bookrandom Chapter 106 Social Contradictions
Chapter 106 Social Contradictions
The next day, the House of Representatives.
The top leaders of the Epirus Empire held an emergency meeting regarding the terrorist attack by the rebels.
In the conference hall, the members of the parliament had a heated discussion.
"According to the investigation and statistics, the number of casualties in this terrorist attack is 375, of which 86 died. Among these 86 people, there are three females and 14 children..."
As soon as this statement came out, the whole place was in an uproar.
"These bastards! They even spared no females and children."
"I demand that the remnants of the resistance army be executed immediately! To vent the public anger!"
"But the leader of the rebels has not been caught yet. These people may still be useful."
"..."
The emperor on the throne looked at the parliamentarians, all of whom were filled with righteous indignation. He wished he could eat them alive and was determined to root out the rebels and get rid of them as soon as possible.
"Silence!" The emperor spoke at the right time, interrupting everyone's argument and cursing.
The Emperor turned to look at Reinhardt and asked, "What does Marshal Tempest think about this?"
"The resistance has made a comeback this time, openly demonstrating against the empire and killing innocent people. There must be other forces secretly supporting them..." Reinhardt gave his own opinion.
After all, fifteen years ago, Reinhardt personally led his troops to encircle and suppress the rebels. Their leaders and many of their followers were killed, and the remaining remnants were mostly a motley crowd and could hardly make a difference.
Now, only more than a decade of peace had passed, and the resistance army had revived. If there was no one behind the scenes, it would be impossible for this group of Wahe soldiers to cause a riot in the city center of the imperial capital.
After listening to Reinhardt's explanation, the congressmen immediately started discussing:
"I heard that some of the declining old nobles are dissatisfied with the alliance between the Empire and the Interstellar Federation and are trying to restore aristocratic autocracy. Maybe these people are secretly supporting the rebels."
"Perhaps the hostile forces in Epirus are manipulating the remnants of the resistance army, trying to cause panic among the people and shake the social order of the empire."
"No matter what, we should get some useful clues from those criminals so that we can capture the leader of the resistance army as soon as possible."
"..."
The meeting lasted for nearly seven hours. Finally, the emperor ordered the establishment of a special investigation team to thoroughly investigate and arrest the remnants of the resistance army and their accomplices behind the scenes.
The special search team was left entirely to Reinhardt. After all, this "Imperial Storm" had fought against the rebels many times and was more familiar with the enemy.
After the meeting, the emperor summoned Reinhardt privately.
"Rhine, do you have any idea about this matter now?" The emperor looked much older.
Now people across the empire are in a panic, and the news media are scrambling to report on this terrorist attack, causing a sensation in the city.
Some people even deliberately led the trend on the Starnet, taking the opportunity to guide public opinion to attack the royal family and the nobles. Because the casualties in this list were all civilians, the other party used this as a breakthrough to spread rumors, thus intensifying the hostility of most civilians towards the nobles.
On the other hand, some radical noble councilors believed that the initial resistance was just a rebellion by civilians, and the captured criminals were also civilians, so the instigators had always been the greedy civilians, and they insisted that the civilians apologize to the nobles.
At first glance, it seems to be a conflict between two different social classes in the empire, but if you think about it carefully, it is not difficult to see that someone is spreading rumors on the Internet, guiding public opinion, and exacerbating the conflict between the nobles and the common people.
Reinhardt was well aware of the emperor's difficulties. After all, among those senators there were both upper-class aristocrats and commoners, so when they argued about the mastermind behind the resistance, they were also tit-for-tat.
"Your Majesty, it is my incompetence that has caused me to fail in capturing the leader of the rebels. Please punish me!" Reinhardt knelt on one knee and lowered his head to express his apology.
The emperor sighed, stepped forward and helped Reinhardt up, "Rhine, I am not here to ask you for punishment, I just want to hear your opinion. After all, in that situation just now, you should have been reserved in your words, right?"
Reinhard nodded, "Your Majesty is wise. I actually suspect that some unclean things have sneaked into the House of Representatives."
"Oh? It seems that Lord Lai Yin and I have the same idea." The emperor stroked his beard with a smile.
"Actually, it was the leader of the resistance army who hinted to me..." Reinhardt explained.
Just yesterday, he led the SWAT team to sneak into the mall to rescue the hostages. Adhering to the concept of "capture the leader first", he went to the broadcasting room alone to arrest the mysterious man who was behind everything.
At that time, Reinhardt roughly guessed that the guy who was hiding his head and showing his tail should be the leader of this group.
"I have fought with that man. He is quite powerful. He is at least an SSS-level warrior." Reinhardt repeated the details of yesterday.
The emperor frowned, "SSS-level expert? No wonder that person was able to escape from Lord Lai Yin."
"Before he escaped, he said something strange..." Reinhardt's eyes sank and he became serious. "The glory of the resistance army will burst out from the 'Brain of the Empire'. This is a great revolution that will go down in history. By then, the whole of Epirus will usher in liberation and peace, and a brand new century."
The "brains of the Empire" refers to the House of Representatives, and the man is undoubtedly hinting that the top brass of the Empire has been infiltrated by the Resistance.
"Combining the performance at today's meeting, especially the conflict between the noble and civilian councilors, I think there is indeed a suspicion that some alien elements have infiltrated the councilors." Reinhardt told the emperor his thoughts.
The emperor rubbed his brows, his face slightly tired. "Fifteen years of silence, it turns out they were hiding their strength, waiting for a chance to strike a fatal blow to the empire. The rebels are becoming increasingly difficult to deal with..."
"Your Majesty, please rest assured! I will do my best to clear the empire of these traitors." Reinhardt volunteered, his eyes particularly determined.
"Well, Rhine, this matter is of great importance, so don't push yourself too hard." The emperor looked at Reinhardt with concern, as if he were looking at his own child.
"Speaking of which, Lord Lai Yin, I heard that since you rescued the hostages yesterday, you seem to be looking for someone, or rather, a female..."
With a change of topic, the originally heavy atmosphere became subtle again because of the emperor's gossiping mind.
"Yes." Reinhardt lowered his head in shame.
"Hey! It's not a big deal, you don't have to feel ashamed." The emperor changed his tired look and teased Reinhardt.
"So, among the hostages is the 'person' that Lord Lai Yin is looking for?"
"Yes!"
"Do you know the whereabouts of 'that person' now? If not, I will order someone to help you..."
"Your Majesty, please don't bother me with this matter." Reinhardt quickly refused.
Who knows if His Majesty the Emperor will make a big fuss and let the whole city know when he helps find someone.
Reinhardt knew the Emperor of Epirus very well, so when he offered to help him find someone, he decisively refused.
"Since Lord Lai Yin has said so, I will not interfere in your private affairs. However..."
The emperor looked at Reinhardt with a sly smile and teased, "If you find the female you've been dreaming about, please remember to bring her to me. I'm very curious about how beautiful this female is who can move the Imperial Storm!"
Reinhardt did not answer, but his ears had already turned red when facing the emperor's teasing.