Chapter 44:- Assassin Base [II]

[Ding, trigger the option event, please choose one of the following options:

Option 1: - Investigate the cause of the sudden increase in crime rates around the Empire. Reward: - (1000+ Justice value, all of the host's stats will be increased by [20+], further rewards will be determined based on how quickly the host is able to find the culprit.)

Option 2: - Ignore everything! Reward: - (Title - lazy pig, there is a high chance that in the future a civil war will destroy the Empire)

Option 3: - Investigate the cause and kill the culprits. Reward: - (5000+ justice value, all of the host's stats will be increased by [50+], further rewards will be determined based on how quickly the host is able to kill the culprit.)]

'I think I got a similar option event a month ago when Laura was telling about the current state of the Empire. At that time, I choose to ignore this event as at that time I had no power to investigate. But now.....' Looking at the assassin leader named Thomas, William realized that the assassins are responsible for the sudden rise in deaths rate and criminal activities around the Empire.

'I choose option 3'

[Ding! The host has chosen option 3. The reward will be given once the host completes this event.]

Thomas took a deep breath while secretly looking around. He cursed his bad luck seeing 5,000 elite soldiers surroundings them from behind. He then looked at the Empress sitting on his throne and looking at him like she was looking at an ant.

He tightly clenched his fists and directly stared at the Empress's cold sharp eyes. "We're assassins. We kill anyone for money. If you want to blame someone for all this, then blame the Lion Heart Merchant Group."

Everyone in the underground hall including Laura was shocked by this revelation. The most shocked one was Laura as a few years ago right after William had gone into a coma state, she had driven the Lion Heart Merchant group out of the Empire.

At that time the Lion Heart Merchant group was asking Laura to come and meet her. It sounded more like an order to the Empress. Laura was already raging over what had happened to William. The words of the Lion Heart Merchant group only added more fuel to her anger. She had directly ordered the Lion Heart Merchant group to leave the Empire and never come back.

Right after she ordered the Lion Heart Merchant group to stop their business in the Sithen Empire and leave, she also had send a secret team to investigate the Lion Heart Merchant group. It turned out the Lion Heart Merchant group was involved in drug deals, illegal slave trading, and many more horrible things. But it was too late, as the Lion Heart Merchant group had left the Empire so Laura had no choice but to put the matter aside.

'No wonder. It looks like the Lion Heart Merchant group wants to revenge my messing up my Empire.' For the past 3 years, Laura had forgotten the number of times she tried to uncover this mystery. Every time she was close to learning about the culprit, something unexpected would always happen.

'Since I and my men are going to die, I might as well take the Lion Heart Merchant group with me.' This was what Tomas was thinking. It would be pointless to hide this information as he and his men were not going to gain anything from this. As he said before, they were assassins and assassins only worked for money.

"Explain everything?" The Empress coldly ordered while releasing her killing intent making all the assassins tremble in fear.

"It all started around 3 years ago, I think. We were an independent assassin group that operated in small Kingdoms on the mainland. One day, I was personally approached by the man who was the real owner and boss of the Lion Heart Merchant group. That man offered gave me a huge offer that I couldn't resist."

"So the Dark shadow assassin group and the Lion Heart Merchant group started working together. First, we were sent to the Sithen Empire. That man had asked us to cause more and more trouble in Empire."

Laura and William looked at each other for a small second before turning their attention to Thomas. "The first thing we were ordered to do was to contact all the corrupted nobles of your Empire. With their help, we started killing high-rank adventurers and mainly merchants. Meanwhile, the corrupted nobles were mainly responsible for mountain bandits, robbery, and many other illegal activities."

"Those nobles sent their personal troops to act as bandits. They even ordered the soldiers to attack small villagers and turn them into slaves. While the corrupted nobles did all sorts of illegal stuff, we were mainly ordered to cover their tracks so that the Empire wouldn't find anything about them."

At this point, Laura's whole body was slightly shaking. It was not because of fear or depression, it was because of pure anger. It turned out that the trusted people from her own Empire were the main culprits. Those nobles are slowly killing the Empire.

This kind of thing has never happened in the Sithen Empire. 'I will wipe this curse with their blood.'

"The 3rd and final plan were to bring the Eastern Ocean dragon palace princess to the Sithen Empire and then start a war between two big forces."

Laura somehow suppressed her killing intent and fiercely looked at Thomas. "Who is the leader of the Lion Heart Merchant group?"

This question always has bothered her. Who was the owner and boss of the Lion Heart Merchant group? No one really knew the answer. She never has seen the real boss of the Lion Heart Merchant group. The boss of the Lion Heart Merchant group never showed up in the public. Laura doesn't even know if the boss is a male or a female.

Thomas took a deep breath to calm his heart. Even he was shocked to his core when he learned about the identity of the Lion Heart Merchant group owner.

"He is Richard Allen."

"What? Richard Allen is supposed to be dead. How can he return back to life?" This time even Laura couldn't keep herself calm. She was beyond shocked. Words cannot describe how shocked she was currently was.

"It's true. I also had the same reaction as you. But he told me that he did not die. It was a fake that replaced him and made him dead to the public. He is still living, hiding in disguise." William had no idea who this Richard Allen was. But seeing the look on Laura's face, he guessed this Richard must be a big fish.

Laura from the corner of her eyes looked at William and nodded her head. As if understanding what Laura wanted, William took out a normal sword and stepped forward. "Do you have anything else to say?" Laura asked.

"Since I am going to die, I might as well drag my partner the Lion Heart Merchant group with me. Please be sure to fulfill this wish of mine." Thomas then closed his eyes. Even if he wanted to live, there was no way that he can do anything in the presence of the Empress herself. Even Thomas had no idea just how powerful the Empress was.

William walked behind Thomas. Then without saying a word, he coldly severed Thomas's head from his body. Following William, all the elite soldiers instantly killed the 222 assassins in the base.

Bang!

[Ding! You have absorbed the soul of level 249 human.]

[Ding! Strength [23+] Intelligence [30+]

[Ding! Stamina [25+] Health [20+]

[Ding! Agility [30+]

[Ding! You have leveled up. You have received one free stats point.]

[Ding! You have leveled up. You have received one free stats point.]

[Ding! You have leveled up. You have received one free stats point.]

William was secretly shocked by how many stats points he just received. 'Killing a level 249 human has directly given me [128+] stats points.' Laura purposely asked William to kill Thomas as he would receive the most benefits. Since his level was low, killing a high-rank human being will give him lots of stats points. Not only that his soul will also become purer than before.

After a few minutes, Laura finally managed to calm down. She found the dead bodies of the assassins lying on the floor.

"Search this place. I want every corner of this base thoroughly searched." All the elite soldiers nodded and started searching this whole base.

Meanwhile, Laura stepped down from the throne that was made out of stone. Compared to her throne, this throne wasn't comfortable. "Laura, we should go after the corrupt nobles as soon as possible. If they learn that we have taken care of the assassin group, I am sure they will try to flee this Empire."

Laura also nodded her head in agreement. "I agree. Assuming Thomas, I am sure he must have kept a list of the corrupted nobles."

"Laura, I have a request."

"What is it?"