To the rulers of the Empire, the exploited, damaged, and humiliated lower-class people were the source of their dignity, wealth, and power. Just as Elder Worth had said, they could not give up the foundation of this ruling structure. Thus, the sober rulers would sooner or later discover a law of history, or rather a law of physics related to the spring. The resentment and desire for a better life in the lowly people, who occupied a large portion of the population, would inevitably develop into a fierce resistance.
Since this was a law of history that could not be violated, they could only accept it and think of a way to control this fluctuation within a certain range. This could release the accumulated energy of the spring after it was compressed, but also prevent the release process from being too violent and directly shattering the golden hands that were pressing the spring.
Resistance and suppression were always bloody and cruel. The Empire's royal family was unwilling to see flowers of black blood bloom everywhere in the vast territory. An unorganized resistance might seem weak, but in the countless galaxies, it would cause the military and officials to be distracted and exhausted. Furthermore, the Empire's royal family seemed to need these lowly soldiers who dared to charge at warships with crude weapons to wear down the arrogant and disobedient remote nobles …
Thus, a mature and powerful resistance organization not only became the final victory against the lowly people, but also the royal family of the Empire needed to maintain their rule.
Since many years ago, the master of Tianjing Planet's Imperial Palace and his powerful and iron-blooded army began to allow some of the highly respected rebel leaders, especially the moderate leaders, to grow freely in the country. They silently observed and even secretly helped them to form disciplined groups.
When the nobles of the remote galaxies trembled in front of the rebels, the Emperor's royal troops descended from the sky like saviors to save them from danger.
When the rebel army grew larger and larger and gradually became a mighty force, the Emperor coldly used the most iron-blooded generals and soldiers, not hesitating to slaughter an entire city and piling up hundreds of thousands of people to suppress this momentum.
When the rebels fell into a low tide, His Majesty gently announced a benevolent policy, reprimanded the illegal actions of the nobles everywhere, and killed a few thin and weak chickens. Wrapped in the holy light, he won over the hearts of the untouchables. The generals and soldiers who had carried out bloody killings naturally became shameless sheep who deceived His Majesty.
When the resistance group was forced to enter the city and gradually expand their influence at the bottom of society, they would truly threaten the rule of the royal family. Or it could be said that the owner of the palace was no longer willing to feed the resistance group and wanted to change to a group of opponents who were less threatening and more incompetent. Then, he would raise his butcher knife again.
It was unknown who came up with such a seemingly whimsical and difficult to implement policy, but in fact, it was extremely vicious and shameless. In the seven hundred years of the White Hibiscus Dynasty, countless resistance groups were born along with the tide of history, growing stronger and then being destroyed. Countless people who had automatically entered the most resolute resistance were turned into ashes in this boring and tragic process. All the difference was just the name of the resistance group.
This process was like a greedy farmer who had planted thousands of acres of land and was faced with a prairie full of weeds. He had no way to get rid of all the weeds in the field. He would rather have an alien with thoughts, wisdom, and precise purpose appear among the weeds, attracting and leading the weeds in the rest of the fields to gather all their strength and grow lush until they surrounded the farmer's own home.
At that time, a lawn mower or a fire would be enough.
…
…
In the long river of history, there would always be many accidents. For the rulers of the White Hibiscus Dynasty, this great purpose that had been set since the beginning of the dynasty had entered a situation where they had lost control many times. The angry and powerful resistance groups had almost succeeded in overthrowing the decaying empire several times. However, the successive owners of the palace still insisted on this policy until today.
The latest harvest was a relatively long process. It probably started when the previous emperor was assassinated by Li Pifu and the new emperor succeeded the throne. After that, Duke Kardon brandished his butcher knife and rampaged through the universe. After that, it was the recent story that happened in the slums.
Tens of thousands of imperial soldiers and secret police rushed into the ninth district at the southwest border of the capital city. Those dilapidated buildings that no nobles usually paid attention to became the focus of all eyes in these few days.
The merciless purge, on the basis of more than ten years of suppression and collection by the intelligence bureau, was particularly precise and terrifying. More than six hundred members of the resistance group disguised as people from various industries were thrown into the gloomy secret prison. What awaited them was inevitable death. There were even more people who were also arrested and shot to death. As for the underground resistance group's secret strongholds, the casinos and factories, they were even more miserable as they were crushed into ruins by the engineering mecha.
Xu Le stood on the upper floor and looked at the smoke that rose from time to time in the distance. He also heard the cries of the civilians who were injured by stray bullets. His brows were deeply furrowed. He forgot to take a puff of the cigarette between his right index finger and middle finger for a long time. The soft but neat ash trembled slightly, as if it could fall at any time.
Contrary to the judgment of the imperial military and the intelligence bureau, the group of people who escaped from the repair shop did not immediately leave the capital city and disperse into the dense forests and mountains in the south. Instead, they continued to stay in the slums. In the past few days, Xu Le and the resistance fighters had changed their hiding spots eleven times in a row. Finally, they found a rare opportunity to rest.
The slums of the capital city were too big, and there were too many people of all kinds. No matter how pervasive the Empire's cleansing and harvesting operations were, it was impossible for them to clear out this endless stretch of run-down streets. This was because the Emperor couldn't possibly let the soldiers kill over a million people.
No matter how cheap a person's life was, once there were a million of them, it would still have some weight, let alone in the capital of the Empire. It was like a field that had been burned into black charcoal. God would always be merciful enough to leave a few holes and a few lucky grass seeds.
In an excellent hiding spot, Xu Le silently watched the tragedy unfold before him. After watching for several dozen minutes, his eyes were a bit dry. He furrowed his brows and shook his head. Then, he lowered his head and looked at the cigarette that was about to burn to his fingers. He remained silent.
He watched as the slums that the slums had used countless long and humiliating lives to obtain collapsed. He watched as the pitiful few belongings in those slums were crushed to pieces by the mecha's tracks. He watched as the resistance members and innocent civilians who were dragged into the streets in rows were taken away like livestock. There were even more people who were directly escorted to the streets and shot to death. Blood flowed like water …
No one could be in a good mood, even though he was a Federation officer.
Logically speaking, he should immediately begin to consider how much strength the resistance group would have left after this round of cleansing. How much movement they would have in other star systems, especially the border star systems, how much benefit they could bring to the Federal forces, and whether or not there was a need to continue this cooperation. However, the scene before his eyes made it impossible for him to consider these things.
In particular, the courtyard beside the small pond, which was cleaner and more refreshing than the surrounding buildings, made him very worried.
He had lived in that warm courtyard for more than half a year. What would happen to Aunt Susan and Paul naturally made him feel uneasy. Fortunately, the courtyard had been strangely quiet for the past few days, which made him feel a little relieved.
"Get ready to go," Qi Dabing poked his head out of the side room and said with a tired expression.
Xu Le nodded and took one last look at the small courtyard. He carefully crushed the cigarette on the railing, quickly checked the weapons on his body, and turned to leave.
He had promised Aunt Susan that he would tell her when he left, but now it seemed that this had become an extravagant hope.
…
…
Huai Caoshi was also about to leave.
The battle at the front line was very fierce. She should have set off on the battleship to provide support as early as ten days ago. Now, hundreds of new Wolf Fang Mechs were already on the way, but as the highest commander and the strongest combat force, she was still forced to stay on Tianjing.
The strong desire to annihilate the underground resistance group and kill Xu Le could not make her stay indefinitely. Before leaving, to the surprise of all the subordinate officers, she did not enter the palace to bid farewell to His Majesty. Instead, under the protection of more than ten mechs, she came to the chaotic slums and came to a quiet courtyard.
Aunt Susan looked at the courtyard full of armed soldiers with cold expressions with a pale face. She did not dare to speak as loudly as she usually did. Instead, she nervously grabbed her son's hand and pulled him behind her.
In these days, she, who was cheerful and even a little rough, had become a little nervous after hearing the cries and gunshots outside the courtyard. She did not know why these cold-blooded soldiers rushed into her small courtyard. Vaguely, she wondered if these soldiers were looking for the poor black-haired aristocrat. Thinking of this, the hand holding her son tightly became cold and began to tremble.
A young imperial officer with a cold aura walked in under the protection of many people. He raised his head and glanced at this ordinary courtyard. His brows furrowed slightly. He took off his military cap and rubbed his slightly curly black hair.
Aunt Susan took a few deep breaths, bravely held her son's hand, and came to the front of the imperial officer. She half-squatted in standard aristocratic etiquette and said, "It's a great honor …"
An officer next to her whispered, "This is Her Royal Highness the Princess."
Hearing this name, Aunt Susan and Paul, who had been staring at the soldiers angrily, were stunned at the same time. They were frozen in place for a long time.
When they were about to kneel down in panic, Huai Caoshi narrowed her eyes and waved her finger to stop their movements. She said calmly, "No need."
In the next ten minutes, Her Royal Highness, accompanied by Aunt Susan, toured the small courtyard. She looked at the famous video and audio equipment in the black market with interest. During the whole process, she never asked a word about Xu Le.
Before leaving, Huai Caoshi took out an old diary from the pocket of her military jacket. After a moment of silence, she looked at the stiff Aunt Susan and asked, "Do you have a brother who joined the expeditionary army? His name is Arthur?"
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