Shi Lang and the team advanced toward the meeting hall. This was something the rest of the fleet had not expected to happen. The war planet was a military base, none of the officers dared to be pretentious to just walk into this place. The concentrated man power in this place was enough to force the people to think twice.
After all, the soldiers on grassroot level were the key to the strength of the federation and they were all righteous, untouched from the high level politics, there have been cases when the decisions were challenged logically and the high table was forced to revert their decisions. This was not done in war time situations but simple administrative decisions.
The federation army followed the voting system in usual times, this way the connection between the high table and the lower levels was maintained better and initiated a smoother work process. Shi Lang’s arrival was uninformed and the display just know was enough to scare people.
As the young general neared the meeting hall, a platoon stood in his way. These people were the elites of the fleets put together to form a protection detail. They were lacking in comparison to the Ace division but they were still far better than an average soldier.
Shi Lang looked at the man in front but did not speak. Jill asked, “What is the meaning of this blockade?”
The commander replied fearlessly, “Your team has arrived unannounced, and right now there is a general council meeting going on. We cannot let you pass.”
Shi Lang cast a gaze at the man and his hand moved to rest on the hilt of his sword. This simple action made the surrounding people wary. They immediately flustered upon watching the death god holding his weapon. Jill replied in a stern voice, “Do you not know that the person in front of you is the first general and the chairman of the General Council, General Shi Lang? What right do you have to stop him from attending the meeting?”
The commander hesitated, after all, this rank was the highest in the federation military and by protocol he should be saluting and welcoming this guy to attend the meeting. However, he still did not step back and said, “The orders of our commanding officers are to prevent General Shi Lang, who was not invited to the meeting, from entering the hall.”
Shi Lang finally could not hold it in and laughed. His laughter made the hearts of the people shiver, the coldness in his voice was evident. He was angry, really angry. He said, “I admire your spirit to fulfil your orders, but I have the right to get to the meeting. Since you dared to stop me, even after knowing my rank is above your commanding officer, I shall reward you foe your loyalty.”
As he said that, he cast a gaze at the platoon in front of him. He cast an illusion over their minds, and he did not hold back. The people experienced brutal deaths of their comrades, as they stood at the side, watching them all die brutally.
The killer was Shi Lang and he did not spare anyone, the bodies of the people were all shredded, some missed limbs while some missed heads. Some were instantly killed while some were left in agony as they hung between life and death. They all held their heads as their bodies shivered from the sheer fear of the scene in front of them.
They were all thinking why did Shi Lang not kill them, but their entire platoon. It was only when the massacre stopped when they realized that the young general wanted them to realize the pain of being alone after all the loyal friends had been killed in front of them. The illusion was so real that it felt real. The next moment, the people wailed in real life. They were all so consumed with the pain in their minds that they were desperately wished to find a way out of this pain.
In the end, they all could not hold back and committed suicide. Only then did they wake up from their painful nightmare. When they found all their comrades beside them, breathing and alive. They realized that Shi Lang had tricked them. However, they did not dare to be angry, as they knew, Shi Lang will do all those cruel things again in real life if they made him angry.
Shi Lang stepped forward and did not bother with the platoon on the ground. The commander of the defense team also did not dare to stand in the way of this monster and gave way. Shi Lang had struck fear deep within their souls and he was not going to stop at any cost now. He will not mind shedding the blood of his own soldiers if he had to.
The young general came to stand in front of the meeting hall and found that the isolation formation has been initiated to prevent the secrecy of the matters being discussed inside. He raised his head and said, “Take a few steps back.”
The command was intended for the Ace Division. The nineteen soldiers all took a few steps back, all ready to attack at any moment as soon as the commander ordered them.
Shi Lang looked at the faint barrier of spirit energy in front of him and began to tap the void at random places, the people were confused but soon they saw that a golden line had been condensed in the void, this was something they all had no knowledge of, and Shi Lang was not intending to teach at the moment.
He was controlling the spiritual energy outside his body to gather around the tip of his finger and condense in the lines where he moved his finger. He was condensing a rune to counter the spirit array in the void.
Shi Lang was focused on the rune, and he knew that slightest of disturbance can lead to failure, that was why he told the people to step back. It took him five minutes to condense the rune and he said, “Break.”
The rune floated forward and collided with the barrier, their was no noise, but everyone saw the rune dissolve in the void and then the barrier was torn apart like a piece of cloth against a rain of arrows.
Shi Lang watched everything calmly but he did not intend to step in the hall anymore, he said in a calm voice, “General Council meeting is taking place without the first general, this is a violation of protocols. The participants now have three minutes to surrender, and they will be investigated and given a fair trial. However, if the people inside failed to comply, I will take action and none of you will leave this place alive.”
The statement shocked everyone, the voice was calm but the entire war planet heard this. They all knew about the arrival of the first general but they did not expect him to be so blunt that he directly issued a death threat to the general council.
…
Inside the meeting hall, the council was sitting across the table, and the head position was left empty. They were going to cast their votes when they heard Shi Lang’s voice. They would not have been shocked if the young man was to stand in front of them, however, his voice could reach them from the outside of this sealed chamber, this meant his strength was extraordinary.
They all were aware that they stood in the violation of the protocol, and as the strongest of them all, Shi Lang had the ability to kill them all for real, and since he gave them three minutes, they had no choice to go out and deal with the issue.
Charlotte Knight wanted to try and calm the situation inside the hall, but the generals had all been debunked by the cold voice they heard earlier. They have heard that Shi Lang was cruel to the enemy and crueler to the friends, he did not tolerate mistakes, and this made the people even more scared.
They all decided to give up the voting process and first check the situation outside. This was the coercion of the first general. They did not dare to go against him, not specially when they found that the Ace division was better than even the generals. The matter was not circulated in the army, but it was a news in the fleet and everyone followed an unspoken gag order to save their dignities.
Charlotte Knight was clueless to what happened, she did not know why these guys feared Shi Lang so much all of a sudden, even though they had decided to go against him, but as soon as he stepped in the scene, they all followed his words as if a god’s command. Frustrated, she could only walk out of the hall to see if her son-in-law had grown three heads and six arms.
…
When the generals came outside and found Shi Lang standing in front of them in his ceremonial dress, they were all surprised, they did not expect him to not don his battle armor. After all, his intention could not be anymore clear.
Shi Lang said, “You all are smart. Now I will ask a few questions and you will reply truthfully. Mind you I can tell when you are lying, and also know that if you lied while in uniform, I will skin you alive as a punishment.”
Charlotte Knight spoke up, “General Lang, your tyrannical actions are against the protocols of the military.”
Shi Lang chuckled and said, “Look who is speaking about protocols. What were you doing when you started a meeting without me? Even if you want to cease the first seat, you have to let me witness the process, these are the rules. Understood, General Knight.”
Shi Lang lashed out at her in public, this meant he did not care about tearing faces with her and the entire council. This was something out of her expectation. Charlotte was planning to exploit his familial nature. She knew he was smart, but this was reckless display of force. How could she plan for something like this?
Shi Lang was a reckless wrecking ball that barged in her palace and took down the walls, making her bare it all to the world. Now she was in a spot where she did not know if she should counter attack or save her dignity. This was a cruel action from Shi Lang.