Chapter 1138 Ignite the Iris
Iris Kingdom, City of Light.
This is the capital of the Iris Kingdom.
If you don't know the history of Iris, you might feel a little uncomfortable with this name - Iris is full of Moon Children who act at night and a bunch of assassins who operate in the shadows, but the capital is called this name.
——Where is the light? Please tell me.
But in fact, the origin of this name is quite ironic - it is precisely because of the existence of the organizations of Moon Child and Hawkeye that the crime rate in the capital is too high.
Back then, the royal family hadn't been murdered, and the Moon Children didn't hold the power they do now. The Hawkeyes didn't hold political power back then; they were a purely civilian organization, far more innocent than they are today... They assassinated great artists, wealthy individuals, officials, and nobles, often acting out of righteous judgment based on "public opinion."
In those days when streetlights were scarce, the capital of Iris, with its numerous artistic buildings, was a boon to assassins who could hide in the shadows. They could easily escape, blending into the shadows of the buildings and escaping from every corner of the capital.
Although many assassins use this method to assassinate the Son of the Moon, many assassins also use this advantageous terrain to assassinate some politicians and celebrities.
At the same time, some gang members would take advantage of this favorable environment to commit theft, robbery, kidnapping, or murder. The Hawkeye Organization even had to take on some of the patrol and security work... and even so, some crimes were still framed on them.
After all, most people's familiarity with the environment is certainly not as good as those assassins who roam around on rooftops every day. And those who control public opinion and power are afraid of the "secret observation" of the Hawkeye Organization.
——How many people who have reached this position dare to say that their hands are absolutely clean, have never offended anyone, and have never hurt any innocent people?
In the capital of Iris, a crossbow could be fired from the shadows around any corner, and an unseen assassin could leap from the rooftop to kill. Regardless of whether or not the target was killed, as long as they immediately escaped over the wall, it would be virtually impossible to catch up.
Even a high-ranking transcendent could be killed by an assassination attempt that caught them completely off guard. Not to mention sniping, curses, poisoning... Even just harassment would be extremely annoying.
Finally, under the urging of the Moon Children who began to feel fear, the Iris Royal Family announced that a large number of lamps would be built in the capital at great expense.
Every street—including dark alleys, rooftops, under bridges, dead ends, and even sewers—was filled with countless lights, ensuring the city was always bright at night. Night patrols were also deployed to ensure there were no shadows in the city. Damaging or obstructing lighting was a crime.
This did significantly reduce crime rates, as assassins could no longer assassinate people in the street. Where once they could simply turn their heads and disappear into darkness, they could now run for half an hour in constant, bright light. The ubiquitous light made stealth much more difficult, and even stealthy assassins could be discovered.
The royal family was pleased with the remarkable results, so this extremely costly project was preserved.
This directly led to the fact that in the capital of Iris, it was impossible to sleep without drawing the curtains. Conversely, the city's safety and brightness at night also directly promoted Iris's nighttime entertainment culture. People began to travel, set up stalls, and have fun at night, and shops no longer closed.
When the night becomes as bright as the day, people's perception of time gradually changes. As a result, the capital of irises eventually develops a living habit that is completely different from other cities.
After the royal family was beheaded, the Iris people proudly called it the "City of Light" to commemorate the light of freedom, but they forgot where the name originally came from.
The headquarters of the Hawkeye Organization is right here—in the capital where the light is the brightest and there is no room for shadows.
Until now, they have not been discovered by the Moon Child. The reason is very simple... because they are hiding underground.
When Iris was still the Herasil Empire, this was the location of the Ziggurat Academy. In order to provide the Ziggurat Academy with sufficient materials and to solve the problem of the undead plague in the absence of priests, many corpses were transported here during the Empire.
A vast underground catacombs were built to store these bodies. When the Ziggurat flew away, the catacombs were hastily buried and sealed. Even after the Iris Kingdom was established, they chose not to fill them in… because the cost was simply too high, and no one wanted to pay the price.
Even the Son of the Moon wouldn't dare explore underground—who knows how many undead spirits have been hatched from the corpses buried here, or how many powerful phantom demons have been raised through the breeding of Gu. The Path of Love is inherently restrained by the Path of Dusk, just as the Winter Demon can easily kill the Son of the Moon.
So, the assassins of the Hawkeye Organization hid in the deep catacombs, surrounded by a group of undead, buried in countless corpses. This was also the best place to train stealth skills - once sent to the headquarters, it was basically impossible to get out.
If you alert the undead and don't have strong enough stealth skills, you will die. And if you can't escape by nimbly climbing over various obstacles made of bones and earth walls while being pursued by the undead, there is no way to leave this place.
Under the intense pressure of survival, they quickly "adapted" and mastered night vision, night fighting, environmental combat, silence, stealth, and most importantly, the ability to adapt to circumstances and try to escape anywhere.
While the Hawkeye assassins are now in a frenzy, this place seems unusually quiet and deserted.
A gentle and respectable man in a navy blue suit walked alone into the depths of the catacombs, surrounded by countless undead spirits.
The candlelight lit up the place, making everything look like it was emitting a golden glow.
"—I'm coming, Siriax."
As soon as the man entered, he said to a shadow with a stern face, "You should know... don't contact me unless necessary, right? Master Siliex?"
In the direction he was looking at, shadows slowly condensed into a human shape.
He was an old man with messy white curly hair, who looked a bit lonely and difficult to mess with. He wore a robe and glasses, and looked more like an old teacher or scientist than an assassin.
——His name is Thomas Trainor Debussy Marco de Silièx.
The character "德" (virtue) is in his name, which indicates that he was once a nobleman.
In fact, Thomas came from an assassin family and was a rare master assassin. He didn't know since when his family joined the Hawkeye Organization... I'm afraid no one except the man in front of him would know.
"……leader."
The old man slowly spoke, "Or rather... Speaker Pierre. I have something to tell you."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes slightly.
The man called Pierre is the real leader behind the Hawkeye organization.
He is also the true ruler of Iris today, the prime minister elected by the Giant Tree Party and the head of Iris's cabinet - although strictly speaking, Iris has no surviving royal family, so he cannot be considered a "prime minister".
To be precise, he should actually be the head or president of Iris.
After the Third Rebellion of the king and nobles ended, the chief citizen elected by the parliament was indeed called the head of state. During the subsequent rebellions, the title of the head of the Iris State changed many times before finally settling on this title.
——The Iris Man shrank back again.
Beheading the king, hanging the nobles... The chaos caused by the overly fanatical Third Rebellion actually made people disgusted. They believed that it was because of the loss of the king that the country was in such a mess. But they didn't want another king to rule them... So the tone was finally set:
Although all the royal family members are dead, they are still responsible for "the history and glory of Iris that has been passed down to this day", but "they are still continuing to search for the bloodline of the previous king passed down among the people, and before that, they will manage the country on behalf of the new king."
Of course, such a new king will never appear.
This was even driven by the Star Antimony people - if the royal family was completely removed from the political system, it would mean that they would have no connection with the Helasar Empire. The previous Rift War was a joke, and without the Helasar Empire's claim, the Star Antimony would have a real excuse to fight them.
In a relatively balanced international confrontation, a pretext for war is crucial. While it may seem ridiculous at times, its presence or absence actually makes a huge difference.
While it wouldn't suddenly wipe out a legion or cause a gun to explode... it would severely impact intangible factors like morale, recruitment efficiency, international public opinion, the durability of the war, the cost of ruling after victory and the price paid by the enemy, and the degree of war weariness in one's own rear.
Therefore, the "king" must exist, even if this king is just a lonely crown, a scepter, or a symbol.
The Xingti people on the other side also breathed a sigh of relief.
Because if the Iris people really no longer respected the king, it meant that once this trend spread to Star Antimony, it might threaten the rule of the civilian king Valentine's family, who also lacked a claim. The Iris people had a claim in the Rift War, and they dared to drive out the royal family, so why couldn't the Star Antimony people do the same?
The social environment in Iris wasn't actually that bad at all. At least people were able to get by and survive. There was no territorial loss, the economy was healthy, there was no widespread famine, and the employment situation was good. Although the crime rate was a bit high, at least it was safe during the day.
The successive rebellions were actually instigated by different forces and were a struggle among the top leaders...
But Xingti's economy really collapsed.
They really didn't dare let the Iris people say anything.
What if a star person really awakens?
"What do you want to do…Master Siliakes?"
Pierre asked seriously, "Good times have arrived. There's no need to fight anymore... Even if you really want to do something, can't you wait a little longer?"
His words were almost pleading.
Because Pierre had roughly guessed what Master Siliex was thinking.
If there was something important that required him to come to the headquarters for an interview... then Pierre could only think of that one thing.
Chloë de Siliaix, the beloved granddaughter of Master Siliaix and a genius of the Hawkeye Organization, was once killed by Aiwas Moriarty.
Considering the international impact and to preserve the Hawkeye Organization, Speaker Pierre twice knelt down and admitted his fault to Avalon. After Aiwass became Pope, they completely abandoned the idea of assassinating him.
And now...
"So I'm quitting the Hawkeye organization."
The old man said slowly: "If a few days pass, it will be too late. If Hawkeye completely controls the country, then every move will be interpreted by others. But now... Hawkeye is just an underground organization."
"You are so naive, teacher!"
Speaker Pierre frowned. "Once you're involved in something like this, there's no way to clear yourself from it! Regardless of whether you've resigned from Hawkeye or not, outsiders will think Hawkeye assassinated the former Pope—and he's the brother of the Empress of the New Hellas Empire. Your actions could bring war and destruction to Iris!"
"Your perspective is off, Pierre."
The old man's dim eyes stared at Speaker Pierre: "I taught you - don't look at things from too high a perspective. Many people don't know what you know. Most people are ignorant.
"Few people know you're the leader of the organization... Those few either remain silent or have already been killed by me. Regardless of whether my assassination attempt succeeds, you can use this opportunity to purge the Hawkeye organization and eliminate all the scum of society.
"Now that the Moon Children have been purged, they are no longer of any value. However, an internal purge would lead to rebellion and chaos. This must be handled by the authorities.
"If an organization wants to continue to operate for a long time, it must have sufficient quality. Obviously, Hawkeye's quality is not enough. If those people continue to stay in the organization, it will only lead to its collapse."
Upon hearing this, Speaker Pierre frowned slightly.
He seemed to understand somewhat what Master Siliaix meant.
"Teacher, what do you mean...?"
"You're too cautious, Pierre. You've lived in the world of light for too long and are no longer accustomed to the rules of the dark world."
The old man stared at him with his dim, cold eyes and asked, "Do you really want to let those people start a rebellion? Not many people know that you are our leader - that is, even those sewer scum don't know. If Hawkeye wants to seize power, you will be their first target for assassination."
"...But in that case, Master," Speaker Pierre hesitated, "you will die anyway."
"I've had enough of life."
The old man sighed, “I didn’t even plan to successfully assassinate Aiwass…I’m afraid he was the one who killed Xue Tiansi.
"But can I let the man who killed Chloë slip away from me and live in silence? I can't, Pierre.
"There must be an end between us. I have no descendants. Do you want me to lie on my sickbed and watch the last of Sirius's blood wither away?
"I would rather be the fire that ignites the irises."
Chapter 2, the second update of 4,000 words, has been completed!
I posted almost 8,000 words today, super strong cat (chest up)
There should be an update tomorrow afternoon or evening!
(End of this chapter)
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