Free Web NovelChapter 118: Rising Conflict
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There was urgency and tension in the air, one that could be felt even by those who don’t usually pay attention to their surroundings.
Apart from that, there’s also a lot of movement everywhere. People in suits or formal attire were appearing in places where they weren’t usually seen. There were many of them, and once they got out of their vehicle, they moved as if they were on a timed mission.
All of a sudden, notices started appearing everywhere. Public places were put under surveillance, security became stricter, and panic was starting to rise.
Cops were moving in droves, free martial artists were being recruited, and the Archstone Plaza’s security suddenly became overbearing. A curfew was issued, and they were not taking no for an answer.
All of a sudden, it seems like the entire world suddenly entered a wartime preparation state and has been put under martial law.
Then, announcements were made.
The GMU came out and said that they had discovered a viral infection that somehow passed through their checks and had been spreading for quite some time. They reported that this viral infection causes hallucinations, anger management issues, and mental state instability. freēwēbnovel.com
Everybody was strongly convinced to cooperate for the professionals to contain this viral infection; that’s why they’re going to be under strict surveillance for the time being.
They also said that they will give updates periodically to inform the public of what’s happening.
Not everybody believed in this, of course. Many people knew that, sometimes, the GMU was unreliable.
They either think that the GMU was just hiding some of their private affairs from going public; that’s why they’re corralling everybody. Some thought that the viral infection was, in truth, GMU’s experiment that escaped from their labs, and they’re doing damage control.
There were some who believed what the GMU said, but they are a minority. Most people think that something was up, and there are quite a few people who are very determined to learn the truth.
However, if it had been that easy to squeeze the full truth out of the GMU, they wouldn’t have led humanity for this long.
There are a handful of people who knew the whole picture, and they are not some people who would leak it out for the sake of exposing their superiors. They were not willing to offend the martial gods just for the sake of delivering the truth to the public. Besides, there are some things that are better kept private.
In the Grand Martial City, located at the heart of the empire and being the main headquarters of the GMU in this world, a stressful and tense atmosphere could be felt.
Sure, the incident did cause some alarm to the GMU. After all, it was their duty to look after the materials circulating in this world, and they somehow missed something this big. But this mess wouldn’t be enough to drive the whole headquarters into panic.
The main reason why was because upon hearing about the smuggled item reaching the human civilization, one of the martial gods decided to come back.
And the one who returned wasn’t a kind one.
It was none other than Her Majesty, the Azure Radiance Saint—the queen of efficiency and an absolute slave driver.
If it were any of the other martial gods, they wouldn’t have reacted this way, but it’s her.
The Azure Radiance Saint was probably the only one amongst the Martial Gods who was not afraid of being schemed at or being tied down by politics. Why? Because she’s better than all of them.
Many have tried to tie her down before; many have tried to scheme against her and tried to control her. But all of them fell before her. She did not just drain them dry; she squeezed out every last bit of worth they will ever have before discarding them like trash.
And she never gets tired of doing it.
But in hindsight, they should’ve seen this coming. After all, it was she—the Azure Radiance Saint—that proposed the anti-smuggling law. This was one of the things she strongly spoke for and convinced her fellow martial gods to sign as well.
"I left for a year," she stated before the crowd of people summoned before her; none could meet her eyes. "Just a year. I said I will be back eventually and as soon as I can."
"I distinctly remember reminding everybody to not slack off on their work because your duties are crucial to the well-being of humanity. But what is this, hmm? What did I find upon my return?"
"A modified Zerg Queen’s Essence sealed in a wooden carving? It’s like its creator didn’t even try or wasn’t hoping for this scheme to succeed.
"Yet somehow, it ended up here. It bypassed at least 13 layers of security checks I personally established and have all of you control. I even personally taught some of you to discover the strange parts."
"If any of you imbeciles have listened and remembered your responsibilities, anybody with functioning eyes and a lick of sense would’ve immediately caught the signs. Yet none of you did."
"It looks like some of you have been rather relaxed with me around, huh? Great! Awesome! I wonder who the hell gave you the audacity?"
Her tongue lashing made several people wince in phantom pain. There’s no need to guess; she’s evidently pissed.
And the thing is? She has every right to be pissed. She’s the one who proposed the anti-smuggling law. She’s the one who made the layers of security to prevent dangerous materials from freely circulating in the market of the human world. She even had her proteges manning the stations to ensure quality work, yet all of her effort seemed to have been wasted since nobody could do their simple jobs.
"I’ll deal with all of you later. Fuck off and back to work. I dare any of you to let me see you slacking; I’ll show you what real misery looks like!"
She left fuming after dismissing them, and nobody dared to let out a sound or anything that could trigger her anger.
She didn’t leave the building; she didn’t use the elevators or the stairs either. Instead, she flew like a rocket to the high-profile prison to see what’s going on there.
What she hates more than incompetence is traitors. And reportedly, they found someone who managed to claw their way deep into this office. For her, that’s just plainly unforgivable.
If it were up to her, she would torture the man for all the intel he might have against the enemy and torture him more for his stupidity and siding with the enemy.
But apparently, this man might know a lot. More than a lot, even. She heard that this man, Terrence Brian Patterson—if that’s even his real name—had a lot of mental shields, which would normally not be exposed unless the man was caught completely by surprise.
Thank god there are still some competent people in this building, because the man was instantly imprisoned and exposed the moment he woke up in his cell.
Right now, there are some people who are doing their best to unravel the man’s psychic shields to learn all of his secrets. Reportedly, they’ve already gathered enough incriminating evidence to sentence this man to death, so much that even the ones working on him felt horrified to learn.
And they haven’t even gotten too deep into his shields just yet.
The Azure Radiance Saint was fuming but was also deeply interested. How the hell did they manage to plant a spy so deep into human territory without triggering the security measures they put down?
But as curious as she was, she was being careful.
She’s not stupid; her abrupt return surprised her subordinates, but it’s also very possible that it also alarmed the other spies around—if there are any.
Agents of the cult hidden within their ranks would probably do something to either save or kill their comrade.
With her here, the possibility of that happening was low. But even so, she wasn’t one to be complacent. The chances might be low but not zero. She might be a Martial God in terms of skill and martial prowess, but she’s not omnipotent.
That’s why, as interested as she was to learn what has been revealed so far, the Azure Radiance Saint made her presence scarce. She hid herself in between the fabrics of space, completely invisible to the senses and perceptions of anybody who’s weaker than her.
She arrived at the lab where they’re working on unraveling the psychic shields of the man but didn’t alert anybody of her presence. Instead, she stood guard and kept one eye open for any possibility of an ambush or surprises that might happen in the area.
Of course, she also perused the evidence they’ve gathered so far, and just from the first five crimes she saw on this list so far, it was indeed true; this man must die.
How in the world did such a vile man even manage to infiltrate this deep into their sanctuary?
But now is not the time to make a move. There is more to be revealed, and she would do her best to rein in her temper until every single piece of information is extracted from this person.
