The dignitaries kneeling in the square looked at Daniel with pleading eyes, desperate for a chance to atone for their sins.
However, Daniel's next words sent them straight to hell.
"Magos Theresa, transform these criminals into servitors and continue to serve the Emperor."
"As for the children of these criminals, hand them over to Colonel Faraday."
"Establish disciplinary camps and enroll those kids in them."
"Tell them that they are being forced to atone because of the sins of their kin."
"They can only be forgiven once their debt is settled."
Daniel's voice was not loud, but it was like a thunderclap in the ears of those nobles.
"No!" "Please, great saint!"
The nobles cried out, but no one had a lick of pity for them.
"The Guide is a saint after all, and he goes easy on these rebels," Hydrak preached to the people around him. "Praise the God-Emperor for sending such a benevolent saint."
What these nobles did was tantamount to rebellion. Compared with the brutal punishment methods of the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition, Daniel was truly merciful.
Operation Tyrian Spring concluded amidst the desperate cries of the powerful.
To reward the soldiers and players, Daniel announced a decision: allow them to plunder the mansions of the rebellious families. They only need to hand over 50% of the loot; the rest is theirs, fair and square.
The players and soldiers who received the order cheered and swarmed toward the mansions.
The feeding frenzy began.
Not even the cabinets in the rooms or a loose floorboard were spared. Players, especially, even pushed down walls just to find hidden treasures.
"If I hit the jackpot, it's all mine!" Daigo shouted excitedly while digging up his found treasure.
Several nearby soldiers looked at him in shock. After all, they saw Daigo and the others as Saints sent by the great God-Emperor to save them. Now, he looked worse than a common bandit.
Damo sensed something, turned his head, noticed the soldiers' strange looks, and subconsciously added a few words.
"Actually, I don't really want the treasures. I just want to use them in a more appropriate way."
"I'm serious, you'll take my word for it, right?"
The soldiers didn't answer and just walked away with their heads down, talking to each other like people gossiping about some tedious subject.
Seeing this, Daigo sighed.
"My reputation is shot now."
"Those NPCs must be talking trash about me. It's not a good thing when a game is too realistic."
But when he saw the treasures he had worked so hard to collect, the annoyance on his face vanished, and he smiled again. "Forget about it. If I have no reputation, I have no reputation."
With the cancer that hindered development swept away, Hive Tyrian is on the fast track. Economic and industrial output continues to reach new highs.
Business players took out loans to bid for the operating rights of the factory and joined the brutal market competition. Doraemon Workshop successfully acquired several large industrial equipment production factories.
Tomorrow series exoskeletons are starting to explode in production capacity. The Zaku 01 titan has completed design and testing and entered the production stage. Rigby placed an order for a loan and prepared to form the player's first titan corps.
The reverse engineering of power armor was successful. Using the acquired technology, Doraemon and his team successfully designed the CMC01 power armor.
The CMC01 power armor is divided into two models: one suitable for ordinary people and one for Astartes, respectively. Its performance is worse than the power armor currently used in the Empire, but its advantage is its low cost. As long as productivity increases, it can be put into service on a large scale.
Stonehive City has also completed its initial reconstruction and is back on track. Daniel ordered the army to continue its expansion and prepare for a new round of war—a plan to completely annihilate the remaining rebels and reclaim the remaining two hives.
At this time, a reply letter from the Valancius family in Sintira, the capital world of the Calixis Sector, caused a stir.
Sintira is a prosperous world where the tithe has reached the first level. The countable population is approximately 250 billion (the size of the uncounted population is unknown).
It is currently ruled by Marius Haxe in the name of the Terran government, with a secret council including Inquisition Lord Caidin of Inquisition Calixis, Cardinal Ignatus of the State Church, Marshal Gorman of the Ministry of Justice, high-level astropath Zao, and Gangneril, the head sister of the Sororitas.
In addition to official forces, Sintila also has many grassroots forces, such as the Colin family, which runs banking across the star region; the Sestelle Alliance, which controls many agricultural worlds; the Marchenko dynasty, which possesses great wealth; and the Skylen-Ha Group, which has heavy industries sufficient to influence the entire sector.
The Hive World of Sintira is the center of power in the Calixis Sector. Anyone interested in improving their family or personal status wants to put down roots in the Sintira Hive. It is worth mentioning that Sintira is also the home planet of the famous Imperial Dandy Corps—the Sintira Fusiliers.
The Valancius family's response was translated by the Star Language Court and sent by a special courier to the Ministry of Taxation.
The Ministry of Taxation is located in the inner city of the Tarsus Hive, covering a large area and dominated by countless spires. The Tax Department building is divided into rooms of several thousand square meters, which are then split into small cubicles. In each cubicle, a hunched clerk is bent over a mechanical gear keyboard, typing away.
Trams operated by servitors run in the corridors between the compartments. When they arrive at a cubicle, they use a robotic arm to hand scrolls from the cart to the clerks and collect the processed documents. They then hand this off to mechanical servants, who enter the document content into the database.
Everyone is incredibly busy, constantly coordinating the taxation of the entire star region and reporting to the higher authorities.
The messenger passed through the busy hall, entered an upward corridor, and finally delivered the reply from the Valancius family to the middle management of the Tax Department.
After a series of tedious bureaucratic processes, the top brass of the Taxation Department learned that a planet had disobeyed the will of the God-Emperor by refusing to pay tithes. They held a meeting to discuss how to handle the matter.
"The Valancius family claims the planet is unable to pay tithes due to a cultist rebellion and hopes for a temporary reprieve."
"There is no doubt that this is a heretical act of betrayal against the God-Emperor. We must make an example of them." The first to speak was Sonas Colin. He is from the Colin family and came here to work as a mid-level manager to accumulate political capital for future advancement.
After the events of the Exploration Expedition, the Valancius family hit the skids. The Colin family received compensation but still refused to let the declining Valancius family off the hook, targeting them at every turn.
The Valancius family sent several messages asking for help, and some people even suggested sending troops. But without exception, these efforts were torpedoed by the interest groups headed by the Colin family.
Now, the Valancius family was unable to pay the tithe immediately because of the rebellion. Sonas encouraged the dispatch of a punitive fleet. Anyone could see this was a blatant witch hunt.
Some people questioned Sonas Colin's proposal. "The Valancius family claims that a Living Saint appeared and led them to defeat the rebels. They are now recovering the planet and defending the Emperor's glory."
"No matter what, we should first investigate thoroughly to see if there really is a Living Saint."
"This is a lie and a deception," Sonas Colin countered. "During this turbulent period, with wars raging everywhere, we urgently need to replenish all kinds of supplies."
"The Valancius family's refusal to pay tithes shows they have long been corrupted and want to rebel against the Imperium."
"As for the Living Saint they're talking about, he's most likely an illegal psyker."
"When faced with this kind of heresy, an Exterminatus order should be issued directly. Do you all want to back a family that is full of lies and may even be involved in heresy and rebellion?"
"I'm reminding you that if it's discovered the Valancius family is a heretic, everyone here will be implicated."
Sonas' words were a thinly veiled threat. It was obvious who would dare to continue to speak up for the Valancius family.
Considering that it would offend the huge interest group led by the Colin family, many people—despite their dissatisfaction with Sonas' overbearing behavior—raised no objection.
Seeing his proposal passed, Sonas Colin smirked.
The Valancius family is dead in the water this time. Not even the rotting corpse on the Golden Throne could save their bacon now.
He planned to wait until the Valancius family was destroyed, then look for an opportunity to take several young people with Valancius blood and force them to marry into the Colin family so that they could legitimately inherit the Imperial title. By that time, the Colin family's influence would reach a whole new level.