119: Chapter 119: Locating the Remaining Party Members? All Cleared Out in Three Days

"Clang—clang—clang—"

The third watch's copper gong had just finished its final ring, and the entire Holy Light City was still immersed in an impenetrable darkness, but on the official road outside the city, the rhythmic sound of armor plates clashing had already begun to ring out.

Three thousand Royal Guards and two thousand Shadow Guards, all wrapped in black armor, with magic-breaking arrowss in their hands gleaming with a cold, sharp light, divided into twenty groups according to the red dots marked on the map, silently feeling their way toward the various strongholds of the Remnants of the Three Clans. Lin Zhe rode on a white horse, his body wreathed in pale golden lines of the Power of Rules, and his fingertips moved slightly.

Hum—!

Two invisible ripples of the Power of Rules instantly spread out, covering the entire Human Empire. Every participating soldier gained a pale golden 10% attack buff, their movements becoming significantly more agile, and the lethality of their weapons skyrocketing; meanwhile, all the Remnants of the Three Clans hiding in their strongholds simultaneously received a crimson debuff: skill casting speed reduced by 80%, attack power halved, and movement speed reduced by 50%.

In the stronghold at the ruined temple in the west of the city, Wang Kui had just been drinking until he was tipsy and was discussing with his subordinates about escaping to the border fiefdom under the cover of night after the third watch. When he heard the movement outside the wall, he instantly sobered up by half. He reached out to touch the light seal scroll in his bosom and roared, "Someone has come to suppress us! Throw the scroll and seal their skills!"

However, the moment he raised his hand, it felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead. His fingertips trembled so much that he couldn't hold onto the scroll. With a "patta" sound, it fell to the ground, and the sealing effect exploded on the spot. A pale white light shield directly covered his own people, and all thirty-plus Remnants went limp, unable to even stand.

"Charge!"

The Royal Guards kicked open the ruined temple door and rushed in. In less than a minute, they had everyone tied up tightly, ending the fight with zero casualties, without even needing the antidotes they had prepared in advance. The squad leader leading the team looked at the Remnants lying on the ground, unable to even struggle, and was completely bewildered: "Is that it? I thought we were going to fight for half an hour?"

The same scene was playing out all over the Human Empire.

Zhang Mo, hiding in a cellar in Zhou Family Village, had just taken out a communication talisman to report to the Heavenly Realm Opposition, but the debuff triggered, and the message failed to send three times. When the guards smashed open the cellar door, he was still sweating profusely while facing the communication talisman. The Remnants hiding in the deep mountains at the border were just about to ride away, but the horses' legs were too weak to lift, and both horse and rider fell to the ground, only to be immediately pinned down and tied up by the rushing Shadow Guards.

By the time the sun rose on the first day, all seven core warehouses storing the Heavenly Realm equipment had been taken down. Three hundred sets of light armor that hadn't even had their seals broken, along with over a hundred top-tier light seal scrolls, were all confiscated, and not a single Remnant escaped. The deputy commander of the Shadow Guards was holding the battle report with trembling hands; originally, they had expected to lose over a hundred elites in attacking these seven points, but in the end, they only had three injuries, and those were from tripping over their own feet while rushing too fast.

Before sunset on the second day, all strongholds in the border fiefdom had been completely cleared. Even the weapon caches three meters underground belonging to the noble cadet branches that had been hidden the most securely were dug out, and not a single member of the Remnants was missed; all were captured and taken back to Holy Light City for imprisonment.

On the evening of the third day, the last cleanup team returned from the Dark Forest, dragging the Remnant of the Li Family, Li Hu, who was tied up securely. Even the small fry hiding in the deepest part of a karst cave, planning to hide for half a year on dry rations, were dragged out by tree spirits. Not a single one escaped the net.

The cleanup operation, which Su Ninghua had originally estimated would take at least half a month and result in thousands of casualties, was completed in less than three days.

The confiscated supplies were piled up in the palace square—a golden mountain of one million gold coins, five thousand sets of enchanted armor, ten thousand blocks of top-grade fine iron, and countless rare forging materials and provisions, piled up like three small hills. The civil and military officials in the court stared with wide eyes. Several officials responsible for counting the supplies calculated back and forth, and the total value actually exceeded five million gold coins, equivalent to the total tax revenue of the empire for half a year.

Su Ninghua stood on the high platform, looking at the neatly kneeling prisoners below and the soldiers with joyful faces. Her heart surged, and she announced loudly on the spot: "All proceeds from the cleanup will be allocated 70% to the public account of Luofeng Village, to be used to distribute benefits to players in the Novice Area across the entire server! The remaining 30% will be distributed to all participating soldiers as a reward for their merits!"

The news instantly spread across the entire Aethera Continent through a server-wide announcement, and the world channel exploded:

[Holy crap? 70%? That's millions of gold coins worth of supplies! All distributed to us as benefits? Big Boss Lin Zhe is awesome!]

[All those idiots who were spreading rumors that Big Boss was the Queen's puppet, come out and get beaten! Could a puppet make the Queen allocate 70% of the spoils to Falling Maple? Laughable!]

[I just claimed ten intermediate health potions issued by the public warehouse! And a 5% temporary drop rate buff! When has the official ever been this generous? Following Big Boss Lin Zhe really pays off!]

Players across the server were cheering with joy. Many specifically ran to the Holy Light City palace square to take screenshots and show off their benefits. The blessings on the world channel were spammed so hard that the server lagged for three seconds. Many players even spontaneously organized to set off fireworks in various Novice Areas to celebrate the suppression of the rebellion.

Lin Zhe stood beside Su Ninghua, his fingertips moving slightly, and the cold system notification sound rang out in his mind one after another:

[Ding! Suppression of the Remnants of the Three Clans completed! Empire's Power of Rules fragments fully absorbed! Host's Power of Rules +3%, current progress 98%!]

[Ding! Permission unlocked: Access to view data for all players in the Empire! You can freely retrieve account information, malice values, and background logs of all players and NPCs within the scope of the Human Empire, without any approval!]

He could clearly feel that all the data veins of the entire Human Empire were laid out before his eyes like palm lines at this moment. Whether it was the contents of a normal player's backpack or the private correspondence between nobles, he could check it clearly with just a thought. The scope of his permissions had expanded directly from the previous Novice Area to all regions of the entire Human Empire.

Su Ninghua turned her head to look at Lin Zhe, her cold eyes full of undisguised admiration, her earlobes slightly flushed, her voice very soft: "Sir, this cleanup was so smooth, with zero casualties and even exceeding the target, all thanks to you. I have already had a celebration banquet prepared in the palace. All the meritorious soldiers are waiting, just waiting for you to go over."

Lin Zhe gave a faint "Hmm," scanned the cheering soldiers on the square and the players taking photos outside the city, and tapped his saddle lightly.

The rebellion in the Human Empire had been completely suppressed. The road ahead was now much wider.