"Your Excellency..." Both Li Le and Li Jia Ze looked solemn at the arrival, feeling a faint pressure from the scholar. Most importantly, the scholar seemed to walk without his feet touching the ground, hovering one centimeter above the surface.
Of course, as cultivators at the Return to Void Realm, they could also achieve this, but the suffocating aura emanating from the scholar indicated that his strength far surpassed theirs.
"Haha, I am Zhao Yu, one of the Executive Officers of the Blue Star Capital Prefecture and concurrently the Executive Officer of this New Capital City. My Dragon Palace identification number is hyg0010-A00001. The appointment document number is zs001521. If you two do not believe me, you can verify it on the Imperial Civil Affairs Network!"
The scholar, seeing their disbelief, casually unleashed a surge of true essence. A jade pendant at his waist suddenly erupted with a radiant glow. Within the radiance, ten golden dragons coiled and writhed, their serpentine bodies twisting, displaying the words "Executive Officer" in large characters.
The ten thousand rays of light carried an immense aura, and even the two Return to Void Realm cultivators felt an irresistible urge to prostrate themselves.
"Li Le, former Lieutenant General of the Hua One Nation's Defense Forces, greets my superior!" Upon seeing the unusual jade pendant, Li Le straightened his posture and offered Zhao Yu a solemn military salute.
Li Jia Ze, however, had already collapsed to his knees under the pressure.
This jade pendant was personally forged by Ye Yun using the Ice Phosphorus and then inscribed with dozens of formations, large and small, by dozens of master runecrafters in the Imperial Capital. It was impossible to replicate or counterfeit.
In essence, this jade pendant was not merely a symbol of status; its formations alone could withstand the full might of a Great Sage's attack.
And this type of jade pendant was only for the Executive Officer rank. Rumor had it that the jade pendants of higher-ranking Prefecture Lords could withstand the full strike of a God-Lord.
Indeed, the national powers of Blue Star had been completely reorganized. One starfield was designated one Domain Lord, and the entire Blue Star was divided into six prefectures, each with a Prefecture Lord. Under each Prefecture Lord, there were thirty-six Executive Officers.
It could be said that an Executive Officer was comparable to the ruler of a nation in the past, holding immense power on Blue Star.
The New Capital City had also been reorganized. The former three provinces were consolidated into one city. As for administrative hierarchy, Zhao Yu was the primary figure, possessing certain appointment powers.
"The global military system has been fully integrated into the Dragon Palace's four major legions and logistics. As a former Lieutenant General, I believe Young Master Li will soon receive his legion appointment." Zhao Yu showed the utmost respect to Li Le.
Blue Star had now completely entered the 'Heavenly Dao' civilization, with a growing trend of martial prowess being paramount. For a former Lieutenant General of Hua One Nation, his status would only rise once the Dragon Palace issued its appointments, surpassing even Zhao Yu's own.
"May your words prove true, Executive Officer Zhao. Are you here to conscript the Imperial Dragon Society?" Li Le's eyes lit up upon hearing Zhao Yu's words.
Currently, all soldiers and their families across the globe were gradually being absorbed into the Dragon Palace's four major legions. However, they, the former high-ranking officers, had not received any new orders, only instructions to await news.
This waiting period had lasted a week. Seeing the last of his subordinates being taken away, he, though silent, felt an unusual anxiety. Just as the conscription order was issued from above, he had taken on this task to relieve some of his stress.
He had not expected the empire's new Executive Officer to personally come here.
Currently, all the new Executive Officers on Blue Star were swamped with work. Generally, such conscription matters would not be handled personally.
"Oh, I am primarily here to find this individual – the leader of the Imperial Dragon Society, Li Jia Ze."
Looking for me?
Li Jia Ze, still kneeling, was utterly bewildered.
"Currently, the four major legions each command millions of troops, but there is a severe shortage of personnel in logistics and reserves. Commander Qin has ordered the conscription of various civilian organizations. Considering these organizations are also privately owned by your Li Group, the higher authorities have decided to send me to ensure these personnel are deployed promptly, and to offer a compensation plan to the Imperial Dragon Society."
Compensation?
Li Le and Li Jia Ze were stunned, not expecting such a favorable outcome.
"Of course, the empire does not arbitrarily seize citizens' property. Even during conscription, appropriate compensation will be provided."
"Executive Officer Zhao, what is this compensation plan?" Although Li Le was a soldier, he also hailed from the Li family of Modu, the foremost noble family in Hua One Nation.
The aristocratic alliance formed by their families had also received the conscription order, and in terms of scale, it far surpassed the Imperial Dragon Society.
"There are currently two proposed plans. The first is that as the front-line war progresses, vast territories have been conquered. After these territories are taken, they require governance. The intention from above is that if you do not accept conscription, the daily gold coins you pay will be doubled. Simultaneously, the empire will allocate a city-sized region in the newly conquered territories for you to manage under imperial law! The gold coins submitted will be equivalent to imperial taxes."
"The second plan is to accept conscription. You will also be granted a city-sized territory as a fief. The gold coins submitted will be in accordance with the conscription order, also offsetting taxes."
Both plans had their own advantages and disadvantages, making it difficult to say which was better. However, the mere prospect of a fief alone would drive these organizations mad. A fief meant significant autonomy. While their status would not compare to that of Executive Officers, and the location of the fief might not be ideal, possessing a fief and a sufficient population would give them the confidence to transform their fief into their own sphere of influence and expand their forces.
A city-sized fief was equivalent to the territory of three provinces! Even if the resources within were plundered by the various expeditionary legions, the profit would still be greater than what could be earned on Blue Star.
Moreover, there were two crucial aspects to this enfeoffment. The first was the various alien races! These alien races within their fief would be under their jurisdiction, meaning they could recruit these alien races for their own use. These alien races had cultivated the Heavenly Dao for several years longer than those on Blue Star, and their strength was incomparable to that of the Imperial Dragon Society. Once integrated into their ranks, the benefits these alien races could bring would far exceed their current profits by more than tenfold!
In the long run, this was no longer something that could be measured in gold coins.
The second point was that once a fief was obtained, they would effectively be integrated into the empire's official ranks. If granted enfeoffment, their strength would surge by several levels, similar to Executive Officers, drawing upon the nation's luck and power! To think that to increase one level of strength now required nearly ten billion gold coins. If enfeoffed, it would be equivalent to gaining trillions of gold coins!
Frankly speaking, what was the original intention behind establishing a legion? Was it not to obtain more resources within the Heavenly Dao to enhance one's own strength?
What Li Jia Ze could think of, Li Le could also grasp. At this moment, the composure they had shown earlier had vanished. Li Jia Ze directly picked up the conscription order and signed his name on it without a word.
The conscription order implicitly defaulted to the second mode.