“Yes, Minister.” One of the men saluted and quickly left to relay the old man’s orders. The other two remained in the room upon receiving a signal from the old man. They took up positions behind him.

The old man turned to Emma. He opened his mouth to say something, but Emma shook her head. “Later.”

The old man nodded and gave her a weak smile.

He then turned to me. “Justin. I apologize in advance for what you’re about to see. But, as Isabella had so aptly said, the light of truth can never be hidden, even by the darkest of night.”

I merely nodded in confusion.

I had caught onto the slip, of course. The old man made no mention of Emma’s liver being harvested. But Isabella had mentioned it. How did she know if she was not involved? That slip, in addition to all the evidence that his men had collected in secret, was finally enough to confirm that it was her own aunt, Isabella, who had plotted to kidnap Emma!

But I had no idea what the old man was planning to do.

The fact that the entire room had begun to vibrate lightly added to the mystery of it all.

The old man turned to the two adults and six kids who were still standing up. “Sit down, all of you. And face that screen. Consider what you will see next as a life lesson on the consequences of treason.”

He pointed at the wall opposite me and immediately, a large screen appeared. It was divided into two, showing two very different things.

The first one was a live video which showed a massive courtyard with a thousand heavy mechas slowly lifting off from the perspective of their commander who was watching them from the rear.

“That must be Operation Lightning Storm.” I thought to myself as I studied the mechas with interest. They looked really impressive.

Huge and angular, bristling with the largest lances I had ever seen, they looked like a thousand avatars of death and destruction. Their blood red coat of paint decorated very lightly with golden yellow trim only added to the ferociousness they exhibited.

The entire gigantic courtyard looked like a red sea of monsters.

Part of the mystery was solved then. The vibrations in the room were caused by the thousand mechas lifting off. The second part of the mystery was, where were they going?

What they were about to do was no mystery, of course. Nobody would send a thousand heavy mechas to the grocery store to buy carrots for the family rabbit. No, blood was about to be spilt, and the only question was, whose blood?

The second one part of the screen merely showed the blueprint of a building with several hundred bright red dots, and one bright red star.

“Grandfather? Aren’t those your personal guards? Where are they being deployed to?” Emma asked in confusion.

She did a quick count and then asked suspiciously.”Are you sending ALL of them? That’s one thousand heavy mechas! And is that Uncle Jared’s ‘Blue Murder’? If he isn’t the one leading your personal guard, then it must be Uncle Ajax! What’s happening? Why is even Uncle Ajax and his white mecha being deployed?!”

“What do you think, girl?” Jason laughed harshly. He glanced at Isabella, whose face was still full of confusion.

“What? Oh no, grandfather, you can’t!” Emma whispered. “They’re too strong…”

“I don’t give a damn how strong they are.” The old man said softly. But the power, the fury and the bone-chilling bloodlust that was contained within was truly unmistakable. “I am not a defence minister right now and those aren’t the army.

I am a GRANDFATHER, Emma. YOUR grandfather. And those soldiers... They are a grandfather’s wrath.”

He turned his head to look at Emma. His eyes were gentle, but at the same time, simmered with a deep-seated fury which he was barely able to control.

“If some imbecile thinks that he could kidnap and torture my GRANDDAUGHTER - without consequences - then he is the world’s biggest fool. A fool who is about to burn to his death.” He said harshly.

Realization finally dawned on Isabella.

I could see the moment her confusion turned to shock, then disbelief, then finally panic.

It was a very interesting and satisfying experience, and I enjoyed it very, very much. I had only met this woman for a few minutes, and already, I hated her with an intensity that was startling, even to myself.

“FATHER! YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” Isabella screamed hysterically as she leapt up and grabbed the old man by the arm. “WILLIAM IS THE HIGH AMBASSADOR OF THE EUROPEAN EMPIRE! ATTACKING THE EUROPEAN EMPIRE’S EMBASSY IS LIKE DECLARING WAR ON THEM!”

“Sit down, Isabella.” The old man said in an icy voice as he turned his head to look at the screen once more.. He did not bother to look at her. “The only reason you’re not there with them is because you’re my daughter. Do not put that relationship into jeopardy by defending your fool of a husband.”

That was it. The mystery was finally solved.

Apparently Isabella was married to the High Ambassador of the European Empire to the Chinese Federation. No wonder the old man was struggling slightly as he made this decision! It was truly a monster of a decision, one that would reverberate through the eons to come.

A suffocating silence permeated the room, broken only by Isabella’s heavy and panicked breathing, as we all stared at the thousand mechas flying off.

The thundering vibration in the room slowly eased and then stopped completely as the mechas finally flew away.

“Father, please! I beg you, don’t do this! Think of the consequences!” Isabella pleaded. “The entire nation would be plunged into war! Millions will die! Do you want to sentence those millions of soldiers to death because of one girl?”

The old man stared ahead at the screen like a statue. Of course he knew his decision carried a very high risk of war.