Imperial Elite

Chapter 128 Planetary Governor
In Joe's original thinking, selling rubber in this era was not necessarily a successful business.

After all, in that era, plastic, an industrial material that had not been around for long and was still relatively new, was not cheap. At that time, most toys were still made of sheet metal and wood.

Using plastic to make chess pieces may not be accepted by everyone. After all, for wealthy people, natural materials like ivory are a better choice, while for those who are not so wealthy, the very act of buying them is a big question.

Even if you wanted to buy it, the price of plastic is too expensive for wood.

But soon, with the release of the movie "Governors of the Planet: The Soldier's Tale", Joe quickly realized he was wrong.

Because Hollywood studios are willing to spend a lot of money, Joe not only put a lot of effort into the costumes, props, and sets, but also invested heavily, striving to make all the props as realistic as possible.

In terms of the quality of finished films, it can be said that it has achieved a precipitous lead over films in recent years, leaving no room for it to even catch up.

Meanwhile, since Joe basically copied his old friend's experience into the script, starting with his old friend listening to a report that the planet was under attack from the throne in Hive City, he first pulled out a long shot.

Extending from the throne room into space, the exhibit showcases the desolate or overdeveloped planet occupied by the Nest City, along with the facilities in its orbit and space warships engaged in combat.

Then the narration cuts to a deep, magnetic voice, saying, "When did all of this begin? Let me think... It seems it all started that afternoon when I came out of the culture tank..."

Then it begins to show how Joe's friend grows into an ordinary Krieg soldier, and then boards a Navy ship to a planet he has never heard of before.

In his first major battle, how did he, a newly promoted sergeant, take down the Helldrax with a bag of molten bombs and an explosive spear?

The film ends with the old friend, wearing a gas mask, being awarded a medal by the commissar, played by Schmidt, who finally gets to play a positive role.

Overall, due to limitations in special effects, although we have tried our best to recreate the scene I saw in my dream.

However, compared to something like the Battle of Heaven, Joe felt that what he filmed was only at the level of an unprofessional cosplayer's scene recreation.

The only thing that could slightly satisfy Joe was that it was now a sound movie.

So after spending a lot of money, Joe was finally able to get the London Symphony Orchestra to help him replicate the Star Guardian's hymn, which finally gave the movie a little bit of an epic feel.

It was barely enough for Joe to feel he could watch it, so he wouldn't have to dig a Germania out of the ground with his toes while editing.

Then "The Soldier's Tale" once again dominated the box office, even though Joe's previous films had already demonstrated terrifying dominance, with their precipitous box office lead and overwhelming number of screenings.

Major studios have already chosen to avoid releasing Joe's movies during their respective release periods.

But this time, the situation is different.

Because after its release, this movie occupied the screen time of various cinemas for more than a year, leaving almost all other movies released at the same time feeling helpless.

Even in the third week after the film's release, some film critics had already bestowed upon Joe the title of "Movie Emperor."

This time, even the most picky and stubborn people in the arts and culture circle had nothing to say.

This film is different from past films that fantasize about launching people to the moon with cannons and interacting with cannibalistic lunar people, or about lightning resurrecting corpse-pieced monsters—a mix of fantasy and science fiction.

Many things in this movie that seem illogical are actually logical.

Initially, the film's dark and brutal tone, coupled with the fact that science fiction films don't actually have a large audience, led to its rejection.

So when the movie was first released, some film critics said that although Joe was a doctor, he didn't really understand science fiction, and the movie was too fake.

Joe is now addicted to making non-realistic films, has fallen from grace, and we don't need to watch any more of his movies.

Then, as some scientists who had come to watch the spectacle entered the movie theater, they couldn't sit still any longer.

Because these onlookers discovered that many of the technologies in Joe's film were theoretically possible.

For example, we could build orbital space stations in planetary orbits, send people into space with rockets, send people to other planets with spacecraft at speeds exceeding the speed of light, and use radioactive elements as energy and weapons, and so on.

Then, as these scientists publicly stated that, aside from some exaggerated aspects, some of the technologies in the movie are actually feasible, and some of them are even at the forefront of current physics research.

Film critics who thought Joe Johnson had fallen from grace were naturally unhappy with the scientists' statement.

Damn it, when Steve Jobs' movie comes out, he's the only movie in the industry for a while. What are we supposed to eat?!

No way! Those stupid sci-fi movies must be slammed! Completely discredited!

Then, with the criticism of film critics, ordinary viewers, whose interest had been piqued by the scientists, began to flock to the cinemas.

Even though film critics are still putting up a stubborn fight, this cannot prevent Joe from beginning to fall from grace.

What is this thing to the average viewer? They've never seen anything like it before!

Is this what the future holds?

It's so advanced and exciting!
Besides ordinary viewers, some observant people who saw Joe's film were also impressed by how Joe truly lived up to his reputation as a military strategist who had never been defeated in his lifetime of military service.

Look at how well this movie is made!
What a perfect example of combined arms warfare, what a perfect defensive position.

Wait, is the air force really that useful? Ground troops still need to provide air defense... Oh? Anti-aircraft guns have such a clever use? I need to investigate.

The movie became a hit, and naturally, the tabletop game that Joe launched also became a hit.

In this era, there were basically only two types of board games: poker and chess.

Both of these games don't require any background knowledge; you can basically pick them up and play them right away.

However, this also brings a small problem: because these two old games have been running for so long and the rules are relatively simple, newcomers really can't beat experienced players.

Poker has an element of luck, but chess is different; you can get beaten from the start to the end.

But this kind of strategy board game is different. Even if you have planned everything, if the dice you roll don't cooperate, it can still make you suffer a lot.

Therefore, whether it's due to the playability of this strategy board game or the fact that it's a movie merchandise item that's about to become a cultural phenomenon, these plastic figurines are selling like hotcakes.

The only complaint these buyers had about these plastic figurines was, "Why do I have to assemble and paint them myself after I buy them?"
Shouldn't I have bought a finished product?

Joe didn't explain this.

Because after falling back onto the pedestal, Qiao, who was being praised to the point of being overwhelmed, was in a great mood.

So they simply published a concept book for the movie "Governor of the Planet" and sold it alongside the rulebook, or rather, military manual, that came with the plastic figurines.

It briefly introduced that distant and dark future.

Originally too lazy to write a novel, and unwilling to leave the setting open for writers to create a bunch of contradictory things, Joe thought, "Well, I've already sold the board game."

Novels are too long and would interfere with my filmmaking, so I'd rather not write them.

Wouldn't it be better to make more movies after that?

Many years later, Joe will regret his lazy decision.

But now, Joe, who makes a fortune from movies and plastic figurines, has begun to enjoy a semi-retired life.

Unbeknownst to Joe, the plastic figurines he sold were adopted by military schools such as West Point, Teutonic, and the People's Revolutionary Alliance as part of their entertainment.

After all, the tactical and random nature of such tabletop games can effectively cultivate a commander's tactical awareness.

This also helps these officers understand how heavy equipment like tanks should coordinate with infantry.

However, apart from West Point, which is relatively prestigious and allows students to purchase their own wargame pieces, most other military academies, especially those affiliated with the People's Revolutionary Alliance, absolutely do not sell wargame pieces.

It was all made of wood, which the military academy students carved themselves, or even simply had the symbols of their military branches carved on a block of wood.

Even the rulebook was only bought in one copy, and then reprinted; they didn't want Old Joe to earn even that little bit of money.

This is normal, because in addition to the fact that Old Joe's pieces were selling for high prices, Citibank, which was experiencing an exceptionally prosperous economy at the time, was also rolling in money and was gradually becoming the largest single market.

So in the following years, Joe did little more than manage the military reform progress and inspect the construction of NATO fortresses and defense lines.

He spent most of his time filming the Governors of Planet series.

These years were dubbed a dark age by studios and film companies other than Hollywood Studios, which had a contract with Joe, because Joe had several films to make due to contractual requirements.

Therefore, the "Governors of the Planet" film series, which was produced continuously during this period, firmly dominated the box office.

Especially after Joe first showcased her fighting spirit in "Governors III: Dangerous Heretic," the film became the most popular movie in the "Governors" series.

Besides making the French continue to marvel at Joe's profound understanding of art, the film also sparked a small reaction.

That is due to the influence of the "Governor" film series, some countries have begun to discuss whether they should form female combat units.

Aside from the NATO countries that originally provided Joe with the Northern Guard, the People's Revolutionary Alliance had the most in-depth discussion on this issue.

Due to the impact of the civil war, the People's Revolutionary Alliance had already established female soldiers' units, but most of these units were logistics, medical, and anti-aircraft artillery units.

While the People's Revolutionary Party's propaganda regarding the "Governor's Planet" film series is acceptable, it should be viewed critically. If the left cannot save the world, then everything depicted in the "Governor's Planet" film series represents the future of the capitalist world.

However, as a cultural influence, the People's Revolutionary Alliance began to seriously study whether it should establish a front-line combat force composed of women.

Finally, in 1926, during the second conflict between the People's Revolutionary Union and the Russian military government, a female member of the collective commune who took up a hunting rifle to defend the commune ended the discussion after killing twenty-three military government soldiers.

The People's Revolutionary Alliance began to form female combat units, and the first unit formed was a female sniper unit.

After several years of economic development, the People's Revolutionary Alliance and the Russian military government began to engage in low-intensity armed conflict in the gray area controlled by both sides.

And the Teutons were naturally among them.

As a group of people who had been traumatized by Joe, although they didn't say it, Teutonic followed Wagner closely in everything from building armored forces to forming special assault teams.

Although the army was limited to 70,000 men, it relied on cooperation with the Lucia military government.

The Teutons eventually found a way to overcome this limitation.

In their Black Wehrmacht, besides the military academy organization conducting research and training in Lucia, there were also some combat units. The Teutonic Wehrmacht also adopted a method that no one could find fault with.

I'm immigrating! You can't find fault with that now, can you?!
Once I change my nationality, I'm a true Lucia. As a Lucia, fighting for Lucia is a perfectly reasonable and logical thing to do.

By changing nationality, the Teutonic Wehrmacht formed several experimental commando units in Russia to wage their secret war in the shadowy zone between itself and the People's Revolutionary Union.

This low-intensity warfare tactic is a major headache for the Revolutionary Alliance.

Meanwhile, with the economic recovery led by Citibank, just as Joe had been saying before, the key issue is the economy.

So in 1927, under James's impetus, Buntania finally recognized the People's Revolutionary League government. With Buntania's recognition of the People's Revolutionary League government, other countries in the world, including Gaul and Citizens, also began to recognize the People's Revolutionary League government.

This naturally aroused strong dissatisfaction from the Lucia military government.

However, this time, Buntania and other countries chose to ignore the protests from the Lucia military government.

Based on its observations of the Near East over the past few years, Bunitania has come to the conclusion that the Lucia military government is a dilapidated house.

In the Balkans, which they control, the indigenous people are generally considered Slavs, but there are differences between Slavs.

Therefore, their rule over the Lucia military government can be summarized in a single sentence.

If we weren't outmatched, we would have rebelled long ago.

In the north, their relationship with the People's Revolutionary Alliance was one of life and death.

Throughout the East, every country could potentially side with the People's Revolutionary Alliance, except for the Russian military government. Since that's the case, why bother being polite?
With Bonitania's formal recognition of the People's Revolutionary Union (PRU), and the PRU's continued pressure from the south.

Both the People's Revolutionary Alliance and the Russian military government concentrated their most important oil-producing areas near the Caucasus region.

Since neither side could afford the cost of losing the oil-producing region, both sides have amassed a large number of troops there.

Under this pressure, the People's Revolutionary Alliance also initiated negotiations with NATO countries in the East, which had clearly begun to transform from heavily armored forces with extremely strong impact capabilities.

As some off-stage transactions take place, such as economic exchanges between the two sides, and both sides withdraw their troops from the border area except for basic border patrol teams.

NATO and the People's Revolutionary Party signed the North Sea Non-Aggression Treaty.

With the signing of this treaty, NATO's defense pressure has been greatly reduced.

Although fortification facilities are still under construction, NATO countries can focus more on the economy.

By this time, Paradise Island had become a world-renowned tourist destination.

In the past, this island relied solely on olive oil and seafood as its economic pillars. However, with a large number of wealthy individuals purchasing assets there, land prices on Paradise Island have skyrocketed.

It became a famous treasure trove, and if it weren't for the fear of Wagner's military might, Greece would have long called for the return of Paradise Island from Wagner.

Having learned from his experience on Paradise Island, Joe now plans to replicate his success within NATO.

While Joe planned to set up the filming location for the movie "Governor of the Planet" here, he also planned to build a "Governor of the Planet" theme park in the three NATO countries. In any case, the Empire has many factions, and in the spirit of sharing the spoils, each country should build a theme park for a different faction.

To fully experience the factional styles of the Empire in Planet Governor, you'll have to travel through all three kingdoms.

However, in 1927, a small incident occurred, even before Joe planned to develop tourism in NATO.

That year, both Ron and Dorn graduated from school.

As a renowned academic achiever, Dorn naturally continued his postgraduate studies at the same university after accumulating all his scholarships, and began researching things that Ron couldn't understand.

But before Dorn could achieve anything, Ron had already done something big.

When Ron graduated, the Citizens Army launched a fierce competition over where Ron should go.

Ultimately, in the struggle between armored forces and air force, Ron chose the air force.

Ron's reason for choosing the air force was quite simple: Carl, who recommended Ron to West Point, was not a respectable person in this regard.

Over the past few years, Carl had flown Ron into the air, and Ron had even learned how to fly a plane before graduating from West Point.

He even outperformed some veteran pilots.

Ron was very satisfied with the feeling of embracing the sky, so he decided to take advantage of the US Air Force's subsidies rather than pay for his own fuel.

Coincidentally, Ron, who hadn't been home for several years after choosing to join the air force and was planning to go home for a visit, happened to be there when Joe was selling off his investments.

After burning through money for several years, Joe's heavy-lift flight competition finally saw the emergence of a transport plane that met Joe's requirements.

This aircraft, with its biplane design, wooden frame, and canvas skin, can carry ten people and still have a range of 700 kilometers.

At the same time, the requirements for take-off and landing sites are not high; a few hundred meters of grass is sufficient for take-off and landing.

Furthermore, its low-altitude performance is exceptionally good, allowing it to glide and land silently after the engines are turned off.

That alone perfectly satisfies Joe's requirements.

Imagine, after figuring out the enemy's command post or important logistical nodes.

On a pitch-black night, several transport planes silently landed behind the front lines with commandos. Without anyone noticing, they kicked open the door to the enemy command post, killed or captured the enemy commander, and even destroyed the enemy's logistics nodes before escaping like ghosts.

Is there anything more dreamlike than this?
Although the current aircraft cannot fully meet these requirements, Joe believes that with this good foundation, further improvements can be made later.

For example, due to insufficient engine power, this aircraft adopted a three-engine design.

If there are breakthroughs in engine technology in the future, the three engines can be converted into a single engine, which will greatly improve the aircraft's takeoff and landing performance and range.

Not only Joe thought so, but Ron also thought so after he flew the plane around in the air.

So after flying around once, Ron had a crazy idea.

In 1924, the Citizen Army Air Corps undertook a major mission, sending a squadron on a multi-person, multi-aircraft round-the-world flight.

Coincidentally, Ron had flown that kind of plane back in the day.

So now that he's flown this new aircraft, Ron thinks that if it were modified, like by increasing the size of the fuel tank, it seems...maybe...perhaps...

Am I capable of a solo round-the-world flight?
Joe neither understood nor agreed with Ron's idea: a solo, single-plane round-the-world flight—what was he after?
What good would you get from doing something so dangerous?

Upon hearing Joe's words, Ron scratched his head.

"There's no benefit to it, I just want to do it? And I'm capable of doing it?"

Seeing Ron's clear eyes, Joe tried to dissuade him from having such an idea.

But Ron said, "If I can do it, why shouldn't I?"
Your statue is already erected in London, and James is the youngest member of the House of Commons. Who knows, he might even become Prime Minister someday.

I'm not as capable as you are, but there just happens to be something I can do, so why not let me do it?

Faced with Ron, who had already begun to gain value, Joe pondered for a moment and finally relented.

After intensive preparations, in late 1927, Ron piloted one of these transport planes, codenamed "Y-1," from Paradise Island eastward.

After an eleven-day flight, the plane was practically teetering on the brink of collapse upon landing, and its radio had been damaged by the sixth day of flight.

However, Ron still completed this solo, single-plane round-the-world voyage, and the news instantly made headlines in major newspapers at the end of the year.

Ron became the most famous pilot on Earth after the war.

However, just after the New Year, before Ron could return to Citibank to continue his studies, a major event occurred in the world.

(End of this chapter)