251: Mutated monsters invade and cremate Zhang Lingxiao?

“A thousand billion in donations alone?”

Inside the Holy Light Tower, Qin Yang nearly lost his composure.

Before returning to Jiuzhou, the last thing Qin Yang did was reconcile the accounts with the Holy Knights.

He never expected that… the donations from the Western World's elites to the Holy Light Sect in recent years amounted to 100 billion.

Before this, all this money was managed by the Pope.

The Holy Knights didn’t check the accounts and didn’t even realize how rich their own organization was.

However, not all of this money ended up in the Holy Light Sect's pockets.

Many wealthy individuals and organizations donated with specific intentions.

Originally dirty money could become clean after a round trip through the Holy City.

Out of the 100 billion in donations, 80 billion came from such schemes.

“Holy Emperor, we have uncovered a group of corrupt faithful and Knights. Under the Pope’s instruction, they colluded with the Child Family to establish a money laundering operation,” Tina said to Qin Yang, her face clearly showing anger.

In her opinion, Child using the name of Holy Light to accumulate wealth was blasphemy.

Qin Yang was also a bit annoyed.

A lot of the money in the Holy Light Sect’s accounts had been used by the Pope to smooth relationships, with remittances to the Free Federation alone reaching thirty to forty billion.

“This was all mine! All mine!”

Qin Yang fumed internally, but his expression remained calm.

Only his eyes subtly flickered with anger.

He said to Tina, “Execute all these faithful and Knights who broke their vows, and the Childs who colluded with them as well. Execute them all for the crime of blaspheming the Holy Light.”

Tina paused slightly and asked, “The faithful and Knights are easy to deal with, but the Childs are still protected by the laws of the Western World.”

“Ignore the laws.”

Qin Yang said coldly, “We must show the world that Holy Light can not only heal pain but also dispel darkness.”

Upon hearing this, Tina’s body trembled.

That’s right.

Holy Light can not only heal pain but also dispel darkness!

And darkness is not just shadows.

It also includes the sordid dealings of the human world.

“Yes, Holy Emperor.”

Tina nodded solemnly.

Qin Yang rose from his throne and said, “The assets obtained by the Childs using the Sect must also be investigated. Those are all evidence of blaspheming the Holy Light.”

With that, he slightly raised his hand and summoned two Imperial Guards: “You two assist them. Be sure to recover all ill-gotten gains.”

“We obey Your Majesty’s command.” The two Imperial Guards bowed.

Qin Yang glanced at Tina, then turned and walked towards the door.

At this moment, the door slowly opened, revealing the dawn and morning light.

Qin Yang walked into the morning light and said, “From now on, Holy Light is not only the Light of Hope but also the Light of Dawn.”

With that, he floated up and flew into the distance.

Tina and a group of Knights knelt, loudly bidding him farewell.

“Praise the Holy Light, praise the Holy Emperor!”

Three days later.

The heavily guarded Near Holy City welcomed the fully armed, Killing Intent-filled Knights Templar.

They abandoned their usual benevolent image and began extensively arresting Childs in the city.

“You have no right to arrest us! We have diplomatic immunity!”

“This is persecution! We will sue you in the Free Federation!”

One by one, Childs were paraded through the streets, and one by one, pawn shops, casinos, and nightclubs were sealed.

Seeing this scene, the public could barely suppress their smiles.

Even in Near Holy City, these Childs had never engaged in legitimate business.

They were like flies, earning money from anything dirty.

Seeing these people arrested by the Knights Templar, no one cared what crimes they had committed or whether the Knights had wronged them.

If all Childs were killed, a few good people might be wrongly accused.

But if they were executed one by one, there would definitely be some who slipped through the net.

And this operation by the Knights Templar only targeted a portion of the Childs.

Those who slipped through the net had already hidden in the darkness, trembling.

“The Knights Templar have been controlled. Behind them, there should be people from the Jiuzhou Federation.”

“Mr. Jacob, if this continues, we won’t be able to do business in the Western World. We must find a solution!”

“First, contact the Free Federation and let them figure it out. If they still want to maintain their hegemony, they must help us.”

“That’s right, we must make the Free Federation pressure Jiuzhou, even if it means starting a War!”

“It is said that Zhang Lingxiao is dead, and Lin Xuan is also injured. I think the Jiuzhou Federation will soon be in chaos.”

“Isn’t this a good opportunity? If we can dismember Jiuzhou during the chaos, we can divide its resources!”

In a dimly lit room, several people were holding a secret meeting.

Their eyes were all sinister, gleaming with greed, like a group of large rats hiding in the shadows.

But the large rats had not yet realized that in the deeper shadows, a cat was staring intently at them.

The “cat’s” eyes flashed with cold light, and he thought to himself, “Your Majesty, the large rats have taken the bait.”

“Everything is proceeding according to the script.”

Far away in the Jiuzhou Federation, Qin Yang smiled slightly.

At this moment, he was listening to Si Zhenfeng’s report through the kunlun mirror.

“In the first wave of invasion, the island nation lost 32 Hero Rank Professionals, 145 Grandmaster Tier Professionals, and 1112 Elite Tier Professionals. Civilian casualties exceeded ten thousand…”

“To be honest, it’s the first time I’ve seen the island nation suffer such heavy losses in a monster invasion.”

“The monsters invading this time are very unusual. Our country’s coastal defenses must also be strengthened.”

In the kunlun mirror, Si Zhenfeng’s gaze was solemn.

Coastal land is susceptible to attacks from sea monsters.

The Jiuzhou Federation’s main coastal cities are also frequently invaded by amphibious monsters.

The island nation is surrounded by sea on all sides, and sea monsters are like regular visitors, invading every few months.

For this, the island nation also has a complete warning and defense plan.

The island nation’s people are accustomed to invasions, feeling it’s like wind and rain.

But this time, things were a bit different.

The monsters appearing on the coastline were much larger than before, their appearance was more terrifying, and their monster information had the suffix “mutated.”

Over a thousand Elite Tier Professionals and above died, which is a huge loss for a small island nation.

But even with such a heavy price, they did not completely repel the invading monsters, and… the mutated monsters were becoming more and more numerous.

“The island nation’s news has downplayed the severity of the invasion. Their people don’t yet know that a great disaster is coming. Now, surrounding countries have issued warnings, and we also plan to restrict Jiuzhou people from traveling to the island nation.”

Si Zhenfeng said.

“That is correct.”

Qin Yang nodded and said, “According to Dao Sage’s deduction, this is just the beginning.”

Mentioning Zhang Lingxiao, Si Zhenfeng looked sad and said, “Dao Sage was contributing to the Federation even before his death…”

Qin Yang suppressed a smile.

To deceive the enemy, only he and Lin Xuan knew that Zhang Lingxiao had not died.

Not even Si Zhenfeng, one of the Sages, had been told.

At this moment, Si Zhenfeng was already making arrangements for Zhang Lingxiao’s state funeral.

After a moment of silence, Si Zhenfeng said to Young Master Qin, “Young Master Qin, the news of Zhang Lingxiao’s death has not yet been announced. We plan to cremate him first and hold a state funeral on an auspicious day.”

“Alright.”

Qin Yang subconsciously nodded.

Suddenly realizing something was wrong, he asked, “What did you say? Cremate?”