193: Since you're here, you're not leaving.

In the Space City of the Guardian Angel Legion headquarters at Tianjin Seat V89.05,

three days had passed since Xi Hai last convened a meeting of all the Legion's high-level officials.

The storms of Cetus had not swept this way—

it was heard that the Void Turbulence over there was also about to end, and the joint disposal fleet of the Empire and The Consortium had already arrived in the neighboring star systems of Cetus V66.66 to wait.

The feeling of 'wanting to beat the other side to death' was practically written on both sides' faces, making the entire joint fleet extremely tense.

When Xi Hai heard that those bugs had popped up again, he couldn't help but lament that the humans here were truly seeking death, playing with big explosions every few days.

If they ever actually blew open an Eye of Terror one day, then they would learn to behave.

After all, according to the archives in the United University database that White Shark's assistant had seen, those bugs were definitely capable of something if they could fight the Empire of the fourth era for so long.

For instance, their heaven-defying learning ability and that vaguely defined hypnosis ability,

it always felt like there were hidden traps everywhere.

The reason those bugs at Ursa Major V12.22 were killed by them before,

was largely because those bugs hadn't gone through a long development period and were still in a very primitive state—

the principle was similar to a late-game overpowered monster being ganked three times before it could grow, forcibly ending the match before it could stand up.

After thinking for a long while, Xi Hai still sent a reminder to Kelaifu in a private capacity to pay attention to those bugs in Cetus.

As for whether he listened or not, it had nothing to do with him—

after all, that was the Empire's border; he didn't have the ability, nor was it necessary, to worry about that matter.

He had made sufficient plans; if anything really happened later, he would just adapt on the fly.

He hoped the Empire's fleet could crush those bugs before they became a major threat.

Right now, Xi Hai didn't have that much time to worry about this matter that currently had no connection to him—

compared to the undercurrents surging at Cetus V66.66, Tianjin Seat had entered a period of relatively calm and peaceful development.

And this period of peaceful development meant an incredibly massive workload.

The development plan set during the previous meeting had already begun to be pushed forward in an orderly manner,

especially that Level 5 Space City located in the No. 5 Star System; it had even completed its basic structural assembly and entered the subsequent interior work—

that's right, after more than 20 days of development and construction, the exponential industrial expansion capability of the setting was already beginning to show its potential.

The industrial system at Tianjin Seat V89.05 was now basically established, with tens of thousands of engineering ships, thousands of joint production lines, and millions of fully mobilized workers.

Only this could create such a jaw-dropping construction miracle as building a Space City in three days;

(Of course, the construction of other planned Space Cities hadn't fallen behind; most construction progress was already past the halfway mark.)

At the same time, the academy's personnel recruitment had also expanded.

In the Military Academy Department, the Legion had already gathered a large number of old veterans for re-employment.

Xi Hai, who previously thought the Guardian Angel Legion lacked talented generals, only now realized his thinking was completely wrong—

it wasn't that they lacked general-level talent, they were simply constrained by material conditions.

The first batch of students for the Military Academy would be selected and admitted from the various units of the Legion first.

As for the Cultural Department, Xi Hai directly threw Keith and White Shark over there to hold honorary positions,

and the teachers recruited from the Sacred Stars Group would be in place in a week.

The recruitment of the first batch of Cultural Academy students was planned to prioritize the children of military personnel,

while being open to the entire Tianjin Seat V89, screening through a unified examination and merit-based admission.

Of course, if we're talking about the fastest progress, it was the Inquisition that Xi Hai had focused on building—

Julius personally followed through on everything from file transfers and inspections to appointments.

Within three days, he had cobbled together a functional one—

of course, the Action Department mostly used the Clone Marines that came with the base during shipbuilding.

This could also be considered a form of re-employment.

You ask why the Inquisition had to be built so urgently?

There was only one reason:

That was to ensure that the administrative construction, which had been delayed, could proceed smoothly—

that's right, ever since Xi Hai took charge last time and had the Legion reject all requests from those 'local forces',

those local forces like 'groups', 'families', and 'associations' had still popped up like mushrooms after rain, each one secretly sabotaging the Legion's work,

and frequently inciting the public to oppose all of the Legion's policies.

The vast majority of normal people scoffed at them, unwilling to stand in opposition to the Legion no matter what they faced;

a small number of people, under the coercion and bribery of those 'local bullies', were forced to be tied to their war chariot.

But there just had to be a group of idiots.

Unlike those who were forced to get involved for self-preservation, this type of person was truly both stupid and wicked—

they were self-important, always acting like 'the whole world is drunk while I alone am sober'.

After reading a few short essays, hearing a few speeches, and receiving a few cheap little gifts, they forgot even how they were born.

They directly handed over control of their bodies from their brains to their large intestines, firmly shouting slogans like 'Overthrow Legion Autocracy' and 'Down with the Legion, Fight for Freedom',

being even more proactive than the truly wicked people.

Furthermore, during these three days, this bunch of people had been constantly testing the Legion's bottom line,

acting so arrogantly as if they were the ones who held the truth.

Of course, with night lamp's unparalleled web-surfing abilities, the backgrounds of those people were indeed investigated thoroughly—

some of these guys were indeed sent by external forces to test the waters, especially several 'civilian associations' within the Empire,

but the majority were indeed homegrown local forces.

Xi Hai could only exclaim 'wow', did they really think they were something special?

How much did they drink to get this drunk?

Could it be because he was busy refitting the frontline fleet and main battle fleet during this time, temporarily neglecting the garrison fleet, that these guys made an incorrect assessment of their strength?

Or did they, like those scholar-officials at the end of the Ming Dynasty, think that he had to rely on them to govern Tianjin Seat V89?

Truly laughable.

Previously, the Legion was busy dealing with foreign enemies and had no time to deal with these backstabbing fellows,

but that didn't mean the Legion couldn't control them.

"The time is almost up."

Glancing at the time on the central console, Xi Hai let out a soft breath and stood up from his office chair.

That's right, Julius had already sent out meeting invitations to all those 'local forces', large and small.

Compared to those dizzying battles of wits,

Xi Hai still felt that the most primitive and effective battle of wits was either calling people out for a fishing trap or calling people out for a meeting.

Whether those people came in person, via projection, or by other methods,

it didn't matter.

Xi Hai turned on the communicator and connected to the person in charge of this operation—the acting head of the Inquisition, Hector, and asked:

"Are the actions on both sides ready?"

An affirmative answer came from the other side.

Xi Hai nodded, hung up the communication, and walked out—

Those scum who cause trouble behind our backs, starting to fight for power and profit before the foreign enemies are even completely eliminated?

Wanting to snatch those blood-stained lands before the soldiers' bones have even cooled?

In that case, since you've come this time, don't even think about leaving...