Chapter 317
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Chapter 317: The Punishment Left is Even Greater
Exile Planet.
Inside the palace hall, countless people gathered.
Men and women of all ages, more than three thousand in total.
Some wore precious silk robes, while others dressed in cheap coarse cloth.
Their strength realms varied greatly.
Looking around, over seventy percent of the top geniuses from the Great Flame Kingdom were all present here.
In fact, most of the others also belonged to the top genius category, just still in a period of dormancy or had joined the Great Flame Kingdom too late, without yet having stood out.
The middle and upper ranks of the Great Flame Kingdom also mostly gathered in this place.
Especially from the Political Council, besides the Grand High Priest, all the Vice Councilors, Branch Leaders, and Branch Vice Leaders were all here.
One might mistakenly think a high-level meeting was taking place.
Everyone kept their heads down, feeling uneasy.
No one dared to look at the flying treasure, shaped like a palace, hovering above the Throne.
They were all fake heavy criminals sent here by various forces.
In the human federation, they were all elites among elites.
Their intelligence was certainly not simple.
Yet, just by glancing at the surrounding crowd, they guessed that everyone present was a fake heavy criminal.
Without a doubt, Yi Chen should have discovered the truth through some means.
This left them all anxious and restless, uncertain about the fate awaiting them next.
From the flying treasure, Yi Chen flew out.
He sat on the Throne, his gaze coldly surveying the crowd, which filled the hall to the brim, not even daring to breathe.
Among those present were many familiar faces.
Zhong Ren, Feng Yue, and six Vice Councilors from the Political Council, as well as the adopted son Lou Xing, whom he personally selected for the Grand High Priest.
He had seen all of them more than once and valued them greatly, once considering them the pillars for the development of the Great Flame Kingdom.
The more he valued them, the angrier Yi Chen became.
"Do you know why I waited over ten minutes before coming out?"
Yi Chen’s voice suddenly echoed in the hall.
The sound of rustling…
Over three thousand fake heavy criminals suddenly realized that Yi Chen had emerged.
All of them fell to the ground.
This made the already crowded hall feel even more cramped.
They trembled uncontrollably.
Even though they had seen Yi Chen many times and could speak confidently in front of him, the six Vice Councilors remained silent, filled with fear.
Yi Chen’s voice was calm and steady.
But to their ears, it felt like a chilling wind.
“I do not plan to kill you, but when you entered, I almost couldn’t stop myself from killing all of you,” Yi Chen said indifferently.
Zhong Ren, Feng Yue, and the other high-ranking members of the Political Council felt a strange sense of honor.
Although Yi Chen was not a diligent Country Lord and did not hold high-ranking leaders’ meetings every month as initially agreed, he still met with them every two or three months.
They understood well that Yi Chen was not someone who liked to waste time explaining things.
Today was an exception; he chose to explain, though the content was quite shocking.
“I will not kill you because many of you have indeed made significant contributions to the development and expansion of the Great Flame Kingdom.”
“Perhaps you think the reason I won’t kill you is that doing so would cause great turmoil and negative impact on the Great Flame Kingdom.”
“But in reality, that is a secondary factor. To me, tearing down and rebuilding is not difficult at all.”
“The real point is that I never kill those who make great contributions to the Great Flame Kingdom.”
Everyone’s foreheads were covered in cold sweat.
Whether they held high positions or lay low, they had spent many years in the Flame Mountain Tribe and the Great Flame Kingdom.
What they usually cared about and researched the most was Yi Chen’s character.
Among everyone in the Great Flame Kingdom, they were the ones who understood Yi Chen the best.
They guessed that Yi Chen would not kill them.
But they also guessed that, based on Yi Chen’s character, he would not let them off easily.
“I will give you two choices!”
Yi Chen wasted no time and got straight to the point: “The first choice is to revoke all your ranks and have the Federal Parliament send warships to take you back. From now on, you will have nothing to do with the Great Flame Kingdom.”
“The second choice is to revoke all titles and ranks, reducing you to second-class citizens of the Great Flame Kingdom, while keeping your current identities. From now on, you will only be people of the Great Flame Kingdom, with no ties to the human federation.”
“No matter what choice you make, I will extract your memories.”
Buzz…
The hall stirred with unrest.
No one expected Yi Chen would present such an utterly unexpected choice.
“I choose the second one!”
After just a few seconds, Zhong Ren suddenly stood up and bowed towards Yi Chen.
Yi Chen nodded.
This seasoned Vice Councilor was always decisive and quick-witted in his actions.
This time was no exception.
The others looked at Zhong Ren with some confusion.
Many had pondered this question.
If Yi Chen offered them a choice to stay or leave, which path should they take?
The vast majority leaned towards staying.
The wealth and status of the human federation had once been their greatest pursuits.
But in the face of strength realms and lifespan, these things had become insignificant.
Remaining on the exile planet would allow them to learn the best skills right away, attaining stronger strength realms and longer lifespans.
Their biggest worry was that Yi Chen would disable their Qi Sea and then force them to make a choice.
Fortunately, Yi Chen only stripped them of their realms.
When the two choices were presented, everyone felt a weight lift from their hearts.
Because the worst outcome did not occur.
However, they were puzzled and hesitant about why Yi Chen’s two options clearly made leaving better than staying.
This was completely unexpected for them.
They had always thought that if Yi Chen offered them a choice, staying would surely come with benefits.
In reality, leaving simply meant having their realms taken away and memories extracted.
Staying, on the other hand, would entail not only losing their realms and having their memories taken but also significantly lowering their status, possibly even reducing them to second-class citizens.
Although the Great Flame Kingdom had not been established long, its hierarchical system was exceedingly strict.
The difficulty of obtaining a title was extraordinarily high.
So far, only the high priest had been appointed as a Viscount, along with a dozen Barons.
Entering the noble class in the Great Flame Kingdom granted many privileges.
Below them were the first-class citizens, which included ordinary citizens and fierce beasts that had made significant contributions to the Great Flame Kingdom.
This was the largest population tier.
Below the first-class citizens were the second-class citizens.
This tier was recently established by the Political Council to protect fierce beasts with considerable intelligence.
In comparison, the main difference between second-class and first-class citizens was the absence of the various benefits enjoyed by first-class citizens.
Moreover, advancing to first-class status was extremely challenging and required making great contributions to the Great Flame Kingdom.
Among the fierce beasts, only the leader of the fierce beast army, the swamp crocodile, had qualified for advancement to first-class status.
Some humans who committed special crimes could also be sentenced to second-class status, but their descendants or family members would not be affected.
Second-class citizens in the Great Flame Kingdom belonged to the lowest tier, on par with those fierce beasts loyal to the Kingdom.
Once reduced to second-class status, it would be almost impossible to turn their fortunes around.
This was the reason the fake heavy criminals present hesitated.
They couldn’t understand why the punishment for staying would be more severe than the punishment for leaving.
