If it were in the past, Rhode would have cut the Gordian knot. But he couldn’t do that now as the timing wasn’t right. He had just threatened the Dark Dragon and it was time for him to see the results. If he were to turn around and clean up the mess in his backyard, it would undoubtedly tantamount to the falling of his power. Rhode finally found an excuse to send Erin back and told her to not return before receiving an answer from the Country of Darkness. And now, if the Country of Darkness were to detect any problems happening in Rhode’s backyard, the situation would be much harder to handle. This was as though a quarrel between two people. No matter the situation, both sides had to put up a facade. Even if it was only to bluff, one must do it perfectly and not with a half-assed attempt. Therefore, even though Rhode felt annoyed, he had to keep his cool and act nonchalant. As long as the Dark Dragon couldn’t figure out the problem, there wouldn’t be any issue even if the situation was extremely terrible. There had been no news from Erin ever since she returned to the Country of Darkness. Rhode was aware that this was a battle of patience. The side that got into a problem first would be the one to take a step back first.
And before that, Rhode heard from Gillian about the ins and outs of the situation.
The group of Grians were indeed a group of illegal immigrants. However, they didn’t enter through the intersection of the Country of Light and Country of Darkness. Instead, they first arrived at the Munn Kingdom before sneaking into the Void Territory from the border. As Rhode lacked manpower on his side, he placed most of his guards on the Country of Light’s junction (after all, he was more concerned that people of the Country of Light would come and wreak havoc in his territory, as compared to the Grians who wandered on the streets). As a result, the security measures by the Munn Kingdom’s border were less secure and that was how the Grians managed to sneak in. There were about hundreds of them and after entering the Void Territory, they didn’t immediately join the crowds. Instead, they settled down at an uninhabited place. As the Void Territory currently had an abundance of resources and the Grians were used to such nomadic lifestyles, they could temporarily live on without interacting with others. Also, the Grians definitely knew about Rhode’s prohibition, which was why they entered stealthily like thieves.
But eventually, they were discovered by others and without the need of Rhode’s instructions, everyone knew what to do with them. Shortly after, a group of soldiers went ahead and banished them. But after some struggles, instead of the soldiers chasing away the Grians, they started pitying them and consciously tried to cover up for them. But there was no concealing the truth as it quickly came to Randolf, Sovann, and the others’ attention. As Rhode’s trusted aides, they definitely wouldn’t allow the rules to be violated and they had also heard about how unreasonable the Grians were, which was why they drove the Grians out. On the contrary, Dwight objected to their methods and even personally protected the Grians with his soldiers. This puzzled Randolf and the others. Ever since Starlight was established and the Void Territory was opened up, they had never faced such internal strife and were totally clueless of how to handle this situation. How could they attack him since he was one of them? But if they didn’t attack, wouldn’t the Grians cause troubles if they continued to stay here? Besides, the Grians were totally unrestrained in breeding like mice. If this were to drag on for a year and a half, 400 would turn 600 and 600 would turn 1000. There was no end to it.
Although it was unlikely to be successful with Dwight alone, he, as a seasoned member of Starlight, more or less had a number of supporters despite not having a higher position than core members like Randolf. At the sight of their ‘boss’ about to be punished, the troubles from the triads customs of his supporters were unleashed. If they were soldiers like John, they would surely not offend their superior as it would equate to being rebellious. But even though the mercenaries experienced training and battles, they were mercenaries, after all, who valued the brotherhood code. As soon as they saw Dwight in trouble, they quickly stepped forth and spoke up for their ‘boss’. Among these people were squad leaders who were stationed in the same region. This was why Randolf and the others were helpless once the mercenaries resisted. Moreover, anti-racism was also a rhythm that was quite the main melody. They didn’t think Dwight did wrong. After all, the dangers of the Grians were seemingly non-existent unless they experienced it themselves. If this problem were to occur in the west of the Country of Light, perhaps the soldiers would have cheered with both hands raised, asking to kill every single one of the Grians.
But the people in the Void Territory had never lived with the Grians before. Therefore, to them, the Grians seemed like a group of pitiful refugees who fled from war. Besides, the Void Territory was huge, so why couldn’t the Grians live here? It was due to this that Dwight and his supporters believed their choice was right and were so determined.
And this was the most troublesome part because those people didn’t realize that their choice equated to a rebellion. They purely thought that Dwight was treated unfairly and their decisions were right. This gave Rhode the biggest headache because their loyalty toward him didn’t change and it was merely their wrong decision specifically in this case.
The situation was temporarily in a deadlock. Randolf and the others didn’t dare to make a fuss out of the situation, but the Grians had to be driven out. On the other hand, Dwight was stubborn in behaving righteously. Sol tried to convince him, but was left speechless by Dwight instead. Sol was a half-demon who had been strongly discriminated against. In fact, with his identity, he couldn’t say much to the Grians. On the other hand, Sovann also didn’t have any solution.
“A brave man standing up for racial discrimination and for the sake of justice, freedom, and fight against powerful government forces. Master… won’t this make a great Hollywood movie?”
After enthusiastically describing the entire incident, Gillian chuckled and crossed her arms, gazing at Rhode. Upon hearing her words, Rhode twitched his brows.
“Do you think this is the screening of District 9 or Schindler’s List?”
“Avatar is decent too. What do you think, Master? I suggest from today onward, we should change our goal to the ocean of stars! You are the chosen one! The prophecy says that you will eliminate the Sith and not join them; bring balance to the force and not bring it into darkness!”
“You’re right.”
Rhode shrugged nonchalantly to Gillian’s call of excitement.
“If you don’t follow me, you shall be my enemy… All right then, since they have made their choice, they have to pay the price. But since they are my subordinates, there is still a chance for them to redeem themselves. It won’t matter even if they don’t know what they are doing… as I will give them a condition that they can’t refuse.”
***
To Randolf, this was an unprecedented challenge. At this moment, he sat in his room, knitting his brows and gazing at the table in front of him. As Rhode’s forces expanded and became stronger, Randolf and the others had their own official roles. Even though they didn’t hold as much authority as John or Sovann, it was still a surprise of their dreams to obtain the roles. But now…
In fact, the current problem wasn’t only the one involving Dwight. As Rhode’s assistant, Randolf had no fewer companions than Dwight. If this was in a movie about gangsters, it would be as though an aggressive little brother bringing a group of gang members to thrash his boss’s turf. Randolf, as the proudest subject of the boss, would naturally take over and deal with them. After hearing that Dwight’s gang brazenly offended their superior, Randolf couldn’t help but want to take action on them. Fortunately, he spent a long time with Rhode and knew that some incidents shouldn’t be straight out dealt with. If they were still a mercenary group, an internal fight would be all since the mercenaries were vigorous. But now, they were no longer mercenaries. If they were to clash, wouldn’t it embarrass Rhode?
“Big Bro! Big Bro!”
All of a sudden, someone knocked on the door. Then, the door swung open with Joey dashing into the room. He gazed at the stressful Randolf with a cheeky smile, pulled a chair from the side, took a seat, and picked up the kettle, pouring the liquid inside into his mouth. Then, he let out a cheeky chuckle as Randolf watched in doubt. Randolf purposely lowered his voice and asked as though he were a member of an underground gang.
“Settled!”
“Settled?”
Randolf was taken aback by Joey’s words.
“What is settled?”
“Heh, heh. The boss has spoken!”
Joey narrowed his eyes proudly to Randolf’s question. Then, he extended his arm and an envelope appeared in his hand. Randolf instantly noticed the marking on the back of the envelope. It was the marking of the Void Dragon. He finally understood what Joey meant.
“What did His Majesty say?”
Of course, Randolf knew that Joey would definitely report this matter to Rhode. Currently, Joey and the thieves he led were doing great in the Void Territory, and many troublesome situations and investigations were left in their care. Even though Alice was around, her ‘Historical Tracing’ ability needed to be specific. If not, there were so many people in the Void Territory, and everyone was creating history by the second. Even if Alice could record all their history, Rhode couldn’t possibly have the time to view them all. This was why he needed people to monitor the territory in the dark. Once they found out that something was amiss, they would report the matter to Gillian and Alice for further investigation. Joey’s job was like the FBI doing private investigation. As for Dwight’s matter, he did some fundamental investigation and found something fishy, which was why he reported it to Gillian and Alice thereafter.
“Heh, heh…”
Joey let out a proud chuckle to Randolf’s question. Then, he winked and spoke.
“You’ll know after you see it.”
***
It was late at night.
The radiance of the setting sun enveloped the plains. Plumes of smoke could be clearly seen emerging from the chimney of crude, simple houses made from tiles and clay. Dwight stood in the far distance, gazing at the people who were making fire and cooking meals. He let out a soft sigh. He was here for a few days and no matter how he saw it, the Grians were just ordinary refugees. They fled the conflagrations of war and traveled a thousand miles to this place. They just didn’t seem any different, so why must they be chased away?
“A penny for your thoughts, Dwight?”
At this moment, a crisp, melodious voice caught his attention. He turned around and saw a graceful figure standing there. She donned a white robe. Her face was closely wrapped, only revealing a pair of light brown eyes. Dwight shook his head.
“It’s nothing, Fiana. I was only thinking about the consequences of doing this,” Dwight said.
He was in a complicated mood now. From the start, he was indeed here to execute orders. But after witnessing the pitiful plight of the Grians, he couldn’t help but feel guilty if he treated them horribly. Even though he was given the order to drive them out entirely, it was the truth that they had nowhere to go. Besides, according to his observations, they didn’t seem any different from ordinary civilians over the past few days and weren’t as bad as he imagined. Although he also heard the rumors regarding the Grians, he just couldn’t see how they were that sort of wicked people. He knew that he was defying orders and the Void Dragon would surely take action against him. This left him in a complete loss. Back then, when Randolf brought his soldiers over, Dwight also acted rashly in challenging them. In the end, he felt regretful, but one misstep led to more mistakes. Even if he wanted to give up now… it wasn’t possible anymore.
He knew that the Void Dragon would learn about this incident sooner or later. Right now, all he could do was to think of ways to convince Randolf and the others and hope to change everything. But he also knew that the possibilities were almost none. He also understood that they actually saved his face and stopped sending soldiers over. If not, he wouldn’t still be alive now. As for what kind of a person the Void Dragon was, he was clearly aware of that. Even though the Void Dragon treated his people well, he condemned those who questioned his orders. Besides, Dwight wasn’t alone here. He still had his parents and younger sister to feed, so how could he make life difficult for his lord?
“Leader!”
All of a sudden, Dwight witnessed his adjutant riding the horse and galloping toward him. As soon as the adjutant stopped beside him, he jumped down the horse quickly.
“B-Bad news.”
“What’s wrong?”
Dwight glowered at the sight of his anxious assistant.
“This… Sir Randolf and Sir Joey brought their soldiers here for a personal chat with you.”
Dwight’s heart sank. According to the seniority of the mercenaries, even though he was much more experienced than the newbies like Randolf and Joey, they were no longer mercenaries now, after all. Since they were soldiers, they more or less understood their positions. Sol came speaking to him before, but that was in private. But now, Randolf and Joey actually brought the soldiers over, which meant that this was the crucial moment!
Dwight sucked in a deep breath of cold air, before nodding firmly.
“Okay, I’ll go and meet them!”
“Dwight…?”
Fiana couldn’t help but doubt his decision worriedly. Upon hearing her words, Dwight turned around and smiled at her. “It’s fine, don’t worry. Everything will be resolved this time.”
Even though Dwight said so, his confidence dwindled as soon as he witnessed Randolf, Joey, and especially the well-equipped soldiers. It left him in uncertainty. But even so, he embraced himself and stepped forward to give a solemn bow to both of them.
“Dwight reporting, Sirs!”
“Don’t stand on ceremony, Dwight.”
Joey waved his hand airily.
“You don’t need to be so uptight. But come to think of it, you’ve caused a rather huge ruckus this time that even Boss couldn’t neglect it. Frankly, I don’t understand why you’re protecting the group of Grians. Could it be that you’re interested in a beautiful lady among them? Or you have knocked her up and can’t bear to abandon her?”
“Ugh… This…”
“All right, Joey, cut the nonsense.”
After hearing Joey’s words, it was apparent that Dwight felt rather awkward. He stuttered and didn’t know what to say. However, Randolf gave him a way out of this embarrassing situation. Instead of joining in with Joey’s blabber, he reached into his pocket for an envelope and Dwight’s heart almost jumped to his throat as soon as he saw it. Of course, he also saw the marking of the Void Dragon, which meant that Rhode had responded.
“His Majesty is aware of this incident; he is extremely dissatisfied with your violation of order. But he has decided to give you one chance…” Randolf paused and shifted his gaze to Dwight. At this moment, Dwight was extremely nervous, listening attentively to the decision of his fate. “… Those people can stay here, but with the prerequisite that they accept the following conditions. One, they have to abide by the laws of the Void Territory and never violate the laws under any circumstance or reason. Their customs are not recognized by the Void Territory. If they are to operate in the Void Territory using their customs, they will be deemed as violating the law! Two, since they have entered the Void Territory, they need to accept the rules of the territory. They shall not wear odd costumes; in other words, they need to change their strange attires. Three, they must be separated by family and sent to other towns respectively. If they are to violate any law, they will be captured and deported immediately! Anyone who resists will be killed on the spot!”
Randolf lifted his head and gazed at Dwight.
“Do you understand?”
