Iris Kingdom, the City of Light.
This is the capital of the Iris Kingdom.
If you are someone who doesn't know the history of Iris, you might find this name a bit unbearable - Iris is full of Moon Children who act at night and a bunch of assassins who act in the shadows, but the capital is called this name.
——Where is the light? Please tell me.
But in fact, the origin of this name is quite ironic - it is precisely because of the existence of the Moon Child and Hawkeye organizations that the crime rate in the capital is too high.
At that time, the royal family had not been killed, and the Moon Children did not have complete power like they do now. The Hawkeye organization did not have political power at that time. It was a purely civilian organization, much purer than it is now... They assassinated great artists, rich people, officials, and nobles, basically all based on the justice of "public opinion".
In the era when street lights were scarce, the Iris capital, with its large number of artistic buildings, was too favorable for assassins who could hide in the shadows. They could easily escape, blend into the shadows of the buildings, and then escape from every corner of the capital.
Although many assassins use this method to assassinate the Son of the Moon, many assassins also use this advantageous terrain to assassinate some politicians and celebrities.
At the same time, some gang members would take advantage of this favorable environment to steal, rob, kidnap or murder. The Hawkeye Organization even had to take on some of the patrol and security work... and even so, some crimes were still framed on them.
After all, most people are certainly not as familiar with the environment as those assassins who roam around on the roof every day. And those who control public opinion and power are afraid of the "secret observation" of the Hawkeye organization.
——Among those who have reached this position, how many dare to say that their hands are absolutely clean, have never offended anyone, and have never hurt any innocent people?
In the capital of Iris, a crossbow arrow could be shot from the shadows of any corner, and an assassin whose face could not be seen could jump down from the height of any roof and assassinate from the air. Regardless of whether the target was killed or not, as long as they immediately jumped over the wall and escaped, it would be basically impossible to catch up.
Even a high-ranking extraordinary person could be killed in an assassination attempt without any precautions. Not to mention sniping, curses, poisoning... Even harassment would be extremely annoying.
Finally, at the urging of the frightened Moon Children, the Iris Royal Family announced a massive investment in the capital to build a large number of lamps.
Every street, including dark alleys, rooftops, under bridges, dead ends and even sewers, is filled with countless lights to keep the whole city permanently bright at night, and night patrols are added to ensure that there is no shadow in the city. Destroying or blocking lighting is classified as a crime.
This has indeed greatly reduced the crime rate, because assassins can no longer assassinate in the street. Originally, they could escape into the darkness by turning their heads, but now they can run for half an hour in the bright light. The ubiquitous light makes stealth much more difficult, and assassins who are already stealthed may be discovered because of this.
The royal family was pleased with the remarkable results, so this extremely costly project was preserved.
This directly led to the fact that in the capital of Iris, it is impossible to fall asleep without drawing the curtains. On the other hand, the safety and brightness of the city at night also directly promoted the night entertainment culture of Iris. People began to travel, set up stalls, and have fun at night, and shops were no longer closed.
When the night is as bright as the day, people's perception of time will gradually change. As a result, the capital of irises eventually developed a living habit that is completely different from other cities.
After the royal family was beheaded, the Iris people proudly called it the "City of Light" to commemorate the light of freedom, but forgot where the name originally came from.
The headquarters of the Hawkeye Organization is here - in the capital city where the light is the brightest and there is no room for shadows.
Until now, they have not been discovered by the Moon Child. The reason is very simple... because they are hiding underground.
When Iris was still the Herasil Empire, this was the location of the Ziggurat Academy. In order to provide the Ziggurat Academy with enough materials and to solve the problem of the undead as much as possible in the absence of priests, many corpses were transported here during the Empire.
In order to store these bodies, there is a huge underground tomb. When the psychic tower flew away, it was just hastily buried and sealed. After the establishment of the Iris Kingdom, it did not choose to bury it... because the cost would be too high, and no one wanted to pay this price.
Even the Son of the Moon dared not explore underground - who knows how many undead souls have been hatched from the corpses buried here, and how many powerful phantom demons have been raised through breeding. The Path of Love will be restrained by the Path of Dusk, just like the Winter Demon can easily kill the Son of the Moon.
So the assassins of the Hawkeye Organization hid in the end of the underground tombs where countless corpses were buried, surrounded by a group of undead. This is also the best place to train stealth skills - once you are sent to the headquarters, you basically can't get out.
If you alert the undead and don't have a strong enough stealth ability, you will die. And if you can't escape from the undead by nimbly climbing over various obstacles made of bones and earth walls, you will not be able to leave here.
Under the intense pressure of survival, they quickly "adapted" and mastered night vision, night fighting, environmental combat, silence, stealth, and most importantly, the ability to adapt to circumstances and try to escape anywhere.
While the Hawkeye assassins are now in a frenzy, this place seems unusually quiet and deserted.
A gentle and respectable man dressed in navy blue suit walked alone into the depths of the catacombs, surrounded by countless undead spirits.
The place was lit up by candlelight, making everything look like it was emitting a golden glow.
"—I'm coming, Siliaix."
As soon as the man entered, he said to a shadow with a stern face: "You should know... don't contact me unless necessary, right? Master Siliaix?"
In the direction he was looking at, the shadow slowly condensed into a human shape.
In fact, Thomas was born into an assassin family and was a rare master assassin. He didn't know since which generation his family had joined the Hawkeye organization... I'm afraid no one would know except the man in front of him.
"……leader."
The old man slowly said, "Or rather... Speaker Pierre. I have something to tell you."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes slightly.
The man called Pierre is the real behind-the-scenes leader of the Hawkeye organization.
He is also the true ruler of Iris today, the Prime Minister elected by the Giant Tree Party and the head of Iris's cabinet - although strictly speaking, Iris has no surviving royal family, so he cannot be considered a "prime minister".
To be precise, he should actually be the head or president of Iris.
After the "Third Rebellion" of the king and nobles was ended, the chief citizen elected by the parliament was indeed called the head of state. In the subsequent rebellions, the name of the head of the Iris State changed many times, and finally stabilized on this name.
—The Iris Man shrank back again.
Beheading the king, hanging the nobles... The chaos caused by the overly fanatical third rebellion made people disgusted. They believed that it was because of the loss of the king that the country was in such a mess. But they didn't want another king to rule them... So in the end, the tone was set:
Although all the royal family members are dead, they are still responsible for "the history and glory of Iris that has been passed down to this day", but "they are still continuing to search for the bloodline of the previous king passed down among the people, and will manage the country on behalf of the new king before that."
Of course, such a new king will never appear.
There was even some push from the Star People - if the royal family was completely removed from the political system, it would mean that they would have nothing to do with the Helasar Empire. The previous Rift War was a joke, and without the Helasar Empire's claim, the Star People would really have an excuse to fight them.
——In a relatively balanced international confrontation, the pretext for war is a very important thing. Although it may seem ridiculous at times, it actually makes a big difference whether it is there or not.
Although it won't suddenly wipe out a legion or cause a gun to explode... it will seriously affect some intangible things, such as morale, recruitment efficiency, international public opinion, war durability, the cost of ruling after victory and the price paid by the other side, and the degree of war-weariness in the rear.
Therefore, the "king" must exist, even if this king is just a lonely crown, a scepter, or a symbol.
The Xingti people on the other side also breathed a sigh of relief.
Because if the Iris people really no longer respected the king, it meant that once this trend flowed into Star Antimony, it might threaten the rule of the civilian king Valentine's family, who also lacked a claim. The Iris people had a claim in the Rift War, and they dared to drive out the royal family, so why couldn't the Star Antimony people do the same?
The social environment in Iris is not that bad at all. At least people can live and survive. There is no territorial loss, the economy is healthy, there is no large-scale famine, and the employment situation is not bad. Although the crime rate is a bit high, at least it is safe during the day.
The continuous rebellions were actually instigated by different forces and were a struggle among the top leaders...
But Xingti's economy really collapsed.
They really didn't dare let the Iris people say anything.
What if an alien really awakens?
"What do you want to do…Master Siliaix?"
Pierre asked seriously, "Good days have come, there is no need to fight anymore... Even if you really want to do something, can't you wait a little longer?"
His words were almost pleading.
Because Pierre had roughly guessed what Master Siliaix was thinking.
If there was something important that required him to come to the headquarters for an interview... then Pierre could only think of that one thing.
Master Cilliax's beloved granddaughter, the genius of the Hawkeye Organization, Chloë de Cilliax, was once killed by Aiwas Moriarty.
Considering the international impact and to save the Hawkeye organization, Speaker Pierre knelt down and admitted his mistakes to Avalon twice. After Aiwass became the Pope, they completely gave up the idea of assassinating him.
And now...
"So I'm quitting the Hawkeye organization."
The old man said slowly: "In a few days, it will be too late. If Hawkeye completely controls the country, then every move will be interpreted by others. But now... Hawkeye is just an underground organization."
"You are so naive, teacher!"
Speaker Pierre frowned, "Once you are involved in this matter, you can never clear yourself from it! Regardless of whether you have quit the Hawkeye Organization or not, outsiders think that the Hawkeye Organization assassinated the former Pope - and he is also the brother of the Empress of the New Herasser Empire. Your actions may bring war and destruction to Iris!"
"Your perspective is wrong, Pierre."
The old man stared at Speaker Pierre with his dim yellow eyes: "I taught you - don't look at things from too high a perspective. Many people don't know what you know, and most people are ignorant.
"Not many people know that you are the leader of the organization... Those people either don't speak out or have been killed by me. Regardless of whether my assassination is successful or not, you can take this opportunity to launch a purge within the Hawkeye organization and clean up all those social dregs.
"Now that the Moon Children have been purged, they are no longer valuable. But internal purges will lead to rebellion and chaos, so this must be done by the authorities.
"If an organization wants to run for a long time, it must have sufficient quality. Obviously, Hawkeye's quality is not enough. If those people continue to stay in the organization, it will only cause the organization to collapse."
Hearing this, Speaker Pierre frowned slightly.
He seemed to understand somewhat what Master Siliaix meant.
"Teacher, what do you mean...?"
"You are too cautious, Pierre. You have lived in the light world for too long and are no longer used to the rules of the dark world."
The old man stared at him with his dim and cold eyes, and asked, "Do you really want to let those people rebel? Not many people know that you are our leader - that is, those sewer scum don't know either. If Hawkeye wants to seize power, you will be their first target for assassination."
"...But in that case, teacher," Speaker Pierre hesitated, "you will die anyway."
"I've had enough of life."
The old man sighed: "I didn't even plan to successfully assassinate Aiwass... I'm afraid he was the one who killed Xue Tiansi.
"But can I let the man who killed Chloë slip away from me and live in silence? I can't, Pierre.
"There has to be an end between us. I have no descendants. Do you want me to lie on my sickbed and watch the last of Siliaix's blood wither away?
"I would rather be the fire that ignites the irises."
This is the capital of the Iris Kingdom.
If you are someone who doesn't know the history of Iris, you might find this name a bit unbearable - Iris is full of Moon Children who act at night and a bunch of assassins who act in the shadows, but the capital is called this name.
——Where is the light? Please tell me.
But in fact, the origin of this name is quite ironic - it is precisely because of the existence of the Moon Child and Hawkeye organizations that the crime rate in the capital is too high.
At that time, the royal family had not been killed, and the Moon Children did not have complete power like they do now. The Hawkeye organization did not have political power at that time. It was a purely civilian organization, much purer than it is now... They assassinated great artists, rich people, officials, and nobles, basically all based on the justice of "public opinion".
In the era when street lights were scarce, the Iris capital, with its large number of artistic buildings, was too favorable for assassins who could hide in the shadows. They could easily escape, blend into the shadows of the buildings, and then escape from every corner of the capital.
Although many assassins use this method to assassinate the Son of the Moon, many assassins also use this advantageous terrain to assassinate some politicians and celebrities.
At the same time, some gang members would take advantage of this favorable environment to steal, rob, kidnap or murder. The Hawkeye Organization even had to take on some of the patrol and security work... and even so, some crimes were still framed on them.
After all, most people are certainly not as familiar with the environment as those assassins who roam around on the roof every day. And those who control public opinion and power are afraid of the "secret observation" of the Hawkeye organization.
——Among those who have reached this position, how many dare to say that their hands are absolutely clean, have never offended anyone, and have never hurt any innocent people?
In the capital of Iris, a crossbow arrow could be shot from the shadows of any corner, and an assassin whose face could not be seen could jump down from the height of any roof and assassinate from the air. Regardless of whether the target was killed or not, as long as they immediately jumped over the wall and escaped, it would be basically impossible to catch up.
Even a high-ranking extraordinary person could be killed in an assassination attempt without any precautions. Not to mention sniping, curses, poisoning... Even harassment would be extremely annoying.
Finally, at the urging of the frightened Moon Children, the Iris Royal Family announced a massive investment in the capital to build a large number of lamps.
Every street, including dark alleys, rooftops, under bridges, dead ends and even sewers, is filled with countless lights to keep the whole city permanently bright at night, and night patrols are added to ensure that there is no shadow in the city. Destroying or blocking lighting is classified as a crime.
This has indeed greatly reduced the crime rate, because assassins can no longer assassinate in the street. Originally, they could escape into the darkness by turning their heads, but now they can run for half an hour in the bright light. The ubiquitous light makes stealth much more difficult, and assassins who are already stealthed may be discovered because of this.
The royal family was pleased with the remarkable results, so this extremely costly project was preserved.
This directly led to the fact that in the capital of Iris, it is impossible to fall asleep without drawing the curtains. On the other hand, the safety and brightness of the city at night also directly promoted the night entertainment culture of Iris. People began to travel, set up stalls, and have fun at night, and shops were no longer closed.
When the night is as bright as the day, people's perception of time will gradually change. As a result, the capital of irises eventually developed a living habit that is completely different from other cities.
After the royal family was beheaded, the Iris people proudly called it the "City of Light" to commemorate the light of freedom, but forgot where the name originally came from.
The headquarters of the Hawkeye Organization is here - in the capital city where the light is the brightest and there is no room for shadows.
Until now, they have not been discovered by the Moon Child. The reason is very simple... because they are hiding underground.
When Iris was still the Herasil Empire, this was the location of the Ziggurat Academy. In order to provide the Ziggurat Academy with enough materials and to solve the problem of the undead as much as possible in the absence of priests, many corpses were transported here during the Empire.
In order to store these bodies, there is a huge underground tomb. When the psychic tower flew away, it was just hastily buried and sealed. After the establishment of the Iris Kingdom, it did not choose to bury it... because the cost would be too high, and no one wanted to pay this price.
Even the Son of the Moon dared not explore underground - who knows how many undead souls have been hatched from the corpses buried here, and how many powerful phantom demons have been raised through breeding. The Path of Love will be restrained by the Path of Dusk, just like the Winter Demon can easily kill the Son of the Moon.
So the assassins of the Hawkeye Organization hid in the end of the underground tombs where countless corpses were buried, surrounded by a group of undead. This is also the best place to train stealth skills - once you are sent to the headquarters, you basically can't get out.
If you alert the undead and don't have a strong enough stealth ability, you will die. And if you can't escape from the undead by nimbly climbing over various obstacles made of bones and earth walls, you will not be able to leave here.
Under the intense pressure of survival, they quickly "adapted" and mastered night vision, night fighting, environmental combat, silence, stealth, and most importantly, the ability to adapt to circumstances and try to escape anywhere.
While the Hawkeye assassins are now in a frenzy, this place seems unusually quiet and deserted.
A gentle and respectable man dressed in navy blue suit walked alone into the depths of the catacombs, surrounded by countless undead spirits.
The place was lit up by candlelight, making everything look like it was emitting a golden glow.
"—I'm coming, Siliaix."
As soon as the man entered, he said to a shadow with a stern face: "You should know... don't contact me unless necessary, right? Master Siliaix?"
In the direction he was looking at, the shadow slowly condensed into a human shape.
In fact, Thomas was born into an assassin family and was a rare master assassin. He didn't know since which generation his family had joined the Hawkeye organization... I'm afraid no one would know except the man in front of him.
"……leader."
The old man slowly said, "Or rather... Speaker Pierre. I have something to tell you."
Hearing this, the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes slightly.
The man called Pierre is the real behind-the-scenes leader of the Hawkeye organization.
He is also the true ruler of Iris today, the Prime Minister elected by the Giant Tree Party and the head of Iris's cabinet - although strictly speaking, Iris has no surviving royal family, so he cannot be considered a "prime minister".
To be precise, he should actually be the head or president of Iris.
After the "Third Rebellion" of the king and nobles was ended, the chief citizen elected by the parliament was indeed called the head of state. In the subsequent rebellions, the name of the head of the Iris State changed many times, and finally stabilized on this name.
—The Iris Man shrank back again.
Beheading the king, hanging the nobles... The chaos caused by the overly fanatical third rebellion made people disgusted. They believed that it was because of the loss of the king that the country was in such a mess. But they didn't want another king to rule them... So in the end, the tone was set:
Although all the royal family members are dead, they are still responsible for "the history and glory of Iris that has been passed down to this day", but "they are still continuing to search for the bloodline of the previous king passed down among the people, and will manage the country on behalf of the new king before that."
Of course, such a new king will never appear.
There was even some push from the Star People - if the royal family was completely removed from the political system, it would mean that they would have nothing to do with the Helasar Empire. The previous Rift War was a joke, and without the Helasar Empire's claim, the Star People would really have an excuse to fight them.
——In a relatively balanced international confrontation, the pretext for war is a very important thing. Although it may seem ridiculous at times, it actually makes a big difference whether it is there or not.
Although it won't suddenly wipe out a legion or cause a gun to explode... it will seriously affect some intangible things, such as morale, recruitment efficiency, international public opinion, war durability, the cost of ruling after victory and the price paid by the other side, and the degree of war-weariness in the rear.
Therefore, the "king" must exist, even if this king is just a lonely crown, a scepter, or a symbol.
The Xingti people on the other side also breathed a sigh of relief.
Because if the Iris people really no longer respected the king, it meant that once this trend flowed into Star Antimony, it might threaten the rule of the civilian king Valentine's family, who also lacked a claim. The Iris people had a claim in the Rift War, and they dared to drive out the royal family, so why couldn't the Star Antimony people do the same?
The social environment in Iris is not that bad at all. At least people can live and survive. There is no territorial loss, the economy is healthy, there is no large-scale famine, and the employment situation is not bad. Although the crime rate is a bit high, at least it is safe during the day.
The continuous rebellions were actually instigated by different forces and were a struggle among the top leaders...
But Xingti's economy really collapsed.
They really didn't dare let the Iris people say anything.
What if an alien really awakens?
"What do you want to do…Master Siliaix?"
Pierre asked seriously, "Good days have come, there is no need to fight anymore... Even if you really want to do something, can't you wait a little longer?"
His words were almost pleading.
Because Pierre had roughly guessed what Master Siliaix was thinking.
If there was something important that required him to come to the headquarters for an interview... then Pierre could only think of that one thing.
Master Cilliax's beloved granddaughter, the genius of the Hawkeye Organization, Chloë de Cilliax, was once killed by Aiwas Moriarty.
Considering the international impact and to save the Hawkeye organization, Speaker Pierre knelt down and admitted his mistakes to Avalon twice. After Aiwass became the Pope, they completely gave up the idea of assassinating him.
And now...
"So I'm quitting the Hawkeye organization."
The old man said slowly: "In a few days, it will be too late. If Hawkeye completely controls the country, then every move will be interpreted by others. But now... Hawkeye is just an underground organization."
"You are so naive, teacher!"
Speaker Pierre frowned, "Once you are involved in this matter, you can never clear yourself from it! Regardless of whether you have quit the Hawkeye Organization or not, outsiders think that the Hawkeye Organization assassinated the former Pope - and he is also the brother of the Empress of the New Herasser Empire. Your actions may bring war and destruction to Iris!"
"Your perspective is wrong, Pierre."
The old man stared at Speaker Pierre with his dim yellow eyes: "I taught you - don't look at things from too high a perspective. Many people don't know what you know, and most people are ignorant.
"Not many people know that you are the leader of the organization... Those people either don't speak out or have been killed by me. Regardless of whether my assassination is successful or not, you can take this opportunity to launch a purge within the Hawkeye organization and clean up all those social dregs.
"Now that the Moon Children have been purged, they are no longer valuable. But internal purges will lead to rebellion and chaos, so this must be done by the authorities.
"If an organization wants to run for a long time, it must have sufficient quality. Obviously, Hawkeye's quality is not enough. If those people continue to stay in the organization, it will only cause the organization to collapse."
Hearing this, Speaker Pierre frowned slightly.
He seemed to understand somewhat what Master Siliaix meant.
"Teacher, what do you mean...?"
"You are too cautious, Pierre. You have lived in the light world for too long and are no longer used to the rules of the dark world."
The old man stared at him with his dim and cold eyes, and asked, "Do you really want to let those people rebel? Not many people know that you are our leader - that is, those sewer scum don't know either. If Hawkeye wants to seize power, you will be their first target for assassination."
"...But in that case, teacher," Speaker Pierre hesitated, "you will die anyway."
"I've had enough of life."
The old man sighed: "I didn't even plan to successfully assassinate Aiwass... I'm afraid he was the one who killed Xue Tiansi.
"But can I let the man who killed Chloë slip away from me and live in silence? I can't, Pierre.
"There has to be an end between us. I have no descendants. Do you want me to lie on my sickbed and watch the last of Siliaix's blood wither away?
"I would rather be the fire that ignites the irises."
