This clash between Equality State and the Southern Xia Governor-General's Office had erupted suddenly at the end of the Southern Frontier official examination. But beneath the surface, their confrontation had already gone through many rounds.
Both sides had made extensive preparations.
The Southern Xia Governor-General's Office operated in the open, Equality State in the shadows. This determined the difference in their respective logic of action.
Equality State's enforcement of "fairness" throughout the Southern Frontier was the first layer.
Equality State's premeditated sabotage of the Southern Frontier official examination was the second layer.
Equality State's plot against Su Guanying or Shi Mingcheng was the third layer.
Equality State's attempt to seize the Si Xuan Underground Palace—the fourth layer—was their true objective, concealed beneath layer upon layer of misdirection.
They did not mind others guessing that they harbored designs on Southern Xia. There was no need to guess that at all. What they wanted was for the Southern Xia Governor-General's Office to misjudge their goal and their resolve!
One had to know that an organization like Equality State could never stand beneath the sunlight and collide head-on with the hegemonic states of the world.
They existed within the power structure of The Present World, yet sought to overthrow everything that existed. Every action they took was fraught with extreme danger.
Take Yan Tu, who had already risen to become commander of the Nine Legions. For no more than a convenient act of support that should have carried little risk, Jiang Wuqi had rooted him out using the clumsiest possible method, and he died beneath the slicing knife.
Thus, they were extraordinarily cautious in every operation. At the slightest stir of wind or rustle of grass, an entire line would be cut off and silenced. So it had been with the Equality State