Chapter 531: The Operation
To prevent the Marquess of Nothing from gathering his confidants, Henwell escorts him to Divine Revelation City that very night.
On the road, the Marquess of Nothing wants to escape more than once.
But in the end, he does nothing. He has already realized that Henwell's aura is locked on him the entire time.
Henwell is deliberately giving him a chance to run. Otherwise, how could Henwell kill him?
Perhaps sensing Henwell's malice, the Marquess of Nothing finally suppresses his desire to act.
Although Henwell very much wants to kill him, this fellow still has many secrets. Both the church and the empire have specifically demanded that the Marquess of Nothing be kept alive.
Moreover, as a member of the royal family, Henwell cannot rashly kill him right now.
His deal with the Marquess of Nothing was made under the table from the start. None of those things can be brought into the open.
Unfortunately, the Marquess of Nothing does not give Henwell a chance to act.
Henwell is not worried. He has plenty of ways to torment him.
When Henwell writes the detailed operation report later, he will devote plenty of space to the Marquess of Nothing.
Two days later, the situation gradually calms down.
However, news of this matter has already reached the upper ranks of various countries and immediately caused a huge uproar.
Most of the Western Federation's elites have also returned. The remaining elites form two teams and begin clearing out Veil strongholds in Billie.
Once Henwell and the others' injuries have basically stabilized, they begin accepting questioning for the first time.
The questioning team is led by Archbishop Ashiburn and Expedition Marshal Luke.
When it is Henwell's turn, he has already prepared an extremely detailed report.
Although every word is full of guilt over his improper command, in truth, he has already shifted the responsibility cleanly away from himself.
In fact, neither the church nor the empire has any reason to make Henwell bear responsibility.
Everything Henwell did has already exceeded both sides' expectations of him.
At least when it comes to salvaging the situation, Henwell's contributions cannot be erased.
Yet deep down, both sides are unhappy with Henwell.
It is not that they think Henwell did badly. It is that Henwell did too well.
In other words, Henwell's only mistake is that he survived.
If Henwell had died, this ending would have been barely acceptable to both sides.
Ashiburn asks, "Henwell, do you know who intervened in the later stage of the battle, and where the Abyss Sin Shepherd went?"
Henwell says, "My lord, I truly do not know. Like everyone else, I only sensed powerful extraordinary fluctuations from that area."
"We all thought it was a hidden measure arranged by the church and the empire, and none of us dared go over to check."
"After all, the gap between us and Glory Rank is too great. I did not even have the qualifications to watch that kind of battle."
Luke asks, "What about Blacksmith's death? What do you have to say about that?"
Henwell says, "I fought him twice. The first time was in the king's hall."
"The second time was after I went to Princess Catherine and retrieved my equipment."
"During the second fight, I could barely circle around him."
"But Blacksmith bullies the weak and fears the strong. When he saw that he could not take me down without injury, he left. He was probably going to call for help."
"It was only later, while Princess Catherine's troops were searching, that I discovered Blacksmith was already dead."
Luke continues, "The person who killed Blacksmith and the person who forced away the Abyss Sin Shepherd are not the same."
"There are a large number of slash marks in the king's hall, and we have already locked onto some suspects."
"But we have no clue at all about the one who killed Blacksmith."
"That person is skilled with heavy weapons, or perhaps fist combat, and should also be a Glory Rank. Do you have any thoughts?"
Henwell frowns. "My lord, forgive my bluntness, but there are no Glory Ranks in my circle of knowledge. I have not even seen a battle between Glory Ranks."
"I am sorry, but I am afraid I cannot offer any useful advice. Still, if someone could send out two Glory Ranks specifically against the Veil, could it be that a hidden professional of the Billie Kingdom could no longer stand by and chose to intervene?"
Archbishop Ashiburn shakes his head in denial. "No. If a Glory Rank appeared in Billie, he would be guided to the Abundant Continent. He would not remain here all this time."
"As for enemies of the Veil, there are indeed many. But anyone capable of seeing through this plan and seizing the chance to interfere would not appear on this continent."
Henwell says, "Then I do not know. This is beyond my understanding."
Luke asks next, "Henwell, then how do you view this incident?"
Henwell says, "It is obvious that information leaked from our side. The raid was launched so quickly."
"Without preparation, the Veil could not have gathered so many professionals in such a short time and arranged such a careful plan of action."
"Therefore, there is a Veil spy inside us, and that person's position is not low. At the very least, they were able to guide us into carrying out this mission."
"In addition, the Marquess of Nothing, who provided the intelligence, is also highly suspicious. Without his intelligence, we would not have rashly attacked the castle."
"This should be a long-planned conspiracy from both inside and outside. We should investigate who was forcefully pushing for the operation to begin immediately."
"Back then, after I received the intelligence, I questioned it. I opposed acting so hastily."
"Our preparation time was too short, so short that I had no chance to deliver all our weapons and equipment inside."
"Nor did we conduct preliminary field reconnaissance of Sunflower Fortress, which led to many accidents during the operation."
"I believe that if we had been fully equipped, with the strength of our team plus several Iron Knights, the operation might still have failed, but at least the losses would not have been so severe."
"All of this forces me to suspect that there is an enemy spy among us, cooperating with the enemy to create this ambush against us."
Ashiburn and Luke do not state any position on Henwell's accusation.
If someone truly colluded with the Veil in this operation, then it could only be someone among the decision makers.
After all, they were the ones who strongly demanded that Henwell and the others act immediately.
But of course, they cannot bear this blame.
They cannot say that even though they clearly knew there was an ambush, they still sent their subordinates to die in order to exchange their lives for a chance to interfere in Billie's political situation.
That would make all Western Federation operation teams abroad feel a sense of danger.
At the same time, the royal families of the various countries would immediately report this to the Western Federation's Imperial Royal Inspectorate.
At that point, they would no longer be facing Henwell's questions.
It would be the questioning of the imperial emperor.
Ashiburn changes the subject. "Henwell, do you think the Billie royal family is still reliable?"
Henwell shakes his head. "No. After all, the Veil has operated here for so long. Who knows how many people they have infiltrated?"
"I believe the church and the empire should intervene and arrange for an observation team to be stationed here to supervise the situation."
"The church and the empire should also intervene in the selection of Billie's new king. We cannot allow such a terrible matter to happen again."
This is a very good suggestion.
Unfortunately, the Western Federation cannot do it, no matter how badly they want to.