Chapter 530 Yu Huatian's List and the Silent Trial

After the Pan-Continental Railway project was announced, the entire Western Continent was shaken once again.

Gaulish newspapers exclaimed in front-page headlines: "The Emperor of the East intends to bind the entire world with chains of steel!"

Teuton underground resistance groups distributed leaflets: "This is a new form of slavery! They want us to build a road to our own graves, just like the slaves of Ancient Rome!"

But among the common people, the reaction was complex.

The recruitment notices from the Governor-General's office were plastered all over the bulletin boards in every city.

"The Pan-Continental Railway Company is hiring railway workers at high wages! Room and board included, with monthly salaries paid in han yuan! Exceptional performers can obtain permanent residency in the Great Han Empire!"

In these times of economic depression and high unemployment, this recruitment notice undoubtedly held great appeal.

Countless bankrupt farmers and unemployed workers flocked to the recruitment centers.

To them, national righteousness was far less tangible than a loaf of bread that could fill their stomachs.

However, the undercurrents did not subside because of this.

The construction of the railway touched upon the interests of many old powers.

Some local old aristocrats and landlords were unwilling to have their land requisitioned.

Some transport chambers of commerce feared that the railway would steal their business.

They began to secretly fund resistance organizations, carrying out sabotage and harassment against the railway survey teams and early construction sites.

For a time, from the Western European plains to the Central Asian steppes, incidents of explosions, assassinations, and arson along the railway line occurred one after another.

Although these incidents were small in scale, they seriously slowed down the progress of the project.

Reports flew like snowflakes toward the Imperial Capital, and also to the desk of Superintendent Yu Huatian.

London, Western Depot headquarters.

This place was once the location of the Sun Never Sets Empire's MI6, but now, its master had been replaced by Superintendent Yu Huatian.

He was sitting in a windowless secret room, looking through a long list.

The list recorded detailed intelligence on all recent attack incidents, as well as the personnel and organizations involved behind the scenes.

Behind every name, their identity, address, social connections, and... suggested methods of handling were marked in vermilion ink.

"Superintendent."

A black-clad agent appeared silently behind him.

"News has come from the Teuton branch.

The seventh squad we sent to survey the Ruhr mountain route has lost contact.

The last signal received indicated that they were ambushed.

The perpetrators were an organization called 'Sons of Teuton,' supported by several coal mine owners in the Rhine region."

Superintendent Yu Huatian's eyes did not leave the list.

He used his finger to find the names of 'Sons of Teuton' and those coal mine owners on the list.

"The coal bosses of the Rhine... interesting."

He whispered to himself.

"Do they think that just by hiding in the back and providing money, we wouldn't be able to find them?"

He picked up the vermilion brush, drew a circle behind those names, and then crossed them out.

"Pass the order to the Teuton branch."

His voice was as cold as ice.

"Hang those coal mine owners and their entire families on the headframes of their own mines.

Let all the miners watch.

As for the people of 'Sons of Teuton,' capture them alive and send them to the special mining zone in Siberia.

Let them spend the rest of their lives mining coal for the Empire."

"Yes."

The black-clad agent acknowledged the order and prepared to withdraw.

"Wait."

Superintendent Yu Huatian called him back.

"Just killing the chicken won't scare the monkey.

You have to slaughter the monkey as well to make all the birds in the forest quiet down."

He stood up and walked to the wall.

A huge map of Western Europe hung on the wall.

It was densely marked with various symbols.

Red ones were confirmed resistance organization strongholds.

Blue ones were suspected financiers.

Black ones were eyes and ears already planted by the Western Depot.

"Have our 'friends' in Paris been too quiet lately?"

Superintendent Yu Huatian's finger pointed to the location of Paris.

"The Gaulish people are our 'partners.'

But their territory is not clean either."

The black-clad agent answered immediately.

"Superintendent, you are wise.

According to intelligence, a resistance organization called the 'Liberty Legion,' composed of former members of the Gaulish Foreign Legion, is active in the suburbs of Paris.

They have accepted funding from some old aristocrats in Iberia and are planning to sabotage the steel rails we have stored in Marseille port for the railway construction."

"Very good."

A hint of a smile appeared at the corners of Superintendent Yu Huatian's mouth.

"Doesn't the Prime Minister of Gaul always boast that they are the Empire's most loyal friends? Then let him prove his loyalty."

He turned around and ordered the black-clad agent.

"'Inadvertently' leak the location of the 'Liberty Legion's' stronghold and their member list to the Gaulish Ministry of Interior."

"But do not give them the complete list.

Only give them half."

"Tell them that the Western Depot will 'help' them handle the other half."

The black-clad agent was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood Superintendent Yu Huatian's intention.

This was an open conspiracy.

It was both a warning and a tactic to divide.

Let the Gaulish government suppress its own citizens, and let their hands get stained with blood as well.

In this way, they would be completely tied to the same boat as the Empire and would never be able to turn back.

At the same time, the Western Depot's 'help' was also a show of force.

It told the Gaulish people who the true master holding the power of life and death on this land was.

"Your subordinate understands."

The black-clad agent understood perfectly.

"Go do it."

Superintendent Yu Huatian waved his hand.

"Tell the people below that this month, I want at least half of the names on this list to disappear from this world."

"I want everyone to know that the Pan-Continental Railway is the will of His Majesty the Emperor."

"Anyone who attempts to block this steel dragon will be crushed to pieces."

The door of the secret room closed.

Superintendent Yu Huatian sat back at the table, picked up the list, and continued to calmly mark it with the vermilion brush.

Every cross represented the end of a life and the destruction of a family.

This was a silent trial.

There were no courts, no lawyers, no juries.

Only the Western Depot's list and Superintendent Yu Huatian's pen.

In this purge that swept across the entire Western Continent, countless families that were once prominent disappeared silently into the long river of history.

The White Terror reached its peak.

But the attack incidents along the railway line decreased rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, until they vanished completely.

The Empire's iron fist ultimately overwhelmed the daggers in the shadows.