The list was nothing out of the ordinary; household items, mostly, the only item of value a box of dical supplies—things like cold dicine, anti-inflammatory drugs, which might be considered precious outside, but were never in short supply within the Peace Party. This particular supply list, however, was the only one that wasn’t signed.
Holding the supply list, he flicked it and set it upright in front of the quartermaster. Tang Ye looked at him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, his deanor like that of a demon basking in success from the depths of hell, chilling one to the bone.
"Why didn’t you sign this one?"
Tang Ye’s words rang out beside the quartermaster’s ears. Overco with fear, the man was at a loss for words, his mind overwheld with visions of being dragged out by fierce Peace Party soldiers and chopped into minceat to feed the zombies of the Dead Knight Corps.
His body shook violently, and for a mont he didn’t know how to respond, stuttering incomprehensibly before falling silent, standing there dazed.
With a strange laugh, Tang Ye placed the supply list on the desk and walked back and forth in the office, hands behind his back, taking in the surroundings with inscrutable eyes that revealed nothing of his thoughts.
Tang Ye’s deanor suggested that he was waiting for a response.
About half a minute passed before the quartermaster regained so semblance of clarity amid his chaotic thoughts. He cursed himself for not simply saying he had yet to approve the supply list, or that he hadn’t had ti—why make things so difficult?
It was the extre tension that had kept him from thinking of such an excuse, but now, it was too late—Li Henian was no fool. Surely, he would be suspicious, and seemingly, he was already suspecting sothing. Still, the quartermaster looked up at Tang Ye and said, "Marshal, I simply forgot to sign it. I’ll go and sign it right away."
Hearing his reply, Tang Ye snorted coldly but didn’t respond. Instead, he turned his gaze to Xu Haishui, tilting his head slightly to signal him to act.
Xu Haishui nodded, stepped forward, and forcefully lifted the quartermaster’s head by the hair to make eye contact. With a cold voice, he inquired, "Stop playing dumb. Is Yajin so easy to earn?"
His heart contracted violently, feeling as though it would burst. Things had turned out the way he least wanted. Continuing to feign ignorance, he replied, "Vice President, I don’t understand what you’re... you’re talking about~"
"Really? Don’t tell the ion sniper rifles sold to the rcenary Guild weren’t your doing."
"You... Vice President, you must be joking. How can my loyalty to the Peace Party be doubted? I would never do such a thing! It wasn’t , not ! Truly, it wasn’t —Vice President Xu, at least show so evidence before accusing , it really wasn’t ."
His voice trembled, the profound fear in his eyes clear to Xu Haishui, who, however, revealed a playful smirk.
"What do you think? Is this a law-abiding society? This is the United District! We don’t need evidence. The fact that we’re here looking for you should make it clear—we’ve found an issue with you. Asking us for evidence? Sorry, there is none, but we don’t need any to kill you!"
"No!"
With a scream, Xu Haishui’s hand that was once empty now held a silver knife; its blade was dripping with crimson blood, and the quartermaster lay dead in a pool of blood—a Level 3 New Human, killed without any chance to resist!
"How many more?" Tang Ye’s voice asked.
Following his question, Hatred pulled out a list and said, "Another twenty-three."
As he spoke, a hint of red flashed in Hatred’s eyes.
"Those are just the ones we’ve found so far. There’s no telling how many more are out there, unseen."
At that mont, Xu Haishui also spoke to Tang Ye, "President, how should we deal with the incident of Xu Changchi injuring Jiang Heng?"
Tang Ye frowned. Jiang Heng, ntioned by Xu Haishui, was a Level 5 New Human within the Peace Party. Due to a conflict between their subordinates, the overseers were not prone to let their underlings suffer. Xu Changchi, known for his temper, had impulsively injured Jiang Heng.
This was all because of the honor badges distributed by the Peace Party, which had inadvertently created first and second class mbers, with badge holders being those most fervently loyal to the Party. Such individuals were favored by those in power.
At the sa ti, however, those favored by the powerful were granted more privileges and were colloquially called hybrid deer-dogs behind their backs—a fact Tang Ye was well-aware of. But what was to be done? Abolish the honor badges?
There were always those easily misled, as well as the clever ones. With the Peace Party’s expansion, it was impossible for every mber to exhibit utmost loyalty. Inevitably, so joined rely for their livelihood.
Among the clever, their preconceptions were deeply ingrained, not easily brainwashed away.
In the future, should the Peace Party encounter difficulties, it would be only those purely loyal who would stick by no matter what.
Furthermore, once a power grew to a certain scale, the required managent capabilities beca enormous. As ti passed, different factions inevitably erged, unlike the tight unity of earlier days. Unless Tang Ye used Gong Xiao’s ability to fully control everyone, ensuring their absolute loyalty, creating the Peace Party would have no aning.
Doing so would reduce people to re puppets, betraying all the significance behind the concept of being human.
Nothing lasts forever; all things eventually decline and fade away. The Peace Party now exhibited signs of corruption, just as Hatred had pointed out, and those were only the ones visible.
Like cockroaches, when one was spotted, hundreds more lurked unseen. The old Tang Ye would certainly have eradicated such issues ruthlessly, but in reality, he realized it was a Sisyphean task. Even if eradicated, corruption would reerge.
What a ruler needed to do was maintain balance. No matter the infighting below, as long as his own position remained unshaken, that was sufficient.
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