Chapter 1005, I have rendered service to the Empire!

The Holy Terra, the top floor of the Indiani Nest.

Of the thousands of hives on this human capital planet, Indiani is not particularly outstanding.

However, one family became famous.

Its name is Cafiora.

Before the Cataclysm, they weren't among the top families in Holy Terra, but they were certainly one of the more prominent and influential clans. The family had produced three Imperial Chancellors, and during the Cataclysm, one of the Imperial Tax Ministers came from their family.

Besides high-ranking officials, this family, which includes core members and peripheral members numbering in the thousands, has virtually absolute power in Indiani, the family's birthplace, thanks to their influence and network of connections within the imperial central government.

Then, the Battle of Terra began.

This war was a huge disaster for any noble family on Holy Terra, and Cafiora was no exception.

A severe outbreak of chaotic corruption also occurred within the Indiani hive.

But they did one thing right, which dramatically changed the fate of the entire family, unlike those families that were completely destroyed in the Battle of Terra.

Instead of joining the corrupt, they decisively cut off the rotten flesh of their family, executed those family members corrupted by Slaanesh, and took on the responsibilities of nobility, leading the people of Indonia's hive against Chaos.

Although they were forced to go into hiding due to their inability to contain the corruption within the city during the final massive outbreak of Chaos Corruption and the siege of Terra reaching its climax, they did not give up the fight. They continued to purge the corruption from their own ranks, rescue the people, and successfully held out until the counter-offensive, even providing some assistance to the Imperial army that had entered Indiani.

Their efforts paid off after the war. Although many family members perished in the Chaos War, those who survived rose to high-ranking official positions. They not only secured numerous posts in Indiani but many also entered the central government as senior officials.

When the Imperial Central Government and the Holy Terra Capital Government were established, in order to ensure the proportion of local people within the government, officials would definitely be selected from local powerful families.

This was an unavoidable compromise for the sake of maintaining political stability during the transition.

If compromise is necessary, why not use a family like Cafiora's?

For this reason, they enjoyed great success for quite some time.

Although the world has changed, great chaos also presents great opportunities!
Just when the entire family was filled with joy and high spirits, a piece of bad news arrived.

A whole team of elite legal professionals surrounded the Cafiora family's mansion without any warning.

The family was incredulous at the sudden turn of events—they were deeply entrenched in Indiya, if not local tyrants, and hadn't received a single word of warning before the Ministry of Justice took action.

What puzzled them even more was why the Ministry of Justice was causing them trouble.
They even initially thought that these were Chaos traitors disguised as people from the Imperial Ministry of Justice, coming to cause them trouble.

Of course, this possibility was quickly ruled out. They soon confirmed the visitors' identities; they were indeed from the Ministry of Justice, led by Angel Granger, a rising star. She came from the Alliance and immediately became one of the Imperial Ministry of Justice's top-level deacons, stirring up numerous major cases in just one year. Many families who had barely survived the devastation of the Terra Wars fell because of this 'female demon.'

But the Cafiora family never imagined that one day Angel would come after them.

Logically speaking, they made the right bet! I have rendered meritorious service to the empire!

No matter how terrified they were, they could only put on a dignified facade and have a proper chat with this 'female demon'. Sure enough, she started by giving them a hard time.

One charge after another was laid out before them.

The Cafiora family was deeply saddened and indignant!

Are these accusations true or not?
That is indeed true.

Regardless of what the Ministry of Justice was like in the past, the current Ministry of Justice will not engage in activities such as fabricating evidence when handling cases.

They do have that much of a perspective.

However, taking things too seriously and enforcing the law flexibly are not unusual tactics.

Especially in politics, most of the time it's not about right or wrong, but about stance.

That's exactly what they're experiencing right now.

Using the crimes committed by some marginal members of the family, even things that happened decades ago, before the Terra Wars, to condemn the entire family!
Many of the accusations, under normal circumstances, would be insignificant to a family of their stature. Especially those at the core of the family who have already obtained positions and become officials, they are always extremely clean-living. There are plenty of people in the family who will do the dirty work; when necessary, like now, these people can be used as front men.

But clearly, simply throwing out white gloves is meaningless now; we also need to know what Angel wants.

Is it really a case of discarding a useful tool after it has served its purpose, even slaughtering 'Terra nobility' like them with impeccable credentials?
Aren't they afraid of provoking the opposition and anger of all the local forces in Terra?!

The rebels in the shadows haven't been completely wiped out yet. If pushed too far, everyone will resort to desperate measures!

Despite his inner rage, he still had to be subservient when talking to Angel.

Even though the highest-ranking official in the family has now reached the level of assistant minister, just one step away from becoming deputy prime minister, he can only bow down to Angel, the special-grade deacon who hasn't even been promoted to vice minister yet.

In private, one-on-one meetings, they finally learned the conditions that Angel had proposed.

The white gloves must be handed over, otherwise, once these charges have been brought out, how can they be taken back?
However, beyond the charges, the Cafiora family must be dismantled; all its resources, factories, and workers with whom it has a personal relationship—all its productive capacity—must be 'liberated.' The capital city government will allocate funds to purchase all these industries.

Although the price is lower than the market price, it's not really outrageous.

However, is price the key factor?

This isn't about slaughtering the Cafiora family, but it's practically the same as annihilating them!

If a family is split up and all its assets are acquired, what is the point of the family's existence?

They can no longer support the political future of their family members through economic strength, nor can they use political power to develop the family economy in return. What difference is there between such a family and death?

(End of this chapter)