Genesis store, Imperial City;
"Thank you for the purchase." Mark gave a bow as he handed two boxes, earning 10 gold coins.
As the customer left the store, Mark glanced at the notification screen and let out a smile.
*Ding! You sold a Single-shot pistol. 3 gold coins have been deducted.
*Ding! You sold 25 bullets of 9mm caliber. 3 gold coins have been deducted.
"Man, 40% share indeed feels good," Mark mumbled to himself before taking his seat again and resuming to create bullets. He had over 6500 bullets in his inventory but 5000 of them belonged to the second prince. So, he had to keep that portion aside.
After a while, Allen suddenly stormed upstairs and returned by changing his dress to that of Shuhe outfit in black color. Combined with a sword hanging at his waist, he indeed looks pretty much cool.
Allen saw it, a day before. So, this scene wasn't unfamiliar but he didn't understand why Allen is bothering to do that in the first place.
What's more, Allen proceeded to ask, "It's 7:55, Big Brother. I need to go and attend a sparring session at 8. Can I pack all the relevant firearms?"
There might not be any expression on Allen but Mark was connected to Allen. With a simple glance, he could understand that Allen appeared to be excited.
For what?
For the girl? For the spar? He couldn't help but wonder, now that he knew these Android Assistants are no longer emotionless robots. He also draws a conclusion that it's possible that all Androids will have emotions like humans, the more strong they get, starting with Rank-5.
"Okay, alright."
After receiving a nod from Mark, Allen, hurriedly withdrew the weapons from Mark's inventory about 15-P365 guns and 250 bullets of 9mm caliber, and packed them before rushing outside.
Maybe, it's because of Alina's presence or maybe, it's because he started to trust Lin Clan, for whatever reason, Mark decided to not tag along with Allen, like before.
A couple of hours passed away. With six more successful transactions, Mark believed that everything was going well until all of a sudden, three men entered the alley. One of them is a eunuch and the other two are the imperial guards of the Elite realm (5-circle realm).
They found Mark sitting in his chair and Alina was busy with her novel.
Both of them raised their heads at the same time as they stepped inside.
The three men had a look of surprise on their faces. First is naturally the peerless beauty of Alina and the other is the suppression of their souls. They heard it beforehand but experiencing is entirely different.
The eunuch was quick to calm down himself and pulled out a scroll, starting to read without bothering to introduce themselves or greet the store owner.
"A trial?" Mark's facial expression changed to that of a frown. The list of crimes was quite detailed but some of them seemed ridiculous for example, he never even heard of Xu Sect. Why are they assuming he's a member?
The second thing is his alleged relations with foreign Empires or Hostile organizations.
And the most ridiculous of them all, entrapping Song Yue to break the relations between Song Clan and Zhang Clan.
Along with answering the crimes that he actually committed, he also needed to prove that all of those allegations were false. What's more, it will be a public trial and the whole city will be watching him getting judged by the Emperor.
"The trial will be conducted the following morning. Until then, you will be placed in a temporary jail." The eunuch ended the decree of the Emperor and asked a question. "So, Owner Lu, will you surrender in peace and come with us, voluntarily?"
Mark crossed his legs on his knee and leaned back in response, letting out a smirk, "I knew that the Imperial family is full of shameless people but you guys proved me right. Return and tell to your Emperor that I will attend the public trial but I won't be coming with you."
"Are you going against the Emperor's decree?" The Eunuch frowned as he threatened Mark of the consequences, to which Mark let out a laugh, "I remember how a legendary realm expert forced your beloved Emperor to kneel before him. What can a spineless coward like him do?"
The Emperor might be his own father but Mark's heart was filled with vengeance against him. He hates his mother for sure but he hates the Emperor even more. After all, in his view, his biological mother probably swapped him for a commoner in order to please the Emperor as the latter wouldn't look at her favorably for giving birth to trash that can't cultivate.
It might seem unreasonable but hatred always makes one think that way so that the enemy party is in wrong.
Mark knew that he can't destroy the Imperial family on his own but after testing the attack helicopter on Sui Clan, at the very least, he was confident in protecting himself.
Whether he can do any damage to the Emperor or not, he can still threaten him with the lives of the civilians.
Of course, that would hurt the reputation of the store and might affect his earnings but he would never let himself be bullied by anyone.
So, he outrightly insulted the Emperor in front of the eunuch and forced the other two imperial guards to take action.
"Alina," Mark called her as soon as he saw the eunuch ordered the two of them to attack. Before they even made it to one step forward, Alina appeared right in front of them and pressed her hands on their faces before lifting them up and crashing onto the floor.
A loud sound filled in the store but there's no damage to the floor.
As the eunuch's eyes widen, Mark snaps his finger to get his attention, "I don't care whether Shang Fu is the ruler of the Phoenix Empire but here, in this store, I'm the God and all the customers needed to follow the rules."
He then pointed at the board and added, "Violence in the store will not be accepted. Now, leave before I decided to take extreme measures."
The eunuch started to sweat in panic. He glanced at the imperial guards that were pinned down to the floor.
Mark understood what the eunuch was thinking and ordered, "according to the rules, the store owner reserves the right to punish the rule-breakers. So, for trying to attack the owner of the store, both of you will be stripped of your equipment."
"Alina, confiscate their equipment including the storage rings. The storage rings will be returned tomorrow after I attend the trial."
"Argh" "No" "Aah"
The store was filled with screams of the two Imperial guards as all their equipment was confiscated by Alina while getting beaten up for putting up a resistance.
Mark dismantled everything as soon as he acquired it while the three of them exited the store in shame.
He earned about 720 credits in total and two storage rings which he can't get access to.
After they disappear from his sight, Mark mumbled to himself, "Now, they are sure to retaliate. I need to be ready for that. But, in no way, I should cause heavy casualties. I just needed to show them that I wasn't someone they can toy around with.
Perhaps, this is the best opportunity to increase my store's popularity to the maximum and attract attention from some politicians.
After all, it's obvious that there will be people who don't like the Emperor and they would be always looking for an opportunity to take him down.
I can use that as an opportunity and work behind the scenes to start a rebellion.
I will use the masses against the Emperor while equipping them with lethal weapons and Panzers. This way, my revenge will be complete and I could also continue developing the firearms."
***
Meanwhile, at Lin Clan Mansion;
Allen and Lin Xue were busy in their sparring. They only had an hour left but the third prince stop by at the clan, forcing them to halt for a few moments.
Allen took a leap from the dueling platform and landed before the prince, "Your Highness, please speak."
He was polite, taking the third prince's status into consideration.
"I'm here to warn you, Allen." Shang Wei replied to him. "The Emperor had issued an arrest warrant against your master for various crimes. You will also be taken for questioning as you were there at the crime scene as one of the suspects. So, prepare yourself."
Before Allen responded, Lin Xue landed before him and spoke coldly, "Allen is under the protection of Lin Clan. I hope you will remember it before taking any action."
She wasn't a fool to not realize the hostility the third prince had for Allen. In her view, the prince was just jealous. Maybe, it's because of their appearances. Or maybe, it's because she treats Allen better than him.
Whatever the case, she isn't interested to entertain his thoughts and directly stating her opinion.
Lin Clan's Patriarch might have been in the same position as the Song Clan's Patriarch but just like the Sui Clan, they have an Exalt realm expert in their clan, although that old man stays in the country. They also have considerable influence in the three departments.
If not for the backing, she would never dare to treat Shang Wei as she wished.
In response to her statement, Shang Wei shrugged his shoulders, "you need to take it up with the Crown Prince, not me. He was the one behind it."
Then, his face turned serious, "And there's also public trial regarding Song Yue. I need you to be a witness."
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