But he was soon chased by the police again. He had never thought about taking a hostage, as it’s generally not a popular move.

Because in another place, those people wouldn’t care about the safety of the hostages. If you take a hostage, they’d shoot anyway.

However, here in Hamlet, the man unexpectedly found that the chasing police were concerned about ordinary people, so he flipped to grab a passerby.

"Don’t come near!" He grabbed the hostage with one hand and pulled out a dagger with the other, wildly threatening William and others, "Come any closer and I’ll kill..."

"Bang!"

Just as the man was about to retract the dagger and aim it at the hostage, a plain and simple gunshot rang out. Almost immediately, the shell tore apart the target’s hand holding the dagger, sending the dagger and something else flying.

"Ah!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed as the man howled, trying to clutch his hand. His entire palm was a bloody mess, with only shredded flesh and exposed tendons remaining, two fingers entirely gone.

The hostage’s face was splattered with drops of blood, completely petrified, even forgetting to seize the moment to escape.

Fortunately, at this moment, the police snapped out of their stupor and rushed forward to subdue the target and rescue the hostage.

Elsewhere, Margaret, holding a musket, slowly lowered her arms. With her aim locked, there was no chance of missing.

The entire Hamlet was stirred by this [Rat Extermination] operation, with people being ambushed and captured continuously.

Those people used various means to fight against the police, but the heroes deployed by Lance would still control the situation.

They weren’t lacking in strength, but the heroes were all Masters. Could one endure an axe from Boudica or a sword from Geralt?

Not to mention the police gear supported by Paracelsus’s medicinal tools.

To obtain more intact experimental subjects, the doctor had prepared many tools that could induce dizziness and confusion.

This operation even forced out plenty of people with ulterior motives, capturing them as a convenient addition.

Direct confrontation was ineffective, so many people fled, using various abilities, some even involving Supernatural Power brought by Mysticism.

But Amanda’s family specialized in restraining Spellcasters, and their power was even stronger after receiving Lance’s Blessing for Strengthening.

Those targets with supernatural traces had already been marked in advance, and the ones finding them were even more professional personnel.

Inside, you faced the police and the hidden heroes; even if you managed to escape.

The perimeter was blocked by Hamlet’s army, warning on sight and shooting if orders weren’t heeded.

No matter your identity or background, showing your face meant death, as they only followed the Lord’s commands.

Lance’s requirement for this operation was a surgical direct hit to vital spots, striking precisely before they could react, to control the situation swiftly and demonstrate the police’s power.

The police leadership rehearsed countless times, proving their ability through practical action, even if some issues did emerge, they remained within control.

The exaggerated operational efficiency astonishingly completed the mission in less than two hours, capturing those spies listed in the records.

But the operation wasn’t over; the spies were just an excuse to initiate action. Lance needed a complete sweep of Hamlet’s current state.

Rather than constantly facing daily chaos, it was better to swiftly cut through it.

The foreign spies were easier to handle, but there was still a portion of local people.

Those taken away weren’t the only ones; they all had families, friends, and various other relationships.

This led to the potential of expanding the action and making the situation somewhat uncontrollable.

While establishing authority, it also risked giving the police a relatively negative evaluation, especially when many with ulterior motives wouldn’t relinquish exploiting this concept.

Lance knew he couldn’t remain hidden anymore; he had to take charge.

Fortunately, Hamlet was small, and Lance’s control over the area was quite strong.

Upon realizing things weren’t right, he halted the action, appearing in the central square.

"I know many people don’t understand the recent events, but undoubtedly a crisis is heading towards Hamlet..."

To relieve the tension, the simple solution was creating a stronger enemy to divert the conflict.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lance began recounting the spies’ sins, even exaggerating somewhat.

They brought crime, brought corruption, they wanted to destroy Hamlet and plunge it into chaos.

Lance attributed everything to the temptation of those people, without mentioning that many who fell had little relation to the spies.

At this moment, stabilizing the situation was the priority, and they had to take the blame. Who else would?

No need for Enchanting Voice’s influence, no one questioned the Lord’s words, and the discontent initially incited instantly shifted onto the spies.

"Hang them!"

"Burn them!"

"..."

The pressure accumulated over these days seemed to ignite at this moment, exploding instantly.

There were no sound devices now; Lance shouted a couple of times attempting to control the scene but was easily drowned out.

Lance looked at the fervent scene below, inexplicably feeling a tinge of fear; how different were they from the fanatic heretics?

Power must be constrained...

Lance wasn’t swayed by their agitation, waiting for them to vent a bit before speaking a very peculiar sentence.

"Have you seen the Church’s judgment?"

This sentence seemed to carry magic, bouncing directly in their minds in such a noisy environment.

Instantly plunging the turbulent scene into eerie silence, none knowing why the Lord suddenly brought this up.

"Let me tell you a story..."

Lance then recounted an interesting situation.

In a very ordinary village, everyone lived and worked peacefully, until that year when it didn’t rain for a long time, and vast crops withered.

At that time, they began searching for the cause, discovering a woman living alone in the village, not working daily but often entering the forest, coming back with green plants.

So these people believed the woman was an evil witch, casting spells to make the land barren.

After discussion, these people suddenly one midnight seized the woman, stripped her to find traces left by demons, and after humiliating her, tied the naked woman to a wooden rack and burned her alive.

Did burning the woman alleviate the drought?

Everyone knew it didn’t; it intensified disasters directly.

Because there was no demon, no witch; the woman was just a widow, her husband dead, her property and land long divided by those people by various means.

The woman, to survive, could only forage wild vegetables and mushrooms in the forest, struggling to live, yet those people wouldn’t let her go.

Initially, no one believed the poor woman was a witch, but repeated claims made them afraid, afraid the woman truly held magical power, afraid of retaliation for their actions.

Or they feared their own ugliness.

Thus they dared only seize and burn the woman at night when she slept.

They merely forced their fear onto an innocent person; as for why proving the woman was a demon mattered so much, it was merely finding a rationale for their heinous acts.

Actually, when the fields dried, the fields belonging to the village chief’s family remained green. Wasn’t this more atypical than the widow’s wild vegetables? That’s because the chief monopolized the village’s last water source.

But they dared not voice the slightest objection; the old man had three sons, and the eldest grandson was grown.

As for why it was that woman, it was simple: she was alone, a woman difficult to resist.