Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 1289: Chapter 731: Terra Celebrity 2

However, these have little to do with the public and the mid-level officials.

The higher one’s level of understanding, the more they can recognize that while the Iron Armor was indeed a major issue, thinking they could invade Holy Terra and overthrow the Empire was just a dream.

Yet, on this world of a trillion people on Holy Terra, the number of those with high-level awareness might be large in absolute terms, but proportionally, it’s not that significant.

Of course, without sources of information, the clueless lower-tier people wouldn’t know as much either.

But it was Prime Minister Qi Bodu who unintentionally gave a huge boost. For original chapters go to novel·fıre·net

Aiming for political gain, Qi Bodu extensively dramatized the threat of the Iron Armor War to garner war support.

Repeated broadcasts on television, talk after talk about the gravity of the Iron Armor War; continuous newspaper reports; consecutive defeats on the frontline… all these caused significant turmoil in the hearts of lower-class residents.

The Empire is perpetually at war, but on Holy Terra, in many people’s lifetimes, there had never been a war repeatedly reported in their ears, making them feel the war so close to them.

And those so-called elites who could see the truth dared not publicly claim indifference to this war.

Wasn’t that challenging the Prime Minister?

After the purge, isn’t the Legal Department, now nearly entirely filled with the Prime Minister’s cronies, a force to be reckoned with?

And Salihoovich, in this period, keenly realized that this was an excellent opportunity for propaganda.

He leveraged the ’Iron Armor Threat Theory’ promoted by Prime Minister Qi Bodu to strongly reinforce this impression.

With the support of the Central Empire’s official stance, the related propaganda yielded twice the results with half the effort.

Then, sparing no expense, he assembled the best team to launch a series of high-production films. The theme was the Alliance led by Gu Hang fighting against the Iron Armor traitors and the Insect Swarm.

Next, news quickly emerged of the Alliance formally joining the battle, moving north to form the Southern Line Legion.

Taking advantage of this, Salihoovich released the first installment of the series.

Due to its high-quality production, combined with the pre-existing popularity of Gu Hang as an ’IP’, and the fact that Gu Hang was indeed on the frontlines of the Iron Armor War, reflecting the real situation to a considerable extent, the first installment of the series received a very positive response.

Subsequently, with the Alliance’s great victory over the Alfonso Fleet, the second film exploded across Holy Terra!

This was followed by the third, fourth, fifth installment…

During the fifteen-year war, the “Alliance” series released five films that exploded on Holy Terra and even became popular across the entire Sun Star Domain and the entire Empire’s territory. Various spin-offs and commercial products swiftly gained momentum.

Gu Hang, the absolute lead, saw his name recognition reach its peak.

Gu Hang himself was only aware of this, but he had no actual understanding of just how sensational it was. During the war, he spent most of his time and energy on the war itself, with some extra attention to the development of the Alliance. Information of this marginal type sometimes didn’t even make it to his desk. Even when it did, he only glanced at it briefly.

So, when Gu Hang, in the midst of the Triumphal Army, was greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm from the people of Holy Terra, far beyond his imagination, he couldn’t immediately connect it to this, which left him quite puzzled.

Actually, not just Gu Hang, even the initiator Salihoovich and many high-ranking officials on Holy Terra didn’t foresee this.

Who could have expected this?

In the Empire’s system, the entertainment industry is underdeveloped. The social system’s high pressure, public opinion control, and resource focus on industrial production and military-industrial complex are the internal reasons; externally, ongoing wars and high military pressures also make it difficult for the entertainment industry to develop stably.

Besides these realistic factors, there are surreal factors: the corruption of Slaanesh, which easily spreads through a developed environment of indulgence and pleasure.

From the Tribunal to the Legal Department, they all suppress such behaviors—though, in some upper-class circles, this suppression is virtually ineffective, unable to stop the indulgence of the nobility and those with noble backgrounds. However, when controlling lower-tier entertainment, they are quite powerful. If anyone disobeys, places like film works, literary publications, and commercial entertainment venues all require licenses to operate.

This became a good opportunity for the Legal Department to extort money and a tool for some well-connected producers, distributors, and entertainment business owners to monopolize.

Of course, as the Alliance Ambassador, he was not of low status, and behind him was the backing of the Military Affairs Department, with the High Lord Galaraldo as the support, which undoubtedly made him top-tier nobility.

Moreover, he had a huge budget, which placed him in a dominant position in the competition within the film and television industry.

In the past, it wasn’t that no one thought of employing this method to make a name for someone. In fact, Galaraldo did a similar thing for Gu Hang back then. Just that the scale was a bit modest.

But now, not only was the scale large, but the films exploded; not only did the films explode, but Gu Hang’s achievements in the battle were also solid.

To be able to lead the team at the forefront and march through the Triumph Gate, what kind of person is that?

A top-notch hero!

To combine these two identities to such a high degree is extremely rare.

Not to mention, achieving such levels in both aspects.

Simply a film star? Even reaching the pinnacle wouldn’t amount to much.

In the mind of a normal person, the recognition of a film actor is fundamentally different from the admiration for a truly heroic figure.

Simply a hero? Indeed, they have nationwide recognition and are widely loved, but it’s just as difficult to be as endearing as a deliberately crafted star persona. Moreover, heroic deeds often can only be known through text, spread verbally, unlike film works that are dramatically enhanced through careful packaging.

The combination of both brings out a power that is truly astonishing.

At this point, Salihoovich wore a smile.

He now dares to boast: in terms of popularity, none of the High Lords of Holy Terra can compete with Mr. Gu!

Mr. Gu is more popular than the High Lords!

This is said by me, the Alliance Ambassador, the media tycoon, Salihoovich!

Having continuously observed the Triumph Parade for a month, all the statistical data confirmed this point.

The peak of popularity was, of course, on the day of crossing the Triumphal Arch in space; next was the first day of live broadcast as the Triumphal Army landed.

Subsequent peaks of interest obviously declined. But overall, this event consistently topped the most popular news across all levels on Holy Terra. Especially when the Triumphal Army led by Gu Hang passed through a region, the triumph ceremony immediately absorbed all attention in that area. Those who could watch it directly flocked to see it; those who couldn’t gathered around televisions and radio broadcasts to watch or listen to the news.

Ultimately, all the attention would culminate on the last day of the triumph parade, when the Triumphal Army would converge with the Imperial Guard, who had left the Imperial Palace ahead of schedule, and under the escort of a battalion of a hundred Imperial Guards, proceed straight to the main gate of the Imperial Palace.

After passing through this point, Gu Hang would deliver a triumph declaration atop the palace’s city gate tower, addressing all the triumphant soldiers, high officials of the Empire, representatives from various fields on Holy Terra, as well as television and broadcast journalists.

Once he finished his speech, this grand ceremony, prepared for nearly two years and consuming vast resources, lasting more than a month, would be considered successfully concluded.

That day arrived as scheduled.

Salihoovich opted not to attend in person but remained in the Alliance Embassy, monitoring all sorts of data and watching the live broadcast.

However, an unexpected incident occurred that he had not anticipated.