Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 63 Hating Riddlers, Becoming a Riddler Yourself!

Chapter 63 Hating Riddlers, Becoming a Riddler Yourself!

Having determined the focus and ideology, Zhang Qiming's next task became clear: the first thing the new regime needed to do was to transform the victory of the revolution into a sustainable state apparatus.

He already had a general outline for the strategic arrangements to come, which he divided into three phases for implementation.

First, the Skyward Provisional Government was established to take over all political power. Therefore, the first phase must focus on three key areas, which need no further elaboration.

The second phase involved dealing with reactionary forces, namely the Fourth Fleet.

The College of Cardinals has been completely purged, but the Fourth Fleet still maintains an armed standoff in the outer navigation area.

This fleet has a complete naval organization and does not recognize the Skydrive Government. As long as it remains outside of Mars, the Skydrive Government will always pose a military threat that could be triggered at any time.

He must either relinquish command of the Fourth Fleet or destroy it completely before it can truly retaliate!

The third phase is the war to unify Terra.

The success of the Martian Revolution is merely the first step in humanity's grand unification effort. To forge the Holy Terra, the two divided human regimes of Mars and Terra must be completely united.

However, the most urgent task now is to integrate the forces on Mars. Zhang Qiming set his sights on the three key missions in the intelligence log.

In Stellaris, ideologies shape national ideals, which can be seen as small-scale civilizational meme fields generated under the large meme field of extraordinary ideology.

Players prefer to call the national ideology a "civilization buff."

When certain events occur, civilizations with corresponding national ideologies will have additional special options; when certain professions are promoted, professionals on the corresponding paths will receive additional adjustments; when certain wars, reforms, diplomatic and research projects are advanced, national ideologies will also affect the mission pool, reward pool and failure penalty.

For ordinary regimes, national ideology is merely a summary of national culture and institutional tendencies; for civilizations that have come into contact with transcendent ideologies, national ideology is a new meme field.

Three conceptual frameworks emerged in the intelligence log.

The separation of church and state corresponds to the national ideology: [Decorating secularism]

Centralized power corresponds to the national ideology: [The Philosopher King]

[Overclocking Vision Aligns with National Ideals: [Super Space Advantage]]

Zhang Qiming glanced at the intelligence logs that had just been generated below the three golden focal points. Gaia had broken them down from simple civilization paths into groups of national missions that could be advanced.

Looking at the three tasks, Zhang Qiming quickly stopped his finger on the centralized power branch task. One must take things one step at a time. Although the separation of religion and state and the overclocking vision are also important, consolidating the new regime is the top priority.

[Objective 1: Establish a provisional legal system—Draft and adopt the "Mars Provisional Common Program" to clarify the supreme power structure, source of legitimacy, and basic institutions for the transitional government of the Skyward government.]

[Objective Two: Take over the core system and complete the unified takeover of urban administration, transportation hubs, finance and taxation, security agencies, communication networks, energy facilities, and military and political archives.]

[Objective Three: Unify fiscal and economic policies—take over the old government's treasury, tax system, banking clearing network, and strategic warehouses; stabilize prices, currency, rationing, and basic supply.]

[Objective Four: Restore Production Order—Restart Factories, Mines, Rail Ports, Military Factories, and Supply Chains for Consumer Goods.]

[Target Nine: ————]

The first four goals are of paramount importance, while the latter five goals are the usual ones: rebuilding the grassroots, eliminating old forces, purging cadres, absorbing usable forces, and establishing a propaganda and mobilization system.

After completing the first four goals, it was just a matter of course.

The first step in centralizing power is to prioritize the establishment of the highest power structure. Mars now needs a common program for the transition period to determine the legitimate origins of the Skyward government.

Such matters usually involve first holding a small meeting to establish the power structure, and then convening a large enough meeting to declare it as the common will of the new Martian order.

To put it simply, the main conference is responsible for informing the world, while the smaller conferences are responsible for making decisions about the world.

Zhang Qiming raised his hand to open the communication link and connected to Saint Sophia first.

As the light curtain illuminated, Hagia Sophia was processing takeover reports for various blocks in the temporary administrative office of the Olympus Hub.

She saw the meeting notification from Zhang Qiming and immediately stopped working on the documents in her hand.

Zhang Qiming didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "The Holy Cardinals have fallen, and the Liberation War is coming to an end. We can't keep relying on military control and temporary takeover orders to keep Mars afloat. We should also consider establishing a provisional government."

Saint Sophia looked at him, her eyes flickering slightly.

"Are you planning to draft a new constitution for Mars?"

Zhang Qiming: "It's just a draft of a temporary common program."

He said solemnly, "A true national constitution will have to wait until Terra is unified. My goal has always been the same—I need a complete human government."

Saint Sophia was silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly.

"When I first met you, I was struck by your terrifying ambition. You seemed so eager, as if something was chasing you, forcing you to push forward relentlessly."

Zhang Qiming simply replied, "My philosophy of life is the philosophy of struggle. For me, the struggle never stops, so I can only keep moving forward."

Saint Sophia looked at Zhang Qiming on the light screen, her voice softening slightly.

"Zhang Qiming—that must be your real name, right? Of course, I still can't be completely sure. I'll be able to meet you in person once this meeting starts."

Zhang Qiming smiled and nodded.

You will meet him in person then.

He then changed the subject.

"I intend to nominate you to be in charge of reorganizing the Mechanical Church. The Holy Cardinals are dead, but the Church will not disappear with them, and the Martians' dependence on the machine, cybernetics, machine souls, and mechanical faith will not be severed overnight. This position can only be held by you; you must separate the Church from the political power."

Saint Sophia looked at him, her eyes suddenly filled with amusement.

"Are you so sure I'll do as Skydrive says?"

She leaned back in her chair, her fingertips lightly tapping the armrest.

"There are plenty of stories of dragon slayers who ascended the dragon's throne only to become dragons themselves. Now that the Holy Cardinals have fallen, if I were to take over the Mechanicus and control Ares and the remnants of the Old Church, what makes you think I would willingly relinquish power?"

Zhang Qiming's smile remained unchanged after listening.

"You will."

Saint Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Because you have a good eye for people?"

"Yes, I'm always very good at judging people."

Zhang Qiming answered naturally, then added, "Moreover, I have something that could make you willing to relinquish power."

Saint Sophia's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You mean those immortal and indestructible anomalies?"

Zhang Qiming shook his head. "It wasn't them."

He looked at Hagia Sophia with a riddle-like smile on his face.

"That concerns the future survival and development of humanity. Once you see it, you will understand what the Mechanical Church should do, and you will understand why Mars cannot be held back by a theocracy any longer."

Saint Sophia stared at him for a few seconds, then let out a soft breath.

I hate riddle tellers.

Zhang Qiming shrugged and laughed, "Then consider this me keeping you in suspense."

Lao Zhang also hates others being the riddle teller, but when he becomes the riddle teller himself—sorry, his happiness just skyrockets!