Chapter 669 - Total ambush (1.5 in 1)
Within the Hyperdimension, the Fate Master was now an idol-level existence among a lot of Heroic Soul Stage experts. The key was his mysteriousness and strength. Furthermore, the Fate Master was a wanderer, and did not belong to any aristocratic families, and was the first known person after a very long time to successfully pass through an S rank secret realm! It was extremely easy for an existence like him to incite various hopes and dreams within people. Who knew whether they would have the god-given luck to meet him personally! Bumping into an existence like him would be a massive chance for anyone, as there was the possibility of being accepted to become his disciple.
However, any of his actions, like destroying an S rank secret realm by himself, or passing through a terrifying dimensional tornado, or even how he had descended into the Diamond Dimensional Base, had caused all of the Federation’s Dimensional Bases to shake in fear. This had shocked all of the aristocratic members stationed in Diamond Dimensional Base, and even the heaven-gifted daughter, Carolyn, was willing to beg the Fate Master to accept her as his disciple…
Our student Wang Zhong felt stunned by what he was hearing. In fact, he was so shocked he almost choked on his food. Many of the things that had been mentioned were things that he had never done at all. The tales that had been spun about his other persona were truly too extraordinary! It had to be said that mankind’s ability to exaggerate was truly one of a kind. As for the things that hadn’t been done by Wang Zhong, those people who couldn’t find any other trace of the underlying perpetrators would declare that those were the actions of the Fate Master.
“Are they talking about us?” Simba leaped up excitedly. God knew how lonely he had felt when no one had ever mentioned his exploits! His ears immediately spiked up, while an impulse to rush out of Wang Zhong’s Soul Sea to chat with the bespectacled man surged through his entire being. “Although that bespectacled man is extremely irksome, he really has quite an eye!”
“So strong! I’ve even heard that the old grandfather is really compassionate! If I can find that old grandfather, he’ll definitely help me exact revenge!” A scorching radiance blossomed from little Xin’s eyes as she felt an incomparable desire over what Gong Yi had said.
Old grandfather?
Wang Zhong was blown away by her words, chuckling as he said, “He doesn’t have to be old, right? He might even be a handsome young fellow.”
“That’s impossible! The youngest expert in history to reach the Heavenly Soul Stage did so at the age of 47!” Scarface suddenly butted in.
“You can’t say such irresponsible words, little Wang! It’s for the best to not discuss those Heavenly Soul Stage powerhouses behind their backs. Those god-like existences can sense such stuff with their hearts! They are not to be angered!” Despite being extremely casual throughout the entire chat, Sister Hong had suddenly used a rather devout tone in her voice.
There were too many legends concerning Heavenly Soul Stage experts in the Federation, with all of them being turned into actual myths and legends, transformed by the inconceivable imaginations of the public.
“Brother Wang Zhong will definitely become a Heavenly Soul Stage expert in the future!” Little Xin proclaimed.
“This fellow has to leave this place alive for that to happen. Although it’s too early to talk about Heavenly Soul Stage, you will definitely be able to cast your Heroic Soul with the experience you’ve gained here.” Gong Yi added.
Within Wang Zhong’s Soul Sea, Simba was laughing so hard his stomach had started to hurt. “Are your kidneys still functioning properly, old grandfather Wang Zhong? Having no sons is the worse, you know!”
“Scram!” Wang Zhong roared internally, the intense urge to seal Simba’s mouth with tape surging through his heart. Although it wasn’t a problem on Earth, it was impossible for Wang Zhong to stop Simba from talking while in this dimensional world.
Feeling even more proud of himself, Simba raised his little clown nose high into the air. After being restrained for so long, Simba would definitely let Wang Zhong know what it meant to be squashed by an overwhelming power! He had actually let this mighty Simba hold in so much steam!
A dim glow flickered about within the cave, while the relaxed and joyful atmosphere removed some of the sorrow and misery that they had felt upon arriving here.
This, this seemed like a pretty good start.
…
While a harmonious scene had been created in the danger-filled cursed lands, waves that blotted the skies had already been whipped up on the calm and peaceful Earth.
The 10 Great Families had taken action!
These were the genuine controllers of this Earth for the past couple of hundred years.
Over the past couple of years, the aristocratic families’ strategy had been slowly adjusted, while they meticulously maintained a low profile. Coupled with the imposing rise of the Parliament, this had covered up many of their powerful capabilities, causing many commoners to no longer have the same level of worship towards the “aristocratic families” in their hearts as before. In other words, they were no longer the only gods present on Earth. Furthermore, All Mouthy King’s meteoric rise just so happened to coincide with the weakest period of control the aristocratic families had over the commoners’ thoughts in the past couple hundred years. His powerful individual strength served as a powerful blow, causing the entire Federation to feel happy and joyous for this “king”, even replacing the aristocratic families in the hearts of some commoners. No longer did they respect and worship the aristocratic families like before! In fact, there was even some public debate springing up on Skylink, with contentious topics like freedom of speech, and that the aristocratic family members were just born with a golden spoon.
However, just when everyone had felt the arrival of a new era, and the serfs were about to burst into song, the aristocratic families finally took action. Furthermore, with just one round of action, they displayed their true might.
The Parliament started the ball rolling by announcing the namelist of extraordinary performers in this CHF, who had obtained the qualifications to undergo specialized training, allowing them to cast the most outstanding of Heroic Souls. Although there were quite a few people who knew about the Hyperdimension, it had yet to be revealed publicly. Nevertheless, it was basically an open secret. The training in the Hyperdimensional would definitely have some risks involved, though that came with an increase in opportunities, something that every single soldier knew about. Wang Zhong’s name was naturally on that list, with everything appearing as normal as it could be. Nevertheless, the namelist definitely didn’t reveal the locations these people would be sent to. Furthermore, these soldiers were also divided into a few different levels, and not every single one was able to enter the blessed lands. Of course, there was no mention of where Wang Zhong would be going.
If Wang Zhong wasn’t able to return safely from the specialised training, his bad luck was the only thing that could be blamed. He had travelled to deep into the dimensional worlds, ignoring all reminders, before dying due to his own folly. The commoners’ response to that wouldn’t be too major; after all, there were many other shooting stars in the sky.
With the CHF having ended some time ago, the craze it generated had already died down completely. Put bluntly, the CHF was a spectacular show of martial might to strengthen the government’s rule. Even the Parliament had discovered that they couldn’t push it too far. If not, they would also come under doubt from the masses. Therefore, this namelist had ended up only being mentioned once.
Tianjing squadron’s leader, Ma Dong, had been arrested, with many of the Skylink media outlets reporting on this matter. The crime he had been convicted for was his attempt to bribe high ranking officials in the Stuart municipal administration. Indeed, this garnered a considerable amount of attention, though it did not lead to much debate. In fact, Ma Dong himself wasn’t the subject of high attention, and was a rather dispensable figure in Tianjing. Therefore, only those who understood the backstory had felt a chill towards this matter.
The following event happened on the afternoon of the same day, where Tianjing Academy’s headmaster, old Greene had been “promoted”. This was an order directly given by the Parliament, promoting the Tianjing Heroic Soul Academy headmaster to become the Federation University’s vice dean, his role pending. Although this was a promotion, it was, in fact, a plan to force him to retire.
Tianjing Academy had just pulled off a magnificent reversal, becoming the runner-ups of the 25th CHF, accomplishing this feat despite facing competition from countless S ranked, and even S+ ranked powerhouses. Tianjing Academy’s fame had skyrocketed overnight, attracting countless geniuses to enroll, even being given various kinds of investments, scholarships, and support. Without any exaggeration, just the resources given would allow Tianjing Academy to reach an influential position within the Federation, regardless of fame or reputation, within a half a year to a year’s time! While the Hyperdimension was a lofty goal, something like this was built on the sacrifices of countless geniuses. Only with strong foundations would one be able to construct anything could reach the heavens. Even the aristocratic family influences weren’t so stupid as to shake the very foundations of the Federation.
Outsiders wouldn’t be able to understand, nor would they care much about it. In any case, a promotion was a good thing, right? Nevertheless, the Tianjing Academy students immediately started to publish statements on Skylink, voicing their protest towards the arrangements made by the Federation’s Parliament, urging old Greene to remain in the academy. Yet, these matters were quickly suppressed through information control in the media.
It was at this moment that another piece of big news erupted. The well-known aristocratic family, the Assassin Family’s leader, Tumo Assassin, was suspected of arranging his family members to steal Federation secrets to sell to the Empires. This involved first-rate crime of betraying the Federation, murder, bribery, and well as human trafficking! All of these were brought up by the Federation’s Internal Security battalion.
It was said that his family’s younger generation member, Ma Dong had already made a full confession to all of the related crimes, with evidence to back up all of these claims. The Federation’s Internal Security battalion had set off to investigate into this entire matter, starting by immediately halting the development of Tianjing’s new area, before completely sealing it up, with construction being put on an indefinite hiatus. The Assassin Family leader, Tumo Assassin had been secretly arrested, while a grand total of 36 Assassin Family members who were involved in this entire matter were arrested.
The entire matter was only mentioned sparsely, as the Parliament and the 10 Great Families naturally wouldn’t allow this matter to gain traction. Therefore, the entire matter was packaged such that the Assassin Family was the true perpetrator, while the Federation was upholding law and order. They would rather commit the crime of killing good people than let any bad people off. Furthermore, this matter involved the betrayal of the Federation to the empires. This was known as the greatest crime within this era, with the Federation’s Internal Security Battalion having already obtained concrete evidence to back up the conviction.
Indeed, there was some debate springing up within the commoners, though it was no more than idle gossip. Compared to them, a few of the aristocratic families felt warning bells going off within their hearts. Assassin’s rising developments had encroached on the benefits of the 10 Great Families, as well as becoming a challenge to their statues. The large scale actions with no warning signs at all were too similar to the styles employed by the 10 Great Families. This was a warning written in blood, that anyone within the Federation who dared to challenge the 10 Great Families would be seeking their deaths. The low profile they kept on a day to day basis was due to their belief that it was impossible for the other aristocratic families to ever reach their level, no matter how much they tried. However, as for Assassin wanting to establish a dimensional base station…
This was a warning given by the 10 Great Families to everyone, showing that in the very end, they were the ones who held true power and sway within the Federation. Any power or influence that attempted to gain power they shouldn’t possess would wind up dead. The Parliament was singing along with the 10 Great Families’ tune for this matter, as, regardless of whether it was the 10 Great Families or Assassin, all of the aristocratic families were their enemies. What they were using their influence to devour, rightfully belonged to the Parliament. From the Parliament’s perspective, letting them fight among one another was always a good thing. Furthermore, they would even be able to obtain a piece of the pie.
It had to be said that the chaotic chess piece in the form of Wang Zhong had disrupted the entire situation. From a certain perspective, it had also brought about opportunities for the Parliament. Although the 10 Great Families appeared to protect their governance of the Federation, there were, in fact, hidden dangers that were created by them; wouldn’t 2nd class aristocratic families attempt to collaborate with the Parliament for the sake of growing stronger?
At the very least, there was some possibility of that working out. Compared to such hidden dangers, Tumo Assassin was truly too naive to believe that he could rely on his own family’s strength to stand tall in the Federation!
In all likelihood, old Tumo would be unable to live through this ordeal, regardless of what judgement was passed. After all, the 10 Great Families absolutely wouldn’t blindly fire when making such a big commotion.
In fact, despite the severity of this matter, it did not raise much ripples within the Federation, other than a few bloody incidents appearing in the cities with Assassin strongholds. More effort was spent towards dividing up the spoils.
The vice-dean of the Federation’s Institute of Sciences, old Potter, had originally tendered his resignation, only to get rejected by the Federation. The old Potter’s research into runes had already become the highest priority subject for the Federation for the next couple of decades. Finally, this was settled internally within the Potter Family, ending up with the old Potter rescinding his resignation. The matter was concluded due to the abundant benefits the Potter Family had obtained through this matter, coupled with the special relationship and influence the old Potter had within the Federation. In fact, the Zhao Family had now owed the Potter Family’s leader a personal favour. Despite being the lowest ranking family in the 10 Great Families, respect was due.
Despite not being the one gaining the benefit, it was the same if the family obtained it. In any case, the old Potter could not do anything; in the end, he was also a Potter. This was politics, and it also affected his family. Everyone had to give way for this! It was impossible to go against this situation just based on emotions. If the old Potter did not give way, he would be isolating himself, with the possibility of his position being replaced by others.