Chapter 437 – A Battle-Hardened Capitalist Warrior! Reform and Momentum!
Faced with Paul's well-meaning reminder, the Emperor remained utterly calm and composed. Power? If it needed giving, he would give it.
Power should belong to those capable of wielding it—otherwise, it would inevitably backfire.
And for the governor of the Universal Megacorp to have achieved so much, it was clear he was a "capitalist" warrior who had been tested and proven through many trials.
"I know everything you've said, but I'm still going to do it." The Emperor's reply was crisp and decisive.
"Why do you have such faith in us?"
Paul couldn't help but ask. To entrust the fate of humanity in the Warhammer universe to the Megacorp—how much trust would that take?
"I have seen countless chaotic, hazy futures in my mind—some good, some bad—but on the whole, the outlook is positive."
The Emperor smiled faintly as he explained to Paul.
His deep gaze seemed to pierce across the distant galaxy, his resonant voice echoing through the future: "I have watched countless timelines unfold, and the only path that leads to the light is the one involving the Universal Megacorp."
Paul glanced at the Emperor thoughtfully. The Megacorp held a vast trove of intelligence on the Warhammer universe, naturally giving them the edge to make the right choices for the Imperium's circumstances.
"Whether from a practical standpoint or from the perspective of the future, your performance has already earned my trust," the Emperor said.
The new Warp route was the future of the Imperium of Man. Entrusting such a monumental and challenging project to the Universal Megacorp was, in essence, entrusting them with the future of the Imperium itself.
The Emperor knew the weight of what he was doing, but he was not stingy with his power. Whether it was the Imperium or the Megacorp, whoever could lead human civilization to revival would take up the scepter.
In truth, the Emperor had no desire to be humanity's savior—he loathed the role, though he had no choice but to accept it. Compared to being Emperor, he preferred the happiness of a reclusive hermit during the Golden Age.
For the supreme Emperor to avoid corruption, he had to remain ever vigilant and constantly seek the best path forward for humanity. The grind was exhausting—much like a veteran investor trapped in a losing stock, unable to break free.
And the arrival of the Universal Megacorp was like a wave of rookie investors willing to take the shares off his hands.
The Emperor could finally cash out and walk away.
The Chaos Gods? The daemons? The Primarchs? All of them—dump them on the Megacorp and let them handle it!
"Letting you supervise the new Warp route is only the first step. Later, I will gradually open more permissions to you."
As he spoke, the Emperor felt an unprecedented sense of lightness and relief.
The Universal Megacorp would have to inherit his legacy—but since they had only recently arrived in the galaxy and still lacked a full understanding of many matters, the running of the Imperium still required his oversight for now.
Once the Megacorp was fully familiar with the Imperium's affairs, he could cast off the burden of saving human civilization and return to being a happy shut-in—immersed in research and the pursuit of truth.
By now, Paul had fully understood the Emperor's intentions. Clearly, this Emperor had no desire for this year's "Employee of the Year" award—he was ready to throw in the towel.
"I'll convey your intentions to our headquarters."
Paul nodded. If the Emperor didn't want the family business, then the Megacorp would take over. Their governor was an unrepentant workaholic—no matter how many universes there were, he would never turn down the workload.
"Once I receive a response from headquarters, I'll contact you immediately. Is there anything else for now?" Paul asked.
Barring surprises, headquarters would most likely accept the Emperor's proposal. By helping the Imperium construct and maintain the new Warp route, they could gradually gain control over it.
It was, after all, the fastest and most cost-effective way to unify the Warhammer universe.
But the Primarchs and the High Lords might not necessarily approve of the Emperor's decision. The Imperium's power and resources were also theirs, and if the Megacorp's offer wasn't satisfactory, trouble could arise.
Even the Emperor himself had difficulty reining in those warlord sons of his. If they clashed with the Megacorp, would the Megacorp turn a blind eye—or enforce severe punishment?
That would depend on the Emperor's stance.
After Paul's conversation with the Emperor ended, the news quickly reached the headquarters of the Multiversal Base, where senior executives held heated discussions over the matter of taking over the Imperium.
The point of contention was simple: the cost of taking over the Imperium now.
"Constructing the new Warp route, stationing troops, continuing the Great Crusade to purge alien species across the galaxy—just these three urgent tasks will consume a huge amount of our resources and manpower."
From the perspective of resource management, Lucius Lane analyzed the situation, noting that fully taking control of the Imperium would be costly. However, the benefit was that the unification process could be accelerated considerably—perhaps by more than half compared to headquarters' original timeline.
Spending big to speedrun the campaign wasn't strictly necessary for veteran players—but if they could lower the cost and still take the Imperium, that would be even better.
"At present, the Emperor's condition is that we build and maintain the new Warp route, and then he will gradually transfer authority to us. During this period, he can back out at any time."
Song Zhaomei immediately saw through the Emperor's little trick.
It was like a woman demanding a house, a car, and cash before agreeing to marriage—and she had final say if anything went wrong in the process.
The Emperor wanted the Megacorp to restore the Imperium to its Golden Age peak before he would hand over power.
But achieving that in a short time would inevitably burn through massive amounts of the Megacorp's resources—something that didn't align with Li Ang's principle of high-efficiency, low-cost unification.
In Li Ang's usual approach, it was always about "getting the rice cooked first," and then slowly developing a relationship. If the "white moonlight" wasn't locked down quickly, the "blond pretty boy" would take her away.
If the Megacorp had insisted on perfecting each universe before moving on to the next, they'd probably still be stuck in the Edge of Tomorrow world right now.
Whether at an individual or civilization scale, sometimes you had to move fast so that troublesome problems couldn't catch up. Maintaining rapid technological progress could hide—or even wash away—many hidden dangers.
Therefore, the Imperium had to be taken—but the Megacorp couldn't wait until it reached the Golden Age peak to get the title deed from the Emperor. They had to take full control from the start!
"Also, the current political system of the Imperium is far too outdated and inefficient. Corrupt nobles and bureaucrats are eating while doing nothing."
Morgan Blackhand cut straight to the heart of the problem.
If the Megacorp was going to develop industry and technology in the Imperium, then the benefits had to reach every citizen of the Imperium.
But distribution had always been one of the oldest, most critical issues in history.
When the court allocates thirty million taels of silver for the people to buy winter clothes, yet come winter the corpses still lie frozen in the streets—where did the money go? Into the coffers of the great and powerful, of course.
To develop the Empire, the corrupt nobles and bureaucrats must first be dragged out and executed, the old political system dismantled, and replaced with the management framework of the Mega-Megacorp.
The Transcendent AI Europa would monitor every Imperial official, auditing each one's assets and reviewing their political achievements.
Otherwise, if the Universal Megacorp helps govern the Human Empire, it would be like offering one's own blood to be sucked—only to end up feeding a swarm of bloated parasites.
"The Human Empire considers AI an abominable intelligence. Even just replacing the political system would trigger countless conflicts, touching the interests of far too many entrenched powers."
"And don't forget—the Primarchs themselves are old aristocrats. They are all the Emperor's sons. If we want to overhaul the Imperial system, there's no avoiding them."
Xu Shiming spoke gravely.
As a planetary governor with political administration experience across multiple universes, he knew exactly how many people could die from a sweeping systemic reform.
And with Imperial humanity's deep resistance to artificial intelligence, Europa's influence would struggle to spread. In the end, governance would still rely more on people than on the rule of law.
Difficult—far too difficult!
When the Universal Megacorp unified the previous universes, it was through real, hard-fought battles that new regimes were established.
Building a new city on a wasteland is always easier than tearing one down.
With the corporate system in place, once a new universe was unified, the Mega-Megacorp could quickly draw resources, coordinate development, and deal decisively with dissent.
But in the Human Empire, it was all expenditure with no clear return—a losing business deal for now.
Either the Human Empire should only accept assistance for the New Navigation Project—offering money, resources, and authority so the Mega-Megacorp could provide limited support, thus reducing its costs…
Or they should go all-in, handing over all power, shattering the old system entirely, and replacing it with the Megacorp's new power engine.
What must not happen is for the Mega-Megacorp to invest heavily in construction and development, offend the Imperial nobility in the process, and gain nothing tangible in return.
A casual promise from the Emperor is not a commitment.
"I agree with the department heads—this matter needs long-term planning, and we must make the cooperation terms clear with the Emperor."
V, who rarely expressed opinions, chose this moment to speak, noting that helping the Human Empire now would cause excessive expenditures.
In truth, the Mega-Megacorp was wealthy enough to push ten more Human Empires into a golden age if it wished. But its current abundance came from Li Ang's philosophy of high efficiency at low cost, where everyone worked to achieve the most with the least.
Wastefulness was unacceptable.
"From the Emperor's perspective, though, his stance is understandable. After all, he's given us the entire Human Empire—of course he'd want his people to live well before leaving."
V added this balanced observation.
Li Ang, the Consul, listened in silence, calmly taking in every viewpoint.
After years of hands-on training, the corporate executives' thinking had almost fully aligned with Li Ang's own.
Everything they brought up, Li Ang had already considered. His role was simply to decide—choosing one path among many.
This is the daily "exam" for a high-level leader: either answer multiple-choice questions or tackle unprecedented open-ended ones, while routine fill-in-the-blanks could be left to subordinates.
At that moment, Li Ang turned to Palpatine, signaling for him to speak.
Since restarting his political career under a false identity, Palpatine's talents had propelled him to the rank of Governor in the Star Wars universe. Now, he had been brought into the corporate upper echelon to participate in the Warhammer universe's unification efforts.
Seeing that Li Ang had "called" on him, Palpatine did not hold back:
"The Human Empire's backbone is the Emperor. Everything else is petty."
"If we can draw him into the Mega-Megacorp's camp and give him a role similar to Aemon's or Quintessa's, we could strike at the root—reducing Imperial resistance while gaining immediate advantages."
In any era, talent is always the most valuable asset.
The Emperor had taken up the banner when human civilization stood on the brink of collapse, leading it to revival. His prestige within the Empire was beyond question.
If they could bring him over, at least half of the Primarchs and many top Imperial figures would follow—leaving only a handful of diehards to deal with.
Those who picked the wrong side would, of course, be purged.
In politics, things are often black or white.
Stand to the left or to the right—those who stand in the middle are often the first to die. Bringing the Emperor to their side would instantly clarify who was friend and who was foe.
Hearing Palpatine's plan, the executives' eyes lit up—it was indeed an elegant solution.
The only problem: would the Emperor ever truly join the Mega-Megacorp?
"The Emperor isn't interested in power or the inner workings of the system. Getting him to join us would be difficult—perhaps impossible."
Morgan Blackhand shook his head. In his view, this was wishful thinking.
Given the Emperor's deep love for humanity, he might only be persuaded after the Mega-Megacorp had helped the Human Empire return to its golden age.
"We don't need the Emperor to actually join us. We only need him to take one concrete action to show his stance."
At last, Li Ang spoke. He understood Palpatine's real meaning—bringing the Emperor into the Megacorp was merely a way to rally those loyal to him.
If a segment of humanity could be made to support corporate reform, the resistance would shrink greatly.
And how to win them over? The best way was to have a revered figure lead them in doing so.
If the Emperor were to make a gesture—such as visiting Ideal City, accepting an honorary corporate post, or endorsing a corporate infrastructure project—that would be enough.
Politics is often a matter of implication rather than explicit declaration. As long as some interpreted it as the Emperor joining the Mega-Megacorp and endorsing reform, the momentum would be set.
The rest would be a matter of fanning the flames—triggering a chain reaction, drawing in more fence-sitters. Once the tide turned, even the Emperor would have to accept it.
This was Palpatine's true intention.
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