Chapter 52: Maxed Out Management Skill
After ordering Eunice to maintain absolute secrecy and having Damon secure the star chart, Lucan exited his personal quarters.
As Lucan emerged, Rebecca, who had been waiting from a distance, immediately came forward.
"My Lord, do you perhaps need to rest first? The Spire District should be relatively safe for the time being. Your warriors and soldiers have already reconsolidated the defensive lines."
"No need. The underhive still hasn't returned to the Dynasty's hands. The upcoming battles will be the toughest. I need all important information regarding the uphive and the Spire District."
Since his body had been continuously enhanced, Lucan found his energy levels becoming increasingly abundant.
He required less and less sleep.
"I have already prepared it."
"Hmm? Prepared?"
When Lucan saw how Rebecca presented all sorts of information clearly and concisely before him, Lucan finally understood why the Mongorte Dynasty had placed Rebecca, a non-blood relative, in the position of Planetary Governor of the capital world.
If there were character panels, Rebecca's management skill would undoubtedly be MAX. He truly didn't know how she had managed to consolidate all the post-battle information so well in just a few short hours.
Although he had Verre's assistance previously, Verre, after all, was not a professional in this area. Much information still required Lucan to process and integrate himself. With a professional like Rebecca present, Lucan instantly felt much more at ease.
All the various pieces of information he wanted were clearly listed out.
Looking at the report, Lucan understood the basic situation in the uphive and the Spire District.
Currently, the population under Dynasty control in the Spire District and the uphive still numbered over thirty million.
A small portion consisted of original uphive residents and soldiers; the rest were refugees who had flooded into the uphive since the war began.
Among them, combat personnel numbered nearly 200,000. "Combat personnel" here referred to professionally trained career soldiers, including PDF, Enforcers, and Ecclesiarchy forces.
As for the remaining hastily formed defense forces drawn from the refugees, they were adequate for defense, but one couldn't expect them to take offensive action; they might even cause more trouble.
And though the number of combat personnel seemed large, these individuals also had to bear the burden of defending the entire uphive and Spire District. The remaining forces that could be mobilized, if spread out into the vast underhive, would likely not even make a ripple.
And with the uphive having lost the industrial supply from the underhive, the once most prosperous and comfortable area of the entire hive city – the uphive and Spire District – was now scarred and battered, its former glory gone.
To maintain the basic survival of the current population in the uphive, numerous buildings had been demolished; even the mansions and residences of nobles had not been spared.
These areas had all been converted into temporary industrial zones and rapidly growing fungus farms.
There were also shanties built to accommodate more people. If not for being able to look up and see the sky, which was invisible from the underhive, one might truly believe they had arrived in the underhive itself.
It had to be said that Rebecca had already done very well; to prevent the entire uphive from descending into chaos under such circumstances was no easy feat.
However, even with some food and supplies stockpiled in advance, it was still impossible to feed everyone adequately.
The number of incoming refugees had also exceeded Rebecca's expectations.
Food had to be supplied first to officers and soldiers; after all, if even they were too weak from hunger, then everyone would be doomed.
The remaining refugees were assigned to temporary factories or engaged in other work.
The food they received could only barely sustain their lives.
Rebecca hadn't let them remain idle but gave them things to do, to exchange labor for food.
This was also a way to stabilize morale, telling these refugees that they were still useful to the Dynasty and would not be casually abandoned.
However, the reality was that there weren't enough jobs for such a large population, and sometimes those without work could only endure hunger.
And those who were assigned work, even if given a chance to rest now, these refugees wouldn't even take it; everyone was desperate to prove their value!
Even so, every day in the uphive, over a thousand people still died from hunger and various other causes.
"You've done very well, Rebecca, even better than I imagined!"
"The Dynasty trusted me and gave me the position of Governor. I must therefore do my utmost. This is all within my duty!"
With Rebecca's assistance, Lucan spent a day planning various post-battle matters.
He first designated a quarter of the uphive as a controlled industrial zone.
This area would be under the responsibility of Pavian and his Tech-Priests.
The Barracks on the warship would be retained, but all subsequent Barracks, Starports, and Factories would be located in this industrial zone.
The end of this battle had brought his Psy-crystal count to an unprecedented level.
With these Psy-crystals, he could also thoroughly boost industrial production capacity.
If he were to build only Barracks, disregarding armor material quality, he could equip an entire regiment daily.
Since the number of available soldiers in the uphive was currently low, he would compensate with quality.
When every soldier entering the underhive possessed a CMC suit, the combat effectiveness of Lucan's soldiers would undergo a qualitative improvement.
He ordered Rebecca to select qualified soldiers from the refugee defense forces. The battlefield was a crucible; it would automatically filter out qualified individuals. Having experienced such a brutal war, many had naturally become competent veterans, merely lacking some standardized training.
Hearing Lucan briefly explain the intended function of these buildings, Rebecca also expressed concern.
These fully automated STC-like structures wouldn't require workers. Once the original temporary factories were dismantled, the number of idle people would increase further.
Once there were no jobs, an uneven distribution of food would cause even greater problems.
"Relax the food rationing. The army's rations remain unchanged. For civilians, ensure they can at least have one meal a day first. I've calculated the time; the first shipment of grain should arrive at Agathos in a few days! When the food arrives, we will soon launch a counter-offensive into the underhive. At that time, this population can return to the underhive factories, which will also help restore Agathos's normal operations as quickly as possible."
"I will see to it as you've said. There is one more matter I need to report to you."
"Go on."
"Bishop Holter of the Ecclesiarchy is eager to see you. Seeing you were busy, I declined on your behalf, citing your fatigue from the recent battle. However, a priest from the Church has been waiting outside the palace. I believe… it's regarding the God-Emperor's miracle and the matter of you being blessed."
After hearing Rebecca's words, Lucan knew he couldn't avoid it; he absolutely had to meet this Bishop.
Under Imperial governance, one could not hope to properly rule a world without dealing with the behemoth that was the Ecclesiarchy.
As the sole legitimate religion of the Imperium, it was the most important component of all humanity.
It transcended the Imperium's political system, yet the Imperium could not do without it. Their sole mission was to spread and maintain humanity's faith in the God-Emperor.
Although the Ecclesiarchy was officially no longer permitted to possess armed forces, the Battle-Sisters were an exception. Moreover, when launching crusades and expeditions they deemed necessary, they would recruit vast numbers of crusade forces. The Ecclesiarchy was essentially exploiting a loophole; to them, these fanatical believers joined voluntarily.
It wasn't as if they actively formed these armies.
However, the Imperium was exceptionally strict in this regard. The Age of Apostasy under Vandire, the brutal Siege of Vraks – all were disasters caused by such circumstances.
And those fanatical priests, upon finding that words could not persuade you, would also let you know what "knowing a thing or two about fisticuffs" truly meant.
The gods of this universe were real, and faith in the God-Emperor was an almost indispensable part of life for humans in this Warhammer world.
Otherwise, without the sustenance of faith, this damned existence would lead one to be seduced by Chaos in minutes.
(End of Chapter)