Love letters are not allowed in the exorcism notebook!-Chapter 569 - 146 Keeping You Would Only Make the Rice More Expensive

"I surrender."

Being able to silently move one’s villa into the dimension of the moat was a power of Star-Shifting, possessed only by the Chess Herald Dharma Gate—Astrologers who had advanced on the Righteous Path.

That also meant that tonight it wasn’t just the Special Service Bureau’s Operations and Intelligence departments working together, but three senior officers were taking action at the same time, which was very much in line with the bureau’s usual style of operation.

Either do nothing or do everything possible to eliminate the problem completely, eradicating the evil without leaving any potential threats.

Is it any wonder that this was the style of the soldiers personally trained by the President? It fitted perfectly with the foreign stereotype of that woman.

Without such fierce and resolute methods, she couldn’t have possibly risen from obscurity to controlling the empire’s military and political power in just twenty years as a mere woman.

Tartalos too was a smart man, so upon realizing that he had been cornered with no escape, he quickly chose to admit defeat and surrender.

The reason he could sit in his current position, in charge of such an important plan, wasn’t that he truly performed exceptionally well, or that he was highly favored and trusted by King Solomon.

Hell was not some charitable organization.

The very important reason that a cunning plot-weaver like him, rather than a violent and aggressive Demon Lord, rose to power was that the Presidents of Ming Country had choked all those self-proclaimed mighty Great Demon Gods to death.

Literal asphyxiation, breaking the neck, decapitating, and then casting the head into a Capital View.

This Capital View still stands today by the bank of Edogawa, neighboring the old residence of the Emperor of Heaven, and is regarded by the National Salvation Warriors Association as a sacred place for summoning spirits, where they secretly offer sacrifices every year.

Tartalos did not wish to consume those incense offerings, so he decisively followed his inner choice.

"I have a question, and I wonder if I can get an answer."

Although he knew that as a surrenderer, he was not entitled to any intelligence clues from the Special Service Bureau, the question was so troubling that not asking it made him unbearably uncomfortable.

"How exactly did you find the Ma Family people? And then, through them, ascertain the location of my true body?"

He simply couldn’t accept that he had been tripped up so inexplicably.

If it had been in Europe or America, the traditional stronghold of Hell, a Demon Lord could have been defeated but not truly killed and would only be banished back to Hell. But in the distant foreign lands of the Far East, the local God and Netherworld Hell were not part of the same system as the Christian faction, with no home-ground advantage at all.

Whether angels or demons, those who wished to enter the inland regions of Ming Country had to walk the earth in the flesh, and once dead, they were truly gone, with no chance of resurrection.

Knowing this, Tartalos took extra precautions with his disguise identity and even set up many layers of deception for this very reason. He almost never made public appearances and commanded secret missions from afar, sparing no expense to block precise targeting by prophecy and divination spells.

Therefore, he couldn’t understand at all why he had been exposed. If the other party had been truly powerful in mana, that would have been acceptable, but after preparing so many disguises, to ultimately fall to a bunch of thieves was an utter insult to him.

"The answer is simple: because the Imperial Jade Seal was just a decoy to attract attention; the Ma Family people were the real bait prepared for you. After we investigated the Black Lady Temple’s follow-up, we made contact with the Ma Family. They were genuinely keen on cleaning house, and you couldn’t refuse such an opportunity handed to you on a silver platter."

"The vastness of Ming Country’s territory far exceeds your imagination. If we hadn’t taken action in secret, do you think the news from Second Grandma would have reached the Ma Family thousands of miles away so easily?"

Yaoqin, whose location was unknown, said in a mild tone.

Although Tartalos had already announced his surrender, it was common knowledge that not a single word coming out of a demon’s mouth could be trusted. So at this moment, the three high-ranking officers of the Special Service Bureau located in different dimensions remained fully on guard.

They were waiting, waiting for Huo Qingyang to recover.

"I have taken into account that you would investigate the whereabouts of the Ma Family and have made various arrangements for it, you won’t be able to find any clues."

This was the part Tartalos couldn’t understand at all.

The most valuable thing about the Ma Family was their identity as Mountain Guardians, which was an official title of a deity on the black land. Second Grandma Hu would never give it up and had to obtain it by all means necessary; otherwise, the entire Moses Plan would turn into a joke.

After all the people of the Ma Family were dead, leaving only her to inherit the Ma Family name, it could work, but there would be a great hidden danger. Other people are not fools, they won’t just believe whatever you say.

The best course of action, of course, was to have the Ma Family accept Second Grandma Hu again and then let them die, which would be much simpler, at least there were loopholes in the rules to exploit.

The disappearance of the Ma Family in Tianmen would certainly lead to an investigation, and Tartalos was well-prepared for this, even drawing their blood to create a nearly perfect substitute. So he couldn’t understand at all how the other side had bypassed all the fallback plans he had made and got directly on top of him?

It made no sense!

"Since Your Grace, the Duke, has been hiding behind the scenes and personally planning the Moses Plan, you should have some understanding of the shamanic culture in the Northeast region, right?"

"Of course, the more commonly understood term these days is Shaman Immortal or Home-Protecting Immortal."

"The people of the Ma Family not only possess the identity of Mountain Guardians but also another identity, that is, the Immortal Family worshiped by the shaman’s apprentices in the Northeast region. They can be said to be a complex combination of demon souls, human forms, immortal names, and divine positions."

Yaoqin smiled and said, "You only considered how to erase their traces, cut off cause and effect, and shield prophecies. But you didn’t take into account the secret connections between them as Shaman Immortals and the shaman’s apprentices."

"Your understanding of that region of white mountains and black waters must mostly come from the oral accounts of Second Grandma Hu, but even she does not know the secrets within. Because she has always considered herself a pure Demon Clan, never considering how to coexist with humans."

"And this is also your biggest problem, you always think about burning, killing, looting, gaining by treachery. Now, you have learned to reason and obey rules just because the President suppresses the world with absolute force, which hinders you from getting any benefits. Your nature has never changed."

"That’s why we can accept a portion of the Fusang People and Sea People into our society, not to raise dogs or keep slaves, but to assimilate and integrate. But you will never understand this principle, so naturally, there’s no place reserved for you here."

"Alright, we had an ancient Sage who once said, ’If I can learn the Way in the morning, I can die in the evening with no regrets.’

Huo Qingyang pulled his hands out of his pockets and flexed his fingers.

He had recovered.

"Now that you have resolved the doubts in your heart, are you ready to die?"

"Wait!"

Tartalos, hearing this, was shocked and frightened, "I have surrendered! What are you trying to do? Where is your moral integrity?"

Huo Qingyang sneered, "I have a friend from the south who likes to say, ’Keeping you alive will only make rice more expensive.’ Since you chose to be loyal to Mephisto and refuse to reveal information about ’Jesus,’ then I shall fulfill your loyal heart!"

"I haven’t! Don’t slander me!"