Starting from the Planetary Governor - Chapter 59: From the Golden Age

“Do you believe it?”

Wu Jiarong did not believe it.

A productivity comparable to a foundry world?

That was possible;

A living standard comparable to a garden world?

There were examples of that too.

But having both simultaneously?

That was a joke.

A garden world had a beautiful environment, abundant resource supply, and high living standards.

It was usually an administrative planet or a commercial hub.

A foundry world, however, typically had a poor environment, resembling a gigantic factory where countless people contributed sweat and even blood.

Could these two things be casually integrated?

How many examples of this could be found among the countless stars within the Empire’s territory?

Could the Imperial capital, Holy Terra, achieve what the Governor described?

She didn’t know.

The propaganda said it could, but she had never been there, never seen it with her own eyes, and didn’t dare to believe it easily.

If she didn’t dare to believe that even Holy Terra could be as the Governor described, then she certainly wouldn’t believe it of this impoverished wasteland planet.

Rationally, she felt the Governor was just talking nonsense, painting a grand but unrealistic picture.

That picture, while large and round, was so distant and illusory that it seemed almost laughable.

But emotionally, she could sense Governor Gu’s grand ambition.

Ambition, of course, couldn’t be used as food.

Back in the day, she had the ambition to be promoted to a Mechanic, and even further to a Technical Priest. But in the end, she was handed over as Empire tax.

However, she felt that she could believe in Governor Gu’s ambition.

Believing in his ambition and believing that the ambition could be realized were two different things.

But just believing in the Governor’s ambition allowed her to picture in her mind that her Governor was not someone who would just muddle through life, exploit people, and only focus on meeting the biennial Empire tax, then enjoy the rest of the time.

Working under such a Governor seemed to be an opportunity she had never had before.

Ten years ago, on the foundry world, she considered herself exceptionally talented and only aimed to be promoted to a Mechanic; on the starship, with her future cut off, all she thought about was finding a decent man, getting married, having children, and then muddling through life.

One day, if she got too old, she might retire, but it was also very likely that before that, the Quintet would be destroyed in some war, turning everyone on board into space debris.

Following a Governor, becoming the most important technical personnel under him, her future achievements might surpass being a mere Mechanic or Technical Priest.

Perhaps she could become a Mechanical Bishop, or even…

She dared not think further.

Aspiring to become a Sage was too difficult.

Such wishful thinking was as illusory as the Governor’s dream of turning Fury Owl Planet into a combination of a foundry world and a garden world.

All these were still far away, but not that far.

Indeed, the Governor was starting from scratch, with a directly governed population even less than ten thousand, and couldn’t extend his administrative power globally.

On the other hand, if the Governor were already in full power, would he still look upon a mere technical specialist like her?

He could easily recruit a bunch of higher-level experts.

It was precisely now, during the startup phase, that there was an opportunity to offer timely support and grow alongside the Governor’s increasing power.

Moreover, the Governor had Black Box Fabricators…

The value of these machines was immensely precious.

It was said that they came from the distant Golden Age, an era almost untraceable and even before the establishment of the Empire.

Back then, humanity was the master of the universe, each individual enjoyed dignity, the best possible life, and could freely engage in any profession they desired, or not work at all if they chose.

The Black Box Fabricators were products of that era, ensuring humanity could easily and quickly obtain products in any environment.

As long as interstellar colonizers had a Black Box, they could quickly establish a suitable home on a new barren planet.

It was the Black Box that allowed humanity in the Golden Age to spread across the universe and maintain similar technological levels in every world.

In today’s era, the Empire’s technology was vastly different from the Golden Age.

Relying on archaeology for research is no joke.

A topic that a foundry world couldn’t solve in a hundred years might be resolved one day by discovering an ancient relic and gaining a small hint from it.

In fact, many of the technologies widely used in the Empire today were restored through archaeology and are not even one percent of the level of the Golden Age.

The precious Titan Mechs might have just been some kind of vehicle driven by lumberjacks in the Golden Age.

And the Black Box Fabricators are the crown jewels of archaeological… uh, I mean, research work.

These devices can directly produce finished products and have immense research value.

Although the three types of Black Box Fabricators currently suspected to be in Governor Gu’s possession produce items that are already common throughout the Empire and have no intrinsic value—after all, which normal world can’t produce rifles, Alloy and Plastic Steel, or Whetstone Hybrid Engines?—the true value lies in the Black Box Fabricators themselves.

The output is not that important, but the technology from the Golden Age embodied in the Black Box Fabricators is something that would drive the Imperial Mechanicus crazy.

…

Gu Hang listened carefully to Wu Jiarong’s explanations.

Some of the information he already knew from his memory, while some he did not.

These messages were important, but relatively not so critical.

Based on Wu Jiarong’s statements, he had basically ruled out the idea of selling the Black Box Fabricators.

Actually, it’s not that they couldn’t be sold at all—after all, if someone wanted to steal them, it would require effort.

Spending some money to buy them might be an easier solution.

However, Gu Hang wouldn’t sell them.

Too dangerous.

Compared to the immensely powerful Imperial Mechanicus, he, a small Governor, was insignificant.

More dangerously, if he sold a few, wouldn’t the Mechanicus keep an eye on him?

Trying to acquire more? Or wanting to know how he obtained the precious Black Box Fabricators?

As for the less important point, Fury Owl Planet was too remote and insignificant.

The events here would be hard to reach the ears of the Mechanicus.

Currently, the only interstellar communication Fury Owl Planet had was with the Quintet.

If the news didn’t leak out, it was as if nothing had happened.

Moreover, Gu Hang couldn’t afford to waste such valuable resources; having the Black Box Fabricators and not using them would be impractical.

He had been cautious before, but inevitably some things were revealed.

It’s unavoidable when using them.

In the future, he would be even more careful.

At the same time, he needed someone to help.

Gu Hang looked at Wu Jiarong with expectation in his eyes.