Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 73 The First Step in Military Integration and Separation of Church and State

On the other hand, after the joint punitive fleet completed the clearing of the L4 airspace, Zhang Qiming did not allow all three fleets to return to port.

The First Fleet left behind two destroyers, four frigates, and a number of patrol gunboats to take over the Mars L4 outpost.

The Second Fleet dispatched a patrol formation to patrol along the outer sea lanes.

The Third Fleet returned to the Mars L5 defense chain, retaining only mobile units to assist in tracking the five lost destroyers.

As for the fleet's supreme commanders, including Zhang Nanhai, Dongfang Yao, Saint Sophia, and JOJO, they returned to the Martian mainland to report on their duties, as requested by Zhang Qiming.

Hours later, the military shuttle carrying them arrived at the Propilea orbital port.

This spaceport, which has just experienced a coup and fleet takeover, has been fitted with the red identification lights of the Sky Destroyer Provisional Government.

The near-orbit control tower reopened, the military dock began repairing the damaged ships, several supply ships towed the wreckage of the Fourth Fleet into the recovery berth, and the port broadcasts repeatedly broadcast the latest navigation control orders from the Naval Headquarters.

Inside the political hub of Olympus, before Zhang Qiming could even meet with the fleet commanders, a barrage of communications from the provisional government began pouring in.

The reason is simple: the player disappeared!

Zhang Qiming knew this was version maintenance and players were logging off.

For the Martian officials, all they saw was a special armed force that had participated in the liberation of Mars, the war of counterinsurgency, and the fight against organized crime, suddenly becoming unresponsive in various locations.

Zhang Qiming looked at the constant stream of requests for instructions without any surprise on his face. He connected to the internal channel of the temporary executive government to reassure the various departments.

"It's alright. This is a special mechanism that the Skydrive's highest central command has mastered. Similar phenomena have also occurred in Terra. This is not a problem that only happened on Mars."

"No department should escalate the situation, organize pointless searches, or spread rumors that could undermine morale."

An official cautiously asked, "Your Excellency, when will they be able to resume operations?"

"Six months later."

The official then asked, "Your Excellency, is it necessary to explain the specific reasons to the local authorities?"

'

Zhang Qiming looked at the light screen, his tone becoming indifferent.

"This involves top government secrets. All you need to know is that they will be back."

"Until this point, all departments were operating normally."

Soon, the controversy surrounding the disappearance of the Sky Chaser Legion was temporarily suppressed.

Of course, Zhang Qiming was well aware that there must be people on Mars plotting something, but he wasn't worried about it.

Players are merely the sharpest blade in the Skywards' hands, but they have never been the sole pillar supporting their control over Mars.

From the outbreak of the Martian Revolution, he intended to gradually allow the core members of the local Skywards to take over the actual control of the ground army, and with the help of the players, he completely wiped out all the unruly local armed forces and remnants.

Furthermore, before the players logged off, the vast majority of hidden dangers at the grassroots level were eliminated through a special campaign against organized crime.

At the same time, Chishiro, like Ares, has also been deeply integrated into the global network system of Mars.

With all players now offline, even if there are some minor disturbances initially, his current immense personal prestige will quickly dissipate these small incidents.

Zhang Qiming signed several supplementary orders, handing over the security gaps left by the players to the local garrison and Sky Chaser armed forces, and ordering the Bureau of Industrial and Mining Safety Investigation to continue the accounting process, while the Provisional Joint Council continued to stabilize the distribution of supplies and the pace of industrial production.

After doing all this, Zhang Qiming got up and headed to the reception hall of the Olympus Hub.

Several fleet commanders arrived at the Propylene Orbital Port by military shuttle, and then transferred to the Olympus Hub via a near-orbit dedicated line to report on their duties.

The interim government has already arranged the public reception process.

[Mars Public Channel - Provisional Government News Brief]

Today, Zhang Qiming, the Supreme Commander of the Provisional Government of Mars, met with the main commanders of the Joint Expeditionary Fleet at the Olympus Political Hub and, on behalf of the Provisional Government, awarded the Mars Naval Elite Medal to the naval officers and soldiers who participated in the L4 airfield operation.

In this operation, under the unified command of the Mars Defense Force Naval Command, the First, Second, and Third Fleets successfully eliminated the main reactionary force of the Fourth Fleet entrenched in the L4 airspace, and recovered the L4 Fleet's strongholds, the remnants of the orbital dock, and related military storage facilities.

In his commendation order, Supreme Commander Zhang Qiming solemnly emphasized: "The joint punitive fleet, with its thunderous action, completely shattered the last outer line of defense of the remnants of the old Holy Cardinals, safeguarded the overall unity of Mars, consolidated the achievements of the previous reforms, and laid an unshakable and crucial foundation for the Skydrive Government's full takeover of the High Sky Navigation Zone."

In the presence of the media, the Supreme Commander of the Skywards awarded medals to the relevant personnel, followed by a series of routine procedures, including the customary handshake and group photo.

Zhang Nanhai accepted the battle commendation on behalf of the Navy Headquarters.

Fleet commanders Dongfang Yao, William Hawkwood, and Jonathan Josland stepped forward in turn, and Zhang Qiming personally awarded them the first batch of [Mars Navy Elite Medals] of the Provisional Government.

When it was JOJ0's turn, Zhang Qiming shook his hand and asked with a smile, "Commander Josland, how long do you plan to stay on Mars?"

This was purely a joke about inviting him to a meeting on Mars.

J0J0 was most afraid of going back to Mars for meetings, always worried that Zhang would arrange for eight hundred axemen to kill him on the spot during the meeting.

JOJO, with a serious expression, said, "Commander, if possible, I would like to remain in the Olympus Hub for the time being to advance the first phase of military integration for the Skyward Government."

Zhang Qiming's eyebrows twitched slightly; he hadn't expected JOJO to bring this up on her own initiative.

JOJO continued, "Currently, the Mars Defense Force General Staff and the Naval Command are at the same level and operate in parallel. The boundaries of authority and responsibility are blurred, and the command chain is prone to redundancy and disconnection during wartime, making it impossible to cope with the large-scale military threat from Terra in the future."

"My suggestion is to abolish these two command organizations at the same level, integrate all military command authority, establish a new Central Military Commission department that is directly responsible to the Supreme Commander, and uniformly dispatch all combat forces, logistical supplies and military training affairs of the Army and Navy."

After these words were spoken, the expressions of several former government officials nearby changed.

Zhang Qiming laughed heartily and patted Jonathan on the shoulder: "You've got a kind heart."

At that moment, Saint Sophia approached with William Hawkwood, commander of the Second Fleet.

William Hawkwood also stated that the Second Fleet was willing to cooperate with the naval reforms and accept the unified command system of the Supreme Command.

Zhang Nanhai naturally brought Dongfang Yao into the discussion as well, and made it clear that the First Fleet would unconditionally cooperate with the Supreme Command to advance the first round of military integration.

Zhang Qiming nodded and asked Zhi Shilang to compile the suggestions of the three fleet commanders into a document, and the relevant content would be discussed at a special military and political meeting later.

Thus, the Sky Drive government's first round of military integration has finally taken a solid and crucial first step.

After the public audience, Saint Sophia requested a private meeting with Zhang Qiming to discuss official business.

The two quickly returned to the Supreme Commander's office, closed the door, and kept the accompanying personnel outside behind the line of authority by Chishiro.

Saint Sophia stood in front of the desk and, without beating around the bush, asked directly, "What exactly happened to those people who suddenly disappeared—or rather, those anomalous individuals?"

Zhang Qiming sat back down in his chair and glanced at her.

"You can think of it as a periodic mechanism of the anomaly itself. Don't worry, they will be back in six months."

"All departments on Mars have received the same message: there is no need to escalate this matter or panic."

Saint Sophia stared at him.

"You know that's not what I'm asking."

Zhang Qiming smiled.

"So what do you want to ask?"

Saint Sophia: "Why would they obey you? And how do you know their cyclical characteristics?"

Zhang Qiming shook his head: "You seem to have misunderstood some information."

Saint Sophia: "What?"

Zhang Qiming said earnestly, "They didn't obey me—we just happened to have the same goal."

"That sounds like a perfunctory response." Saint Sophia was clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

"Then I'll pretend I can't say for now."

Zhang Qiming did not dwell on the matter further, but instead pushed a new government document in front of her.

"More important than those people is how to advance further steps toward the separation of church and state."

Now that military integration has taken a solid first step, the next step is to promote the separation of religion and politics, and he hopes to complete these two core reforms as soon as possible.