Starting from the Planetary Governor

"I can only go as far as to send a message to Zuo Zhaofeng, to mobilize as much manpower and resources from the entire Cosmos Domain to assist you. However, I cannot guarantee it will be everything, nor can I promise you will have all the privileges."

At this point, Gu Hang felt somewhat dissatisfied.

But then another promise from Galaraldo turned his anger into joy.

"However, as compensation, I can think of other methods. For example, in the midst of the war, those worlds already under the control of the Empire cannot be given to you; but those 'liberated' worlds originally belonging to the Alliance can be managed by the Alliance. As for the reasons, they are already in place. After all, the Alliance is the liberator, and there were no original owners of those places to begin with. It's only fair for the Alliance to temporarily assist the Empire, being responsible for the security and civilian management of the recovered areas. As for the people of these planets feeling grateful to the Alliance for their rescue and returning to the Empire's embrace, and their initiative to join the Alliance, that too is understandable."

"For planets in the liberated areas during the war, they can be included in the wartime political structure of the combat zone, and the Supreme Commander of the combat zone will have complete wartime management authority. I will work hard to secure this for you."

If this step is taken, it would indeed be quite satisfactory.

Anyway, Gu Hang had no intention of really getting hold of the entire Eastern Cosmos Domain just by word of mouth, which is impossible. Even the Iron Armor Battle Group wanted a Cosmos Domain as a reward, and they haven't got it even after openly rebelling.

It's just an outrageous initial demand.

And Galaraldo's counteroffer was indeed not bad.

No matter how grandiose the embellishments, the bottom line is, the territory you conquer is yours. This concept interested Gu Hang quite a bit.

However, up until now, this is all just Galaraldo's unilateral statement.

What's said verbally isn't completely dependable. Gu Hang needs a concrete document, a statement.

This is the most important thing for the Alliance to legally expand.

Moreover, it would be best if this statement or document did not come from Galaraldo or Ou Juren. Even if it were from the current Prime Minister of the Empire, Mr. Zebert, it wouldn't suffice.

It shouldn't just be someone's word.

The legitimacy of the 'Alliance' itself has always been the subject of controversy and challenge over the years, primarily because the Alliance's founding was originally based on the golden words of the 'Apostle of War'. If it were just an Alliance of a few planets, naturally nobody would care; but now, the Alliance has inflated to its current size, and even Galaraldo's own status has risen with the tide, the legitimacy is still not sufficient.

In the future, if the Alliance really does acquire new territories as Galaraldo said, then in the upcoming great war, the Alliance's loss would spell the end of everything, no need to discuss further; but if the Alliance wins, and indeed conquers vast lands during the war, expanding its scale further across multiple Star Domains, then its volume might even surpass that of the openly acknowledged strength of the Iron Fury Stone before the rebellion.

By then, whether it's an individual or a group issuing documents or commands in their own name, it's probably not enough.

What Gu Hang needs is an 'Imperial Alliance Act' clearly approved by 'Human Empire, Holy Terra Central Government', after deliberation by the 'Supreme Lord Council', the highest authority of the Empire, confirming the legitimacy of the Alliance.

That way, Gu Hang's Alliance would no longer have to worry about its legitimacy.

At least, no one would be able to attack him on the legality of the Alliance.

Of course, this still cannot replace the importance of the Alliance's own strength. If the Alliance is weak, even with full legitimacy, it will be seen as prey and become a target for powerful factions.

But at least, if the Alliance is strong enough, and also has this layer of 'loyal,' 'legitimate' protection, then it's truly safe.

You can't win the argument; the Alliance is bigger than you.

That's the safest way.

In the subsequent conversation, Gu Hang in principle agreed to the conditions put forth by Galaraldo, but also emphasized his own demand: a clear act that confirms everything.

At the same time, Gu Hang also analyzed the importance and the potential role of this 'act' for Galaraldo — from Galaraldo's perspective. If the Alliance becomes strong and legal in the future, then it will become Galaraldo's most important support point outside of Holy Terra.

In the future, whether it's to support Galaraldo's return to his rightful seat on the Supreme Council as the head of the Military Affairs Department, or to aim even higher, the Alliance will be his powerful support.

Galaraldo understood and acted accordingly.

But he also made it clear that this matter was difficult to handle.

It wasn't something that could be negotiated just by talking.

He needed the Alliance to take some actual action and find the right 'timing' to successfully resolve this issue.

What exactly were these actions?

That would, of course, be the Alliance's movement of troops to the north.

But that alone was not enough.

If they were winning easily, how would that demonstrate the importance of the Alliance? How would it justify the great price paid by the Alliance?

It had to be that on all other fronts, they were being battered to a pulp, only the south was faring well, creating a stark contrast, and making the old masters on Holy Terra feel that the southern Alliance was their only lifesaving straw.

If the Alliance became too dissatisfied and halted in place, or even worse, struck some disastrous agreement with Iron Fury Stone behind the scenes, then truly, the heavens might fall...

Only at such a time could they drive a higher 'price'.

Gu Hang understood this.

And he felt that such a situation was by no means difficult to come about.

He indeed almost had no way to influence the movements of the Iron Armor Battle Group on the Northern and Western Fronts.

But it just so happened that the Empire was performing extremely poorly on these two fronts; the entire rebellious faction led by Humphrey Paolo was also too fierce.

Looking at the current situation, things were indeed developing in that direction.

...

Two months after Gu Hang's conversation with Galaraldo ended, the Alliance prepared a vanguard fleet and entered the Menghe Cosmos in the northern part of the Dragonhawk Star Domain. With the support of the Alliance's intelligence agencies, which had taken the lead, they expelled and imprisoned several planetary observers left by the Fury Flame Battle Group and punished numerous planetary governors and small trade caravans that traded strategic materials with 'Iron Fury Stone'.

This was a clear gesture made by Gu Hang: I've started working.

However, Galaraldo brought bad news to the Alliance.

Gu Hang's other demands were not too problematic, but the specific 'Alliance Bill' he wanted was not passed. In the end, only the Military Affairs Department and the Legal Department would issue a joint document in support of this.

In simple terms, it was Galaraldo and Ou Juren, the two of them, standing with him.

Gu Hang immediately refused to accept this.

The vanguard that had just entered the Menghe Star Domain also stopped in their tracks.

Then, in the third month, Iron Fury Stone made significant progress again.

They captured the capital planet of the Spiderweb Domain on the Western Front. There, they indeed faced fierce resistance, but after at least four thousand Interstellar Warriors carried out a ferocious orbital airdrop, in eighteen days, they dissolved the defenses of the capital planet.

On the Northern Front, they broke through the entire Spiderweb Domain, and their blades had already entered the territory of the Star Devouring Cosmos. A Loyalist Warband, heeding the call of the Star Devouring Cosmos government and engaging in an ambush, managed to briefly thwart Iron Fury Stone's advance, but nine days later, they suffered a powerful retaliation. Over six thousand Interstellar Warriors, aboard a vast fleet, raided the warband's mother planet and destroyed the Warband Monastery.

And during the furious counter-attack from the Loyalist Warband, they completed an ambush en route.

The warband was almost completely wiped out.

At this point, the Empire was truly in a panic.