Chapter 305 The Fremen’s Return! The End of Integration! Assassination!

“I will contact Director Song now and ask her to leave a group of Fremen as family guards for our Atreides family.”

Hawat understood Duke Leto’s inner worries, but at the same time, he also knew that this was definitely not an easy thing to do.

Although the Fremen may not be of much use to the Universal Corporation in practical terms, they still have some value in political terms.

After all, the Sisterhood’s marketing pitch to the Fremen was that this was a legion that served as “saviors” and the new Galactic Emperor.

This can be simply understood as, whoever the Fremen follow will be the emperor of the Galactic Empire!

The Atreides family is only the leader among many families, and it is not yet the emperor’s turn. Logically speaking, Leto is not qualified to have this army.

Otherwise it would be an overstepping of authority!

Therefore, it is understandable that even the world’s giant companies severely rejected the request of the Atreides family.

Hawat, knowing the reason, warned Leto: “My Lord Duke, you must be prepared for this matter. The giant company may not agree to our request.”

From the perspective of a military commander, Hawat believed that although the Fremen had no obvious advantages over the warships and cannons of the Giant Enterprise, they were a very high-quality source of troops.

First of all, the Fremen live in a wild land, and the harsh living environment has created their strong physique and tenacious fighting will.

With the genetic modification technology of the giant company and a little tinkering, these people will become more powerful Spartan warriors or Astartes warriors.

What’s more important is that the Fremen’s minds are still very “naive”. They are so fooled by the witches in the Sisterhood that they believe whatever they say.

This trait might be considered stupidity in society, but in the army, it is a combat weapon that absolutely obeys orders!
It’s a pity that the ownership of this fighting tribe belongs to the Universal Corporation, and their Atreides family has no right to command the Fremen.

But even so, Hawat still thought that asking Song Zhaomei for some Fremen to serve as family guards should not be too difficult a request.

After all, the reasons given by the Atreides family are very reasonable. Moreover, for a super civilization like the Enterprise, the Enterprise will most likely agree to such a trivial request.

“Go ahead, I’ll leave this matter to you.”

Leto patted Hawat on the shoulder. He was just testing the attitude of the giant company. If the other party was unwilling to give, then he would have no choice but to accept the defeat.

“Yes!”

After he finished speaking, Hawat immediately turned around and returned to the Atreides family’s residence, preparing to contact Song Zhaomei to discuss the matter in detail.

Half an hour later, in an inner hall somewhere in the base, a masked woman with a slim but strong build was quietly lurking in the darkness of the inner hall.

She is the sisterhood assassin sent by Our Lady Helen – Anya!
After Our Lady of Helen and Emperor Shaddam formed an alliance, the Sisterhood immediately launched a series of actions.

They went around whispering in the ears of various families and sent Anya, a senior assassin from the sisterhood, to carry out assassination missions.

As the expeditionary force of the Cosmic Corporation is ready, and the various families are more inclined to support the Atreides family.

This forced Virgin Helen to urge the assassins to act as soon as possible and kill the senior officials of Atreides.

Originally, the sisterhood had planted Lady Jessica as a thorn in the Atreides family, but unfortunately, a married woman is like spilled water.

Jessica betrayed her sisterhood and chose to be a wife and mother.

Now the Sisterhood can only go through great pains to insert Anya into Atreides to carry out this assassination operation.

This is the sisterhood’s only chance, and we can’t afford to lose it!

“Director Song, I leave the Fremen’s affairs to you. I hope His Majesty the Emperor can give us a reply as soon as possible.”

At this time, there was a sound in the corridor of the inner hall, and a steady sound of footsteps was approaching the inner hall.

Anya’s gloomy eyes flickered, and she could tell that the person who spoke was the Mentat of the Atreides family, Duffy Hawat.

If Hawat could be killed, there would also be chaos within the Atreides family, and this would be considered the completion of his assassination mission.

Thinking of this, Anya held her breath and waited patiently for the two to approach, ready to kill them with one blow at any time.

In the empty outer corridor, Song Zhaomei and Hawat walked side by side. They were discussing the issue of the Fremen’s belonging.

Just as Hawat expected, the Universal Corporation doesn’t really care about the Fremen’s views, but it still attaches great importance to their political significance.

In many cases, matters of principle are equivalent to actual interests, and even a tiny bit of gain cannot be given up easily.

Therefore, when it comes to the issue of the Fremen’s ownership, Song Zhaomei can even make the decision directly for Leon, that is, not a single Fremen can be given to the Atreides family!

“Mr. Duffy, regarding the issue of the Fremen, our attitude is that we will not give them to any family power. Every Fremen will be a department employee of a giant company.”

“In addition, the issue of the Fremen’s affiliation involves sensitive areas. I think keeping them here will bring unnecessary trouble to the Atreides family.”

Song Zhaomei expressed her attitude very clearly and directly rejected the other party’s request.

In fact, from the perspective of the world’s giant companies, there is no need to discuss this issue at all.

When it comes to the legitimacy of the Divine Emperor’s regime, Boss Leon will definitely not give in.

Although Li Ang did not directly state the Fremen’s affiliation, Song Zhaomei, as his subordinate, was still perceptive. What leaders fear most is this kind of thorny issue of “unclear right and wrong”.

If one day someone uses the Fremen issue to accuse the Atreides family of plotting rebellion, how should the world giant company deal with it?

Therefore, try to avoid getting involved in small issues like this. Besides, the Fremen are indeed a good source of soldiers.

At most, these guys can just take some spices and be invincible in the galaxy. If they receive some reasonable genetic modification, their physical strength will be absolutely amazing.

In the future, the Market Development Department will definitely build a Fremen Legion around the Fremen as the elite military unit of the giant enterprise.

Therefore, none of these people can be given to the Atreides.

“If the Duke is worried that the Atreides family will be challenged by other families, please tell him that he has nothing to worry about.”

After clearly rejecting Hawat’s request, Song Zhaomei gave her own suggestions and plans based on Leto’s concerns.

That is, the Universal Corporation provides the Atreides family with replicants, clone soldiers, and corresponding weapons and equipment.

As family guards, these soldiers are actually better than training Fremen in terms of both function and cost.

In fact, after the major families of the Galactic Empire join the universal trade circle, the weapons, equipment and warships of the Atreides family will definitely be greatly upgraded.

In such a situation, human resources alone are actually not very useful. Positions such as guarding can be completely performed by AI robots and clones.

The mission of the Universal Corporation in the 005 “Dune” universe is to bring together all the families and establish a “Silk Road” spanning multiple universes.

The role of these families is that of chamber of commerce members, responsible for contacting civilized species in various universes and transporting the goods and commodities of giant companies throughout the universe.

Buy and sell giant kaiju from the Pacific Rim universe, rent scary quantum soldiers from the Netherworld, sell spices from the Dune universe, and give away fun halo arrays for free…

Under the arrangement of the Universal Corporation, the weapons and equipment and troop strength of these families will only be stronger than they are now, and the Atreides family, as the head of the Chamber of Commerce, certainly does not need to rely on the Fremen to protect themselves.

Regarding this point, the giant companies have already considered it for them.

“Mr. Duffy, we fully understand the Atreides family’s situation and are confident that we can solve your problem, so please trust our decision-making arrangements.”

Song Zhaomei promised Hawat. She could understand Duke Leto’s worries. After all, the old duke had been playing tricks in the empire all his life, and his mind was full of twists and turns.

Faced with the empire’s structure that has changed dramatically, it is actually normal that one cannot change one’s thinking in a short period of time.

After listening to Song Zhaomei’s explanation, Hawat suddenly realized how wrong his previous thoughts were.

Fortunately, we didn’t really get this group of Fremen, otherwise it would be like burying a huge bomb for the Atreides family.

Since the global giant has arranged everything, Hawat will not say anything more.

Now the Fremen’s affiliation issue has been perfectly resolved, leaving only the final task of integration.

Before this, Hawat was still quite worried about the integration progress of the giant enterprise. After all, the Sadoka Legion, the minions of the Colino royal family, had been defeated.

But as the ultimate winner of the holy war ten thousand years ago, the royal family might have retained some AI technology in private.

If that dog emperor Saddam were to go all out and release those ancient AIs, it might bring unexpected troubles to other families and giant companies.

But now, after witnessing the two expeditionary corps of the giant enterprise and its strong technological strength, Hawat has regained a lot of confidence in the integrated war.

After all, no matter how powerful the ancient AI is, it needs time to develop if it wants to gain momentum. Facing the world’s giant companies that have already achieved “perfection” in the field of AI, the royal family’s low-grade yellow-level AI skills are really not up to par.

“Okay, Mr. Duffy, just take me here.” Song Zhaomei stopped at the corner of the corridor before entering the inner hall.

She shook hands with Hawat and said with a smile, “I will rest in my room for one night and will set off to return to the flagship tomorrow. You and Duke Leto will not have to see me off then.”

At this moment, Song Zhaomei has received Li Ang’s transfer order. If nothing unexpected happens, she will most likely become the interstellar governor of the 005 “Dune” universe.

Arrakis will also serve as her governor’s palace. By that time, Song Zhaomei will replace all the personnel here with internal employees of the giant company and clear out all the outsiders.

Seeing this, Hawat smiled and nodded: “Then I will represent the Duke and wish you all the best!”

Song Zhaomei chuckled, and just as she was about to turn around and walk into the inner hall, her latest model of Qilusi artificial eye suddenly scanned a humanoid thermal image.

There was a suspicious figure hiding in the corner of the inner hall, and he seemed to be holding some kind of miniature hidden weapon in his hand. At that moment, Song Zhaomei immediately realized the presence of an assassin here!
At this time, Hawat also noticed that Song Zhaomei’s face suddenly turned gloomy. He thought he had said something wrong and accidentally angered the other party.

But the next second, Song Zhaomei remained silent, turned her head and gestured to Hawat, indicating that there was an assassin there.

In an instant, Hawat’s face turned pale, but his strong psychological quality made him restrain from screaming. He really couldn’t believe that there was an assassin here.

You know, this base is the core area of ​​the Atreides family, and the people who stay here are all Duke Leto’s trusted guards.

Even the most common servants were brought from Caladan!

But the assassin was still able to sneak in, which is enough to show how strong the opponent’s infiltration ability is.

Hawat knew without hesitation that this must be a killer sent by the Sisterhood.

“By the way, Manager Song.”

Hawat, who was quick-witted, quickly came up with a solution. He had a solemn look on his face, but his voice was quite gentle:

“You haven’t had an Atreides dinner yet, right? I want the Duke to host an Atreides dinner for you. It won’t take you too long, just an hour.”

“I don’t know what you think.”

As the head of the internal affairs and military of the Atreides family, Hawat is top-notch in both IQ and psychological quality, and he immediately thought of a solution.

After that, Hawat paused again and added, “When the family dinner is over, Duke Leto will definitely send you back personally to show his hospitality!”

Hawat knew that as an important senior member of the Atreides family, if he turned around and left at this time, the assassins inside would definitely rush out and forcibly assassinate him and Song Zhaomei.

In order to appease the assassin, he could only throw out the more important Duke Leto and divert the other party’s attention to Leto.

After all, compared to themselves, the assassins of the Sisterhood would certainly prefer to kill Duke Leto directly, so that the Atreides family would be leaderless and the Atreides would fall into chaos and disputes.

After listening to Hawat’s proposal, Song Zhaomei smiled with satisfaction. She nodded and responded, “Okay, I believe that the family dinner prepared by Duke Leto will not disappoint me.”

Song Zhaomei’s double meaning made Hawat wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. He replied firmly: “Yes!”

After the words fell, the two of them turned back along the corridor. Of course, Song Zhaomei’s attention was always focused on the back, guarding against the assassin who might rush out of the inner hall at any time.

Anya, who was hiding in the dark of the inner hall, decided to stay put for the time being after weighing her inner thoughts, and continue to wait patiently for Duke Leto who was about to return.

Just as Hawat had expected, Duke Leto was the primary target of the Sisterhood assassins. As long as there was the slightest chance, they would prioritize Leto.

After all, if Hawat was assassinated, it would inevitably cause an uproar among the Atreides. By then, Leto, who would be on guard, would certainly not let the Sisterhood succeed in the assassination so easily.

However, what Anya never expected was that all this was just Hawat’s strategy to lure the enemy.

Anya waited for a long time in the darkness of the inner hall, but what finally came was not Duke Leto, but a group of elite Atreides guards led by Duncan!

They surrounded the inner hall at lightning speed and caught Anya who was hiding in the dark.

Although Anya, as a senior member of the sisterhood, possesses powerful sound control, her sound control is not as sophisticated as that of the Virgin Helen, and can only be used on a single individual.

Therefore, facing the elite Atreides Guards, Anya had no ability to fight back.

During this period, Anya, whose assassination mission failed, tried to bite the poison hidden in her teeth, but the experienced Duncan took the contents out of her teeth at the first opportunity.

In the end, the assassination plan led by Virgin Helen was a complete failure.

In the dark and damp dungeon, Duncan personally took the field as an interrogator, forcing Anya to reveal the mastermind behind the scenes and the whereabouts of her accomplices.

Of course, according to the practice of the Atreides family, before the formal interrogation, the prisoner must first be given a taste of pain as a warning to the criminal.

When the whip covered with thorns and barbs and soaked in cold salt water was used to whip Anya’s body, every crisp sound of the blow would make Anya scream in pain.

This method of punishment that involved beating and disinfecting at the same time made Anya almost faint from the pain. It was not until Duncan saw that the time was almost up that he ordered the punishment to stop.

There was no other way. With the crime Anya had committed, she deserved to be whipped or even executed on the spot. But letting her die so easily would be too easy for her.

Immediately, Duncan waved his hand again and asked the guards to take out the ointment and apply it to Anya. This secret ointment from the Atreides family can quickly repair broken wounds on the human body and accelerate the healing of flesh and blood.

But the corresponding price is that after applying this ointment, the patient will feel pain and itching in the wound, as if being bitten by countless ants.

After a while, Anya was gasping for breath due to the pain from the healing wound, tears and snot flowed out, and even her teeth were trembling.

After a long time, the effect of the medicine wore off and the wound healed a little, but Duncan whipped Anya again, and the wound was torn open again.

As the torture continued over and over again, Anya’s body soon became rotten beyond recognition, and her mental state was on the verge of collapse.

Seeing that the situation was almost settled, Duncan then asked Anya to tell him the truth about the mastermind behind the incident and who her accomplices were.

Anya, who had been tortured for a long time, could not bear Duncan’s beating any more, and told everything she knew.

From the assassination mission assigned to him by Our Lady Helen to other people planted within the Atreides family, as well as their names and positions, all were told to Duncan.

Although the members of the sisterhood have received professional training and have strong willpower, few can endure the long and endless painful torture.

(End of this chapter)