Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

"Don't give up on that breakthrough point. Focus your investigation on it."

The masked man spoke to Tojo Seisuke.

With a fine layer of sweat on his forehead, Tojo Seisuke nodded and said, "Representatives, I will do my utmost!"

The masked people nodded, said nothing more, and gestured for them to leave.

The Emperor didn't want to stay a moment longer.

After Tojo Seisuke followed the Emperor out, he seemed a little weak in the knees.

The Emperor instinctively steadied Tojo Seisuke, then smiled and said, "Tojo, are your legs going weak now? I thought you'd eaten the gall of a bear and the gall of a leopard..."

Tojo Seisuke said awkwardly, "Your Majesty, I had no choice. Besides, those people made it very clear that if I didn't say those things, they'd make us take the blame..."

As the Emperor helped Tojo Seisuke walk, he said, "Don't make it sound so nice. When it comes to taking the blame, they'll only come after you, not me!"

Tojo Seisuke and the Emperor exchanged a smile: "We're not so different anymore."

The Emperor smiled meaningfully, not continuing the topic, but instead changing the subject to Tojo Seisuke, saying, "However, what you just said still allowed us to find out their intentions; it's clear they were the ones who did this..."

Tojo Seisuke nodded: "That's right, I believe they'll have an answer soon..."

The two chatted idly, exchanging a few words here and there.

Led by a Westerner, they left in a small boat, and only after they had left did they breathe a sigh of relief.

Although they had left, their meeting in the cabin continued.

After the Japanese left.

After a brief silence, a Westerner without a mask walked out.

"Actually, the Japanese have already made it very clear. We also know very well that Xiao Ce was definitely taken away by our representative..."

"The president called everyone here to reach a consensus! We need to reach a conclusion today on whether Xiao Ce should live or die! Now, those who have opinions, please express them. Then, according to our usual rules, we will continue with the vote!"

"Once the decision is made, whoever hid the person, return them to them... The chairman said he will forgive and forget..."

Everyone knew that this Westerner without a mask was the representative of the Illuminati president.

The tattoo on his neck is enough to prove his identity.

Although the Illuminati operates on a voting system, claiming that decisions are made by everyone, many key decisions still require the chairman's approval.

For example, the idea of ​​the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was proposed by the chairman.

...

They used to be able to argue, even engage in verbal battles.

However, once the Illuminati's agents have established the rules, they have, and only have, one way to comply: to follow those rules.

Everyone looked at each other, but no one spoke first.

The president's representative said, "No one wants to speak? Then we'll follow the rules! Starting with A, you can speak up to Z. You don't have to express your opinion, but you must say something. If you want to give up, say you're giving up. You can't abstain from the final vote!"

"let's start!"

After the agent spoke in an unquestionable voice, no one questioned it anymore.

The masked man said, "I don't support his death. Even if he has immense power, he's a caged bird now. What can he do? On the contrary, we still have many uses for him in our upcoming efforts to control the Xiao Kingdom. We may not need him, but we can't be without him! Why shouldn't we do anything that increases our chances of winning?"

Seeing this, the man in mask B chimed in, "I have no objection. It's fine if he lives, it doesn't matter if he dies. I think he's an insignificant person."

The masked man said, "I think we should execute him. The reason is simple: this person is not simple. He is always a hidden danger while he is alive... After all, only the dead can put people at ease. Moreover, I don't think we will need such a person when we conquer Xiao Kingdom... I think he will always be a hidden danger while he is alive, and only death can put an end to it all. I think his death is more beneficial than harmful."

Man in mask D: "I have no objection..."

...

Soon everyone expressed their opinions, and in fact, most people didn't care about Xiao Ce's death.

They believe that living is acceptable and dying is acceptable, though some people deliberately choose not to say this.

After everyone finished speaking, the representative of the Illuminati president said, "Very well, since everyone has something to say and nothing to say, no matter how the vote begins, regardless of life or death in the end, no one is allowed to raise any objections to the results of the vote!"

"Including that person, I don't care who stole them, just hand them over within the time limit..."

As they were talking, staff members began distributing slips of paper, and then the voting began.

Everyone quickly began counting the votes, and to ensure fairness, they read out the numbers.

"A, choose life."

"B, choose to die."

"C, choose death."

...

"Z, choose to die."

As the Illuminati's representative read out the final choice, death, the option was chosen.

Everyone present was wearing a mask, so their expressions were not visible.

Even if you can't see their expressions, you can tell their attitude from their actions.

They were all very happy.

The agent continued, "We have a total of 26 seats. 20 representatives chose Xiao Ce to die, and six representatives chose Xiao Ce to live. Therefore, according to the principle of majority rule, the final verdict is that Xiao Ce must die!"

"Those who have no objection to this result, please raise your hand."

Soon everyone raised their hands in unison. Even those few people knew the rules of the Illuminati and had already reached a vote, so everyone had to abide by them.

After the Illuminati's representative finished speaking and seeing that everyone had no objections, the representative nodded: "Very good. Since an agreement has been reached, we will not concern ourselves with who took Xiao Ce away... nor will we pursue the matter further. If it was one of our members who did it, I believe you have the ability to steal him away quietly, and you have the means to send him back quietly..."

"At this meeting, we have responded to several issues. Now we just need to implement them..."

Then the woman wearing the Y mask spoke up, "Mr. Agent, who was Xiao Ce entrusted with the execution? And what methods were used to carry it out?"

The Illuminati's representative listened and said, "There's no need to discuss that. We only need to decide Xiao Ce's life or death. As for how and where he dies, that's for the Japanese. They probably hate Xiao Ce to the core. Let them handle that... I don't care about the process, as long as I achieve my goal..."

"Regarding the matters that need to be addressed by Japan at our meeting, I will inform the Emperor. As for the matters that each of us is responsible for, we should all take good care of them. We are currently in a period of preparation for war, and this war is very important... Once we establish our position in East Asia, we will be able to secure our position of guiding the world."

After the meeting, none of the people spoke to each other.

They left, and there were small boats all around the large ship.

After they boarded the ship, one of the women wearing a Y-mask boarded, and someone next to her asked a question.

"Master, how is it?"

The woman in the Y mask removed the mask from her face, revealing Yin Pan'er's face.

Yin Pan'er smiled slightly: "It's done!"

A girl standing nearby looked on in surprise: "It's done? They've all chosen to let Xiao Ce die?"

Yin Pan'er nodded: "A resounding victory of 20 to 6."

The girl was somewhat surprised: "How could this be? Didn't many people want Xiao Ce to live so they could use him?"

Yin Pan'er's gaze was deep, and a disdainful smile appeared on her face: "What's the big deal? A large part of them were wavering. During the debate, most people chose to abstain. Everyone knows how to choose."

A girl standing nearby asked Yin Pan'er, "Master, should we deal with the person now?"

Yin Pan'er shook her head and said, "We don't need to do anything. Go and send the people back to the Fusang people."

The girl standing to the side looked at Yin Pan'er with a surprised expression and asked, "Send the person back?"

Yin Pan'er nodded and said, "That's right, send him back. The acting president of the Illuminati has already spoken, and besides, with Xiao Ce dead, everything will be settled, and there will be no more worries..."

The girl standing to the side looked at Yin Pan'er and seemed about to say something, but seeing Yin Pan'er's expression, she remained silent.

...

It was already late at night when the Emperor and Tojo Seisuke returned to Siam.

However, Okamoto Juzo and Tokugawa Heiyasu hadn't left yet; they were still waiting there.

Upon seeing the two people approaching, he quickly asked them a question.

The Emperor did not hide anything and explained the situation directly.

Okamoto Juzo and Tokugawa Heiyasu said to Tojo Seisuke with some surprise, "Tojo Seisuke, you really are a tough guy... Let alone here, you were on their ship, aren't you afraid you wouldn't be able to get off?"

Tojo Seisuke gave a bitter smile: "Actually, we're all like rootless duckweed right now... It's understandable that they treat us as pawns, but they can't let us be pawns and then make us take the blame... Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore, if we die, we die... After all these things, I've actually come to understand that we don't need to be too afraid of them. It's true that we need them... But they can't lose us either! We're interdependent... They're giving money, and we're giving our blood relatives, the lives of our families."

The Emperor, somewhat surprised by Tojo Seisuke's words, then exclaimed in astonishment, "Be careful what you say...be careful what you say..."