Imperial Capital, Cassius Palace.
“Heh, this kid.”
The Sage King gripped the report submitted to him and laughed softly.
Although he had sent Leon to the southern end of the empire, it didn't mean he had given Leon total autonomy over all southern affairs.
As an emperor known for his wisdom, he kept a constant eye on the war in the north, and he had also been monitoring the situation in the southern Dusk Sea.
Naturally, he learned from the report submitted by his Imperial Shadow Guards that Leon had already killed the Mad Shark King.
He was also aware of what Leon had said to the Stormveil Daily reporter, including that final sentence: “I have successfully fulfilled the mission.”
That last sentence wasn't meant for the residents of Stormveil City, nor was it merely to express loyalty to the Sage King.
What Leon was actually saying was—
“Old man! I did a pretty good job, didn't I?”
“I speedran the Mad Shark King in ten minutes and cleared out a zone north of Endless Bay where no merman dares to enter!”
“Now that you've seen my achievements, aren't you going to show some appreciation?”
Knowing Leon’s character well, the Sage King knew that the boy was back to begging for handouts!
However, the Sage King didn't mind Leon's behavior.
To achieve such a feat in such a short time was indeed worthy of a reward.
In Leon’s words, it was time to “increase the intensity of investment.”
“Go to the deepest part of the royal treasury and take a leaf from the Kabbalah Tree of Life. Give it to Leon Douglas.”
With a wave of the Sage King’s hand, a Royal Decree to open the deepest part of the treasury condensed out of thin air.
The decree flickered and flew into a shadow beneath one of the palace’s golden pillars, causing the shadow to ripple instantly.
The Sage King knew that the investment Leon wanted was nothing more than the leaf of the Kabbalah Tree of Life that had been promised earlier.
Before Leon left the capital, the Sage King had made a pact with him: in three months, a leaf from the Kabbalah Tree of Life would mature.
At that time, the King would consider whether to bestow the leaf upon Leon based on his performance in the south.
However, both the Sage King and Leon understood that the “three months” mentioned back then was the final deadline.
If Leon failed to stabilize the situation in the southern empire within that timeframe, the leaf would naturally be withheld.
But if Leon could stabilize the situation early... he wouldn't need to wait three months to get the leaf.
After all, the Sage King had said “a leaf will mature in three months.”
He hadn't said “no other leaves will mature within these three months.”
Nor had he said “there aren't already mature leaves hidden in the royal treasury.”
“Furthermore,” the Sage King’s voice echoed in the empty palace:
“Send people to deliver this intelligence to the Nightmare Empire. Give one copy to the injured Grand Duke Grant and another to Grand Duke Hodgkinas.”
“And replace the Imperial Shadow Guard who has been following Leon with an Imperial Shadow Agent.”
“As you command.” Seeing that the Sage King had no further orders, a voice drifted out from the shadow beneath the golden pillar.
Then, the shadow rippled, and a figure quickly vanished from the palace.
The Sage King glanced at the disappearing figure and calmly withdrew his gaze.
The talent Leon had displayed was enough for him to upgrade the protection from an Imperial Shadow Guard to an Imperial Shadow Agent.
However, this was just a minor move.
Even if Leon’s talent was god-like, it would likely take another twenty years for him to fully grow and become an Epic priest.
And twenty years from now, would an Epic priest even be enough?
Even the Sage King did not know the answer to that.
...
The southern empire.
Stormveil City.
Inside the banquet hall, glasses clinked as nobles, mayors, and village chiefs brought their female companions to toast and flatter one another, celebrating the successful conclusion of the suppression mission.
On a dimly lit balcony near the side door of the banquet hall, Leon was holding a ledger filled with names.
The ledger recorded the performance of every noble after the suppression mission began and they boarded the Sardine.
Besides the ledger, Leon also held several sheets of paper that looked like scrap notes, covered in encrypted text.
Clang—
The balcony door was pushed open, and Viscount Finn stepped out, looking at Leon.
“Master Leon, you were looking for me?”
Leon nodded and handed the papers with the encrypted text to Viscount Finn.
As the city lord, Viscount Finn was familiar with encryption and quickly deciphered the content.
His face filled with shock. “So many nobles have committed treason?”
The papers clearly stated that at least eight nobles had betrayed the empire by leaking information to the Mad Shark King!
Beside the names of these traitorous nobles were the methods and times they had colluded with the Mad Shark King.
It even specified the amount of money received by the earliest traitors, while those who reported later received no reward because they were too late.
“Master Leon, where did you get this information? Are you sure it’s accurate?” Viscount Finn asked.
This data not only recorded solid evidence against the eight nobles colluding with the Mad Shark King but also contained information on other nobles secretly dealing with different factions.
If everything on the list was true, the number of problematic nobles would reach as many as seventeen!
“This is intelligence unearthed by the Imperial Investigators,” Leon said with a slight nod.
The Royal Decree bestowed by the Sage King could be used not only to mobilize city lords and nobles but also to command the empire’s secret investigative departments to assist him.
All of this information had been gathered by investigators who slipped into the manors and searched them after the nobles had been taken aboard the Typhon.
Hearing that it was the work of the Imperial Investigators, Viscount Finn no longer doubted the truth of the report. Instead, he asked:
“Then, what do you intend to do?”
Leon glanced at him, listening to the boisterous noise of the nobles in the banquet hall. “Kill them all, and confiscate their assets.”
Viscount Finn felt a chill in his heart and quickly tried to persuade him. “Master Leon, these are seventeen nobles!”
“If you execute them all, their subordinate towns and villages might fall into an anarchy of ungoverned chaos.”
“Besides, the other nobles will inevitably feel threatened. Even if they obey our orders on the surface, they might resort to passive resistance or even secret sabotage in the future...”
Before Viscount Finn could finish, Leon raised a hand to stop him.
Leon said:
“Viscount Finn, you place too much importance on the nobles.”
“Even if we suddenly lose these nobles, the towns and villages below won't fall into much chaos.”
“Whether there is order or chaos has nothing to do with the nobles; it depends on whether the laws of the empire are deeply rooted in the people's hearts and whether the enforcement forces in the towns are effective.”
“As for the issue of them secretly disobeying our future orders...”
Leon looked up and said:
“I have already ordered Baron Pierce to take the lead in establishing the Policy Research and Investigation Department.”
“From now on, all administrative orders on the southern coast will be issued uniformly through this department. The department will set differentiated task quotas based on field research in each town and village.”
“If a locality fails to meet its assigned quota, there are only two possibilities: either the noble in charge is incompetent, or they are capable but harbor ill intent and are intentionally stalling.”
“In either case, I will strip these nobles of their right to govern.”
Rate on N.U.
