Strangely enough, Zhou Qing's rise on Tatooine did not lead to any suppression from the Hutts. Zhou Qing also changed his style of doing things. He went from robbing whoever he saw to being more purposeful, and did not actively loot the Hutts' merchant ships.
The Hutts had two main forces on Tatooine. One was Jabba the Hutt, who had almost become the underground king of Tatooine. The other was Burka the Hutt, who was much weaker than Jabba, but was still very powerful. Apart from that, there were also some large criminal organizations, such as the Black Sun and the Zane Financial Group. Their main forces were not on Tatooine. Although they had some influence, it was still limited.
There were also many other smugglers' forces. They either lived in the cracks, or depended on these powerful forces to survive. But, with Zhou Qing's sudden rise, a lot of scattered teams had gathered together.
Although there were still many forces around Zhou Qing, everyone believed that Zhou Qing would become the third strongest force on Tatooine sooner or later. Not for anything else, but because of the invincible Kurofune and Zhou Qing's invincible strength!
The Kurofune that people knew was only a 100-meter long frigate. But even so, with its powerful firepower, super speed, and the ability to go invisible, it was definitely the most terrifying existence among galactic pirates! No merchant ship was faster than it, and no frigate was stronger than it. No one knew when the Kurofune would appear or escape!
The news from the Hutts' higher-ups was even more terrifying. There was more than one Kurofune, and there was a 500-meter long cruiser! Not only that, these Kurofunes were organized, and all belonged to the protector planet! This was very terrifying. If such a fleet of pirates really went all out, even the Hutts' own smuggling trade routes would be severely damaged! This was the real reason why the Hutts let Zhou Qing grow!
As for Zhou Qing himself, his reputation among the Tatooine natives came more from his personal strength. What did it mean to face a thousand Tusken Raiders at once? Even a Jedi Knight would not be able to escape unscathed from such a force! But not only did Zhou Qing do it, he even killed all one thousand Tusken Raiders!
What did this mean? This meant that on Tatooine, if Zhou Qing wanted to kill anyone, unless the other party escaped into space, they would not be able to stop him! Now that such a big shot was recruiting, if they didn't hurry up and suck up to him, were they supposed to wait for the New Year?
In fact, even Tang Yu had come to the conclusion that Zhou Qing was able to wield several times his usual strength on Tatooine, a planet full of desert! Even in the Guardian Empire, only Peacock could fight Zhou Qing in such an environment!
Peacock and Svetlana used Count Dooku's connections to bribe and threaten Zhou Qing to provide some routes to launder the looted goods. Furthermore, some of the shipping routes had already been set up beforehand. As long as a specific identification code was sent during inspection, the Republic's judicial fleet would turn a blind eye to it.
Although most of these routes were only in the middle ring of the Milky Way Galaxy and could not penetrate the inner ring or even the core ring, it was enough for now.
…
Galactic Republic, Core Circle, planet Coruscant.
The Republic's parliament was holding a general meeting. Chairman Shiv Palpatine stood on an anti-gravity platform and flew to the center of the highest part of the parliament hall. He was giving a stirring speech.
"… The separatists are getting more and more rampant! What about us? The most brilliant civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy, a nation that has lasted for twenty-five thousand years, the representative of freedom and justice, where is our great Galactic Republic?! Where was the Republic when planet Sala Bin was attacked by the separatists?! Where was the Republic during the blackout on Coruscant?! "
"No! The Republic is not here! That's why Sala Bin's energy storage base was destroyed! That's why the blackout on Coruscant killed more than two thousand hardworking workers! And now, the separatists have sent out another fleet to seal off planet Malastar! So let me ask you again, where is the Republic?! "Palpatine's face was red as he shouted with all his might.
"The Republic is here! Here! "
"Down with the separatists, those bastards!"
"Declare war on the separatists!" The entire parliament was in an uproar. All the parliament members were shouting at the top of their voices.
Palpatine was pleased with the reactions of the councilors around him. His lips curled into an almost undetectable smirk. He watched as the furious councilors roared loudly for a full two minutes before he opened his arms to signal for everyone to be quiet. Soon, the parliament hall gradually quieted down. The parliament members looked up at Palpatine.
Then he continued, "But we also have to recognize the reality! This time, the separatists only used two thousand soldiers and some old spaceships to break through the defense line of Sala Bin! If it wasn't for Major General Wilhoff Tarkin who rushed over after hearing the news, the separatists' casualties would have been less than a thousand! "
His voice gradually rose. "But how many troops do we have on Sala Bin?! 15000 soldiers and 11 large warships!! Why is this happening? Why?! "
Palpatine did not answer immediately. Instead, he looked around and said word by word, "Because of the corruption of the army! Lax discipline! Lack of funds!! We have to understand that this is no longer an era of peace! To protect our lives, we must respond!! "
"Increase military spending! Reform the military system!! Investigate the corruption in the army!! Recruit real elites into the army!! This is what we have to do!! Now, I am not speaking as the chairman of the Galactic Republic. I am just a citizen of the Republic!! I implore everyone to pass Motion 87 and expand the army again!! "Palpatine raised his hands high, clenched his fists, and shouted loudly.
"Expand the army! Expand the army!! "
"Agreed! We want to expand the army!! "A large number of parliament members echoed again, and the parliament hall once again fell into a frenzy.
On one of the anti-gravity platforms, a beautiful female parliament member in a long dress with her hair in a high bun sighed, pressed the abstention button on the platform's voting device, and turned to leave.
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