Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 59: Open the safety lock and release!

The number of Cardinals arrested was quickly tallied, and the standing number of the College of Cardinals remained around two hundred.

The operation at the Olympia Underground Sacred Treasury actually detained 192 people, including the Supreme Arbitrator, representatives of the four major factions, official cardinals, cardinal candidates, and a group of core staff members who held authority over investigation, military affairs, and technology blockade.

After these people were escorted to the temporary detention area in batches, Zhang Nanhai and Saint Sophia submitted their respective opinions on how to handle the situation to Zhang Qiming.

Zhang Nanhai's opinion was simple.

"Find an open space, line them up, and then have the Imperial Guard Fleet fire a barrage of electromagnetic cannons at them, and they'll all be blown to pieces."

Saint Sophia's opinion was more cautious.

"They must die, but we must follow the proper procedures. We need to make four things public: the charges, the trial, the verdict, and the execution."

"The Martian people need to see evidence of the old church's crimes, and they also need to know what rules we will use to deal with the old ruling group after we take over Mars. If they are executed by firing squad, the remnants of the Holy Cardinals will package them as martyrs, and the Fourth Fleet will also use this as an excuse."

After listening to both sides' opinions, Zhang Qiming tapped his fingers lightly on the command platform. He felt that both of them made sense, so he decided to combine their opinions.

"You both make valid points, so I'm going to combine them."

"Chiseiro has already begun drafting the charges and trial documents, and then, according to Saint Sophia's idea, there will be four public hearings. After all this is done, we'll find a good place on Mars to send the old lady off."

Lao Zhang stroked his chin and added:

"I'll leave this matter to you, South China Sea, to carry out. Oh, by the way, we Sky Chariots are always merciful in our actions, so let's skip the cannon execution and use firing squad instead."

The commander was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see the elderly suffer, so it was better to execute them all.

Zhang Nanhai had no objection, and Saint Sophia remained silent for a moment before nodding as well.

……

……

Soon, the College of Cardinals was escorted to the Oath Square at the foot of Mount Olympia.

This place was originally where the Covenant Army held flag-raising ceremonies, oath-taking ceremonies, and executions of heretics. The ground is paved with gray-black alloy plates, and in the distance, one can see a mountain that has been flattened by railgun fire.

Now, the square is surrounded by Sky Destroyer armed personnel, the Guardian Fleet's orbital monitoring is locked on the sky, and the Mars Public Channel is also simultaneously receiving live broadcast signals from here.

One hundred and ninety-two members of the College of Cardinals were brought to the square in batches. They wore black tags with their crime numbers and identification marks on their chests, their hands were bound behind their backs with magnetic locks, and their holy robes were covered with dust and bloodstains.

The Supreme Arbitrator's right eye was swollen, and several cardinal candidates were trembling as they walked. The once high-ranking faction clerks and military liaison officers could only be pushed forward by Skydrive soldiers.

This scene was being broadcast on all public terminals on Mars.

In the Covenant military camps, office halls, and on screens in city streets, members of the College of Cardinals, who used to only appear through projections and announcements, were pushed one by one to kneel before their execution positions.

Many Martians were deeply shocked when they saw those disheveled figures.

Zhang Nanhai stood in front of the camera, unfolding the wartime judgment document.

"In accordance with the special control order jointly issued by the Supreme Commander of the Skyward Command and the Truth Investigation Committee, and following a temporary wartime review, a public verdict is now being handed down on the core members of the Holy Cardinals."

"The verdict is as follows: The College of Cardinals has long held supreme religious and military power on Mars, monopolized technological development through its mechanical religious system, suppressed social change, blocked Mars's historical process of entering a new industrial stage and the interstellar age, and established a reactionary ruling structure..."

The camera pans across the execution site.

The Supreme Arbitrator raised his head, his lips moved, but was pressed down on the shoulder by the Skyward soldiers behind him.

Several cardinals standing nearby bowed their heads, their nameplates reading: "Prime member of the anti-revolutionary organization," "Core of the reactionary rule of the old church," and "Crime of obstructing the Martian revolution."

Zhang Nanhai's reading is still ongoing.

"After Mars entered a special takeover period, the defendant group still attempted to rely on the remaining military and police, old-style closed networks, factional armed forces, and the Fourth Fleet to incite a counterattack, undermine the Skydrive Revolution, disrupt the temporary military and political order on Mars, and seriously threaten the safety of all Martian people."

"It has been confirmed that the defendant group is guilty of organizing a counter-revolutionary ruling group, obstructing the Martian revolution, disrupting the temporary military and political takeover, inciting armed resistance, and endangering public safety on Mars."

"In accordance with the special control order and wartime disposal provisions, the core reactionary members of the Holy Cardinals are sentenced to death, to be carried out immediately."

After the verdict was read, the square fell into a brief silence.

Skyward soldiers began the final verification.

"The Supreme Arbitrator, Alexander Borja."

"confirm."

"Representative of the Mental Choir, Thomas Torkmada."

"confirm."

"John Tetzel, representative of the Labor Commune."

"confirm."

One by one, names were read out, and identities were confirmed.

Once a person was identified, the Sky Chaser soldiers would push the corresponding person to a fixed position, with magnetic locks fastening the knee supports, forcing them to kneel on the alloy floor.

The firing squad entered the square from both sides, rifles were all cocked and muzzles hung at their sides, the ranks unfolding from behind the first row of cardinals.

The chief arbitrator finally couldn't hold back any longer and looked up, shouting hoarsely at the camera:

"This is not a trial! This is lynching by rebels! Mars will remember your atrocities today!"

Zhang Nanhai, who was in charge of reading the verdict, closed the document and gave him only a cold glance.

"Mars will remember, remember who dragged it into stagnation, remember who tried to stop the tide of history when revolution came."

He glanced one last time at the ashen-faced members of the College of Cardinals, then raised his hand and waved it down.

The next second, the firing squad moved to the back of all the execution positions.

One by one, Martian meteorite-made rifles were raised. These rifles use high-density meteorite iron core bullets and were originally used by the Covenant Army to execute heavily cybernetic criminals at close range. After the bullets enter the skull, they explode between the cybernetic bones and biological tissues, ensuring that the target has no chance of being rescued.

At that moment, the firing squad pressed the muzzles of their guns against the back of the heads of the members of the College of Cardinals.

The people who had been struggling and cursing just moments before fell completely silent. Several cardinal candidates were chattering, their knees slamming against the supports of their torture racks.

The Supreme Arbitrator still tried to raise his head, but the Skyward soldiers behind him grabbed his shoulder and forced his head down again.

Zhang Nanhai stood in front of the camera, his voice resounding throughout the entire Mars Public Channel.

"Open the insurance—"

Click click click click click!

A series of safety release clicks echoed across the oath-taking square, and the indicator lights on the firing squad's guns changed from dark red to cold white, with all the muzzles finally locked.

Zhang Nanhai's raised hand paused for half a second before suddenly falling down.

"put!"

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang-! ! !

A barrage of gunfire erupted in the square, and the heads of the first row of Cardinals simultaneously sank forward, splattering blood and bone fragments onto the alloy floor in front of their execution positions.

Then the second, third, and fourth rows followed, the firing squad opened fire in succession according to their numbers, and one after another, the former cardinals, cardinal candidates, factional scribes, and military liaison officers fell before the eyes of the Martian people.

The supreme arbitrator, Alexander Borja, finally collapsed.

His black and gold robe was soaked in blood, the plaque on his chest that read "Chief Member of the Counter-Revolutionary Ruling Group" was askew, and the ring that symbolized the highest arbitration authority had long been removed, leaving only a pale mark on his knuckles.

Only the lingering smoke from gun barrels and the sound of corpses falling to the ground remained in the square.

Miners, workers, soldiers, gamers, Covenant junior officers, and ordinary citizens all watched this scene on public screens across Mars.

The ground troops who were still putting up a stubborn resistance also witnessed this scene.

The entire College of Cardinals has been wiped out. The core of the old papacy to which they were loyal was executed one by one in a live broadcast across Mars, causing the morale of many to collapse.

Covenant soldiers at several front-line positions began to lay down their weapons, a city defense battalion on the outskirts of Tharsis shut down its fire control radar, several mining suppression regiments in the direction of Mariner Valley halted their advance, and the Arctic Ice Sheet Guard Brigade sent a ceasefire inquiry to the Skydrive channel.

Zhang Nanhai stood in front of the camera, allowing the firing squad to complete the final verification, and then addressed the entire Mars:

"The sentence has been carried out, and the core of the old regime of the College of Cardinals has been purged."