Chapter 127 A Hundred Times More Dangerous Than the Machinery Country

Before long, Han Xiao, Klotti, and Sherlock's remote projections appeared in the office.

"Your Excellency."

The three nodded in greeting.

Ulan Riel nodded and pointed to the report on the virtual screen, getting straight to the point: "This is the result of your work during this period? I'm not very satisfied. You know what I want is not this kind of evidence to fool outsiders."

Sherlock took a step forward, biting the bullet, and said: "Your Excellency, we have been trying to track down the whereabouts of the real culprit, but the enemy is flawless. We have no clue. It just so happened that we discovered the Super Star Cluster Alliance and Manison framing each other, so..."

He explained the recent work of the task force. In short, there were no real clues, but a large amount of fabricated evidence to confuse the public was collected.

Seeing that the outside world was becoming more and more skeptical, coupled with pressure and hints from the higher-ups, Sherlock had no choice but to extract a portion of these fabricated clues and use his reasoning and analytical skills to form a self-consistent chain of evidence. Although it was fake, after his analysis and organization, it sounded like the real thing.

Ulan Riel frowned. "Give me a definite answer. How long do you think it will take to find the real culprit?"

"...It seems to be a long way off, unless we find some breakthrough." Sherlock shook his head helplessly.

"Do you two have the same idea?" Ulan Riel turned her head.

Klotti's face was as heavy as water. She didn't speak, and slowly nodded.

Han Xiao spread his hands, making a "I can't do anything about it" look, and said:

"The person who attacked Gothe was very cunning and didn't leave any flaws. Even I don't have any clues. According to the current situation, I think the empire can only look at the problem from a different perspective, considering the benefits and finding a suitable object to take the blame to temporarily quell the storm. The Super Star Cluster is the most suitable... and they are eager to escape, so there must be something fishy about them, so it's not wrong to accuse them."

Ulan Riel shook her head and said: "But some people outside will definitely see through our plan, and the Super Star Cluster will not easily admit their guilt. This is not good for the Empire..."

"I know your concerns, but that's not important." Han Xiao interrupted her and said eloquently: "When Gothe was attacked, the empire had already lost. We were already at a disadvantage and can only try our best to recover. Now, what the empire needs most is results, showing attitude and force. We can't shut people's mouths, but we can shut their courage. In this way, even if someone mocks us, those who should be afraid will still be afraid, and the goal will be achieved."

"But in this way, won't the real culprit laugh to death when they see the empire accusing the wrong person? Won't some people with ulterior motives think the empire can be exploited?" Ulan Riel said in a deep voice.

This was what she was worried about. Once the outside world saw through the empire's approach, some people would think the empire was easy to deceive, which would also reduce the empire's prestige.

"There's no other way. We have to choose the lesser of two evils. We have to make a choice, and we can't always do things based on preference, right?" Han Xiao's face was as thick as armor. He grinned and said, "Besides, this may not be a bad thing. It may make the real culprit careless and give him a chance to reveal his weaknesses. Maybe one day, it will bring us a breakthrough."

The intelligence department official listening in also echoed: "Black Star is right. We always have to make a choice."

Ulan Riel sighed and signed the order. "Then let's do it."

In fact, when this proposal appeared on her desk, Ulan Riel understood that this was the silent consensus of the empire's high-level officials, just waiting for her to sign. The Chief of State could not do whatever she wanted and also had to navigate compromises and checks and balances. She was about to step down and could no longer act willfully.

After signing the order, Ulan Riel felt inexplicably relieved and shook her head.

"It seems that the task of finding the real culprit can only be handed over to the next Chief of State. That's good. I can relax a lot."

At this moment, Han Xiao's eyes flashed, and he said: "In fact, we are stuck in inertial thinking. There is another possibility for Gothe's disappearance. I don't know if the empire has considered it?"

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Oh? Tell me about it." Ulan Riel became interested.

"What if this is Gothe's own behavior, a proactive feigned death to play disappearance?"

Hearing this, the intelligence department official couldn't help laughing and said: "Black Star, we have already made this assumption. The final judgment is that it is impossible. Gothe has no such motive."

"I don't think so." Han Xiao shook his head. "Direct descendants are not necessarily completely loyal, right? What if he just wanted to use the empire's resources to step into Super A Grade, and then feign death to jump out of the camp's fence and go into hiding?"

After speaking, he glanced at everyone in a subtle way, taking in their disapproving expressions, and immediately added:

"Of course, I'm just judging from logic. I don't know Gothe's background and life experience, so I naturally won't completely trust him. Anyway, in my eyes, this is not impossible. There have been examples in history, haven't there?"

Sherlock pondered, "Hmm, your suspicion makes sense. Gothe has only served the empire for too short a time."

Ulan Riel glared at him and said in the old official tone: "You don't have to worry about this. The empire has its own set of systems for reviewing direct descendants and will not accept anyone with suspicious points. The empire absolutely trusts the loyalty of direct descendants..."

Han Xiao glanced at the expressionless Klotti and understood that Ulan Riel didn't want to continue this topic here.

He shook his head and smiled, pretending to be casual and said, "Okay, I was just mentioning it casually."

Sherlock relentlessly pursued, "I'm more curious. Why did you have the idea that Gothe faked his death? There must be some factor that made you have this idea. Do you think he revealed any suspicious points?"

Han Xiao was stunned and looked at him in surprise.

This guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes actually liked to play along so much? He didn't know whether to say he had a strong desire for knowledge or that he didn't pay attention to the occasion. Didn't he see the imperial intelligence official next to him was already winking at him?

Han Xiao suddenly realized that this was an opportunity to lead the rhythm. He rolled his eyes, coughed deliberately, and said:

"On the one hand, I can't find any clues at all. It's too clean, not like an outsider's attack. On the other hand... it's not that Gothe revealed any suspicious points, but I just happened to know a guy who successfully faked his death, so I made the connection."

"Who is it?" Sherlock asked curiously.

"This person is quite famous. You must know him. It's Sorokin from the Infinite Financial Group."

Before everyone could ask questions, Han Xiao said to himself:

"I discovered his little secret by chance. He is not as weak as he appears on the surface. I felt a threat from him. His strength may not be lower than mine, but he has always shown himself as a weak person. I don't know what he is plotting. Moreover, his soul's real age seems to be far beyond his current age. I tested him and found that he may be a Super A Grade in history, suspected of using the method of feigning death to hide his identity until now..."

He concealed some key information and revealed Sorokin's secrets with ambiguous words, making everyone half-believe him.

"How do you know?" Ulan Riel asked suspiciously.

"This involves a certain cosmic treasure I recently obtained, which has miraculous effects in the soul realm." Han Xiao smiled and didn't explain it specifically, pretending to be profound.

Ulan Riel knew that Han Xiao didn't want to say it, so she didn't pursue it. Thinking about Sorokin's previous behavior, she thoughtfully said: "If this is true, then Sorokin is plotting something big. We need to adjust our attitude towards him..."

She wouldn't believe it immediately, but Han Xiao had a lot of political capital and even had the bizarre bonus of [Civilization Leader Assassin], so the information he said was taken seriously.

Ulan Riel planned to investigate Sorokin in private. Compared to Black Star, Sorokin was an outsider.

Seeing this, Han Xiao stopped there and didn't want to reveal too much. He just wanted to arouse the empire's interest in Sorokin.

This was the benefit of reaching the ears of the Emperor. He happened to encounter a suitable opportunity today, and he directly put eye drops on Sorokin in front of the empire.

After all, the Super Star Cluster taking the blame was just a temporary measure for the empire. In the future, they would continue to look for the murderer, so the matter was not over. Therefore, Han Xiao really wanted to take the opportunity to deal with Sorokin.

This guy was proficient in the way of surviving by bending and stretching. He was hiding too deeply and didn't know what he was planning. If he could expose him and make him unable to continue pretending to be weak, it would undoubtedly be a good thing.

With Gothe's incident, once Sorokin's strength was exposed, he would become a suspect.

Although in the eyes of Grand Technician Han, Sorokin had no motive to commit the crime, at least it could disgust this dog thing... Hmph, let him plot against me behind my back every day. Does he think my little notebook is a blank sheet?!

"Okay, that's the situation. I have nothing else to ask. If there's nothing else..."

Ulan Riel was about to end the communication, but before she could finish her words, she heard Han Xiao speak again.

"Wait a minute, there's one last thing."

"...Speak." Ulan Riel secretly gritted her teeth.

She thought Han Xiao was going to make another small report, but she saw Han Xiao suddenly straightened his face, looking serious, and said in a deep voice.

"Your Excellency, I am now speaking to you in the capacity of Vice President of the Super A Grade Association. I support the Empire's actions against the Super Star Cluster this time, but I hope this matter will not involve the members of the association."

Hearing this, the people present perked up and looked at Han Xiao in surprise, their faces also becoming serious.

"Continue." Ulan Riel narrowed her eyes.

"I believe we all know that among the neutral Super A Grades, there are direct descendants of the Super Star Cluster. I strongly support the Empire's targeting of the Super Star Cluster, but I don't want the Super A Grades of the Super Star Cluster to be in the ranks of the Empire's retaliation. I am not protecting the murderer, but asking the Empire not to implicate some neutral and suspected Super A Grades of the Super Star Cluster. Perhaps there are murderers among them, but before proving who the real culprit is, they are protected by the association."

Han Xiao looked solemn, with a posture of arguing with the Empire at the risk of offending them.

Ulan Riel and others immediately understood what he meant. Black Star knew the ins and outs and understood how the evidence came about. Although he supported the Empire's actions, he didn't want it to become an excuse for the Empire to use Super A Grades as scapegoats, so he was prepared in advance.

One thing is one thing. It's okay to fight the Super Star Cluster, but you can't involve other unrelated Super A Grades!

The transition of identity was seamless. One second he was an ally who was thinking for the Empire, and the next second he became the Vice President of the Super A Grade Association, fulfilling his responsibilities in his position.

"You are really meticulous." Ulan Riel's eyes were complicated.

"If I don't speak for the association, will I still be able to be the vice president if the word gets out?" Han Xiao didn't care.

"...Okay, I understand. The Empire's targets are limited to the forces of the Super Star Cluster Alliance. Before obtaining complete evidence, they will not attack their hidden direct Super A Grades. After all, the association has also expressed its willingness to assist us."

Ulan Riel sighed.

Seeing this, Han Xiao smiled again, thought for a while, and said with a chuckle:

"Okay, if the Empire doesn't mind, cooperate with me to promote it. Just say that the Empire originally wanted to track down the whereabouts of the neutral Super A Grades and even conduct forced interrogations, but I argued with the Empire and defended the members of the association, and finally persuaded the Empire and dispelled the Empire's idea. Highlight my role in this."

"..."

Although the people didn't speak, their eyes conveyed the same information.

Wow, you are really impolite, and you are so shameless!

"...Okay."

Ulan Riel took a deep breath and calmed down, otherwise she was afraid that she couldn't help but grab the thermos cup on the table and smash it at Han Xiao.

Although she slandered in her heart, she still decided to promote it and increase Black Star's voice and reputation in the association. Black Star presiding over the association was more beneficial than harmful to the empire. Who else could she give this reputation to if not her own people?

After getting a definite answer, Han Xiao smiled and said goodbye.

He canceled the remote projection, and the perspective returned to the office where his main body was located. Only then did he breathe a long sigh of relief.

"This wave of my rhythm has finally completely diverted the Empire's path..."

Han Xiao felt a lot more relaxed.

Fortunately, he had enough political capital, making it easier for the Empire to accept his opinions.

If Manison and the Super Star Cluster hadn't exposed each other, he would have had to spend more effort. Now, it was like picking up ready-made things, taking the opportunity to make a fuss. It could be said that both sides had helped him, making things a lot easier. He directly grasped the main contradiction and didn't need fancy operations.

Moreover, he could also brush a wave of association reputation, letting the members see that the vice president was striving to defend the interests of the association at the risk of arguing with the Empire, showing his "responsibility". As the saying goes, a leader who doesn't fight for the interests of his subordinates is not a good leader. This wave was estimated to make more people convinced and see the benefits of him presiding over the power.

Han Xiao didn't know how many birds he had hit with this stone. He only knew that the negative impact of Gothe's attack had been resolved by him through his combination of strikes and defenses. When the Empire announced its actions against the Super Star Cluster, the matter should come to a temporary end.

As for other unknown chain reactions, he could only slowly wait and see.

...

On the other side, only Ulan Riel and Klotti were left in the Chief of State's office.

Ulan Riel subconsciously pinched her fingers, her face hesitant. After a long while, she whispered:

"Do you think he will be the next Machinery Country?"

Klotti glanced at her and shook her head.

"He is a hundred times more dangerous than the Machinery Country."