Chapter 279: Truth, Truth!
Xia Feng quickly stepped forward.
Li Zaishi weakly lifted his heavy eyelids. Seeing the person who arrived, a tragic smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You… you’ve come.”
“What happened? Who is the enemy?”
Xia Feng frowned and squatted down, examining Li Zaishi’s injuries. Unfortunately, he was already on the verge of death, his soul about to dissipate, and his condition was incurable.
“Cough—cough—” Li Zaishi coughed twice more with great effort. Dark purple, foul blood overflowed from the corner of his lips, and his pale, chapped lips trembled as he spoke in a hoarse voice, “In my pocket, it’s in my pocket.”
Xia Feng understood and quickly searched him, finding a red cloth bag and an old pocket watch covered in cracks.
He flicked open the watch cover, and a halo emerged from within, forming a projected image in the air.
The image displayed the old soldiers temporarily leaving White Emperor City and hiding in the dense forest.
However, it wasn’t long before they encountered a knight clad in bright silver armor, with a gray wolf-tail hairstyle, and a sacred white ‘x’ mark engraved on his forehead.
The knight walked slowly from the depths of the dark forest – it was Yin Shi!
As a member of the investigation team, Lin Musen naturally recognized Yin Shi because Yin Shi was his superior.
It was Yin Shi who had dispatched him to lead the team into the Egret Forbidden Zone for investigation.
He had also succeeded in uncovering part of the truth, and had previously used the spatial channel opened by the Blue Whale to transmit information out of the forbidden zone, bypassing the interference of spacetime turbulence.
Yin Shi likely found this location based on the information’s coordinates.
“It’s alright, he’s one of us.” Lin Musen breathed a sigh of relief and waved at the old soldiers, introducing, “This is Lord Yin Shi from the Apocalypse Knights.”
“Lord Yin Shi, these are the remnants of White Emperor City that your subordinate mentioned in the transmission. With their help, the treason case from thirty years ago should be overturned soon, and the truth will be revealed!”
Seeing this, the vigilant old soldiers behind them also relaxed slightly. They naturally knew of the Apocalypse Knights.
Possessing ultimate law enforcement and immunity from prosecution, surpassing all official agencies, every member of the Knights was absolutely loyal to the Empire, upholding the core principle that “any individual or force detrimental to the Empire will become the target of the Apocalypse.”
It could be said that they were all death warriors who would defend the Empire to the death, making any decision without any personal gain or emotion.
If an Apocalypse Knight were to investigate the treason case, things would likely proceed much more smoothly.
The old soldiers also saw a glimmer of hope for survival. They had been prepared to die at any moment, but now they wished to live to witness the truth!
They had defended the Empire’s city for 30 years, only to discover that the enemy was the Empire itself, and they had become the traitors in the eyes of the world, nailed to the pillar of historical shame! Nothing could be more infuriating and despairing than this.
They now only wanted to return to the Empire and make the mastermind pay the price!
“Lord Yin Shi.” Li Zaishi stepped forward, cupped his fists, and said in a deep, respectful voice, “I am Li, the commander of White Emperor City’s defense, of the 11th New Division of Egret, formerly belonging to the Yinlong Army, a Level 5 soldier…”
Li Zaishi was speaking, but Yin Shi ignored him. His grayish-white eyes calmly swept over the old soldiers and women and children around them, and he slowly drew his greatsword.
The next moment, an invisible and terrifying sword aura erupted!
*Hiss—*
In the dim, misty forest, a hundred heads flew into the sky simultaneously. Their expressions were frozen at the moment of death, their eyes filled with confusion.
The sudden, unexpected turn of events caught everyone off guard, their expressions changing drastically.
“Lord Yin… Yin Shi!?” Lin Musen was astonished.
“Damn it!” Li Zaishi’s scalp tingled, and he roared, “Scatter! Run in different directions!”
But unfortunately, the Yin Shi who appeared here was his main body, a Venerable. No one could escape his sword aura domain.
Heads flew from headless torsos. Li Zaishi and Lin Musen glared furiously at the wolf-tail knight, but they were immediately repelled, crashing heavily into a tree stump and spitting out blood.
It was a one-sided slaughter. The wolf-tail knight, holding his greatsword, slowly walked out of the smoke and dust.
“Yin Shi! Do you know what you’re doing! You are betraying the Empire!” Lin Musen’s eyes were bloodshot, and he roared hoarsely. He never expected to have summoned a demon!
Even less did he expect an Apocalypse Knight to do such a thing!
“Sergeant Lin, when the investigation team was formed, I reminded you to remember this.”
Hearing Lin Musen’s questioning, Yin Shi said indifferently, “For the Empire, the truth is not important; what is important is the truth that aligns with the Empire’s interests.”
“Ten thousand soldiers were falsely accused of treason, yet not a single word leaked out. The various forces and interests involved are far more numerous than you imagine.
Compared to the potential for a second Imperial Civil War caused by overturning the case, letting these forgotten remnants become mere footnotes in history is what you and I should do.”
Lin Musen was stunned and opened his mouth, murmuring in horror, “Damn it… you bastard…”
Seeing his still unaccepting expression, Yin Shi shook his head. “Sergeant Lin, I admire your absolute loyalty to the Empire, but it seems that your psychological evaluation for promotion to Apocalypse Knight will have to be postponed for now.”
“Po—”
“Postpone your mother!” Lin Musen’s dull eyes turned bloodshot, and he roared, charging at the wolf-tail knight with his saber again.
*Bang—*
He was sent flying backward, landing on the tree stump again, barely alive.
“Thirty years ago, White Emperor City Lord Lord Wei Zhong led one hundred thousand troops in a city-wide rebellion, and was ultimately annihilated by the ‘God Relic – Heart of the Empire.’ This is already a historical fact, and a fact that the Imperial Citizens have completely accepted.”
“Therefore—”
Yin Shi pulled his greatsword out of the ground, his grayish-white eyes looking up. “For the Empire, please, my colleagues, die.”
*Boom!!*
Amidst the explosions, the image flickered unstably. Xia Feng’s expression turned grim as he stared, his brows furrowed. Mu Qingtong’s delicate eyebrows also drew together, her beautiful eyes narrowing, wondering what lay within them.
Xia Feng largely understood the Apocalypse Knights’ objective.
In their view, if the White Emperor City incident were to be exposed, the impact would be too great. Besides clearing the names of the hundred thousand soldiers, it would bring no benefit to the Empire’s peace. It could even cause widespread chaos, and worse, allow the Nightmare Clan to exploit the opportunity.
So, Yin Shi, seeing that Xize Walker had failed to deal with White Emperor City, had to take action himself, while also sending a clone to apprehend Xize Walker.
After all, someone had to be held accountable for this matter. The involved parties could not simply walk away unscathed; these forces must also pay a price as a form of punishment.
Damn it, after realizing the intricacies of the situation, Xia Feng’s expression became even more grim. This world was too messed up!
He really wanted to let the World-Ending Witch destroy these guys…
A strange thought flashed through Xia Feng’s mind.
Soon, the image returned to normal. In the scene, Freya suddenly appeared, semi-dragonized once more, roaring as she attacked the wolf-tail knight.
But her opponent was a Venerable, and Freya was no match, ultimately being blasted high into the air and through the protective barrier, falling into the spacetime turbulence outside the island.
