Chapter 371: Disregarding the Rules

Hearing Nestor's request, Brooke wore a troubled expression.

"We currently only hold the advantage, we have not truly achieved victory; it is not yet time to push for the Charter Movement."

"We should still follow the agreement and finish what you are supposed to do first. Once those new nobles realize your influence, the power you demand will naturally come to you."

Nestor’s face remained tense, not softening in the slightest at Brooke’s reply. He continued:

"Sir Brooke, since you mention the agreement, I need to repeat the terms of that agreement to you."

"I represent the Beacon Newspaper and the Charter Movement, coordinating with you to build momentum and help you obtain industrial regulatory power, while you acknowledge the Charter Movement and devolve a portion of that regulatory power to the unions."

"But in reality, we have already done enough, inciting multiple large-scale labor movements. Henry even died in the Great Stench incident to fulfill the agreement. And you—I have yet to see you contribute anything."

In Stilan, the worker population is exceptionally large. Although they currently hold no power, and some among them—laborers and illegal workers—do not even possess the most basic human rights.

Yet their massive numbers represent an equally massive potential.

The Beacon Newspaper and the trio who founded the publication are the soul of the Charter Movement, and naturally, no party would ignore this force.

Because the Beacon Newspaper trio lacks a foundation of their own, they must also borrow the strength of outsiders to achieve their demands amidst the cracks of multi-party maneuvering.

Henry was the most extreme; to achieve his goals, he cared only about capability and not the other party's motives, which is why he got involved with the Steam Council.

Nestor is also a member of the militant faction, but he is less radical than Henry. Adhering to the principle that the enemy of an enemy is a friend, he chose to cooperate with the landed nobles to oppose Prime Minister Luo En and the Liberal Party.

After reaching an agreement with the landed nobles, he intended to bring Henry into the fold, but through the transcendents on the side of the landed nobles, he discovered that Henry also seemed to have transcendents cooperating with him.

Nestor worried that Henry would cooperate with dangerous elements, such as the Tranquil Church, extremist believers of the Holy Lord, or even foreign powers like Fran, so he paid extra attention to Henry’s actions.

Seeing that Henry had always been making small disturbances and was far from going overboard, he did not force a showdown to stop him.

Who would have thought that the target of Henry’s cooperation would be even more dangerous than he imagined—he went and did something huge right off the bat.

Having foreseen Henry’s abnormality in advance but failing to stop it in time, Nestor believed he bore great responsibility for Henry’s death and had to do something for him.

What he had to do was not revenge, but to inherit Henry’s aspirations and complete their shared goal.

Brooke saw that Nestor had come prepared. He shook his head slightly, took a pipe from his pocket, and said unhurriedly:

"It is not that we have not contributed, but that we lack the ability to contribute."

"It is frustrating to say, but we must admit that as Her Majesty Olivia elevates industry to another level, the legislative power in our hands is losing its effect."

Nestor said calmly:

"But as far as I know, to ease the general strike, Prime Minister Grade once proposed further optimizing the Factory Act, and it was the Conservative Party and the Upper House that kept refusing to agree."

Brooke showed no embarrassment on his face and said as a matter of course:

"Workers are all short-sighted; you know this better than we do. If the situation eases, they will abandon their resistance and might even be grateful to Grade."

Nestor nodded: "So this time, I am prepared to be short-sighted for once."

There was some disappointment on Brooke’s face as he said:

"I thought we had a relationship of mutual trust. I did not expect that at the most critical moment, you would make such a choice."

Facing Brooke’s pressure, Nestor did not back down and said:

"Sir Brooke, so what is your answer?"

Brooke was silent for a moment, then said:

"As you wish, I will push for the passage of the Charter Movement as soon as possible."

Nestor stood up and bowed slightly to Brooke, "Thank you."

After Nestor left, Brooke took out a cigar and slowly lit it. Once the top of the cigar was fully burning, he took two puffs and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Brooke’s expression was hidden in the smoke as he said slowly:

"Disobedient tools should be replaced in time."

If Nestor had made this request before the Great Stench, he might have felt troubled.

But now, the general trend is set, and those fellows have become irrelevant.

To think that a group of nobodies would dare to threaten him; it seems he was too polite before, making them forget their place.

The smoke slowly dissipated, and a smile suddenly appeared on Brooke’s gloomy face.

Never mind, they never intended to fulfill any promises from the very beginning anyway.

Nestor emerged from the manor and said to the coachman waiting for him: "Sorry to keep you waiting."

A coachman with an unremarkable appearance, a thin build, and the face of a standard low-level worker said:

"It’s fine. Protecting and recording your itinerary is what I am supposed to do."

Nestor understood what the man meant and said: "Don't worry, I will confess today's events to Sir Xiao En when I return."

Sitting in the carriage, a relieved smile appeared on Nestor’s face.

On the surface, it did not seem wise to threaten the Conservatives at this time, but in reality, this was his only chance.

The tactic of threatening usually requires the ability to truly bring a crisis to the other party.

He could not do that before. Although the pen in his hand could incite thousands of workers, facing transcendents, these things could not save his life.

Things are different now. Taking advantage of the Great Stench incident, while Sir Xiao En was investigating the forces behind Henry, he worried about the safety of him and Connor and equipped them with transcendents as bodyguards.

The coachman driving for him was the bodyguard personally arranged for him by Sir Xiao En.

Although there was only one transcendent bodyguard, he represented the entire Secret Security Force.

He believed that as long as they remained rational, the Conservatives would not dare to take action against this transcendent force that held immense power and was currently in the limelight.

As for whether the Conservatives would liquidate him and the Tomorrow Newspaper or revoke the agreement after the Chief Justice became Prime Minister, he was not worried.

This morning, when he wanted to meet with Sir Xiao En, he "happened" to learn that Sir Xiao En had gone to visit Interior Minister Anderson, and it was said that the two were on very good terms.

He knew very well what this signal represented.

Her Majesty Olivia and Sir Xiao En would certainly not hand the position of Prime Minister to that group of corrupt landed nobles.

He did not try to shake off the transcendent bodyguard but instead let the other party drive him to see Brooke; this was his response to that signal.

The landed nobles were not careful in their dealings and left many handles in his hands, such as the Great Malaria that ravaged Grimland, which had the shadow of the landed nobles behind it.

As long as this intelligence was handed over to Sir Xiao En, the Chief Justice’s desire to take office would be nothing but a pipe dream.

This would not only ensure they would not be liquidated but also guarantee the success of the Charter Movement.

As Nestor pondered how to expose the crimes of the Conservative Party to Sir Xiao En and cause the Chief Justice to lose his approval rating, a player on a large tree not far from the carriage aimed at the carriage.

The player was a hundred meters away from the carriage. In a normal dungeon, this distance would be no different from face-to-face for a player in the top three hundred of the combat power rankings.

But currently, the steam rules of the dungeon plane were rampant; let alone perception, as long as one did not have the Power of Origin in their body, it was difficult to even project energy outside the body.

Even for Jianxing and Leng Shan, it was difficult for their attacks to penetrate a hundred meters to injure someone.

The reason the player in the tree dared to act was simple: his entire right arm was currently glowing with a metallic luster, having transformed into a giant firearm.

His player name was Gun God, and his ability was simple: to transform parts of his body into firearms.

He was ranked 289th on the combat power list. In terms of absolute strength, he was not as good as Bu Ke or White Horse, and he was definitely at the bottom of the players who entered the Steam Phantom dungeon this time.

But in the steam rules, being completely unaffected by the rules, he had the confidence to compete with any player except the top-ranked experts.

The reason was simple: he could use Demon-Breaking Bullets that other players could not use.

He grabbed the "material" provided to him by Brooke—a secret policeman in a coma—pried open the man’s mouth, and stuffed dozens of Demon-Breaking Bullets into it.

Immediately after, he poked his left hand into the "material's" chest. His left hand frantically devoured the "material," and the flesh and blood of the "material" entered through his left hand, turning into a basketball-sized tumor that swam under his skin before finally filling the large gun on his right arm.

This was his class-transfer skill, "Flesh and Blood Projectile."

He could use the flesh and blood of transcendents to turn into projectiles, which not only enhanced the power of the bullets but also allowed the attacks to carry certain characteristics of the original transcendent flesh.

The moment the bullet loading was complete, he pulled the trigger directly. The firearm his right arm had turned into made no sound when it fired, and he provided the sound effect with his mouth:

"Bang!"

The basketball-sized flesh and blood projectile crossed a hundred meters and flew toward Nestor’s carriage. The coachman driving for Nestor was Ma Jia, who had infiltrated the Genar Chemical Plant that day. Although he could not perceive the presence of the gunman, he sensed it the moment the flesh and blood projectile flew within twenty meters of him.

If it were any other skill, he might have had trouble dealing with it, but for flesh-based skills, he could intercept them with his eyes closed.

In the Wilderness, when it came to playing with flesh-based skills, even ranked players were no match for him.

Today, he would let the other party see the true value of a "Flesh and Blood Invader."

He released his left hand from controlling the carriage, and under his control, it elongated into a soft whip, lashing out at the flesh and blood projectile.

The moment his left hand touched the flesh and blood projectile, it turned into a mass of meat paste, completely wrapping around the projectile.

By the time the flesh and blood projectile was five meters away from the carriage, ninety percent of the flesh composing the projectile had been corroded, leaving only a small core.

Just as Ma Jia thought it was secure, the last small core exploded like a grenade, except what splashed out were not fragments, but dozens of activated Demon-Breaking Bullets.

Oh no!

By the time Ma Jia reacted, the bullets were less than two meters away from him. The flight speed and explosion speed of the flesh and blood projectile overlapped, and in the blink of an eye, he and the entire carriage were riddled with dozens of Demon-Breaking Bullets.

A dozen fully armed soldiers slowly approached from both sides. After checking at close range, they said to Gun God, who was walking over from behind:

"They are dead."

Gun God nodded and waved his hand, dismissing them: "I'll leave the cleanup to you."

As a player with mechanical-type abilities, he loved the Steam Phantom dungeon, especially now that the steam rules were so dense.

With the steam rules in place, his sneak attack was not only concealed, but he also didn't have to worry about the attacked party being able to pass information about the scene to their companions by any means.

In the past, when clearing dungeons, his role was always as a firepower support; he never expected that one day he would awaken an assassin talent.

He put his hands in his pockets, separated from the soldiers who were handling the scene, lit a cigarette, and walked toward the city area.

He completely failed to notice that in the mist condensed by his favorite steam rules, a tall figure shrouded in a black robe had already locked onto him.

A large amount of mist surged from under the black robe, shrouding the surrounding kilometer in thick fog.

Not long after, faint screams came from within.

That afternoon, the wreckage of the carriage was found by someone on the south bank of the Hills River. The horses, the carriage, the coachman, and Nestor, who was a passenger, had all been riddled with bullets.

Judging from the traces at the scene, a group of maniacal thugs had fired hundreds of shots at the carriage.

According to the ballistic analysis of the vast majority of the bullets, the firearms involved were models commonly used by Gael gangsters.

This is easy to understand; the fuse for the great strike was the Sloan Textile Mill incident, and one of the angriest groups in the great strike was the textile workers.

Because of the reports in the Beacon Newspaper, many factories in the South Bank textile district were forced to close, causing huge losses; it is perfectly normal for some individuals among them to harbor resentment and hire the Gale Gang to commit murder.

The next day, Connor held a funeral for Nestor.

Wu Chang’s true self and Ma Jia’s physical body both attended the funeral, staring at Nestor’s tombstone with solemn expressions, wondering what they were thinking.

After the funeral ended, Connor did not return to the Beacon Newspaper office, but instead said he wanted to be alone and went to a bar he frequented.

He ordered three drinks at the bar, but soon felt it was too noisy and went home alone.

He gently closed the door and did not light the oil lamp, because he saw a dark shadow sitting on the sofa in the living room.

Gritting his teeth, he asked in a near-whisper, "Who did it?"

A lazy voice came from the dark shadow, "If nothing goes wrong, it was the Conservatives."

"Nestor’s body was discovered on the south bank of the Hills River, but according to our people, the last time he was seen, the place he was heading to was the West District."

"Every time he goes to the West District, he goes to a secluded manor; that is one of Justice Gasko’s properties, and I suspect this time was no exception."

Connor took a few deep breaths, trying to calm the rage in his chest, and asked:

"Do you know the reason?"

The dark shadow said: "Nestor went with a transcendent from the Secret Security Department; if you want to ask me, you might as well ask Sir Xiao En directly, or that Peace."

Connor said: "No matter the reason, and no matter who tries to stop me, I will make those people pay the price."

The dark shadow clicked their tongue and said:

"Her Majesty does not intend to stop you either; she asked me to convey her condolences for Nestor, and also to remind you that if you want revenge, there should be something you need at Nestor’s home."

"Thank you." After Connor finished speaking, he suddenly felt a blur before his eyes, and when he looked again, the dark shadow on the sofa had disappeared.

He lit the oil lamp and walked toward the living room, discovering that the dark shadow had already left.

Twenty meters away from Connor’s house, Wu Chang’s true self, God’s Tongue, and Ma Jia were lurking in the distance, watching Connor’s house.

Not long after Connor returned home, the three of them saw a dark shadow jump out of the window of Connor’s house.

God’s Tongue frowned and said: "Such fast speed, so fast that I didn't even see what that person looked like."

Ma Jia shook his head in agreement, saying: "I didn't see clearly either."

Although Wu Chang also didn't see who the dark shadow was, he saw the source energy surrounding the dark shadow.

"The one who came out of Connor’s house was Phantom; why would he have any interaction with Connor?"

As a ranked player, although Wu Chang was not afraid of Phantom, he would not ignore intelligence regarding him.

According to what he had learned previously, on the day of the transcendent gathering, after he left, Phantom had made contact with the Chairman of the Trade Committee.

The Chairman of the Trade Committee is a core figure of the Liberal Party and a staunch supporter of Glad; could it be that the force behind Connor is the Liberal Party?

That’s not right; in the Charter Movement, Connor was only a Conservative, not a Capitulationist; he shouldn't be secretly in contact with the Liberal Party behind Henry and Nestor’s backs.

Interesting. Once Nestor’s matter is resolved, I’ll ask Connor what’s going on.

Wu Chang turned his thoughts back and asked: "Did they all confess?"

Ma Jia nodded. He looked at God’s Tongue with slight wariness and said: "No one can resist God’s Tongue’s truth serum."

Wu Chang continued: "It’s confirmed to be the Conservatives, right?"

Ma Jia continued to nod.

Once the clone on Nestor’s side died, Ma Jia immediately told Wu Chang, and Wu Chang arranged for people to guard around Nestor’s home, catching the guys preparing to commit arson in one fell swoop.

After drinking the truth serum, they confessed everything clearly; the masterminds were Brook and Justice Gasko.

They thought that with the Steam Rules as cover, they could commit murder and silence witnesses flawlessly, but they didn't expect that the transcendent guard escorting Nestor that day happened to be Ma Jia, who likes to use parasitic bodies.

According to Ma Jia, the people who acted were players, but the other side could use a special method to drive magic-breaking bullets; under the blessing of the Steam Rules, players simply could not resist magic-breaking bullets.

The opponent’s moves were impossible to guard against; fortunately, it was Ma Jia who followed Nestor that day. If it had been anyone else, besides God’s Tongue and Killing Intent Fluctuation, others would likely have found it hard to escape unscathed.

The reason they didn't tell Connor directly was just to probe Connor’s bottom line; it wasn't that they were truly unaware.

He had no opinion on the Conservative Party killing Nestor, but attacking his people was a slap in his face.

A force built by a player like him was acting according to the rules, yet a group of native nobles of this plane were playing tricks of murder and silencing witnesses instead; it was truly turning the world upside down.

Since they like to play, then let’s play a bigger game.

Wu Chang said:

"Tell Shadow and the others to record all the high-ranking landed nobles who support Gasko and monitor their locations in real-time."

"After Connor finishes publishing his report and beats down their support rate, we’ll find an auspicious day to send them on their way together."

(End of chapter)