CHAPTER 2449  THE DISCIPLINE HALL

The lieutenants' question were echoed by the other soldiers present too, as they all wondered just why they had been subjected to something like this.

"The Personnel who have been arrested are all Traitors and are affiliated with the Black Ying Empire." Commander Dui announced.

"WHAT!?"

"How's that possible!?" "Even the Second Lieutenant? But he's been here for over six hundred years!"

It didn't take long for confused and astounded voices to be heard, as they all found it hard to believe the words.

"Commander… Is this confirmed?" The First Lieutenant asked. "Indeed." Commander Dui replied.

"You need not be doubtful. This has already been confirmed by the Imperial Imperator as well as the Crimson Phantom." Crown Prince Feng Shun stated.

"The Crimson Phantom too?" This was surprising to the Lieutenants. "That beast did it?" While they knew of the Crimson Phantom's reputation they didn't know who or what the beast exactly was. Many had seen him as just a blur but a few had managed to see his full form properly. And cone that was seen, it didn't take long for his appearance to spread across the city.

At first the citizens were very scared of a beast like this in the city who could abduct and kill people at a moment's notice. Most were shocked that something like this was even possible, as flying within the city was restricted in the first place, not to mention beasts like that wouldn't be given free reign.

It meant that who or whatever the beast was; it had approval to act like this from the Imperial Court.

There were many that speculated that the beast might have been one of those that were kept by the Imperial Family and was released to hunt down the people of the Black Ying Empire. While they weren't exactly correct, there was some accuracy in their words.

Little Shrubby was indeed approved to do as he pleased within the city, as the Crown Prince and others clearly knew that the beast would not act carelessly. Having spent a few years with him in the Bridge Plane, they also knew he was as smart as a human and thus there was not an issue in him not following some conditions.

Not to mention, even if they wished to restrict him, there wasn't actually much they could do as Little Shrubby had the permission of someone none of them could defy… The Saintess.

In the absence of Lin Mu, the only person whose order Little Shrubby followed was the Saintess. The elusive celestial who couldn't even be seen most of them time, often spoke to the beast without anyone knowing.

And once Little Shrubby began to show positive results, the Imperial Court and Crown Prince Feng Shun couldn't help but encourage him.

"Yes." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied. "If you wish, you can observe the interrogation." He added.

"We shall do that then." The First Lieutenant replied. "If it really is true, I'd like to see it with my own two eyes." The man added.

It was clear that the lieutenants were all close, having served for many years together, thus finding one of their comrade being accused like this was not easy.

Lin Mu looked like he was listening to their words, but he was actually scanning for anymore suspicion activity.

'If there are anymore spies, they would likely act now, knowing that their comrades have been caught.' Lin Mu thought to himself. 'Are there anymore you can smell, Little Shrubby?' he asked the beast mentally.

~SNIFF~

Little Shrubby sniffed the air, trying to find anymore traces but shook his head. "No more." He replied. "But there can be others outside." He added.

"Hmm… For now, these might be able to get us more information." Lin Mu replied before turning around.

~SHUA~

The restrained suspects floated behind him as he began to walk while Commander Dui guided them to the Discipline Hall.

This was the second biggest building in the entire district and was located near the center of it, not far from the Assembly Square.

The Crown Prince had already transmitted directions to the people in charge, thus they had already prepared everything for their arrival.

Upon reaching, Lin Mu saw the Discipline Hall members standing in two files at the entrance.

Unlike the soldiers, they all had different uniforms and their auras were also a lot more staunch. The people of the Discipline Hall oversaw the enforcement of rules and regulations within the army and thus dealt with strong immortals on a daily basis.

Hence they too were strong and were used to facing unruly people.

They had steely gazes as they gazed at the floating suspects that were all restrained without the slightest budging.

But behind their gazes, they were actually quite shocked at it all.

'Is that the Imperial Imperator? Such profound skills…'

'No wonder he was appointed the Imperial Imperator. Only someone like this would be worthy.' They all thought. And as Lin Mu reached the entrance, the Discipline hall members all cupped their hands in salute.

"We welcome Lord Imperator!" They all said in unison.

~STEP~STEP~STEP~ is the owner.

Among the members, two individuals stood up and walked up to the group.

"Lord Imperator, we've prepared the Interrogation hall for you." One of them spoke.

"We shall guide you there," the second one added.

Lin Mu looked at them, wondering who they were.

"These are the Left and Right Elders of the Discipline Hall." Crown Prince Feng Shun introduced. "They shall be answering to you from now on." He added.

"Huh?" Lin Mu raised a brow. "Why me?" "As the Imperial Imperator, the discipline hall also comes under your authority, of course." Commander Dui stated as a matter of fact.

Lin Mu had missed this, though now that he thought about it, the matter seemed obvious.

The Imperial Imperator's function was technically that of observation, judgment, and punishment. As such the Discipline hall that did all these would certainly come under the same branch.

After the initial surprise of meeting the discipline Hall members, Lin Mu and the others quickly went to the interrogation hall.

It was as expected, located deep underground and had several arrays set up on it that secured it almost perfectly.

Lin Mu could even sense a self destruction array that would detonate the entire building if it was sensed that a dangerous criminal was about to escape or was going to be a threat.

It might seem like a drastic measure, but when one was dealing with individuals that could causally decimate a million people with the flick of a hand, it was very important to be decisive.

"This is quite big." Lin Mu said, seeing the Interrogation hall that was about six hundred meters wide and equally as long. In fact, the hall seemed to be bigger than the building above.

"It was designed as a multi-functional hall and can be used as a prison cell too." The Left Hall Elder informed.

In the hall, Lin Mu could certainly see several lines of heavily reinforced doors, which he guessed were meant to be used as cells.

"It can often be risky to transport criminals between prisons and the interrogation hall, so we simply keep them here until we are satisfied with the results." The Right Elder answered.

"I see," Lin Mu replied before looking at a relatively large room at the end. "Is that where we're supposed to go?" he asked.

"Yes." Commander Dui replied. "Though we can probably restrain the rest in the cells for now." He added.

"Very well." Lin Mu replied as he lowered them to the ground. "I guess you all can seal their cultivation?" "Of course." The Left Elder replied and gave a look to the other discipline hall members that were waiting for their orders. "You heard Lord Imperator. Get to work." He ordered.

"At once!" They replied and quickly rushed to each of the suspects.

But when they tried to touch them, they realized they couldn't come closer than a couple centimeters. "I'll release the restraints partially." Lin Mu said, allowing them access.

~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~

With that done, the members quickly acted and took out silver needles that were then inserted into the bodies of the suspects. Within a couple minutes, their cultivation bases were sealed and they wouldn't be able to use any Qi skill to detonate their bodies.

The same was done to the Second Lieutenant too, but he was also fed a paralyzing pill in addition to it.

"It should be fine now, Lord Imperator." The Left Elder stated.

"Alright." Lin Mu said as he fully released them from the effects of Meld.

~THUD~THUD~THUD~

They fell to the ground and were quickly carried to cells. Most of them were unconscious, thus they were unable to retort in any way, expect for the Second Lieutenant.

"You… you've… made a … Mistake." He uttered with great difficulty.

~SMACK~

"We'll be the judges of that." Commander Dui said, slapping the man across his face. "In the mean time you'll only speak when spoken to." He said with a frown.