“The corruption was bigger than we anticipated!” A middle-aged man spoke as he bottomed his strong alcohol. He twirled the glass now devoid of alcohol and two cubes of ice made a clink.
“How many have you detected?” Mercer asked the middle-aged man with an infelicitous expression. The man clenched his hands and his shirt tightened because of his biceps. He was a muscular man with dark skin, his eyes were as black as his daughters. The man was Quinn’s father, Kostas Anemone. He visited Cross Mansion after their operation was done, and he didn’t look good at all.
“More than a dozen thousands.” He said heavily and filled another glass full of strong whisky. He bottomed up once again and looked at Mercer.
“Most of them learned our operations beforehand and escaped to the Portal World. As you already know, even after so many years, the strongholds at the inner circles are limited, so the few strongholds we have aren’t that far from each other. They were able to gather at meeting points easily. We only caught a couple of thousands, in which most of them suicided and destroyed their wristwatches, but Mother AI hacked into them beforehand, so we were still able to gather some information.” He said and took a handkerchief to clean the sweat on his forehead. He was already a strong hunter, but even at his level, he sweated when he heard the corrupted officers sullied the reputation of his organization.
“How big is their operation?” Malcolm asked apoplectically. His sons saved dozens of children today, and behind it was the same police needed to protect them. Only God knew how many others there were that they were unaware of. How many children waited to be saved, or used for these disgusting causes?
“There were lots of high-ranking officers on their payroll. They were either bribed to keep their mouth shut, or worked together, but since they were using Starve Coins, they were untraceable. But Mother AI is certain, it has got rid of almost all of them.” Kostas said, demoralized. He was chief of the police, but unaware of happenings under his nose. He wanted to resign from his job many times today out of shame, but Mother AI stopped him and asked for his help.
“What is the criminal parties’ view on the subject?” Miles asked. Everyone turned to look at him weirdly. Not because he was too young and had no place to talk there, but because the question itself was the crux of the matter they were avoiding to talk about yet. Miles had some other ideas in his mind, but he couldn’t word them out, as they were nefand.
“Starve Cleric gathered others once again to fight against the tyrant government. To clear the corrupted police, Mother AI was permitted to look into every wristwatch. In normal times, citizens could protect their privacy, and Unity wouldn’t permit Mother AI to look at their private lives, but since we had to clear the germs in our ranks as soon as possible, we let it do it anyway. But the news leaked out even before we had started our operation.
Citizens are displeased and questioning the government as we speak. There are some supporting us, some criticizing us. All in all, it doesn’t look good.” Kostas summarized what was happening in Unity. Miles already had a hunch about it, but he wasn’t clear on what to think yet. He had a bad feeling about everything happening lately but didn’t have any evidence, so he decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being.
“People will not dare to riot once again. Not for now at least.” Mercer said frustratedly. They used a hammer to suppress the last big riot and killed whoever stood in their way. It was cruel, but it was effective. Ever since, citizens dared not to riot again. There was a small march not long ago, but it was quenched quickly.
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“How was the operation, have you found all the hideouts and saved all the children?” Merlin asked.
“Hmm.” Kostas nodded. “Most saved, some were empty. They are either moved, or something else, but we saved thousands of children all around Unity.”
“Glad to hear.” Quinn heaved a sigh of relief. Mercer and Merlin on the other hand wanted to ask more.
“Where are they now?” Mercer asked. He wanted to recruit those children. Merlin was also eager to take action. After all, none of the children kidnapped were mediocre. All of them had at worst uncommon elements.
“You know as much as I do General, I lost quite a few men today. All the children saved will be raised by the Police, and in the future, if they want to join the army, they are free to do so.” Kostas answered righteously, but all Miles could see was hypocrisy, and his eyes filled with disgust before it vanished as quickly as it appeared. While children were abducted and may have been killed, they were still fighting over their custody. Miles felt disgusted.
“Hmm, it is the right thing to do,” Mercer answered. He was okay as long as the other generals hadn't gotten them first. Merlin and Quinn had a great relationship and looked like they were a couple. This made two families partners. He wasn’t thrilled to miss this opportunity, but at least, he was glad it wasn’t any other family getting the children first.
“That reminds me, how are the children you saved today?” Kostas looked at Merlin and asked with a glint in his eyes. He also had his own ideas when he came to Cross Mansion to report directly. None of the other Generals had the same privilege.
“They are all fine. We took them to the hospital and checked their conditions. A few were sick but healed before being taken to the army to be identified. All of them were orphans, so they were registered in our care for now. When they reach the age, they will be given options.” Merlin explained. Just like Kostas, he also emphasized they would be given choices when they are older. Of course, until then, they would long be brainwashed.
“It is good to hear.” Kostas said and sighed, “I heard there was a very sick little girl. You even went to Master Gordon for help. How is she doing?” Kostas asked once again. Miles looked at the middle-aged man sitting without any emotion on his face. He felt anger boiling inside him, but he suppressed it.
“She is also doing fine. She is attached to us so she will stay with us for the time being.” Merlin answered with a smile.
“It is good, it is good. What is her element? Maybe her element caused her some damage?” Kostas asked matter of factly. As if he was just bringing it up for a casual chat.
“We haven’t tested it yet. As I said, she was attached to us and didn’t leave our side ever since we saved her. We will test it later and see.” Merlin answered, and changed the subject. “How about other children you saved? Anyone with a rare element? They should be tested by now, and there should be several worth nurturing.”
“Hmm, not bad at all. There are a few with healing abilities and some other stronger elements. But I don’t have the full list yet.”
“It is good. Since you worked hard and lost several thousands of men, you should nurture them so the Police Force wouldn’t weaken.” Mercer advised the sagely.
“I will keep General’s words in mind. Thank you for entertaining me, I will take my leave for now.” Kostas said and stood up to leave.
“Quinn coming?” He asked his daughter.
“I am gonna stay a few more days,” Quinn answered and they hugged. The servant walked in to see Kostas to the door. Merlin also tactfully took Quinn to see the backyard.
“That old fox.” Mercer’s eyes squinted as he looked at the door. As if he was looking at Kostas. Miles was still in the room, so he just listened to them speak.
“He indeed grabbed the biggest piece, but it is not that bad. At least others didn’t get anything.” Malcolm commented.
“I doubt. He didn’t offer anything to us, because we already saved a batch and recruited them, but other families will not watch Kostas have them all. Kostas will probably give them something to buy their approval.” Mercer said with schadenfreude.