King Gandhi's order caused no small shock throughout all of Seth. Most second-tier citizens were naturally ecstatic about it, but not everyone was willing to accept this development.
The first to bear the brunt of it were naturally the high officials of Seth.
"I really didn't expect His Majesty to use such a method..."
Taking a sip of fragrant, sweet red tea, Justice Director Istora frowned, his expression gloomy. As high officials of Seth, none of them were idiots. Earlier, it had only been because King Gandhi's move was too sudden, leaving them no time to react. Once the dust had settled, they had all figured it out.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
"Hmph. His Majesty intends to use this method to create a fait accompli. It seems he's truly prepared to stake everything on this."
Education Director Radon looked just as grim. They were staunch conservatives—meaning they absolutely would not allow second-tier citizens to dare stand on equal footing with first-tier citizens. Although King Gandhi claimed this was a special exception, they weren't fools. If there was a first time, there would be a second. Once it became a precedent, it would effectively give second-tier citizens an alternative path of advancement.
How could they possibly be willing to let this go?
"But what can we do?"
Intelligence Director Noemase spread his hands and sighed helplessly.
"This is a military mission. We can no longer interfere using ordinary methods."
Incidentally, Finance Director Zruchi had already completely withdrawn from their small circle. His power had essentially been reclaimed by King Gandhi under the pretext of building the fortress city. Since that was the case, he no longer held any value for these officials.
Not to mention, his son was already dead.
"There is only one way."
At this point, Education Director Radon spoke with a dark expression. He swept his gaze around the room and then said in a low voice,
"As long as the front line is in danger, then…the construction of the new fortress city will naturally have to stop. When that happens, we'll still have a chance to stop all of this!"
"The front line in danger? How is that possible?"
Hearing this, the Justice Director looked at his colleague in disbelief. How powerful the Machino Line was—who here didn't know? It possessed an incomparably strong defensive barrier, cannons capable of firing beams with power comparable to white annihilation rays, and an unimaginably solid design that used the entire mountain mass as the fortress wall. It was precisely because the Machino Line was so formidable that it had kept the demon race at bay for decades on end.
The front line in danger? Isn't that a joke?
"Of course it's possible."
Education Director Radon's voice grew even lower.
"We all know that the Machino Line's energy source comes from mana amplification devices. And once these mana amplification devices are destroyed, the Machino Line will be exposed to the threat of the demon race..."
"Are you insane?!"
Hearing this, the Intelligence Director's eyes flew wide open as he jumped up as if his ass were on fire.
"If the Machino Line is breached, the entire Kingdom of Seth will be exposed to the demon race's threat! You're not actually planning to do this, are you?!"
"Of course not. I'm not stupid!"
Education Director Radon snorted coldly.
"We only need to let King Gandhi discover that the mana amplification devices are in danger. He will inevitably prioritize the Machino Line. When that happens, won't the construction of the new fortress city naturally slow down?"
"But how are we supposed to threaten the mana amplification devices? The Four Heavenly Kings are not easy to deal with."
At this moment, the Military Director also spoke up in confusion. The locations of the mana amplification devices were known only to the highest-ranking officials like themselves. The four devices were respectively located beneath the four corners of the royal capital. To protect them, Seth had constructed the Tower of the Sun, the Tower of the King, the Magazine Tower, and the Jump Tower above them. These four towers each belonged to one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Seth.
This was precisely why the status of the Four Heavenly Kings was so high—they guarded the lifeline of the entire Kingdom of Seth!
That was why the Military Director asked this question. Not to mention who they would send—even with the Four Heavenly Kings present, wouldn't anyone sent just be walking to their death?
"We don't need to send anyone ourselves."
At this moment, Education Director Radon seemed to have completely made up his mind.
"As long as we leak the information, someone will naturally go!"
As he said this, the corner of Radon's mouth curled slightly, revealing an icy smile.
"I will make those lowly vermin and their descendants forever unable to rise again!!!"
Of course, the ones angered by this matter were not only Seth's high officials.
"I really didn't expect…King Gandhi to issue such an order!"
Inside a dimly lit room, a middle-aged man with a thin mustache clenched his fists in rage and slammed one onto the table.
He was none other than the leader of another resistance organization in the Kingdom of Seth—the Pentagram—Nelson Saba.
Although also a resistance organization, the Pentagram was different from Ice Flame's erratic, half-hearted operations. They had a clear ideology. To Nelson, his lifelong ideal was to overthrow the rule of first-tier citizens, have second-tier citizens rule Seth, and then in turn dominate first-tier citizens, repaying the suffering inflicted upon second-tier citizens a hundredfold!
All along, compared to Ice Flame, the Pentagram had progressed very smoothly. They had recruited many members and even had plans to rise up.
But what Nelson never expected was that just as he was brimming with ambition, preparing to gather an army and confront the Seth government head-on, King Gandhi would issue such an order!!
Just as Duanmu Huai had previously thought, second-tier citizens had no way out and no goals. With nowhere to vent their energy, trouble was inevitable. Now, however, second-tier citizens had clear goals and direction, and the requirements weren't even that high—most people could meet them. What came next depended only on their own efforts!
Under these circumstances, the Pentagram's ideology of overthrowing first-tier rule and becoming king themselves was no longer so appealing.
After all, the reason the Pentagram had been able to recruit so many people before was precisely because many second-tier citizens truly had no way out. They had no choice but to join the Pentagram. But now that there was a legitimate path forward, who in their right mind would still join some resistance organization?
"My lord, what should we do?"
Standing before Nelson, a woman with pale blue long hair spoke up. She was also one of the Pentagram's top cadres—Elizabeth. At this moment, her beautiful face was filled with worry.
"In the past few days, quite a few people have already left the Pentagram..."
"Ugh..."
Hearing Elizabeth's report, Nelson clenched his fists even tighter.
"We absolutely cannot stand by and do nothing. We must take action."
At the same time, another Pentagram cadre spoke up.
"This is all the government's conspiracy. They just want to exploit second-tier citizens as laborers to their heart's content! We must expose their disguise and proclaim the truth to all second-tier citizens!"
"But how are we supposed to do that?"
The third Pentagram cadre sitting on the sofa shook his head.
"The fortress city is a military project. The entire construction site is heavily guarded by the army. If we want to do anything, it's simply impossible. And… the treatment given to the second-tier citizens who join is actually quite good."
"Have they had any conflicts with first-tier citizens?"
"The one leading the second-tier citizens is Ulureze..."
"Hmph!!"
Hearing this, Nelson slammed the table again.
"Ulureze…that traitor! She didn't just betray the Pentagram—she even betrayed her faith! Becoming a lackey of the government! Absolutely unforgivable!!"
No wonder Nelson was so furious. In fact, Ulureze, along with her brother and father, had originally all been cadres of the Pentagram. Later, because their ideology differed from Nelson's, they left the Pentagram and founded Ice Flame. Although Nelson had been displeased at the time, ultimately it was merely a difference in beliefs.
But now, Ulureze was actually working for the government. In Nelson's eyes, this was nothing short of absolute betrayal!
Betrayal! An unforgivable betrayal!!
However...
"Fortunately, we are not completely without options."
Hearing Nelson's words, everyone immediately perked up and looked at their leader.
"My lord, you have a plan?"
"That's right."
Nelson nodded, then shifted his gaze toward another cadre standing in the room.
"Not long ago, we obtained a top-secret piece of intelligence. Beneath the four towers built around the royal capital of Seth are mana amplification devices that supply energy to the Machino Line. As long as we can successfully destroy them, the Machino Line's energy supply will be reduced!"
"Uh… and then?"
"Do you remember?"
As Nelson spoke, he grew increasingly excited.
"According to the laws of the Kingdom of Seth, once the Machino Line is in danger, all first-tier citizens must go to the mana storage devices and inject all of their mana into them! So as long as we destroy several mana storage devices, King Gandhi will inevitably issue a highest-priority order. When that happens, all the military and all first-tier citizens will be unable to act! As long as we patiently wait until they finish injecting their mana, we can launch a full-scale attack in one fell swoop and completely occupy the royal capital!"
A mage relied on mana. A mage without mana was like a lion without claws or fangs—utterly unthreatening. Hearing this, the expressions of the other Pentagram cadres immediately became excited as well, though a few frowned slightly, as if they felt something was amiss.
"Is this really okay?"
"Don't worry. Our goal is to overthrow the rule of the mages, not to destroy Seth. We will leave the minimum amount of energy needed to supply the Machino Line. This way, on the one hand, Seth's army will be forced to remain stationed at the Machino Line and dare not leave. On the other hand, it will force those mages to continuously consume their mana. And with that, we will be able to easily seize the royal capital, overthrow mage rule, and establish an entirely new Kingdom of Seth!!"
As he spoke, Nelson excitedly raised his hand.
"I hereby name this operation—The Liberation of the Motherland!"
(End of Chapter)