135: Take me to the meeting room.

(Received a massive update bouquet from the great master Takanashi Fuyuki. Debt count is now 18 + 1 = 19)

...In a daze, Xi Hai seemed to hear a sound ringing in his ear,

mentioning things like Kanto and Shenyang,

until the words rang out next to him—

"Marshal, Huanggu Village has arrived."

"The train is currently running smoothly. Should we stop at the next station or..."

"Swoosh!"

Xi Hai shot up from the Hibernation Pod in a frantic lunge—

He was awake.

Seeing the familiar sight reappear before his eyes, Xi Hai rubbed his chest and calmed his frantic heart.

"Holy crap, good thing I woke up fast. The bomb didn't catch me."

Why did he suddenly have that dream?

"Supreme Director, Star System Five has arrived."

Just then, seeing that Xi Hai had finally woken up, a Staff Officer from the 9-89th Legion nearby stepped forward and said.

"??????"

...After a bit of commotion, the bomb ultimately did not follow him out of the dream,

the fleet successfully reached the garrison of the 9-89th Legion.

At the same time, the base ships waiting in the Void Channel also followed suit.

Before they even entered the Starport, a communication from Julius was sent over.

Upon answering, the barely suppressed joy practically spilled out of the screen—

"Supreme Director! Did you catch up to those damned Xenos?"

Obviously, this guy must have seen the Xeno Warship being towed in the middle.

Xi Hai simply responded softly to Julius's surprise:

"That's right,"

"A complete victory."

Immediately, the sound of cheering and excitement from a group of people came from the other side.

The fleet sailed past the Fortress, the base ships headed towards the surrounding Rich Mining Areas, and the main fleet, towing the Xeno Warship, entered the Fortress's Starport.

Julius had been waiting there for a long time.

As soon as Xi Hai stepped off the Docking Gangway, he immediately strode forward to meet him—

"Supreme Director... I simply don't know how to thank you for this kindness!"

"The guys in the Legion have been tormented almost to the breaking point by these Xenos!"

Xi Hai placed a hand on the excited man, laughing as he said:

"Say no more. Your loyalty is the greatest reward you can give me."

Julius immediately understood the meaning behind Xi Hai's words, and he shouted on the spot—

"The 9-89th Legion, in the name of the lord of ten thousand changes—swears eternal allegiance to His Imperial Majesty Chusiro!"

Xi Hai's face stiffened.

Why did everyone in this Legion like to put the 'Yellow Robe' on people?

He quickly stopped him.

"Do not use the name of any god!"

"Humanity is never dominated by any Supreme Existence. Everything we have today was created through humanity's endless struggle,"

"The oath must only be taken in the name of Humanity—and furthermore, do not call me His Imperial Majesty now. Call me Grand Duke or Supreme Director."

Julius stood at attention and replied again:

"Yes! In the name of Humanity, we pledge allegiance to the sacred Chusiro Family!"

Having said that, he immediately changed the subject.

"Oh, right, Supreme Director, those Xenos that have been ravaging us for three years... have they all been cleared out?"

Xi Hai nodded.

"As for that group of elusive guys, yes, they're gone."

"They ran straight into us in the Void Channel."

Julius immediately grew excited.

"Supreme Director! I request permission to broadcast this news to the entire Legion immediately!"

"This is the only piece of good news we've had in decades! It will raise our dismal morale significantly!"

Xi Hai waved his hand and said:

"Go ahead."

"However, can you contact all of your subordinates right now?"

Julius immediately thumped his chest in assurance:

"Absolutely! We have an Online Conference Room. Given enough time, we can even contact every registered soldier!"

Can contact every registered soldier?

That's great!

"In that case, send me a copy of your Legion's Personnel Files. Later, convene an online meeting for all Officers Ranked Colonel and Above,"

"I have something very important to discuss."

It's time to rectify the 9-89th Legion's habit of sticky fingers—looting the enemy is their skill, but tampering with allied equipment is the bottom line.

After all, allies can tolerate it once or twice, but not every time. Besides, they aren't lacking logistics now.

However, reforming a Legion is a massive project.

Although Xi Hai had conducted some grassroots research, it was only on a small squad directly under the Marine Corps, and there were tens of thousands of such squads.

He needed to understand more information.

Soon, the Personnel Files were sent to Xi Hai.

Upon closer inspection, after multiple reorganizations, the current 9-89th (Guardian Angels) Legion still retained 19 Mobile Fleets, with 2.5 million registered personnel.

Each fleet was equipped with three thousand to six thousand Warships, and Relic Warships accounted for only about 3%;

The establishment of Local Defense Fleets had been completely abolished, replaced by Self-Defense Legions equipped only with some Aerospace Devices.

Additionally, they were equipped with a Marine Corps totaling 820,259,593 personnel.

It should be noted that, according to standard organization, an Imperial Navy Border Legion was supposed to have 300 Mobile Fleets, plus a Local Defense fleet deployed in every star system.

This shows how desperately this fleet has fought over the years.

Among these details, Xi Hai also noticed something very interesting: these guys would try their best to bring back the remains of their comrades—at least a part of them.

The fallen warriors would be sent back to their hometowns (if that location was still held by the Legion) for burial, and their names would be carved onto a Stone Tablet at the fleet headquarters for permanent preservation.

Of course, if some warriors had no family or hometown, their remains would be interred in a dedicated area located at the Legion Headquarters.

Seeing this, Xi Hai had a clear understanding—

This behavior indicates that this army possesses its own belief system. Perhaps vague or simple, but it exists.

Moreover, the central command of the Legion has a high degree of control over the local Legions, and the individual soldiers have a strong sense of belonging. Although the soldiers are strongly regional, they are all willing to charge into battle for the same goal.

In this situation, a combination of coercion and persuasion would be effective.

Considering the specific circumstances, Xi Hai had roughly figured out how to reform this Legion step by step:

That is, while stating the bottom line, subtly implement ideological reform, elevating their existing beliefs—for example, from protecting family, to protecting their hometown, and finally to protecting civilization;

And while removing the backward and outdated ideologies within—

completely eliminate the influence of the Imperial Religion (lord of ten thousand changes) within this army.

Just then, Julius's communication rang out as he finalized his initial plan:

"Supreme Director, the meeting is ready! Except for one Mobile fleet currently engaging with a few small-scale incoming Alien Fleet, all other personnel are fully in position!"

Xi Hai nodded and asked:

"Does that fleet require reinforcement?"

Julius was startled, and quickly waved his hand, saying:

"No need, no need. They've basically finished the fighting and are currently clearing the battlefield."

Xi Hai nodded and said:

"In that case, we'll wait for them first."

"Take me to the Online Conference Room."

"Yes!"

...(The pacing is hard to control; I feel like some parts need more detail.)

(In that case, I'll speed up. There's still daylight.)

(If I post a few more chapters a day, you guys shouldn't say I'm padding the content, right?)