Nine Laws of the Night Bat

After that pre-meal lecture, everyone enjoyed their food and stopped being so stiff. They dug in without restraint.

They even licked their plates clean. Han Mingxuan thought he wouldn't need to wash them.

"Uncle, I'll wash the dishes." Shen gathered the dishes and chopsticks and went into the kitchen.

Sneaky little brat.

The others watched Shen, itching to have a go at him.

"No need. Let Talos do it. You stay here; there are a few things I need to discuss with you."

"Understood, Uncle."

Once the dishes were cleared away, Han Mingxuan had Shen bring out what he had written down.

"Curze, take a look."

Curze took the sheets of paper. The words "Nine Laws of the Night Bat" were written prominently on them in High Gothic.

"Troubled times call for harsh laws, Father. I support what you're doing."

Han Mingxuan nodded and began assigning tasks.

"Curze, you and Shen will oversee the governance and purge of Quintus Hive City. Everyone else will give you their full support."

"Any questions?"

"No."

"Uncle, I have a question."

Everyone looked at Shen as if they wanted to flay him alive.

You have a question? You have a question? What question could you possibly have now?

Just showing off, aren't you?

"Go ahead."

"What about the nobles?"

"You're perceptive, Shen. You've noticed the key issue."

Hey, that brat sure got lucky.

I could have done that too! Uncle, look at me!

"We'll leave those nobles alone for now. During the Scouring, we'll focus on clearing out the Underhive District and the Underhive District."

"The Mid Hive District and upper hive district are where power is truly entrenched and tangled. The fear they feel now will keep them in check for a while."

"Once we've laid a solid foundation at the grassroots, we'll deal with them."

The resources and technology controlled by those at the top were vast.

When a group of nobles had been slaughtered, Curze had gained control of many resources.

But Han Mingxuan knew that, in their fear, they had offered up these resources to placate Curze.

It had been a stopgap measure.

The resources hadn't even been their own.

They had merely been the estates left behind by the purged nobles. The others had swallowed up most of them and offered up a portion in exchange for their own safety.

"Understood!"

"Remember, the Underhive District and the Underhive District aren't like the Mid Hive and upper hive districts, with their entrenched factions and constant scheming."

"But you may encounter unexpected violent forces in the Underhive. Deal with them if you can. If you can't, leave them undisturbed and come back for them when you're able."

"Don't worry, Dad. With me there, it won't be a problem."

After the family dinner, all of Quintus Hive City remained quiet for a few days.

Curze personally led a team, using the places already cleared as bases to begin a thorough, sweeping investigation of the Underhive.

Curze and the others gradually gained a general understanding of the situation.

"Begin carrying out the plan according to the Nine Laws of the Night Bat."

"Understood!"

The true Scouring had begun.

All the gang members, criminals, Xenos, and Cultists in the Underhive were quietly eliminated. No one noticed until their corpses began to rot and stink.

What?

You're asking where the Corpse Guild was?

Sorry, but the moment the Corpse Guild arrived, its members were eliminated along with the rest.

Under the Nine Laws of the Night Bat, the people of the Corpse Guild were certain to die.

The purge and the panic it brought began spreading through the Underhive. A month later, the panic reached the Mid Hive District and upper hive district.

"What? Our line in the Underhive has been cut off?"

In the home of a noble in the upper hive district, the family's new head was roaring.

He had only managed to reach this position with great difficulty, thanks to the Bat of Eternal Night's power.

He had barely warmed his seat, and now they were telling him someone was taking a slice of his pie?

Unforgivable! Absolutely unforgivable!

"Tell those useless lowborn below to investigate! The guards, the hive defense forces, the tax department, the Adeptus Arbites-all of them!"

"There's no need to investigate."

The noble had barely finished speaking when the doors to his home were pushed open.

The newcomer wore a black combat suit with a bat emblem on the left side of his chest. A set of scales was depicted inside the emblem.

An Eternal Night Justiciar!

"Y-your Excellency, Justiciar!"

By now, everyone in the Hive City knew that the Eternal Night Justiciar Legion was the death knell hanging over them all!

And the man who had come was the assassin chief, whose hands were steeped in blood.

Cyrion.

"Don't be so nervous, my lord. I came only to inform you of something."

"At your command, your Excellency."

"Effective today, the operation to purge and restore order to the Underhive has begun. There is no time limit, and no restrictions on methods."

"During this period, the Mid Hive District and upper hive district must not interfere, or they will bear the consequences."

"In accordance with the Nine Laws of the Night Bat, the Eternal Night Justiciar Legion will protect your property as long as you have not broken the law. Do you have any questions?"

Looking at the god of slaughter before him, the noble chewed up and swallowed whatever questions he had.

It wasn't that he had no questions. He didn't dare have any!

If it had been anyone else, the armed forces of the Mid Hive District and upper hive district would have been enough to deal with them.

But the Eternal Night Justiciar Legion was different.

Assassination was what they did best!

And Nostramo's damned climate and environment might as well have been tailor-made for them!

Someone could voice an objection one moment, and the next his head would be displayed on the most conspicuous table in his family home!

The nobles all understood that, under the Nine Laws of the Night Bat, not one of them had clean hands.

For now, the Justiciar Legion was dealing with the lowborn and expendables of the Underhive. All they could do was keep their heads down and behave.

Having money was a good thing.

But earning it only to die before spending it-that was a tragedy!

Cyrion said nothing more. Before the noble could recover his senses, he vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, the same scene was playing out across the Mid Hive District and upper hive district.

Once again, they remembered the terror of living under the Bat of Eternal Night's dominion.

Of course, compared to those lords at the top, life for the people in the Underhive was relatively... easier?

Yes, a little easier.

Originally, they had believed that the Eternal Night Justiciars brought nothing but endless fear and bloodshed.

But as time passed, the people at the bottom suddenly realized that the fear and bloodshed they brought were only the surface.

Beneath that surface, the most precious thing they brought to those at the bottom was order.

Yes, order.

It was precious not only at the bottom, but throughout Nostramo.

Those who failed to follow the rules, or tried to challenge them, met only one fate.

Their heads were piled into gruesome monuments.

Yet the people at the bottom left those horrifying creations untouched. Some even took it upon themselves to maintain them.

The fear was real, and the bloodshed was real. But just as surely, the sense of order was real too.

During this time, after their gangs were broken up, gang members in the Underhive began taking it upon themselves to maintain order at the bottom.

Perhaps they only wanted a new boss, but this made Curze and the others' early work much easier.