102: Chapter 102 A Plan to Revitalize a Dire Situation

"Ah, it feels so good to get rid of those stumbling blocks."

Fu Haoran sat in the Governor's office, enjoying a rare moment of leisure... provided he didn't look at the mountain of data slate reports in front of him.

Battle damage statistics, resource consumption, casualty lists, and a list of fleeing nobles—every page screamed two words: messy accounts.

Tychus leaned against the wall with a cigar in his mouth, spinning his power maul rapidly between his fingertips, glancing at Fu Haoran from time to time, waiting for this schemer to cook up some new trouble.

Dredd sat in the corner, repeatedly sharpening the teeth of his chainsword, his eyes glazed over.

This book was first published on the entire network.

He still hadn't recovered from the fact that he had actually walked alongside heretical Genestealers.

Ling Shuang pushed open the door with a stack of new data slates, her steps brisk but her expression grim.

"Governor, we can't settle all the Genestealer cultists. Moriah is demanding you fulfill your promise and grant them residency in the Underhive."

Fu Haoran was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed.

Tychus was instantly intrigued. He knew that smile all too well; whenever this schemer laughed like that, someone was about to suffer.

"Ling Shuang, go handle two things."

"First, identify all the fixed assets, factories, land, and secret warehouses left behind by the runaway nobles. Don't miss a single screw; compile a full report."

"Second, tell Moriah to pick out cultists with management experience and promote them to the Underhive Construction Task Force, giving them full authority over the reconstruction of the Underhive's infrastructure."

Ling Shuang's eyes lit up, and she nodded immediately. "I'll get right on it!"

Dredd looked up sharply, about to shout, "You're actually letting cultists participate in Hive City management?" but he swallowed the words.

He had to admit, this was the fastest way to root out moles and stabilize the cultists for now.

[New Main Questline Triggered: All Things Awaiting Renewal · Surging Undercurrents]

[Core Objective: Restore the Hive City's economy within 1 year, reduce the unemployment rate, and stabilize rule over the lower levels.]

[Quest Reward: 100,000 Universal Points, +2 Free Attribute Points, +30 Favor with Warsmith Danteoche (Unlocks military-industrial cooperation quests, exchangeable for Space Marine-grade tactical manuals and heavy vehicle technology, with a certain chance of becoming a Space Marine, provided you can accept the extremely high mortality rate).]

[Crisis Alert: The runaway nobles have assembled a fleet at the second largest Hive City, Sigar, and are expected to strike back in six months to start a civil war.]

[P.S. The old nobles are sharpening their blades next door. Host, hurry up and build your assets; if they're too thin, you'll be wiped out in one wave!]

Having traveled to the Warhammer World, who wouldn't want to get their hands on Space Marine tactics and equipment?

Just as Fu Haoran curled his lips into a smile, Yuri burst through the door, wailing, "Governor! The sky is falling! The sky is really falling!"

Fu Haoran pulled over a chair for him and poured a cup of water. "Take it easy, the sky isn't falling."

"How is it not falling!" Yuri gulped down the water, his voice raspy. "The runaway nobles took 70% of the Mid-Hive's precision machine tools, 40% of the smelting equipment, and even stole the data slates from the steel foundry! Now the factories can't do anything but tighten screws and hammer sheet metal!"

"The worst part is the finances! They took 80% of the Hive City credits from the reserves! We can't pay the workers, we can't buy food, and the factories can't operate. In half a month, the Hive City will be in chaos!"

Yuri was sweating profusely with anxiety. Having worked for successive Governors for decades, he had never seen such a mess.

The Underhive rebellion had just been suppressed, Mid-Hive industry was paralyzed, and the Upper Nest nobles had fled with the money. They were halfway into the abyss of bankruptcy.

Of all the people to offend, he just had to go against the nobles.

Fu Haoran wasn't in a hurry; he even leisurely picked up his tea and took a sip.

"Yuri, do you know? When a person is heavily in debt, they don't need to worry. Their creditors are more worried than they are."

"What do you mean?" Yuri didn't catch on.

"Apply for loans from the surrounding Forge Worlds, Agri-Worlds, and neutral trading posts. Borrow as much as you can. The term must be at least ten years, and accept whatever interest rate they ask."

Yuri practically bounced out of his chair, nearly falling to his knees. "Are you crazy?! Don't we have to pay it back? The interest alone would bankrupt us!"

Fu Haoran arched an eyebrow and gave a devious smile. "If we can't afford to pay, we just won't."

"Huh?"

"Trust me, in ten years, no one will be in the mood to collect debts from us."

Fu Haoran leaned back in his chair, full of confidence.

As for the reason, he couldn't say.

He couldn't exactly tell him that in ten years, the Horus Heresy would erupt in full force, and the creditors would either die in the fires of war or follow the rebellion and become traitors to the Imperium.

By then, the creditors themselves wouldn't be able to survive; who would remember a few loans?

If all else failed, he could just label the creditors as rebels, and the loans would naturally be wiped clean.

Yuri's face turned red with anger. In all his years, he had never seen someone so bold as to exploit the rules like this—borrowing the Imperium's money to build his own power, and then planning to default on it!

After a long pause, Yuri gritted his teeth. "Fine! I'll do it! Since the mess is already like this, I might as well go crazy with you once!"

As soon as Yuri left, Tychus leaned in, chuckling with his cigar. "Not bad, kid. You've got a whole system for screwing over the Imperium."

Fu Haoran didn't respond but turned to Ling Shuang and ordered, "Form a Construction Corps and launch the Hive City expansion plan. Expand the Mid-Hive outwards according to permanent fortification standards. Build new worker residential areas and supporting factories, ensuring all hab-blocks can achieve basic self-sufficiency."

"Additionally, move all ordinary civilians from the Underhive to the new Mid-Hive residential areas, and designate the entire Underhive for the Genestealer cultists to manage."

Ling Shuang frowned. "Governor? We're almost out of food. Large-scale construction is a purely loss-making venture!"

"No, this is the key to bringing the Hive City back to life." Fu Haoran tapped the 3D map of the Hive City, his finger sliding over the Underhive area.

"If there's no demand in the market, we'll create it."

"Building houses requires Ceramite, Plasteel, cement, and transportation. This will revitalize dozens of industries, allowing factories to open and giving workers jobs and pay. Once the money starts circulating, the market will come alive. This is called 'Work-for-relief'."

"As for those Genestealer cultists, don't pay them in cash." Fu Haoran's lips curled as he came up with a wicked idea.

"Just provide their meals and calculate points based on their workload. Points can be exchanged for housing, food, and future factory positions."

"They can have whatever they want, but there's only one principle: their range of activity is strictly limited to the Underhive."

Ling Shuang was stunned. Looking at the man smiling nonchalantly, she suddenly remembered the "civilian management" theories she had learned at the Schola Progenium.

Those rules and regulations seemed like scrap paper in front of Fu Haoran.

Tychus caught on instantly, his eyes lighting up.

This wasn't a loss-making venture; it was killing three birds with one stone.

It solved the settlement of civilians and cultists, revitalized the entire Hive City economy, and turned the volatile Genestealer cultists into a free primary labor force, completely transforming a hidden danger into his base of support.

Tychus chimed in with his cigar. "Can I get a place too? My requirements aren't high—just a balcony big enough to sunbathe on and a temperature-controlled cigar humidor. Oh, and it needs to be near the cafeteria so I don't have to run every day."

Fu Haoran glanced at him, didn't respond, and continued his orders.

"Two more things to push forward simultaneously."

"First, produce three thousand heavy tractors, modified from leman russ tank chassis. To the die-hard fans who never leave, the latest chapter of 'Warhammer: Starting as a Planetary Governor, Three Hundred Years in Tax Arrears' has been released! Strip the turrets and weld on bulldozer blades, then send them all to the outer farms."

"All the farms left by the runaway nobles will be distributed to the civilians. For those willing to farm, each household gets a free tractor. Taxes are waived for the first three years, and the Governor's office will buy back the grain at market prices. Those who exceed their quotas will be rewarded with extra farming tools and points."

Wade, who had been standing at the door, couldn't help but speak up. "My Lord, we can't even build a complete leman russ. Why waste production capacity on tractors?"

Fu Haoran asked irritably, "Can we build complete leman russ tanks?"

"No, we only have the production line for the chassis," Wade said truthfully.

"In that case, build the tank chassis first. Once we have the technology, we can install the main guns at any time. At the very least, they can serve as mobile artillery platforms. As long as they're built, I'm not worried about them being useless."

Fu Haoran paused and added, "Most importantly, a farmer who drives a tractor can master basic tank operations after just two months of training."

Wade understood instantly, a chill running down his spine.

Nominally, they were agricultural tractors, but in reality, they were turretless tank chassis. It was framed as agricultural production, but it was actually training tank crews at zero cost, perfectly bypassing the surveillance of potential enemies.

"Also, open the Sentinel walker production lines fully. Call them engineering robots to the public. Replace all weapon modules with engineering cranes and hydraulic claws, and claim they're all for Hive City construction."

Fu Haoran was determined to pull off a complete "crossing the river in the dark" maneuver.

He knew very well that Moriah and the cultists only believed in him now because of his halo as the "The Agent."

Once that halo broke, or if his actions went against the cult's core purpose, these fanatics would be the first to rebel.

But for now, they were the most useful tools.

"However, I must put a leash on these mad dogs." Fu Haoran thought for a moment, then turned to the Adeptus Arbites Judge in the corner.

"Judge Dredd, I need your assistance."

Hearing Fu Haoran suddenly call his name, Dredd had a very bad premonition and looked at him warily.

"Don't be nervous." Fu Haoran smiled. "There are too many unstable factors in the Underhive. I need you to apply to the sector for an expansion of the Arbites Garrison in the name of suppressing the rebellion and purging heretics."

"Open up the recruitment and pack it with all the veterans who fought in the Underhive war."

Dredd was a bit confused. "Expansion is easy, but the Garrison's pay must be covered by the Hive City itself. Are you sure?"

"No problem," Fu Haoran agreed readily, even eagerly.

Dredd didn't say anything, just nodded.

During this time, he had learned one thing: the brighter this Governor smiled, the deeper the schemes behind it.

But he had to admit, these schemes worked every time.

What Dredd didn't know was that while the Adeptus Arbites seemed to be getting the better deal on the surface, Fu Haoran was secretly using their system to train his own officer corps.

The combat power and training system of the Adeptus Arbites were backed by the Imperial headquarters, making them far more reliable than training blindly on his own.

More importantly, the pay for these grassroots judicial police came from the Governor's office. When war broke out in the future, he would only need the excuse of suppressing a rebellion to logically pull them into the Planetary Defense Force. Using the veterans to lead the new recruits, he could quickly field dozens of full-strength regiments.

He could even demand standardized heavy weapons from the Imperium in the name of the Adeptus Arbites, which was completely within the rules.

The next day, an unexpected guest arrived.

"My Lord, Warsmith Danteoche of the Iron Warriors Legion requests an audience."

Fu Haoran's eyes lit up.

Just as he was getting sleepy, someone brought him a pillow. He had been worried about having no excuse to contact this Warsmith.

Danteoche entered with a heavy tread, wearing a cage-style faceplate. His power armor made a dull thudding sound on the floor, followed by two fully armed Iron Warriors veterans.

"I've seen what you've been doing in the Hive City lately," Danteoche's heavy electronic voice rang out. "Hiding armaments within infrastructure, using Work-for-relief to stabilize the lower levels—very pragmatic, and very cunning."

Fu Haoran smiled. "You flatter me. I was forced into it."

"I need you to do a few things," Danteoche got straight to the point.

"I need a concealed machining workshop, labor, and a special alloy smelting production line."

"In exchange, I will give you a complete set of STC blueprints for the improved leman russ turret, as well as the fire control system optimization plan for the Sentinel walker."

Fu Haoran's eyes lit up instantly.

This was exactly what he needed. He was just worrying about the core technology bottlenecks for the tanks and walkers, and the Iron Warriors had delivered the blueprints right to his door.

"Deal," Fu Haoran agreed immediately. "The workshop, labor, and smelting capacity will be implemented for you within three days."

[System Notification: Favor with Danteoche +3, current favor: 20]

After seeing Danteoche off, the office finally fell silent.

Fu Haoran leaned back in his chair and opened the system warehouse, his gaze falling on his core rewards.

[Adeptus Mechanicus Precision Equipment Technical Support ×1]

[Lunar-class Cruiser Full Technical Blueprints ×1]

[Exclusive Building Rewards (Can be deployed directly in any territory/new colony, regardless of local industrial levels): Battery/Ammunition Production Line ×1; Small Shipyard ×1 (Can build Cobra-class Destroyers, requires subsequent technology unlock); Supersonic Missile Production Line ×1 (Range 18,000 km, conventional warhead)]

He hadn't had time to arrange these technologies due to the continuous fighting, but now that the Hive City had finally stabilized, it was time to set up this line.

The problem was, he knew very well that the nobles would strike back in a year, the traitorous Iron Warriors might come in four or five years, and the Horus Heresy would break out in ten. Placing these high-value production lines in the Hive City was simply not safe.

"These are my assets. If they get destroyed, I'll be heartbroken."

Fu Haoran fell into a dilemma.

Suddenly, he noticed the note after the exclusive buildings.

"Wait, the system says they can be deployed directly in any territory or new colony... Doesn't that mean I can deploy them to the 2K World?"

"The system judges the territory of the USA to be a deployable territory. Building factories there would be no problem at all."

"But I only have half a year at most, which isn't enough time to expand production capacity."

When in doubt, ask the system.

Fu Haoran opened the system mall and actually found what he was looking for.

[Item Name: Time Hourglass (Lord-exclusive item)]

[Description: A Lord with cross-world travel capabilities can bind two worlds and set the time flow ratio to 1:10 (1 year in the Warhammer World = 10 years in the 2K World).]

[Price: 100,000 Universal Points]

Expensive, truly damn expensive.

But Fu Haoran didn't hesitate to exchange for it.

What he lacked most right now was time.

Relying only on his small patch of land in the Warhammer World simply wasn't enough.

He needed a rear base that was absolutely safe, free from Imperial surveillance, and capable of unlimited production expansion.

And that rear base was in another world.

Fu Haoran gripped the hourglass, and with a thought, the light and shadows around him began to warp.

No one knew that the Hive City Governor's next move would land in a place no one could have imagined.

Even less did anyone know how much of a storm this move would stir up in the future.