Chapter 1506: Without Soul or Spirit
Indeed, that was the truth. From the intelligence gathered, the one who successfully seized the throne of the Tong Continent Great Emperor was indeed none other than Huo Laoban. And precisely because it was Huo Laoban who ascended to this throne, Yang Haoran's expression at this moment was extremely grim.
Although Yang Haoran vehemently disliked Huo Laoban — that much was certain — he nonetheless had to admit that Huo Laoban was a capable man, and his abilities were exceptionally strong.
However, even if he acknowledged Huo Laoban's great competence, he found it hard to believe that Huo Laoban could ascend to the position of Tong Continent Great Emperor. He truly couldn't fathom what qualifications Huo Laoban possessed to occupy such a rank.
In terms of seniority, there were quite a few among the Underworld Office Guardians who were more senior than Huo Laoban. As for strength, Huo Laoban could, at best, only be ranked in the lower-middle tier among all Guardians; he couldn't even squeeze into the upper-middle tier. At least, that's how it was when he left the Underworld Office.
Insufficient seniority, insufficient strength—Yang Haoran truly couldn't understand how Huo Laoban had managed to ascend to the position of Tong Continent Great Emperor. He even began to suspect if there was a problem with the intelligence.
Of course, he merely thought this to himself and didn't truly believe there was an issue with the intelligence. Even if there were an issue, it wouldn't affect both major intelligence agencies. Furthermore, this point was extremely crucial. He trusted that both Shui Ling and Tang Shi had repeatedly verified this information; before it was clearly confirmed, this intelligence would not have been delivered to him. Therefore, even if he was unwilling to believe it, he had no choice but to accept that Huo Laoban had truly ascended to the throne of the Tong Continent Great Emperor.
Yang Haoran sat in his seat, smoking several cigarettes in succession. Only then did he accept this reality and thoroughly organize his thoughts.
Currently, his greatest concern was that Huo Laoban would target Xu Meijing after his ascension. He wanted to help Xu Meijing, but was willing but powerless to do so. After all, he was no longer a Guardian of the Underworld Office; he had even led the entire Great Night Empire to stand in opposition to the Underworld Office. Thus, he was utterly unable to assist Xu Meijing, and it was precisely for this reason that he felt such worry.
Although Huo Laoban had ascended to the position of Tong Continent Great Emperor, and Yang Haoran was unsure how Huo Laoban had seized this throne, it was nevertheless clear without needing to ponder that Huo Laoban must have paid an enormous price for it and incurred considerable depletion to himself. Thus, Huo Laoban would certainly require some time to recover.
Furthermore, since Huo Laoban had only just ascended to the throne of Tong Continent Great Emperor, he would also need some time to consolidate his position. Therefore, even if Huo Laoban wished to deal with Xu Meijing, he wouldn't be able to spare the time in the short term. After all, he hadn't even properly handled his own affairs; how could he possibly find time to deal with Xu Meijing? He might even potentially lose more than he gained.
Based on his understanding of Huo Laoban, he believed Huo Laoban would not commit such a foolish blunder that would lead to a net loss. Moreover, Xu Meijing had Luo Yao, the Jingling Continent Great Emperor, above her. Xu Meijing was a Guardian personally promoted by Luo Yao and stood on the same front line as Luo Yao. Conversely, Huo Laoban was a traitor in Luo Yao's eyes, a traitor Luo Yao was determined to eliminate. Should Huo Laoban truly make a move against Xu Meijing, Luo Yao would intervene to help, both publicly and privately.
With such an analysis, Yang Haoran's worries about Xu Meijing significantly diminished. In his view, Xu Meijing's situation was not as bad as he had initially feared.
What he should be most concerned about now was still himself and the entire Great Night Empire. The reason was simple: The Underworld Office had not previously retaliated against him and the Great Night Empire because the Underworld Office's high-level officials had focused their attention on vying for the position of Tong Continent Great Emperor. Now that this matter had concluded, the Underworld Office's retaliation against him and the entire Great Night Empire would certainly follow.
As for preparing to deal with the Underworld Office, Yang Haoran had already made ample preparations over the years, constantly refining and improving them. As long as the Death God didn't personally intervene, no matter how fierce the Underworld Office's retaliation might be, he was confident that the Great Night Empire would definitely endure. However, if the Death God personally made a move, then it would be hard to say. After all, facing a True God like that, he truly didn't have much confidence at present.
A few weeks later, Old Master Wu, with a grave expression, brought an infant before Yang Haoran. Judging by its size, the infant seemed to have been born recently. It had no deformities, no missing limbs; its four limbs were perfectly intact, and its skin color was normal. From its appearance, this infant was no different from a normal one. But what was different was that this infant neither cried nor laughed in the presence of strangers, nor did it fuss, nor even move. Its eyes were wide open, with no expression on its face. It looked exactly like a toy doll, extremely eerie. If not for the discernible life fluctuations emanating from its body, it would certainly have been mistaken for a mere toy.
Looking at the newborn infant in the cradle, Yang Haoran's expression remained calm and indifferent, without any surprise or bewilderment. This stood in stark contrast to Old Master Wu's solemn face.
"Great Emperor, this child was born without a soul. It seems the Underworld Office's retaliation against our Great Night Empire has already begun."
Old Master Wu glanced at the eerie infant in the cradle, then his gaze settled on Yang Haoran, and he said with a serious expression.
The reason this infant was so eerie was precisely because it had been born without a soul. It was effectively a living corpse, not much different from a person in a vegetative state, and arguably even more pitiable than one.
Yang Haoran did not touch the infant with his hand. With his strength, whether the infant possessed a soul or not, he could discern with just a slight perception. As Old Master Wu had said, there was indeed no soul present within the infant's body.
A newborn, unless its soul was artificially extracted, would not normally be born without a soul, unless the Underworld Office deliberately willed it. Yang Haoran understood this point, and Old Master Wu understood it equally well, which was why Old Master Wu had declared that the Underworld Office's retaliation against their Great Night Empire had begun.
"When was this discovered?"
Yang Haoran withdrew his gaze from the infant, looked at Old Master Wu, and then asked.
"It was discovered today. This child is just one of them. Through the investigations and statistics of our Funerary Division, it has been confirmed that all children born today lack souls."
No wonder Old Master Wu's expression was so grave. According to statistics, thousands of newborns are born in the Great Night Empire every day on average. This means that today alone, there are thousands of infants without souls. If this problem cannot be properly resolved, then for every day that passes, thousands more soulless infants will appear in the Great Night Empire. In the long run, the number of soulless "vegetative" people in the Great Night Empire would reach a terrifying count.
Yang Haoran saw the seriousness on Old Master Wu's face, and he understood what Old Master Wu was worried about in his heart. So, he opened his mouth with a smile.
"Heh heh, Old Wu, there's no need to worry. I had already anticipated this day, so I made preparations in advance."
Yang Haoran's words made Old Master Wu's eyes light up. Before he could even open his mouth to ask, Yang Haoran spoke to him and asked.
"Back then, I instructed your Funerary Division to collect the souls of those who died in our Great Night Empire. Has that matter been implemented?"
Upon hearing this, Old Master Wu quickly gave an affirmative reply.
"How could the Funerary Division fail to implement the matters you, Great Emperor, have instructed? All the souls of those who have died in our Great Night Empire have been uniformly collected. Over all these years, the number of souls has reached an astonishing level."
Since newborns are born every day in the Great Night Empire, naturally, there will also be deaths. Some die peacefully of old age, others due to accidents; these are unavoidable. And their souls, under Yang Haoran's command, were all collected by the Funerary Division.
"Heh heh, it's good that it has been implemented. And it's even better that the number of collected souls is astonishing."
Yang Haoran smiled faintly. Upon hearing Yang Haoran's words, Old Master Wu's face showed contemplation, as if he had understood something.
"Great Emperor, could it be that you intend to use these souls to resolve the problem of newborns lacking souls?"
Old Master Wu asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. When Yang Haoran first instructed the Funerary Division to collect the souls of the Great Night Empire's deceased, in his opinion, it was because if the souls of the dead were not collected uniformly, they would certainly affect the living. After all, they didn't have Underworld Office agents here to do this for them, so they could only do it themselves. As for how to deal with these collected souls, that was the question.
Old Master Wu had once asked Yang Haoran how to handle these collected souls, but Yang Haoran told him to simply collect and properly store them, as they would naturally have a purpose when the time came.
After that, Old Master Wu never inquired about the matter with Yang Haoran again. He simply focused on collecting the souls of the Great Night Empire's deceased and storing them properly in designated locations. As for Yang Haoran, he never brought up the matter again after that.
Now that the Underworld Office had made its move against the Great Night Empire, and all newborns lacked souls, and Yang Haoran had coincidentally brought up the matter of collecting souls at this very moment, Old Master Wu was not foolish. He connected these two events, and naturally, he could somewhat guess Yang Haoran's intention.
Facing Old Master Wu's question, Yang Haoran smiled and nodded, giving an affirmative reply.
"You are correct. I do indeed intend to use the souls of the Great Night Empire's deceased to solve the problem we currently face."
After receiving Yang Haoran's affirmative reply, Old Master Wu's expression did not show surprise, but remained as serious as before. He even furrowed his brow slightly.
"Great Emperor, we are different from the Underworld Office. We do not have a Reincarnation Platform. How should we proceed then? Are we to forcefully implant the souls into the newborns' bodies?"
Old Master Wu asked, his tone tinged with a mix of worry and doubt.
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