166: Chapter 165 Simon

The entire Hive City fell into endless riots and violence.

Facing residents who refused to open their doors, the soldiers went from initial polite persuasion to forcing their way in.

Many who violently resisted the law already had guilty consciences; they could not figure out what the Star Guard and Astra Militarum in front of them were actually searching for.

After all, what appeared before them was not the ordinary Planetary Defense Force, but the elite forces Xia Xingchen truly used for external expansion.

Even more daunting was that this force included the Star Guard—personal guards who took orders directly from Xia Xingchen, executing any of his commands almost unconditionally and completing the tasks assigned by the Archon at all costs.

Many unfortunate underground gangs ended up as innocent victims in this manhunt, a true case of disaster falling from the sky while sitting at home.

Their territories were already shady and could not withstand official scrutiny; any search would expose them. Left with no choice but to fight to the death, the price they paid was the entire gang becoming dead souls under the guns of the Star Guard.

Soon, the troops searched their way to a manor outside the city. The soldiers stared in a daze at the grand, luxurious building before them.

According to the markings on their maps, this was supposed to be just an ordinary warehouse. How had a manor appeared out of thin air?

They immediately sensed something was wrong; the fortifications surrounding the manor looked more like a sturdy fortress.

Without a second word, the soldiers notified the main force. Upon receiving the order, the Star Guard immediately mobilized heavy forces to gather here.

By the time Xia Xingchen arrived, a firefight had already broken out.

A large number of bodyguards inside the fortress openly resisted the law with violence, holding Imperial-issue laser guns and wearing body armor as they fired frantically at the besieging Astra Militarum.

Looking at the scene before him, Xia Xingchen directly ordered the double-headed dragon tanks and basilisk self-propelled artillery to be brought up.

"There is nothing more to say. These people are no different from rebels. There is no need for mercy when dealing with rebels. Cover them with artillery fire; there is no need to waste our soldiers' lives here."

As the double-headed dragon tanks and basilisk self-propelled artillery arrived on the battlefield, the fire superiority was instantly reversed.

A single round of bombardment from Xia Xingchen's forces collapsed the entire outer wall, and the soldiers rushed in.

In a direct one-on-one confrontation, these bodyguards were completely vulnerable before the veterans.

The soldiers under Xia Xingchen's command had basically crawled out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Many of the Astra Militarum among them were veterans of the Troy Crusade, and in their eyes, they had already died once.

With almost no effort at all, all the private armed forces were completely suppressed.

Simon, the head of the chamber of commerce, along with over a dozen other merchants, was dragged out of a secret room by the Star Guard like dogs on leashes.

The fortress that was originally meant to shelter them had instead become a cage trapping them, leaving them without even a chance to escape.

Simon knelt before Xia Xingchen. Xia Xingchen remembered this man; the Simon Family was a powerful chamber of commerce in the Ultima Segmentum.

"You cannot kill me! I am of the Simon Family! If you kill me, the Simon Family will never let you off!"

Hearing this, Xia Xingchen only found it noisy.

Even with death staring him in the face, he was still blustering.

Xia Xingchen did not waste words and drew his sword, mourn-bane. His movements were extremely slow, like an apprentice who had just held a sword, revealing the process of death bit by bit before Simon.

Xia Xingchen wanted Simon to watch with his own eyes how he died.

The fear in Simon's heart could no longer be suppressed, and he kept muttering the name of the Simon Family.

In his view, whether it was a Planetary Governor or a naval admiral, they would always have to show some respect to the prosperous chamber of commerce behind the Simon Family.

But he had misjudged his man. Xia Xingchen did not buy this at all, let alone have any interest in wasting breath on him.

The blade slowly thrust forward. Simon wanted to dodge, but was pinned down firmly by the Star Guard.

The tip of the sword pierced straight through his skull.

Until the very last moment, Simon could clearly feel his life slipping away bit by bit. The splitting pain in his head constantly stimulated his will to survive, yet it only made him endure double the agony.

In the end, Simon drew his last breath in extreme agony.

Even at the moment death descended, Simon's eyes were still full of struggle.

Even though his life had reached its absolute end, the obsession in his eyes had not dissipated.

He was still fantasizing that the Simon Family he spoke of could save his life.

Looking at his dying state, Xia Xingchen merely sighed softly:

"What a pathetic creature, to pin his own life on the illusory prestige of his family."

After confirming that Simon was completely dead, Xia Xingchen abruptly pulled out his sword. Blood spurted along the blade, dragging a long trail of blood across the ground.

Immediately after, the Star Guard let go, and Simon's corpse slammed heavily onto the ground like a pile of rotten meat.

Blood continuously welled out of the wound, soaking Simon's robes and spreading into a large pool of blood on the floor.

Holding mourn-bane in his hand, Xia Xingchen felt a strange sense of excitement transmit from it, as it drank the blood of a living person for the first time.

This sword, forged in the Warp, instantly absorbed every trace of blood on its blade.

mourn-bane trembled slightly, as if thirsting for more blood, as if feeding it more would allow it to unleash even greater power.

Xia Xingchen felt the sword's intent and immediately suppressed the restlessness.

mourn-bane could only be a sword in Xia Xingchen's hand; it had to obey him and must never usurp the master's place.

As for the remaining merchants, Xia Xingchen gave them two choices:

First, hand over all the resources in their possession;

Second, die.

The remaining merchants looked at Simon's corpse and immediately chose the first option, hastily disclosing the hiding locations of all their resources.

Many secretly swore in their hearts that as long as they could escape with their lives today, they would definitely spend all their wealth to organize forces and drag Xia Xingchen down from his position as Governor.

At this moment, forced to bow their heads under the pressure, they not only fully confessed the hiding places of the resources but also handed over their private warships.

Seeing that they had confessed everything cleanly, Xia Xingchen nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand, signaling that they could leave.

The merchants looked at each other, their eyes filled with disbelief.

Xia Xingchen was actually letting them go so easily?

"If you don't leave now, every single one of you will die here."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone immediately scrambled to their feet and bolted, no longer caring about their status or dignity.

They had already made up their minds that as soon as they escaped the Daxia Star System, they would use all their wealth and connections to seek revenge.

Just as everyone was fantasizing about their revenge after escaping, an artillery shell landed right in the middle of the crowd.

A violent explosion erupted, instantly blowing everyone to pieces with nothing left.