[The City of Steam, The Twelve Bronze Council]
[The third day after Vivian's trial ended]
In the hall made of bronze, the council president's fingertips lightly tapped the table. His steady voice echoed in the spacious hall.
"Gentlemen, I have gathered you here today to discuss three matters."
"First, the final verdict for the former Silver Knight of the Gear Church, Vivian."
"Second, how to deal with the rebellion of the commoners in the lower city."
"And finally, the investigation into the cause of death of the former Steam Branch's Fifth Squad Captain, Ink."
The council president looked at the other Bronze nobles around him and calmly stated the reasons for convening them.
Unlike three days ago when everyone was present, five people were missing from the Twelve Bronze Council.
The Saintess, Euphemia, and the Golden Knight, Fischer, were confirmed to be dead.
The Bishop, Cleave, was embroiled in an investigation and had not appeared in public for many days.
As for the remaining two, they were the representatives of the Steam Branch.
After all, for the Star Envoys, their squad captain being killed in such a provocative manner was a blatant statement that the killer had no regard for the Steam Branch, or even the entire Star Envoy Association.
Thus, the Steam Branch was furious. They were using all their resources to hunt down the murderer and naturally had no time to attend to other matters.
However, even without these five people, the Bronze Council could still proceed as usual.
According to the rules of the Bronze Council, a motion could be passed as long as more than half of the Bronze nobles agreed.
"Gentlemen, let us first discuss the crimes of the former Silver Knight, Vivian. I personally recommend maintaining the original verdict. What do you think?"
Even though the Steam Branch President, Liam, had presented the evidence left by Euphemia to him yesterday, his tone did not waver in the slightest.
Between the dignity of the Bronze nobles and the so-called 'justice,' he did not hesitate to choose the former.
After all, the verdict was announced in front of the entire city. Admitting a mistake would be equivalent to trampling the dignity of the Twelve Bronze Council.
The other Bronze nobles had the same idea.
They were the beneficiaries in the City of Steam. The authority of the council was the foundation of their power.
Rather than pursuing an illusionary justice, they preferred to firmly hold on to the power in their hands.
"I agree."
"I agree."
With the unanimous vote, the council president nodded. "Alright, that concludes this topic. Let's move on to the next one: how to deal with the lower city commoners. What are your thoughts on this matter?"
Unlike the previous topic's consensus, this issue immediately ignited the passion of the Bronze nobles.
"Mobilize all the steam patrol teams in the upper city and arrest everyone involved!"
A red-faced Bronze noble slammed the table.
"You are too radical."
Another Bronze noble with a monocle pushed his glasses and said slowly, "I think we should be more conservative."
"Oh? How so?"
"In a situation like this, if it happens once, it will happen a second time."
The Bronze noble with the monocle had a hint of cruelty in his eyes. "If we cannot be conservative and make it absolutely clear to these lower city scum the price of provoking the upper city, similar situations will definitely happen again."
"Therefore, I personally believe that simply arresting the main participants is not enough. We should expand the scope of the arrests and capture every single person from the lower city who was directly or indirectly involved in this. This will serve as a warning to others."
Hearing this, the council hall instantly fell silent. Even the council president couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
He thought he was a moderate, conservative type, but he turned out to be an extremist, even more so than the radicals.
One should know that the number of lower city civilians who were directly or indirectly involved in the rebellion was close to a third of the lower city's population.
If they were all arrested, the breadth of the involvement and the depth of the impact would be unimaginable to most people.
While everyone was in a heated debate, the council president made the final decision.
"Enough, quiet."
After controlling the situation, the council president said, "I propose we stick to what I said at the beginning: only the ringleaders will be arrested, and the followers will be given a small punishment as a warning."
Hearing this, the nobles were silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.
After all, this plan not only maintained the dignity of the upper city but also prevented a larger unrest, making it a relatively good solution.
With two of the three topics completed, the last one did not require much discussion from the Bronze nobles.
Because the last topic involved the internal affairs of the Star Envoy Association, they, the Bronze nobles, could only cooperate. They had no authority to investigate.
After a discussion, the Bronze nobles present unanimously agreed that they should first deal with Vivian and the lower city commoners, and then cooperate with the association to investigate the murderer who killed Ink.
The former was about whether they could gain a powerful 'Gear Guard'.
The latter was about whether they could consolidate their power.
As for Ink's matter... it was the Steam Branch that lost face, not them, the Bronze nobles. There was no need to take it too seriously.
"Then..."
The council president stood up. The family crest on his chest suddenly lit up with a bronze light.
"Let us open the Bronze Path to the Steam Furnace and upload Vivian's information to the Gear Hub to initiate the forging ceremony."
With his words, the family crest on the council president's chest lit up.
At the same time, the family crests on the chests of the other Bronze nobles also began to react.
Soon, twelve streams of light converged from the seven occupied Bronze seats and the five unoccupied Bronze seats, gathering in the center of the council hall and forming a huge, illusory projection of a furnace.
[Steam Furnace Activated]
[Detection: Six of the twelve authorized individuals have granted authorization. Gear forging program initiated. Please input the information of the person to be forged...]
As the council president was inputting Vivian's information into the Gear Hub, he suddenly paused.
There were seven Bronze nobles present, so why did it only show six had granted authorization?
Did someone turn against me?
But since the ceremony had already begun, they had no authority to stop it.
After all, each activation of the Steam Furnace required a large amount of resources. It was not something they could just turn on and off as they pleased.
After the council president finished inputting Vivian's information, the cold voice of the Gear Hub sounded again.
[Identity information has been inputted.]
[Name: Vivian Howard]
[Identity: Former Gear Church Silver Knight]
[Rank: First-grade Star Envoy]
[Star Origin: Iron Clock]
[Information completeness: 90%]
[The conditions for 'Gear' forging have been met. The Steam Furnace is starting up. Gear Citadel information synchronization is commencing. Please send the person to the Steam Furnace in three days to complete the final forging ceremony of the Bronze Gear.]
The illusory furnace projection gradually faded, and the Bronze Council meeting came to an end.
Just as everyone thought the meeting was over, the 'Bronze Noble Layton,' who was sitting in the corner, spoke.
Or rather, the Star Concealment Society's Scorpio Layton.
"I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time."
The nobles turned to look at Layton, wondering why he would say something like that.
Sensing that something was wrong, the council president frowned and said, "Layton, you..."
Before the council president could finish his sentence, the heavy bronze door of the council hall slowly creaked open.
Not long after, a figure that made everyone's eyes widen appeared in the center of the hall.
He wore a signature Steam Branch captain's robe, a simple pair of black-rimmed glasses, and a gentle smile. He seemed completely harmless, with no sharp edges.
But this person should absolutely not be here!
Because he was the former Fifth Squad Captain—Ink.
A 'dead man' who had died a few days ago.
Ignoring the shocked gazes of everyone, Tendo's body slowly floated into the air. He looked down at everyone below, including the council president.
"Gentlemen."
His tone was relaxed, yet it carried an undeniable forcefulness.
"I think it's time for the City of Steam to undergo a complete change. Don't you agree?"
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