novelraw Chapter 206 : The Empress's Fury
Chapter 206 : The Empress's Fury
A luxury business hotel in a border city of the Jiying Empire.
Kitahara Tei walked out of the bathroom in the top-floor suite, drying his hair.
He dragged his feet to the bar, added some ice to a glass of liquor, then tilted his head back and drank it all.
Today had been a day of extreme emotional ups and downs for him.
The plan to steal the auction items had gone very smoothly, and the action team had immediately slipped into the vast mountains.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, in two days, the delegation could withdraw from their position, rendezvous with Takeda Tatsuya who had escaped abroad, and return home to claim credit.
Unexpectedly, a change occurred.
In the afternoon, a delegation member reported that the hotel where they were staying had been secretly sealed off.
The other guests in the hotel had been escorted out at some unknown time, and the once-ubiquitous service staff had become scarce.
One of the more astute Yin Country men tried to sneak out through the underground parking garage, but was stopped by plainclothes police guarding the elevator.
They offered no explanation, only instructing him to stay in the hotel and not go out.
Kitahara Tei knew something was amiss as soon as he heard this.
He immediately started making phone calls, but was even more shocked to discover that the entire building where he was staying had been subjected to signal blocking.
In other words, the place where the delegation was staying had been isolated into a lonely island.
People outside didn't know what was happening inside, and those on the island couldn't transmit any information out.
After his initial anxiety, Kitahara Tei gradually calmed down.
Although he couldn't analyze who exactly was making a move against him, there was one thing he could be certain of.
The fact that he was only being placed under house arrest without any other actions likely meant they were wary of his status as a Yin Country cabinet minister.
As long as they didn't dare to kill him outright, everything was negotiable!
All he could do now was wait - wait for the person behind the scenes to come to him.
After this psychological preparation, Kitahara Tei settled down considerably.
He poured himself another half glass of liquor and was about to reach for an ice cube when the door to his suite was violently struck open.
The noise was so loud that all the doors and windows in the room seemed to vibrate in resonance.
A team of alphas wearing camouflage shirts burst into the room, ordered Kitahara Tei to get dressed properly, then escorted him out.
"Who sent you? This is kidnapping!"
"I am a Yin Country cabinet official. You will pay a terrible price for this!"
Kitahara Tei shouted in the international common language, either to boost his own courage or to try to intimidate whoever was behind this.
He shouted all the way, putting on an intimidating air.
Until he was brought to the hotel's multi-function hall for various conferences and saw the Federation Empress seated at the front.
The multi-function hall was very large, with over a hundred people standing in it, yet the room still felt empty.
A huge screen on one wall was powered on, but no image was playing on it.
The Empress in a black suit sat alone in a chair, with the light from the screen behind her falling diagonally, casting a shadow on her face.
This made her already cold demeanor seem even more intimidating!
Before this, although Kitahara Tei had never seen Gu Junwan in person, he was not unfamiliar with her.
He was well aware of all the crimes Takeda Tatsuya had committed in the Free Federation.
To be precise, Kitahara Tei and the entire cabinet he belonged to were both participants in and beneficiaries of that invasion.
Therefore, encountering Gu Junwan in this situation, he was not only surprised but also deeply afraid.
He knew he was no match for the young woman before him, so he simply fell silent.
Two guards escorted him to stand before the Empress, one on each side.
After they stopped, Ning Xi raised her foot and viciously kicked the back of his knee.
Kitahara Tei had intended to maintain his silence to the end, but caught off guard by this blow, he immediately screamed and fell to his knees.
The overwhelming sense of humiliation made his anger flare, but the intense pain in his legs left him capable of nothing but wailing.
At this moment, an ice-cold voice fell from above his head: "Contact Takeda Tatsuya immediately, then complete the call according to my instructions."
"You only have one chance. If you miss it, I have many ways to make you regret it for the rest of your life."
This was the first time Gu Junwan had ever threatened someone like this.
She was now anxious beyond measure, yet couldn't let the enemy before her see through her true intentions, or she might be manipulated in turn.
Kitahara Tei knew nothing of what had happened in the Tengyun Mountains, much less the romantic relationship between Gu Junwan and Shen Han.
Seeing her so angry at the mention of Takeda Tatsuya, he directly attributed the source of this whole affair to old grudges.
His assumption was not unreasonable.
After all, Takeda Tatsuya had nearly brought about the destruction of her country and home.
When the pain in his legs had subsided somewhat, Kitahara Tei finally spoke, his head covered in sweat: "Empress, this is the Jiying Empire, not the Free Federation!"
"I hope you will think thrice before acting. Your current behavior has already violated local laws!"
This Yin Country official was not foolish. He made no mention of the crimes his side had committed.
He directly pulled out the Jiying Empire card as a shield for himself.
His little trick was completely transparent in Gu Junwan's eyes.
The Empress raised her hand slightly, and images immediately began playing on the large screen behind her.
At the same time, her voice, filled with killing intent, sounded again: "Do you think I appeared here by deceiving heaven and earth?"
Just this one sentence made half of Kitahara Tei's psychological defenses crumble.
Cold sweat poured down his face.
Indeed! How could the forced control of one of the top luxury hotels in this city escape the notice of the local government?
Judging from the current situation, the other party must have reached some kind of agreement with the rulers of the Jiying Empire!
Before Kitahara Tei could recover from this blow, the content appearing on the screen dealt him another heavy hit.
It was a video of testimony.
He recognized all four people in the footage - they were Yin Country nationals engaged in illegal border crossing in this area.
The four detailed everything they knew about and had been involved with in the auction item theft operation, providing concrete evidence.
In one phone recording, Kitahara Tei even heard his own voice.
It was him painting a rosy picture, making an exception to speak personally in order to make the others feel grateful.
He never imagined those four dogs would secretly record it!
After the video finished playing, it was sent directly to the police in White Light City of the ancient kingdom of Solan responsible for the relevant cases.
Kitahara Tei collapsed to the ground, his confused thoughts leaving him unable to deal with the situation before him.
He knew that if this matter were exposed by the media, his political career would be over.
This series of events took a long time to describe, but in reality, from when Kitahara Tei was taken from his room until now, only about ten minutes had passed.
During this time, Gu Junwan had been closely observing the changes in his emotions.
And at this moment, she knew he could no longer hold out.
Gu Junwan leaned forward slightly, the low pressure she exuded like an impending storm.
She spoke, enunciating each word: "Now, make the call."
...
Takeda Tatsuya's original team had a satellite phone, but it was destroyed by a grenade during the battle.
Therefore, before reaching the overseas camp, they had no way to contact the outside world.
After walking through the night without stopping, the team left the borders of the ancient kingdom of Solan around 9 AM.
The area beyond the border was still mountainous and densely forested.
This vast region bordered three countries simultaneously.
Many mercenary groups, smugglers, drug traffickers, and criminals evading police pursuit hid in this unmonitored land.
Here, whoever had the bigger fist and stronger firepower held absolute authority.
Shen Han walked towards the rear of the group, with only one soldier behind her.
The soldier leading the way was some distance ahead, and Takeda Tatsuya, carried on his disciple's back, walked in the middle. He hadn't spoken for several hours.
In this scenario, it was easy to develop a false impression.
After walking all night, everyone was exhausted. If one were to launch a sudden attack on the weakest leader, the chances of success shouldn't be small.
Shen Han had also secretly considered whether to take a gamble.
But in the end, she abandoned the seemingly easy-to-implement plan.
Based on her understanding of Takeda Tatsuya, he wouldn't leave such a large opening for her.
His creation of this situation was likely intended to deliberately provoke her into action.
The middle-aged man who had been carrying someone all this way had extremely strong physical abilities.
Shen Han had carefully observed his condition. While his strength was unclear, his endurance far exceeded her own.
Thinking of this, Shen Han became puzzled again.
What was the opponent's motive for trying to provoke her into action?
If he wanted to torture her, he could have simply given the order. There was no need for such roundabout methods.
Unable to figure it out, Shen Han simply stopped racking her brains.
In any case, whatever Takeda Tatsuya wanted to do, she just had to do the opposite.
Once again, Shen Han had guessed correctly!
Takeda Tatsuya had indeed set up a minor trap, hoping to lure her in.
From the moment he recognized Shen Han's identity yesterday, multiple plans had already formed in his mind.
There were only one or two confidants by the Empress's side; this person had too much valuable information to extract!
If Takeda Tatsuya hadn't been so weak himself at the moment, he would have already started using his mental control ability on Shen Han.
He had calculated that it would be six days before he could activate his ability again.
During this period, he had to find a way to break down the target's will.
The Empress's guard team members had all received professional training; using torture methods to make her submit wouldn't work.
Only by making her feel despair and experience the collapse of her beliefs could his mental ability take advantage of the weakness.
First give someone hope, then personally shatter it to pieces.
This method could very effectively destroy a person.
This was the first "appetizer" Takeda Tatsuya had secretly prepared for Shen Han.
The bait had been cast out for a long time, but she still hadn't taken it.
Shen Han's impassivity didn't make Takeda Tatsuya, who fancied himself a hunter, feel anxious.
On the contrary, he found this opponent somewhat interesting, worthy of the Federation Empress's trust.
Conquering such an enemy would be even more valuable.
Takeda Tatsuya lay quietly on his disciple's back, his mind already turning to formulate the next attack plan.