Starting from the Planetary Governor
Chapter 23: The Captain’s Thoughts

The battle by the river bend had ended.

The slave, shivering in their makeshift board room barracks next door, were herded out.

The low-ranking officers of the Wasteland Team announced to them that they had been liberated by the Governor and had gained their freedom.

Upon hearing this, the slave did not react at all.

They never thought freedom was anything valuable; they didn’t even understand what freedom meant.

Was freedom the uncertainty of wandering the wastelands in the past? Was it the hunger and cold when trying to make a living at the foot of Revival City?

They were quite free then, free to do whatever they wanted, except there was no food to eat, no clothes to wear, and they would see dead people every day—starved, sick, murdered by robbers… all kinds.

Especially in winter, it was the hardest to endure.

Compared to those times, they were quite satisfied with their current lives.

Although the food was poor and the work was hard, they were the labor force in the fields, and their masters would not let them starve—at least not until they lost their ability to work.

Now, a group claiming to be the subordinates of the Governor had come running in, fought a fierce battle, and it seemed their masters were finished, and they themselves had been liberated, regained their freedom.

But they were bewildered.

Ah? I’m free?

Tears almost streamed down their faces.

However, the next announcement reassured them quite a bit.

They did not know what was good about freedom, but they at least knew that bread was good.

A substantial amount of food was distributed.

The slave—oh, now they were free people—devoured the food ravenously, having been accustomed to being only half-full every day.

While they were eating, someone announced the next arrangements to them.

They were no longer slave but free people under the Governor’s jurisdiction.

The Governor would personally govern the entire Mantan River Valley Estate, and a large number of agricultural workers were needed.

Food and lodging were provided, along with a small but production-based bonus.

They were free to come and go, not restricted, and those willing to stay could accept employment.

Only a fool would leave.

Instantly, the confusion, bewilderment, and helplessness in the slave’ hearts almost completely dissipated.

They didn’t need to understand anything more; as long as they knew they would not go hungry or be cold in the future, that was enough.

After they were full, it was time for them to go out and work.

The bodies needed to be cleaned up and burned, the walls damaged in the war had to be repaired, and the trampled, bombed fields needed to be tidied up to salvage as much of the harvest as possible.

The entire estate had become busy.

After Yan Fangxu had roughly arranged everything, there wasn’t much else to do.

He gazed at the rolling mountains across the river bend, lost in thought.

Using the recently encountered psychic, or rather cultist, he pondered his own future.

When he was sent to the surface as the Governor’s guard, he originally thought his future was bleak.

He still remembered that day when the Governor sought armed protection from Captain Alicia before leaving the starship to land on the surface. The Brigadier General had originally planned to send only three hundred slave to the Governor to settle the matter.

But who would have thought that on that day, he would be bored and joking with his colleagues about an inexperienced woman being promoted to Captain and Brigadier General too quickly?

The key point was that the Captain overheard it.

God Emperor bears witness, he didn’t have any serious objections to the female Captain; he was just joking along with his colleagues.

But why did it have to be when he was the one speaking that the Captain overheard?

What rotten luck!

Coincidentally, the Governor named Gu Hang was complaining that three hundred slave were too few, so Alicia waved her hand and assigned him along with thirty marines to join the Governor’s command.

Amid the cheerful and gloating laughter of his colleagues, the young Marine Captain could only take thirty men to the surface.

He was heartbroken, feeling his future was bleak.

Who didn’t know that the Governor of Fury Owl Planet was essentially a consumable replaced every two years?

As a small Captain, he had offended the Captain and was sent to the surface, which was equivalent to exile.

Even if he protected this Governor well, the guy would still ultimately be executed for failing to pay taxes.

He would also waste two years on Fury Owl Planet with no progress.

But he still had to fulfill his duties.

On one hand, it was his sense of military responsibility; on the other hand, if the Governor was executed by the tax department, that was one thing, but if he died under his protection, the responsibility would be immense.

As for the Governor overcoming the tax hurdles, securing his position, reviving the planet, and eventually being grateful for his help during his humble beginnings, becoming his patron, and leading him to great success?

This was something he dreamed about but never dared to think about when awake.

Of course, he hoped the future would turn out that way, but it seemed too impossible.

Especially since the Governor had grandiose plans, not intending to quickly take over the Alliance’s regime and replace ways to gather taxes, but instead dreaming of developing the territory from scratch… By the God Emperor, where would he replace the time for that?

But then again, what did it have to do with him?

After all, it wouldn’t be him getting executed.

As time passed, he gradually started to feel more hopeful.

Thoughts that he would only entertain in his dreams when he first landed on the surface began to occasionally surface even when he was awake.

Could Gu Hang actually succeed?

His reasons for thinking this were not just because Governor Gu Hang always seemed to have everything under control.

He had seen many people putting on airs and didn’t know or want to confirm if the Governor was one of them.

He didn’t want to look at attitudes; he only believed in facts.

The fact was, this Governor was a rare psychic and participated in battles alongside the soldiers.

They had won two battles and captured two camps.

This wasn’t a huge achievement, far from enough to save him, but the Governor was indeed pushing his plan forward.

Moreover, the Governor had somehow gotten his hands on two black box fabricators.

Those miraculous devices were something the Imperial Mechanicus might pay a hefty price for.

These feats made him feel a bit more confident in the Governor beyond just his sense of duty, especially because of those two black boxes.

It seemed like there was some hope after all?

And today, he and the Governor met a psychic.

He initially thought that the man named Wohan was just an ordinary psychic, but according to the Governor’s judgment, he was a cultist.

A cult, a heretic… that made for a very good enemy.

If the so-called ‘Original Owl Beast Sect’ was indeed confirmed as a heretical cult, then the credit for exterminating them would be significant.

But he still had his doubts—was it really a “cult”?

Was the Governor just making it up to get more support, or was it true?