Right now, the two gentlemen can be considered the repairmen of the Wood Dynasty, with far too many places in need of a financial fix. They’re no doubt thinking of prying out a bit more from Master Bertram and patching up other areas...
Their "mistreatment" of Master Bertram isn’t for their own sake. Moreover, they wouldn’t force it, and Master Dunn had a masterful way of "playing the victim".
Another reason was that cash wasn’t plentiful. If rushed to liquidate assets, it would result in serious discounts. For instance, young owner Leroy Baker, who was savvy at doing business, particularly invited Master Bertram out for wine, with a good-natured suggestion of having him sell off the confiscated properties to the Moses Sect at bargain prices.
Over the course of two months, Master Bertram only managed to hand over five hundred million Spirit Jade to Master Lane in three separate installments. The next payment was planned for two months later.
For the last couple of days, he hadn’t responded to the Communication Talisman from Master Lane. After all, Lane would only be nagging for money. One day, from the accumulated pile of case files, Master Bertram intentionally pulled out one and sneered, muttering to himself, "I’ve been waiting for this for a long time!"
It was the file that condemned Windstorm! Following Master Bertram’s directive, Windstorm’s family was sentenced to exile as a group. As per the Horizon Bureau’s procedures, the case was sent to the General Government for processing, and it had now finally been returned.
Owen Bertram took advantage of the night to visit the Ghost Market once more, politely requesting the King of Souls to assist in capturing a wanted criminal of the Imperial Court.
As expected, the King of Souls was even more courteous, instantly stating that under Master Bertram’s rule, it was their unshirkable duty! To bolster Master Bertram’s show of force, the King personally set out, accompanied by the Corpse Fiend, and gathered two other Tier-6 Great Ghosts from the Ghost Army Camp, four Tier-6 entities in total, which morphed into a black mist and slipped into half of a Tiger Talisman.
After the Ghost Army Tiger Talisman embedded itself with the Ghost Zone, it could disassemble into half a talisman, temporarily accommodating a Great Ghost to facilitate movement.
Owen Bertram pocketed the Talisman, secretly synced up with Swordswoman Phil, and early the next morning led six hundred ferocious officers from the Horizon Bureau on a warpath to Wuping City.
The Ronald Clan’s main mansion was situated in Nigel City, but Lin Ronald actually resided in Wuping City, about 200 li apart.
Both Nigel City and Wuping City were effectively controlled by the Ronald Clan; without their approval, no official could operate in the city.
At noon that day, an imposing Horizon Bureau troop marched arrogantly into Wuping City. The guards who tried to stop and question them at the City Gate were casually tossed aside by Wayne Malvin at the front of the group.
The troop paraded through the city, setting off a panic among its inhabitants. Yet despite their fearsome appearance, they didn’t harm the common folk or the merchants; it was only the officials and commanders who thought they had some sort of "status" and tried to confront them that were beaten to a pulp.
While beating people, Wayne Malvin would shout, "Are you accomplices of Windstorm?"
The imposing procession of six hundred Military Officers swept through the city to the front of Lin Ronald’s residence. Without waiting for Master Bertram’s orders, Wayne Malvin commanded, "Surround it!"
Glenn Mitchell and the others were on edge watching this. Recently, Wayne Malvin was acting more like an unruly young master than ever before.
In the past, he had his father’s power to back him up. Now, it was Master Bertram’s power — and it was clear that Wayne believed Master Bertram’s "power" was greater, hence he was more brazen than ever.
The cause and effect here was so bewildering that even Leroy Baker couldn’t fathom it...
Here at the home of a Sixth Realm Venerable, were the Household Guards considered "seventh rank officials"? The guards standing at the entrance were laughing at Wayne Malvin with their arms crossed, "Let’s see how long you can keep up this reckless behavior!"
The six hundred Military Officers quickly surrounded Lin Ronald’s estate and even brought out several formation stakes, planting them around the mansion, symbolically sealing off the entire estate with a great formation!
Then, Wayne Malvin displayed the Bureau’s official arrest warrant and thundered, "Hand over the criminal, Jane Ronald!"