Chapter 328: Professional standards

TN: Extra chapters to make up for yesterday’s lack of chapters will be posted soon after this

“Traitor? You’re calling me a traitor?”

The Emperor’s expression unconsciously twitches, as if this word triggered his anger.

The Emperor spoke in a heavy voice: “I have so many 5th stage Professionists, but you are alone! With a single order, I can make sure you shut that damn mouth of yours forever!”

“Your Majesty, I’ve always thought of you as a conqueror, in which case, no matter how you deal with the 9 Lords, as long as you don’t start a war, I would feel like it isn’t something I needed to intervene”

Gu Qing Shan put on his silver mask and continued: “But in truth you’re nothing but a weak hunting hound, which means I can only kill you now”

“How dare you!” the Fuxi Emperor couldn’t keep his cool anymore and shouted angrily: “All of you, kill him!”

“Kill him!” Li Dong Yuan and Song Tian Wu shouted their orders as well.

All the clones shouted in unison: “Kill!”

All sorts of 5th stage glows and powers appeared from their bodies, illuminating the sky.

“You think having more people means your side is stronger? Seems like I’ll have to teach you a lesson myself” Gu Qing Shan sighed and shook his head.

He changed his title to [Ace Assassin] and disappeared in place.

What followed was a golden light that appeared in the middle of the crowd of enemies.

The next moment, sword qi filled the air.

An intense impact reverberated across the sky.

They had entered into battle.

…

The Fuxi Empire.

The desert palace villa.

The throne room.

The entire hall was empty.

The Empress stood by the window, looking over the oasis in thought.

The door suddenly opened.

Zhang Ying Hao came.

As head of security, he is the only person allowed to enter and leave at will.

“Your Highness, the officials are seeking your audience” Zhang Ying Hao spoke.

The Empress didn’t turn around.

“I refuse, dismiss them, there’s no meaning in seeking an audience with me right now” she spoke quietly.

“You should at least see them, all of them are loyal subjects that support you”

“Ah? How do you know that?”

“I should at least know a few things about my client, it’s more convenient to service them that way”

“If we can’t access Iron Shrouds, whatever we do will be useless” the Empress sighed.

Zhang Ying Hao thought for a bit, then said: “I have a few top-tier hackers with me, perhaps you could tell them a few things about the Emperor’s daily life”

“What would that do?”

“After they understand the Emperor well enough, they might be able to find the secret to accessing Iron Shrouds from the Emperor”

The Empress went silent for a bit, then suddenly laughed.

“Understand him? Understanding His Majesty, the Emperor?”

A look of deep sorrow appeared on her beautiful and graceful face.

“I still remember a long time ago, when he was drunk, he told me that it’s been his dream since childhood to have a pure gold crown, embedded with the rarest, most valuable gem on the planet”

She slowly continued: “It took me 10 years of careful searching to finally find a gem from outer space, an exquisite gem unlike any other, the only one of its kind on this planet”

“On that New Year’s celebration, the crown was finally finished, which I gave to him as a surprise gift”

“Seeing it, he looked incredibly happy, thanked me for my consideration and even wore it on the spot”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Zhang Ying Hao was confused as he asked her.

“From that day onwards, he never wore that crown ever again ——-regardless of occasion, he never wore it even once”

The Empress appeared lost: “He was always an unpredictable person, his actions are moody and wild, so I basically have no idea what he really thinks at any time, what exactly can I tell your subordinate?”

Zhang Ying Hao sighed: “That’s really hard then, seems like we’re out of luck”

Suddenly, a commotion was heard outside.

Very quickly, an official was caught and made to kneel at the throne room entrance.

While he was bleeding, the man still shouted: “Your Highness, please think of a way quickly, there’s only a mere 200 miles left until the Empire’s first wave of the Mech Vanguard corps breach the Confederate border!”

When those first Mech breach the Confederate border, an all-out war will have been declared.

The Empress glanced at the official.

He was an elder official, having served three generations of the Fuxi Empire, a wise politician who kept a friendly relationship with the Empress.

At this moment, he was kneeling flat on the ground, sobbing while begging.

“Your Highness, the 9 Lords aren’t so simple, once a war breaks out, it will become a stalemate for at least a few years, hundreds of thousands of citizens will die in the war!”

The Empress sighed, came up and helped the old man to stand.

“I have no methods” she dejectedly answered.

At this time, another official came running and knelt on the ground: “Your Highness, the Freedom Confederate’s three armies have moved, their troops are quickly gathering near the border”

“The three armies’ commander is the Confederate Martial Saint Zhang Zong Yang!”

Martial Saint, Zhang Zong Yang.

He’s a true Confederate patriot, one who could shoulder a corner of the battlefield by himself.

With him there, once the armies clash, the war will reach an irreversible state very quickly.

While the Confederate may not necessarily win, the Empire will definitely suffer heavy losses.

Empress Varona was finally worried.

She paced back and forth while thinking.

“What do we do now…”

Zhang Ying Hao commented: “Your Highness, I remember that you also have the authority to access Iron Shroud?”

“I don’t have the authority to command the military. The Emperor has already taken away everyone’s authority, leaving only himself in charge of the military!”

Zhang Ying Hao thought for a bit: “Then what if he dies? I heard that Iron Shroud’s authority would always be in the hands of royalty”

“If he dies, Iron Shroud’s authority would of course be transferred to me ——-but then who could kill him?”

The Empress shook her head in despair: “There’s simply no way, we have no way to stop him”

Zhang Ying Hao looked down and asked his Holo-Brain: “Does Gu Qing Shan know about this?”

Impartial Goddess responded: [He knows]

“Did he find the Emperor yet?”

[Sir Gu Qing Shan has found the Emperor’s true body; they are currently engaged in battle at the capital outskirts]

Zhang Ying Hao nodded and told the Empress: “I think you should try a bit to see whether or not you can connect to Iron Shroud”

“I’ve already tried” the Empress said.

“Try again, then again and again, maybe it’ll work after a while”

The Empress looked at him and asked: “But why?”

“Excuse me for saying this, but Gu Qing Shan definitely has a way to kill your husband. Who knows, maybe he’ll be able to do it the very next second” Zhang Ying Hao said without a doubt.

“If that’s the case…” the Empress recalled how used to killing Gu Qing Shan was back at the conference room, she gritted her teeth and decided.

She took out her own Holo-Brain, operated it nonstop until she reached a certain UI.

It appeared as a cold, grey metal wall.

“Iron Shroud, I am Empress Varona Medici, requesting access” the Empress said to the Holo-Brain.

An electronic voice came from the Holo-Brain: [You do not have the authority granted by the Fuxi Emperor, access denied]

The Empress angrily hit the Holo-Brain: “I can’t get in!”

——–it seems the Emperor isn’t that easy to deal with, at the very least, he’s still alive.

Zhang Ying Hao blinked, then asked: “Who is currently in charge of the Empire’s Mech Vanguard corps?”

The Empress instantly understood and turned to look at the official.

If they can’t access Iron Shroud, then maybe if they go directly to the commander, they might be able to stop the army from advancing.

Right now, what they lack most is time.

They have to think of a way to delay the war, at least enough until the battle between Gu Qing Shan and the Emperor concludes!

The official hurriedly answered: “It’s Marshal Zhang Pei Jia, I’ll contact him now!”

He turned on his Holo-Brain and dialed a number.

It connected, but the call was rejected.

The official squinted his eyes and answered: “He’s rejecting my call”

The Empress spoke: “The situation is different in war, it’s understandable for him to do so. Fortunately, he’s relatively willing to listen to my words normally”

She quickly decided: “This can’t go on; I’ll have to dispatch a representative to persuade him to temporarily stay his ground”

If the Marshal manages to stall the outbreak of the war for even a little bit, it might make the entire difference.

The official spoke: “But then who will we dispatch? There will be quite a few eyes on the way, if the Marshal happens to be supportive of the Emperor’s intent, the representative themselves might fall in danger.

The Empress contemplated: “We can’t dispatch an office member; they won’t even make it into the camp”

The official added: “We can’t dispatch a military person either. The Marshal is currently the supreme commander, so even if they manage the meet, they won’t be able to enforce the Marshal to do anything”

As they spoke, the Empress suddenly turned her eyes to Zhang Ying Hao.

“What is it? Your Highness” Zhang Ying Hao asked.

The Empress seriously thought about it, then spoke: “I know your abilities. You’re known as the King of Assassin in the Confederate, one with countless hitmen following your orders. During the last few years, you might have retreated to behind the scenes, but I know you’ve been getting stronger”

“And so?” Zhang Ying Hao said.

“With your methods and abilities, this is something you can definitely do well ——-so I will have you make the trip for me, bring my secret order and leave to meet the Marshal on the fastest shuttle we have”

The Empress took a pen and quickly started writing something on a pieces of paper.

“Marshal Zhang… What kind of person is he?” Zhang Ying Hao asked.

“He’s of the neutral party, but a bit more closely related to our side” the official answered.

Zhang Ying Hao thought about it for a bit.

The Empress spoke: “Bring my seal and my order to find Marshal Zhang. Persuade him on my behalf to think of a way to prevent the war from breaking out”

“Will he listen?” Zhang Ying Hao asked.

“I feel that he definitely would be willing to” the Empress answered.

Zhang Ying Hao appeared a bit reluctant: “Your Highness, I’m a hitman. Truthfully said, I only know how to kill people, this is very much out of my professional field”

The Empress stared at him seriously: “Your pay, I’ll double it”

Zhang Ying Hao twitched.

“To your generous Royal Highness, I promise I everything will be as you want it” he immediately said.

“After you leave, even if you can’t persuade the Marshal, use anything method you can to delay the war as much as possible”

The Empress said the most important point of all this.

“Please trust in my professional standards” Zhang Ying Hao said.

A few moments later, the Empress finished writing her secret order.

She looked over it a few times before solemnly handing it over to Zhang Ying Hao.

As Zhang Ying Hao received the seal and order from the Empress, he clapped his hand.

A few black-clothed people appeared from the shadow, quickly following him off the palace villa.