100X Returns System: I Dominate the Age of Gods

Chapter 387. Supressing Rebels - 2

Inside the City Lord’s mansion, William and Dereck sat upon elevated chairs that had clearly been prepared for distinguished guests. In front of them stood Chris, the newly appointed City Lord, accompanied by several senior officials of the city administration. Every one of them maintained a respectful bow, their expressions tense and cautious.

Unlike Chris, who managed to keep his composure, the other elders were visibly nervous. Sweat rolled down their foreheads despite the cool temperature inside the hall, and their stiff postures betrayed the pressure they felt in the presence of two of the newly established empire’s most influential figures.

"My lord, please forgive us for not preparing a more suitable welcome," Chris spoke carefully, gathering his courage before continuing.

"The city has been suffering from a severe shortage of funds. At present, we can barely gather enough funds to provide food for the population. We have been prioritizing essential supplies wherever possible, but winter is approaching rapidly. If conditions continue as they are, we may face serious shortages in the coming months. That is the reason we were unable to prepare a pompous welcome and feasts for you."

There was no deception in Chris’s words.

Through his vast perception, William had already observed the condition of the city’s residents before arriving at the mansion. Signs of malnutrition were common throughout the population. Children were thinner than they should have been, laborers looked exhausted even while resting, and many families appeared to be surviving on the bare minimum necessary to endure.

In truth, the situation here was noticeably worse than what he had witnessed in Dawnhold Province. William gave a small nod.

"I don’t particularly enjoy people trying to flatter me anyway," he replied calmly. "So you don’t need to concern yourselves with such things."

The moment those words left his mouth, a wave of relief spread through the room. Chris visibly relaxed, while several of the elders quietly released breaths they had been unconsciously holding.

For days, they had worried about this meeting, as they knew the supreme commander would visit them regarding the issue with Veridian’s tribes.

The Crown Prince himself visited their city, accompanied by Minister Dereck Miller. In their minds, individuals of such status would naturally arrive with overwhelming expectations, demands for extravagant receptions, and little patience for excuses, at least that is what they had observed to be the case with the church’s high officials.

Fortunately, the reality proved quite different. Neither William nor Dereck had displayed any arrogance toward them.

As the officials remained standing respectfully to the side, they noticed William silently pass instructions to one of his attendants.

The subordinate immediately bowed and departed without asking any questions.

Several minutes later, as other conversations erupted in the room between Dereck, Chris, and William, a group of men entered the hall carrying a massive wooden chest.

The object was so heavy that the carriers visibly struggled under its weight.

When they finally lowered it onto the stone floor, a deep thud echoed throughout the room. The impact was followed by the unmistakable sound of metal striking against metal inside the container.

The city officials exchanged confused glances, and the room fell silent.

Before anyone could ask what was happening, one of the attendants stepped forward under William’s instruction and opened the chest.

The lid slowly rose. The moment its contents became visible, every person in the hall froze.

Thousands of gold coins filled the chest. The golden surfaces reflected the light of the room, creating a dazzling glow that left the officials speechless.

Many of them stared with wide eyes, unable to fully process what they were seeing. Before their shock could transform into questions, William rose from his seat.

"Keep these funds and use them to survive the coming winter."

His voice remained calm and straightforward.

"No one will question how you choose to spend this money. However, I intend to visit this city again in the future, and when I do, I expect to see whether these funds have actually improved the lives of the people."

Silence followed his declaration. Then, almost instantly, Chris and the other officials bowed deeply.

Their gratitude was impossible to conceal.

Some of them looked as though they had received a miracle.

Even Dereck found himself swallowing unconsciously as he looked at the enormous amount of gold William had just handed over without hesitation.

Of course, William himself did not view the gesture as particularly extraordinary.

Technically speaking, the money had never belonged to him.

The gold originated from the now destroyed Church’s treasury in this city itself, so it was probably years of harsh taxes collected by the locals and had been recovered after the empire’s victory. The chest was merely one of countless containers of wealth currently being transported toward the imperial capital, and returning one of them was merely returning their own money.

William had simply instructed his people to leave one behind.

He doubted Samantha would object.

More importantly, after seeing the conditions of the city firsthand, he knew that meaningful recovery would require far greater investment than this single chest alone.

The city’s development had been neglected, and all the finances had been pushed to build that giant piece of mortar to border the city.

If the empire truly wished to restore Veridian Province, improving living standards would require years of effort.

Once the meeting concluded, William and Dereck declined all offers of accompaniment and departed for the forests.

The city officials had attempted to provide guides and escorts, but William saw little purpose in accepting.

If diplomacy had been sufficient to resolve matters, the situation would never have reached this point.

Dereck’s previous visit had been rejected. The imperial summons had also been ignored.

There was little reason to believe that another delegation would suddenly produce a different result.

Soon afterward, both men traveled through the sky.

William supported Dereck using spiritual energy, allowing him to hover effortlessly beside him as they crossed the vast forests of Veridian.

Several minutes later, Dereck suddenly realized they were standing in the sky above a tribal settlement.

"Who are they?" William asked him.

Dereck carefully observed the people below.

The guards stationed at the entrance wore armor fashioned from reptilian hides. Green tattoos covered large portions of their skin, and the surrounding terrain consisted of damp soil and shallow pools of water.

"They belong to the Mistwalker Tribe," Dereck explained. "They usually settle near swamps and the wetter regions of the forest. Their people worship a serpent spirit."

William nodded "Let’s go."

The next moment, his figure disappeared. Before Dereck could react, William had already appeared outside the settlement entrance and was calmly walking toward the village.

The guards immediately sensed an unfamiliar presence. Their expressions hardened.

Several warriors raised their spears and moved to intercept him.

"Wait..."

Dereck instinctively started to speak. Then he suddenly stopped. An overwhelming surge of lunar energy erupted beside him. His eyes widened as he turned toward William.

Heavy waves of silver lunar energy radiated from William’s body in every direction. A brilliant glow surrounded him, bathing the forest in pale light.

For a brief moment, he appeared less like a human and more like a divine being descending upon the mortal world.

Dereck stared for several seconds before shaking his head.

"Never mind."

Moon Sovereign Transformation.

William had activated the final ability granted by his Lunar Physique.

In this state, he could influence the emotions of countless individuals simultaneously. The effectiveness depended upon the difference in strength between himself and the target, as well as the amount of mana available to sustain the effect.

For William, both conditions heavily favored him. His reserves were enormous, and very few individuals in the settlement could resist his influence.

Today, he intended to impose only a single emotion.

Dread.

He had no desire to slaughter tribal warriors unnecessarily.

If fear alone could convince them that resistance was futile, then bloodshed could be avoided entirely.

The guards who had been preparing to confront him suddenly froze.

Their faces turned pale as a crushing pressure descended upon their minds.

Several lost all strength in their limbs and collapsed onto the ground. Their spears slipped from their grasp and struck the earth with dull metallic sounds.

William did not even glance at them. He simply continued walking into the settlement.

The transformation possessed another characteristic as well.

The immense lunar energy it released naturally worked to attract attention towards the host. Within moments, villagers began emerging from their homes.

Men, women, elders, and warriors stepped outside to investigate the strange presence that had appeared in their territory.

The closer they came to William, the stronger the emotion of dread became. Many could not endure it.

Their legs weakened. Some fell to their knees.

Others collapsed entirely, overwhelmed by an instinctive terror they could neither understand nor resist.

Interestingly, the children reacted very differently.

None of them cried. None of them experienced the same dread as the adults.

William had deliberately altered the effect for them. Instead of fear, he induced a sense of calm within their hearts.

The children watched him curiously, free from the crushing pressure affecting everyone else.

After all, William had no interest in terrorizing innocent children.

The only reason he was using this ability on the adults was that he wanted them to understand a simple reality.

Resistance against the new empire was meaningless.

Whatever prejudice, misinformation, or manipulation had convinced them to oppose the empire needed to be shattered completely.

If fear could achieve that understanding without filling the forest with corpses, then William considered it the preferable solution.