Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

"This...this is going to wipe us out!"

"The Extinction Man is our family's last trump card! How could we possibly hand him over?"

"How dare she! Who does she think she is!" A young clan chief roared in a low voice, his face flushed red.

Alberto Saluzzo's face also turned extremely ugly.

He had spent his entire life assessing situations, but now he found himself completely unable to understand his opponent's strategy.

This approach is too direct, too brutal, and completely contrary to the art of politics.

"Everyone, calm down!" an older family head tried to quell the situation.

"This may just be a test by the Letanians."

“They are newcomers and their foundation is not yet solid; it’s impossible for them to really offend all of us.”

"We just need to hand over a portion of our men to appease them..."

His words were echoed by many.

These old foxes, who had spent their entire lives fighting in Syracuse, immediately began to make their plans.

Hand over the less loyal and weaker henchmen, just to make a show of it.

Those truly core family members, however, must remain hidden.

This is their last source of security.

A patriarch from an eastern city-state, named Borgia, even revealed a cold smile.

He thought the woman was too young and arrogant, and didn't understand the rules of survival in Syracuse at all.

Here, there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests, and everything is open to discussion.

He decided to take a gamble; he not only had to hide the most elite tracers in his family, but he also had to take advantage of the governor's foolishness.

Once the storm has passed, he will be able to use this hidden power to swallow up those terrified opponents.

Time passed by minute by minute.

At the drill ground in the west of the city, armed families arrived one after another to register.

The Saluzzo family was among the first to arrive, and Alberto even personally supervised the process to ensure that every person on his list and every gun was handed over clearly.

He even "voluntarily" exposed two guards who were trying to hoard weapons and handed them over to the Leitanian soldiers on the spot.

Other families also sent people, but each of them had their own ulterior motives, and the number of people and weapons they handed over were reduced.

The afterglow of the setting sun bathed Montelupe in gold.

On the balcony of the council chamber, Helena stood overlooking the city.

Commissioner Smith stood behind her, holding a list in his hand.

“Your Excellency, it’s time.” Smith’s voice was hesitant.

"According to our statistics and the intelligence provided by Mr. Saluzzo, at least seven families have not fully complied with the orders."

"Among them, the Borgia, Visconti and Orsini families have registered less than one-third of their known armed forces."

"Understood," Helena responded casually.

She did not order a city-wide manhunt, nor did she send troops to surround the families' estates.

She simply picked up a communicator from the table and calmly said, "Execute the cleaning plan."

Almost simultaneously, three heavily guarded manors in the east, south, and north of Montelupe were hit by violent explosions.

Borgia Estate.

Old Borgia was having dinner with his confidants, with expensive red wine and roast meat on the table.

He boasted to everyone how he had outwitted the female governor.

"Just watch, after tonight, our Borgia family will be the new kings of Montelupe!"

Before he could finish speaking, the restaurant's floor-to-ceiling windows suddenly shattered, and shards of glass mixed with the blast wave swept in.

Two black objects rolled in and spun around on the floor.

"Boom..." A seasoned exterminator only managed to utter one word before being engulfed by blinding white light and deafening roar.

A group of soldiers dressed in black combat uniforms and wearing full-face masks poured in through broken windows and blown-open doors.

The weapons in their hands made soft "poof" sounds.

The Borgia family guards were disoriented by the bright light and loud noise. Before they could even raise their weapons, they were hit in the head or heart by bullets and fell one by one in a row.

Old Borgia hid under the table, trembling.

His three trace-eliminating agents, whom he considered his last trump card, rushed out of the secret room, attempting to fight back.

They were indeed highly skilled, taking down two Leitanian soldiers in the darkness in an instant.

However, they were not facing street thugs, but the Empire's most elite special forces.

As a special forces soldier fell, he activated the signal device on his body.

The next second, several beams of light locked onto the three people who had vandalized the area from various corners.

"Puff puff--!"

A hail of bullets pierced their bodies.

Faced with absolute tactical superiority and a generational gap in equipment, individual bravery appears pale and powerless.

The battle ended within three minutes.

The special forces captain kicked the dining table aside and dragged out old Borgia, who was so frightened he wet his pants.

"The Governor sends his regards," the captain said in a completely emotionless tone.

"Your family is expelled from Terra starting today."

The same bloody drama unfolded simultaneously in two other manors.

The news spread through the darkness of Montelupe.

Those family leaders who were still observing and congratulating themselves on getting away with it were terrified when they heard about the fate of the three major families, including the Borgia.

They finally understood that the governor's words were not a threat, but a judgment.

"Quick! VI YiQi Erba Sis Ba, get to the training ground! Bring everyone with you! Everyone!"

"Dig out those boxes of stuff from the cellar belonging to Yiling Qiba Siqi (Si) Wuliu! Quickly!"

“Tell the lords of Letania! We have come to surrender! We wholeheartedly support His Excellency the Governor!”

On the quiet streets, luxury cars sped wildly toward the West City Training Ground, crammed with panicked thugs and guards.

Some people were dragged out of bed by their owners before they even had time to put on their clothes.

At the entrance to the training ground, the Leitanian officer in charge of registration watched this comical scene unfold before him.

Seeing those family leaders who were so arrogant just a moment ago now bowing and scraping like lapdogs, vying to report their hidden weapons, I couldn't help but laugh.

On the balcony of the council chamber, Herlinmat listened to her adjutant's report, her face remaining expressionless.

……

Holy Leitanian Empire: Chapter 108: Leitania-Syracus Region

The sun rose as usual the next day, but Montelupe was different.

Fear gripped every corner of the city.

But along with the fear came an unprecedented order.

On the streets, Leitanian soldiers patrolled in orderly steps, their faces expressionless, yet they did not harass civilians.

Overnight, the once domineering family thugs vanished without a trace.

Governor Helena's iron fist shattered the rules of the old world.

Now, it's time for Emperor Lexi's favor to take center stage.

Early in the morning, a notice entitled "Syracus Land and Property Redistribution Act" was posted in front of the council chamber and on every street corner of the city.

This bill is more shocking than the gunfire last night.

The announcement declared that all confiscated family lands, estates, factories, and shops would be nationalized by the "Syracuse Region" and redistributed.

The specific principles of allocation are as follows:

First, the fertile fields on the outskirts of the city will be divided into standard-sized farms and leased free of charge to landless or land-poor peasant families, as well as former family armed personnel who voluntarily register and choose to change careers.

The lease term is thirty years, and only a very low land use tax needs to be paid each year.

Those who cultivate the land continuously for ten years and achieve the required output can obtain permanent ownership of the land.

Second, the manors and mansions within the city will be transformed into public schools, public clinics, dormitories for ordinary people, and public libraries.

Third, all confiscated factories will be taken over by professionals dispatched by the Empire and reorganized into new state-owned enterprises.

Prioritize the production of military uniforms, canned goods, building materials, and other supplies to support the Empire's infrastructure development plans and gradually integrate into Letania's economic cycle.

All unemployed citizens of Montelupe are eligible to apply for factory work, with priority given to veterans and former family members who have passed political vetting.

If yesterday's governor's decree was a judgment from hell, then today's distribution bill is a blessing from heaven.

The news caused an uproar throughout the lower classes of Montelupe.

Thousands of citizens flocked to the bulletin board, reading the words over and over again, as if each word were shining with golden light.

Many people, as they watched, burst into tears.

They dedicated their entire lives to serving their family, only to receive a meager salary and the constant threat of misfortune.

They never imagined that one day they would own their own land and that their children would be able to walk into bright classrooms.

Lavinia Falcone stood in the crowd, watching it all.

She was chosen by Helinmat to be one of the Syracuse representatives on the “Asset Liquidation and Redistribution Committee,” responsible for the area once occupied by her family.

Several collateral relatives of the Falcone family were kneeling before her.

These people, who sneered at her as a traitor yesterday, are now crying and begging her to give them a larger share of the property out of consideration for blood ties.

"Lavinia, since your uncle once held you in his arms, let's divide that estate among our family!"

"And me, cousin! I'd do anything for you! That silk shop in town should have always been ours!"

Looking at their ugly faces, Lavinia's last shred of attachment to her family vanished.

“According to the law, you, like all citizens, can apply for land and jobs.” Her voice was unusually firm.

“But from today onwards, it will be impossible to gain any privileges by virtue of the surname ‘Falcone’.”

Ignoring her relatives' curses, she turned and left.

Meanwhile, in an office that had been converted into a "temporary medical education department," historian Giancarlo was having a headache over something else.

He was appointed as the head of the Syracuse new textbook compilation team.

At that moment, he was arguing heatedly with an education commissioner from Trinitylme.

"Your Excellency, I understand that emphasizing the historical ties between Letania and Syracuse is important, but..."

Are you sure you want to include the "Painting Hero Incident" in our elementary school history textbook?

Giancarlo pointed at the draft textbook, both amused and exasperated.

"As far as I know, this incident occurred on the border of Letania, and it was in response to a man named... Bach? What does this have to do with Syracuse?"

The Leitanian commissioner, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, adjusted his glasses with a serious expression: "Mr. Giancarlo, you need to understand the essence of education."

"History serves politics."

"'The Painter Incident' was a struggle of resistance that His Majesty the Emperor personally experienced, and it symbolized the first cry against the oppression of the old forces."

"Letting the children of Syracuse learn will help them better understand that His Majesty the Emperor's revolutionary cause was, from the very beginning, to liberate all oppressed people, including them."

"But...this doesn't fit the textbook content!"

"We can handle it flexibly," the specialist waved his hand, giving him a "you're too young" look.