Armipotent

Chapter 2028: Building Up Frustration

A simple message from Origin, the intelligence division would send their people right away. It was a direct order from the Emperor if Tang Shaoyang approved the procedure.

Connor’s wife was not even an Epic Rank. His eldest daughter was a few levels away from facing the Trial of Epic, and his younger daughter was not even level 100. It took no effort for Lu An’s people to capture them.

The TEID had its own reputation, both positive and negative. People knew they had the TEID to protect them from the spies of the other factions or illegal syndicates. The TEID cleaned out the street from the rogue ranker and players, preventing a gang from forming.

The negative rumor was about how ruthless they were. Once they were targeted by the TEID, no one could come back unscathed. If the TEID caught them, that meant that person was done for. It meant they had something on that person. Less than one percent of captives left the TEID’s building, being innocent.

Connor’s body stiffened, his face blanked for a moment before turning into horror, realizing what had happened. He thought of using this one-sided action to help his cause, but he was immediately struck with a realization. If the Emperor killed him right here and now, along with his family, there was nothing that could be used for his cause.

If his wife and daughters were captured by the TEID, they would lose their jobs, and they would be shunned by the others. There should be a reason the TEID caught them, and they would not be able to get rid of that image entirely.

The worst scenario was that his daughters and his wife would be executed along with him. The best scenario was that they would be sent back to the United Sovereign. Even the best scenario would ruin his family. His wife could not find a job with similar pay here. His daughters would lose their qualification to be a distinguished Alchemist, the worst one of the USF’s soldiers might take her daughter as a wife earlier, and he would not be able to do it.

The realization struck him hard, and he immediately went on his knee, banging his head to the ground, ”Anything, I will do anything, but please don’t touch my family. I will bear the crime myself; please don’t involve them.”

”Oh, don’t worry. I will not do anything to you or your family. You just have to go back to wherever you come from. You and your family are on the blacklist. You lost the qualification to stay here, and you and your family were barred from visiting the Tang Empire, too. I don’t need people who cause trouble when I already have bigger problems myself; you are not welcome in the empire. You can bring your family and your People Party back to your home.”

Connor was relieved when he heard the first part, but his face paled when he heard the rest of it. He ruined his wife and daughter’s lives; he did it because of his greed. He thought it was doable with the frequent absence of the Emperor, but now the Emperor himself kicked him out.

The living conditions in the Tang Empire were much better than those in the United Sovereign. The Tarrior made sure to clear the monsters and zombies regularly in undeveloped areas. The TEID is tasked to clear out the gang and the rogue players. The TEIS was to ensure the street was safe.

He did not need to worry when his daughters left home. He did not need to worry about them getting kidnapped because he knew how safe this place was. Her wife had a job and had her own stipend; her daughter had a brighter future in this place. Yet he robbed that future from them.

As for him, he might be doing better in the United Sovereign since he had reached Myth Rank. The USF would accept someone in his rank without an issue. But what about his family?

”No! Just me! PLEASE! My family has nothing to do with the People Party. They don’t even know I am part of the People Party. You can punish me, but don’t punish them, Your Majesty. I beg you, Your Majesty! Leave my family alone! Let them stay here!”

Connor frantically crawled forward, trying to reach Tang Shaoyang’s leg, but Lingxin moved quickly and kicked the man away.

”Now, think about your family. Why don’t you think about them when you join this stupid party?” Lingxin shook his head at the pitiful prisoner, but Connor had his eyes set on Tang Shaoyang. He ignored her words.

”I will do anything. You can turn me into a slave, but please let my family stay here, let them stay in the empire.”

At this point, Connor was desperate and at wits’ end. He did not know but to beg; tears streamed out, and his expression showed how sorry he was.

Tang Shaoyang did not like leaving behind a loose end. He usually would just kick Connor and his family out of his empire. If his family developed a grudge against him, they might cause future trouble for him.

”I can let your family stay as long as you can convince them not to cause the same problem. They might have a grudge against the empire for kicking you out. I don’t—”

”Don’t worry, Your Majesty! I will convince them it’s my fault that it has become this way. They will not do anything stupid that will cause trouble.” Connor immediately grabbed the chance when he saw one.

”We can take care of that, but your family must sign an additional agreement to stay here. You can read the agreement if you are worried, and in exchange, I want you to spill all names in the People Party. I want them gone from my empire.”

Connor was aware that there was a price. His heart was heavy because two of his friends were part of the People Party. But he quickly made the decision because this was the only way to secure his family’s future.

”Yes. I will tell you all the names. I might not know all the members, but I know everyone in the leadership group.”

Tang Shaoyang shot a glance at Kang Zian, telling his brother-in-law to take care of the rest. The latter caught the signal and nodded. Kang Zian told Lingxin to take note of all names before sending out all available TEIS to capture all the names. It was a direct order from the Emperor himself.

That night, Tang Shaoyang held an emergency assembly, summoning all divisions. It was a direct summons from the Emperor himself. Whatever they were up to, they immediately returned.

It could not be considered a big issue, but it would certainly become a big issue if Tang Shaoyang had not found it early. He showed his frustration at how they were not able to handle such an issue. It was all the same again, with a small rebellion by Su Hong. The manipulation trick that got into Kang Jiayi, the leader of the TEIS.

No one was speaking during the assembly; only Tang Shaoyang’s voice echoed in the assembly room. His aura was leaking out as he told them why he summoned them all here, adding more pressure to the assembly.

”Don’t we have a preventive measure for something like this? Are we going to tackle the problem only when it becomes a big problem? We need to resolve the problem before it gets too big. When are we going to learn from what happened with Su Hong’s rebellion? When are we going to learn from what happened in the TEIS case? Do you need a big number of victims before taking action?”

Tang Shaoyang swept the people in the room, and all of them lowered their heads. No one asked him what the People Party was. It seemed almost everyone was aware of this movement, yet they did nothing.

He was frustrated with what happened with the People Party; how could they not see this group as a problem? He could see why they didn’t do anything, because it had not become a big problem.

Tang Shaoyang took a deep breath, doing one cycle of Essence of Tranquility Breathing. That helped him calm down. This was the first time he showed this side of himself during a meeting. It was just a frustration that he was trying his best to do everything to make the empire safe from outside influence.

The looming threat from the big alliance was still there, and he took them all by himself. When he was home, he expected his home to be a safe haven for him and his family. But his people could not even do their job to keep the empire safe from inside.

He snapped because he imagined that this radical group would resort to violence and hurt his daughter. It could happen because her daughters joined the public class.

”I...” Tang Shaoyang stopped and let out a sigh instead. Shaking his head, ”Let’s hear your solution for this issue, and I want to hear a preventive measure so this doesn’t happen again.”

He ended his sentence with another long sigh, ”I... I have much bigger problems to resolve outside this world. There are a lot of factions that want to destroy our empire for a reason I can’t understand. People out there are constantly after my life because of my class, my race, or my ability. So when I am home, I wish for a relaxing break, free from problems, yet here I am.”

”The moment I returned, I heard a radical group had tried to overthrow me. For some reason, you guys don’t see this as a problem that needs immediate care. Do we need a large number of victims for you to see this as a big problem?

He told himself not to vent out his frustration, but he could not hold it back because it was on the tip of his tongue. He ended up saying it.