please always remember—that heart still beats! Terra still stands! The Empire of Man has never yielded! All this is because of you—because of your courage! Because of your indomitable spirit in the face of despair! Because of your perseverance amidst the ruins!"

"I saw mortal soldiers, armed with crude weapons, fighting tooth and nail against the plague-ridden zombies to their last breath, refusing to yield an inch of the land behind them! I saw nuns and priests, igniting a fire of pure faith to purify the shadows of despair! I saw Space Marines—the Emperor's angels—fighting like towering mountains in the filthy mire, all to protect the land His Majesty the Emperor once walked upon!"

"And finally, I witnessed that heroic torrent from the dark side of the Empire! They crossed the vast starry sea torn apart by chaos to aid the capital city on the verge of destruction! With an iron will and unparalleled spirit of sacrifice, they tore open a bloody path to final victory for us! The Titan roar of the Alliance, the cold glint of the blades of mortal elites, the figures of fearless warriors—their names will be immortalized along with Terra!"

"Their arrival was not merely a reversal on the battlefield. Their efficiency! Their resilience! Their ability to rebuild order from ruins! Like the blazing dawn, they infused Terra's dying pulse! They proved one thing to us: order can be rebuilt! Hope can be revived! When the entire Empire casts aside its stale internal strife, breaks free from its rigid shackles, and embraces the path of new life, human civilization will surely stand tall once more!"

"The bloated, rigid, and internally sluggish bureaucratic machine of the old empire, sluggish and incompetent in the face of crisis, was the breeding ground and accelerator of this catastrophe! It failed the expectations of the Father God Emperor! It failed the trust of the hundreds of millions of people in the empire! When the shadow of chaos first appeared, when the Prime Minister's depravity had already sown the seeds of disaster, this massive machine turned a blind eye, and even became an accomplice in the spread of corruption! It has proven its own decay and ineffectiveness—it must be changed! It is being changed!"

"Today! What we are witnessing is an unprecedented rebirth in the history of the Empire! It is the rebirth of human regimes, drawing lessons from their own defeats and proclaiming their own rebirth! For this reason, the Imperial Regent's Throne and the Imperial Prime Minister's Office will jointly exercise supreme authority to form a Supreme Council representing all loyal forces of the Empire!"

"This is the new empire we will build together! An empire that dares to face the wounds of history, has the courage to admit its own mistakes, is determined to reform, and is firmly looking towards the future! An empire that remembers the greatness and suffering of the victims, but will never wallow in grief, and will surely turn sorrow into a driving force for progress!"

"The fire of rebuilding Holy Terra has been ignited! The blade of the Imperial expedition has never been cooled! Those territories lost in the catastrophe! Those worlds tainted and enslaved by the shadow of chaos! They cry out for the light of order in the darkness! They await the liberation of the Imperial sword! They await the shelter of the Mother's embrace! They await us to bring them—back under the glorious order of human civilization!"

"We will embark on a grand expedition, symbolizing the indomitable spirit of humankind. The fleet will set sail from Holy Terra, bringing the glory of the new empire to every inch of the world that should rightfully receive the Emperor's light!"

In the name of the Emperor! In the name of Holy Terra! In the name of all the billions of our people who perished for this dawn! The flame of human civilization—will never be extinguished!

Robert's voice was like an invisible giant hammer, striking the depths of every listener's soul.

After a brief, heart-pounding silence, the entire New Student Plaza erupted like a long-dormant volcano, unleashing a deafening roar!
Countless shouts of "For the Emperor!", "Long live Terra!", and "Long live the new Empire!" converged into a raging torrent of emotion.

The Imperial Guards responded with thunderous oaths, striking their breastplates with their fists.

On the high platform, even the most reserved nobles of the old empire straightened their backs.

Robert nodded slightly, acknowledging the surging crowd below. Then, with a hint of barely perceptible relief and that familiar, slightly helpless yet gratified "I knew it" expression, he calmly stepped back, turned to look at Gu Hang, and simultaneously made a perfectly clear invitation gesture towards the holographic projection camera.

The camera captured the moment, and the focus of millions of eyes shifted like a tide.

Gu Hang's gentle and profound smile, as deep as the starry sea, remained unchanged.

He strode forward calmly, taking the place where Robert had just stood. His voice, without any electronic amplification, resonated clearly in everyone's ears, as calm as a stream in a deep valley, yet possessing an indescribable penetrating power and a rational, soothing strength:

"The Regent has given our era a powerful and historically significant definition—a brand new empire."

"But what does 'new' mean?"

"This question challenges us: How can we ensure that our new empire avoids repeating the mistakes of the old one?"

"The foundation of the new empire does not rely solely on that lofty throne!" Gu Hang's voice suddenly became firm and powerful, filled with an iron will, "but on the millions of people who burn themselves out, give silently, strive for a better tomorrow for the entire civilization, safeguard order, and rebuild their homes!"

"Only humankind truly deserves the praise of being 'long live'!"

"So, how will the new empire respond to this glory? How will it safeguard the precious foundation built upon this rational sacrifice? His Majesty the Regent has already pointed out the necessity of change. At its core lies the construction of a mechanism that allows this glory to shine to its fullest extent and makes this sacrifice most valuable—an efficient, transparent, service-oriented governance system deeply rooted in the consensus of hundreds of millions of people. It must ensure that every ordinary spark illuminates the path forward, rather than becoming a new constraint." "The reconstruction process of Terra is proof of the power of this system!"

"Fifteen years ago, post-war Holy Terra was ravaged by corruption and chaos, as people experienced firsthand. But now, the life-sustaining systems of water supply, sewage, energy, healthcare, and food rationing are being restored to function and vitality."

"This is not a miracle!" His voice carried an undeniable objectivity. "It is a miracle created by engineers, doctors, teachers, technical experts, and civil servants from all over the world of the Alliance, working side by side with the local survivors of Terra, day and night, relying on clear goal setting, scientific planning, strict execution standards, and selfless dedication."

"This is the most precious 'gift' that the Dark Side of the Empire has given to Holy Terra! It is not gold or silver, but a set of equipment that has been tempered by countless wars and can still be efficiently organized and operate steadily even in the deepest despair of human civilization!"

"It lacks the old traditions and formalities, and does not conform to some people's imagination of aristocratic 'decency'... but on the ruins and on the edge of war, it has already demonstrated its powerful and unparalleled vitality and adaptability!"

"One of the core tasks of the new empire is to thoroughly integrate the core essence of this system—the pursuit of efficiency, the respect for rules and science, and the recognition of the value and dignity of every 'person'—into every inch of the empire's body, and reshape it into an empire completely different from any previous era, truly facing the future stars and the sea!"

"But the new empire needs the entire heartland of Terra, every world yet to fall, to swiftly and resolutely gather! Resources! Manpower! Technology! Talent! Faith!—They must be united into an invincible torrent of steel, surging ceaselessly towards the territories tainted by darkness!"

"His Majesty the Regent, myself, and the soon-to-be-operational High Council will swiftly reorganize the Empire's resources and build the most efficient and reliable expeditionary operational system. We will use Terra's rebirth today as a foundation to reclaim, inch by inch, the light of order and civilization from the clutches of chaos—completely!"

"This is also the first solemn promise of the new empire: to lay a solid foundation for the survival of mankind—for all mankind! To free us from fear, from extinction!" Gu Hang's gaze swept across every face below, his tone extremely solemn.

"The second solemn promise of the new empire: to guarantee every survivor, every descendant—the right to pursue a better life! The fundamental right to be free from fear and want! The right to pursue dignity and happiness in life!"

……

After the grand ceremony, there was a military parade and celebrations in various places, all very lively and bustling.

But this excitement belongs to the people.

The two leaders of the empire only briefly met during the ceremony before returning to their respective duties.

Gu Hang, needless to say, had too many things to do.

He sits in the Stormlands, maintaining the Thunder Torch and suppressing the corruption in the entire region conquered by the Alliance; he observes the waves of the warp, witnessing Emperor Old Deng's gradual attempts to repair and quell the Crimson Scars, occasionally lending a hand...

In the real world, although there are not many things he needs to handle directly anymore, he delegates more of his work to the Alliance government—or rather, the Imperial government now.

A number of former high-ranking officials in the Alliance government, such as Osena and Lambert, have now become high-ranking officials in the Empire. The former is the Prime Minister of the Imperial Executive Council, and the latter has become the Prime Minister of the Imperial Ministry of Justice.

To be honest, the current imperial central government is actually the alliance's central government.

One team, two sets of names.

The future—no, I should say the present—is the matter of the Empire, which is the matter of the Alliance.

All the power that the old empire once held will be completely reshuffled as the expedition progresses.

The Alliance's Dark Side Expedition is already doing this.

And the expedition will be expanded even further in the future.

That's Robert's job.

He's called a 'Regent,' but there probably won't be much 'politics' left for him to 'regulate' in the future. His main task right now is actually to build the Imperial Expeditionary Force to launch the 'Unyielding Expedition' he mentioned in his previous declaration.

This indomitable expedition will likely proceed in three directions.

Heading north, from the path of the real universe, we will strike into the infinite space.

Meanwhile, in the Infinite Space, an army has also been formed and is advancing south. Both sides are striving to achieve a victorious rendezvous within a few decades.

Heading west was the weakest branch; they were basically just scouting ahead.

To the southeast, the largest force aims to join forces with the Alliance's own covert Western Expeditionary Army within five years.

Yan Fangxu's Western Front Army had already crossed the Crimson Scar from the Seven Star Corridor decades ago and begun operations on the Imperial Holy Frontier. To date, they have nearly conquered an entire star system and are now advancing towards Holy Terra.

After the two armies successfully joined forces, it can be basically declared that the area southeast of Holy Terra, all the way to the Scarlet Scar, has been completely liberated.

Then, the two armies will merge into one, one heading west to launch the true western expedition; the other heading south to launch the southern expedition.

In conjunction with the progress of the Dark Side Expedition, we hope to achieve the complete restoration of all territories of the Empire within a century!

(End of this chapter)