Ch.137The Great Purge (3)

# Chapter 137: The Great Purge (3)

Obviously, we had no “legal” way to catch and punish Zeltech.

They probably knew this too and chose their own methods to preserve their lives.

“Now look here, okay?”

“N-no! Such acts will never be forgiven…!”

But for those who had clearly crossed the line, there was no way we would treat them kindly.

All kinds of torture and violence were just the basics. We even brought in purge unit members, imperial guards,

Special forces from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or others with psionic abilities to perform hypnosis and brainwashing.

“Nngh…”

“Minister, this one is smiling.”

“…”

Through drugs and various other methods, we extracted everything possible from them, literally disregarding any boundaries.

With the information we obtained, we began systematically destroying the Zeltech Corporate Alliance and all the Zeltech refugee communities that were trying to take root throughout the Empire.

Of course, there were forces that opposed or tried to stop this action I had ordered.

“Why is the Holy Sebelli Empire being so cruel only to us!”

“Equal treatment for all species! Guarantee survival rights for Zeltech too!”

Despite being the ones who crossed the line first.

Perhaps it was because they were now being beaten without mercy.

[Event: Zeltech Refugees Attempt Rebellion!]

[Zeltech refugees who have flowed into the Holy Sebelli Empire are staging protests and riots throughout imperial territories, dissatisfied with their treatment.]

[If this situation continues unchecked, uncontrollable chaos will ensue!]

[Holy Sebelli Empire afflicted with ‘Refugee Uprising’ debuff (Planetary stability -10% until the situation is resolved)]

‘These bastards.’

The Zeltech refugee communities immediately began all kinds of protest activities, even marching in the streets on various planets.

But why would we be so ruthless specifically toward Zeltech, unlike other refugees?

“If you don’t like it, you shouldn’t have tried to overthrow the state system in the first place.”

“That’s absolutely right.”

It wasn’t as if our Empire didn’t have refugees from other vanished nations.

Take the Irtelan Treaty, the root cause of our Empire ceding the northern territories to Prosnack in exchange for Gaia.

A significant number of people from the now-vanished Irtelan Republic, one of the parties to that treaty, were residing in our Empire to escape Prosnack’s massacres.

But the Irtelans never tried to overthrow our system like the Zeltech did.

Rather, despite coming to a country with a system completely opposite to their own (the Irtelan Republic had adopted parliamentary democracy), they made efforts to adapt.

In fact, they’ve now been completely incorporated as members of the Empire.

Of course, the reason why refugees from fallen nations like Irtelan didn’t act like Zeltech…

In some ways, it might simply be because they “lacked the power” to do so.

Whatever the reason.

Shouldn’t there naturally be differential treatment between those who didn’t attempt to overthrow the state and those who did?

Besides, honestly, the desperate struggles of the Zeltech refugee communities weren’t particularly concerning.

—————————————–

About a week after those words were spoken.

[Pause]

[Event: Successfully Suppressed Refugee Rebellion]

[The reactionary actions raised by Zeltech refugees were quickly crushed by the iron fist of the Holy Sebelli Empire.]

[‘Refugee Uprising’ debuff (Planetary stability -10%) removed from the Holy Sebelli Empire.]

As the event message I’m now happily looking at shows.

The Zeltech refugee uprising was suppressed in an instant.

Of course, in terms of numbers alone, it could have been considered a significant threat.

But we had informed the police organizations on each planet about the Zeltech refugee communities and corporate alliance’s attempted overthrow of the state.

Perhaps because we had crushed the corporate alliance’s Sebelli branch and were holding what remained.

The planetary police organizations, displaying unprecedented ferocity, carried out ruthless suppression.

Meanwhile, the corporate alliance, which should have provided financial backing for the uprising, offered no help whatsoever.

And the corrupt soldiers and officials in each region who had taken bribes from Zeltech and formed private organizations to support the refugees’ uprising had been thoroughly destroyed by our hands.

As a result, the refugee uprising—lacking weapons, money, and having lost most of its leadership—

Was brutally suppressed by local police organizations and planetary defense forces, bringing it to an end.

Having thought that far, I decided to unpause and proceed with preparations for the next plan.

[Unpause]

And that “next plan” was none other than…

“Minister, are you really going to implement this too?”

“Of course, Riel.”

It was the work of purging the Pope, who had essentially tried to sell out the entire Empire for his own ambition to become Emperor.

But this was something difficult to tackle head-on.

“I apologize, Minister, but it’s impossible for us to directly arrest the Pope.”

“That’s right. Even among the purge unit members, while they might handle the Papal Office forces, there are those who would feel uncomfortable dealing with the Pope himself.”

As expected of a theocratic state, there seemed to be an underlying belief among citizens regarding religious leaders.

Even knowing that the Pope had schemed to take the Emperor’s position, there was a noticeable…

Instinctive reluctance to fundamentally strike against the Pope and his group.

And I couldn’t step in directly either.

“If you take direct action, Minister, that alone would give the Pope an opportunity to counterattack.”

“Hmm.”

“That’s right. Let’s be honest, it’s not like you don’t keep AIs by your side, Minister.”

As Alina and Riel pointed out, it was because the Pope’s accusation of my “heresy” wasn’t completely wrong.

Of course, through information obtained by using the Master System Administrator for a day,

Alina was somehow controlling the Empire’s public opinion.

But that was only effective as long as I didn’t show myself directly harming the Pope.

In addition, by emphasizing my war hero aspects to bury malicious stories…

Our staff’s opinion was that if I were to take direct action, the carefully cultivated public opinion could deteriorate.

“To be frank, Minister, if you directly harm the Pope or… show an attitude equivalent to that…”

“Hmm.”

“Then the Empire’s public opinion will perceive and react as if you’re making all this fuss because you want AI love dolls.”

If even Riel (an AI humanoid) was saying this, what would others think?

Through both my previous life and this one, I’ve come to deeply understand that the attitudes of most common people are ultimately all the same.

Although Riel expressed it in blunt, colorful terms almost like a hateful AI,

The public’s reaction if I were to actually move against the Pope would likely be no different from what Riel described.

As a result, while I had made all preparations to capture and tear the Pope apart,

After the Zeltech corporate alliance was destroyed, my actual target, the Pope…

[Event: The Pope’s Seclusion]

[With the collapse of the Zeltech refugees and corporate alliance he had selected as running mates for his ascension as Emperor,]

[The Pope has canceled all external activities, including previously scheduled tours.]

[Using health as an excuse, he has secluded himself indefinitely within the Papal Office.]

[However, although one of the Papal Office’s main forces, the Templar Order, has been neutralized by surprise attack…]

[The Papal Office is heavily fortified with numerous special forces units the Empire boasts, including Inquisitors, stationed there.]

[Given that loyalty to him as a religious leader remains strong, forcibly trying to extract him could cause a terrible catastrophe throughout the imperial capital.]

[Option 1: He betrayed the Emperor and the Empire. Deal with him no matter what! (Proceed to linked event)]

[Option 2: Then we must think of another method. (Proceed to linked event)]

With such a message, he had entered indefinite space defense mode, and I couldn’t touch him.

As a result, in this indefinite standoff, sensing the gradually increasing fatigue on both sides, I realized it was time to come up with a new strategy.

‘This won’t do. I need to really use my brain cells for once.’

For the first time in a long while, I decided to pause time and engage in unlimited planning.

[Pause]