116: Chapter 116 Suppressing the Rebellion? I'll help you lock the location.

The leftovers from the state banquet had just been cleared away by the palace maids, and the warm light from the gilded palace lanterns still made one's eyes dizzy. The carved wooden door of the side hall closed with a creak. Su Ninghua dismissed all the attendants, leaving only her and Lin Zhe in the hall. Ling Xi and Xing Jianwan stood guard in the corridor outside the hall, and the Royal Guards had surrounded the surrounding three hundred meters so tightly that not even a flying insect could get in.

Su Ninghua raised her hand to brush off a wine stain on her black imperial robe. The iron-blooded majesty that had intimidated the officials at the banquet had mostly dissipated, and her face carried an undisguisable weariness. Her fingertips tapped on the thick stack of files spread out on the table, her voice softer than usual: "Sir, this is a list of the Remnants of the Three Clans that I have collected for three months, totaling 3,721 people. The forces on the surface have basically been cleared, but the remaining Remnants are all hiding in secret strongholds in various fiefdoms, and many have fled to the Dark Forest and the deep mountains at the border. They are hidden too deeply; thousands of Shadow Guards have been investigating for more than half a month and have only locked onto less than one-third of their locations. If the suppression is not thorough, they will definitely cause trouble again once they recover. Leaving them is always a disaster."

She paused, her fingertips tapping on the blank sheepskin map covered in red circles on the files, her brows slightly furrowed: "If I alert the enemy, letting these Remnants run to the territories of other factions, it will be hard to catch them again. I was originally having a headache about how long it would take, but I didn't expect the players to bring so much intelligence today. However, the hiding places of the core Remnants are still missing."

Lin Zhe leaned on the sandalwood chair, his fingertips gently tapping the player intelligence roster he had just finished flipping through, his expression indifferent. Although the intelligence provided by the players was detailed, most of it was about superficial peripheral strongholds. The hiding places of the core Remnants had indeed not been dug out; they were hidden deep enough.

Hearing Su Ninghua's words, he raised his eyes and didn't say any nonsense, just moved his fingertips slightly.

Hum—! Pale golden Rule Perception patterns instantly overflowed from his fingertips, crawling along the tabletop toward the spread-out sheepskin map. The originally blank map instantly shone dazzlingly, and scarlet light spots floated up densely: from as small as the basement of a ruined temple west of the Holy Light City, to as large as secret camps in the deep mountains at the border, even the Remnants hiding in caves on the edge of the Dark Forest were marked clearly. Next to each red dot, tiny golden text floated, writing the corresponding Remnant's name, identity, number of subordinates, and even the content of the secret letters they had just sent half an hour ago popped up synchronously:

[Remnant of the Wang branch, Wang Kui: Stronghold at the ruined temple west of the city, 32 subordinates, will set off tonight at the third watch to defect to the border noble Zhou Tong]

[Li Family Remnant, Li Hu: Hiding in a cave in the Dark Forest, hoarded 3,000 poison-tipped arrows, preparing to sneak attack the border granary in three days]

[Zhang Family Remnant, Zhang Mo: Hiding in a cellar in the Zhou Family manor fief, is contacting the Heavenly Realm Opposition, seeking to purchase top-tier sealing scrolls to prepare for an assassination]

The densely packed information was dazzling. Every location was precise down to the house number, and even the location of the cellars where the Remnants hid weapons and how much grain they had hoarded were clearly marked, without the slightest omission.

Su Ninghua stood up abruptly, her cold eyes full of shock. Her fingers subconsciously clenched the hem of her imperial robe, her knuckles slightly turning white. She had sent thousands of Shadow Guards to investigate for over three months to find the locations of these Remnants, losing over a dozen top-tier scouts just to find less than one-third of the strongholds. Lin Zhe just moved his fingers and marked them all? He could even directly retrieve their private communication content? Had this Rule Perception authority already reached such a terrifying level?

She looked at Lin Zhe's indifferent profile, her heart skipping a beat uncontrollably, her cheeks feeling slightly hot unconsciously. The look in her eyes as she gazed at Lin Zhe was full of undisguised admiration and worship. She had lived for over twenty years and had seen countless brilliant noble children and human powerhouses, but no one had ever been like Lin Zhe, where no matter how big the problem was, it was as simple as swatting a mosquito in front of him. That kind of certainty and strength engraved in his bones was simply unmatched by anyone.

Just then, a cold system notification sounded in Lin Zhe's mind, the mechanical voice carrying a hint of pleasure: "Ding! Detected top-tier female NPC, Human Empire Queen Su Ninghua, favorability towards the host has increased to 98. Third bond trigger progress +10%, current progress: 60%! Met the conditions for the third child's gestation! Do you want to trigger the gestation mechanism immediately?"

Lin Zhe moved his fingertips slightly, glancing at the red dots still constantly jumping on the map, and did not immediately respond to the system.

He raised his eyes to look at Su Ninghua, who was still in shock, and said indifferently: "The locations of all the Remnants are here. Just suppress them according to the red dots, and there will be no fish that slip through the net. I will synchronize their communication content with other factions to your Shadow Guards to prevent anyone from tipping them off."

Su Ninghua suddenly came back to her senses, suppressing the surging emotions in her heart, and bowed deeply to Lin Zhe, her voice filled with undisguised gratitude: "Thank you, Sir! If it weren't for you, I don't know how much effort I would have to spend and how many personnel I would lose to catch this group of Remnants. I will never forget your kindness to the empire."

She immediately took out the royal communication talisman engraved with golden dragon patterns and injected spiritual power. The voice of the Shadow Guard deputy commander immediately came out, carrying a hint of murderous aura: "What is your command, Your Majesty?"

"According to the map locations I am sending you now, all Shadow Guards and city defense troops are to be dispatched in full. Suppress all strongholds simultaneously, and do not let any Remnants escape!" Su Ninghua's voice returned to its usual iron-blooded sternness, and her fingertips synchronously transmitted all the information on the map, "All the content of the secret letters is also given to you. Any officials or nobles who are in collusion with the Remnants are to be treated as traitors, no need to report, just arrest them directly. If they dare to resist, kill them on the spot."

"Yes! This subordinate obeys! Finally, we can wipe out the nest of these scumbags!" The Shadow Guard deputy commander's voice was full of excitement. They had been looking for the locations of these Remnants for almost half a year, and dozens of brothers had died. Now that they finally had precise coordinates, it was like a pie falling from the sky.

The communication talisman cut off. Su Ninghua turned to look at Lin Zhe, the coldness on her face instantly dissipated completely. She personally poured him a cup of warmed fruit wine and handed it to him, her ear tips slightly blushing: "Sir, after the suppression of all the Remnants is finished, I will definitely thank you properly. You can make any request you have. As long as it is something I can do, I will absolutely not refuse."

Lin Zhe took the wine glass, his fingertips inadvertently touching her slightly cool fingers. Su Ninghua retracted her hand quickly as if she had been scalded, her cheeks turning even redder, and even her ear tips showing a pink hue.

He gave a faint "Mn," already having a plan in mind. The gestation of the third child was not urgent. First, completely suppress the rebellion of the Human Empire and firmly hold all the forces of the Human Empire in his hands. It wouldn't be too late to trigger the gestation mechanism then. The grade of the offspring born would also be higher, and it would just be a matter of course to take over the authority of the Human Empire.

He tapped his fingertips gently on the table, and Rule Perception spread across the entire Holy Light City. He could clearly feel the locations marked with red dots. The aura of the Remnants was still restless, completely unaware that their hiding places had been completely exposed, and even discussing sneaking into the palace to carry out an assassination once the limelight of the suppression had passed.

A faint cold smile curled at the corners of Lin Zhe's mouth. The good days of these clowns had come to an end.

The moonlight outside the hall shone in through the carved window lattice, falling on the two of them. The silvery-white soft light wrapped around the pale golden Rule Perception patterns on Lin Zhe's body, making Su Ninghua lose her focus for a moment, unable to even hear the footsteps of the guards outside the hall.

The world channel was still scrolling with the lively events of the state banquet, either discussing Zhou Mingyuan being beheaded and hung on the city gate, or mocking the wretched appearance of Zhao Wenyuan hanging on the crossbeam. No one knew that a suppression operation sweeping across the entire Human Empire had already been quietly laid out, just waiting for the gong of the third watch to sound to close the net and catch the fish.