Everyone in the room was watching what was happening with eyes wide open. It was more than clear that the level of disbelief in the hearts of everyone present had reached levels too high for any of them to react immediately to what was happening before them.
To begin with, the son of the second most powerful person in the entire base was slapped so hard that at this moment life or death was unknown. But not content with that, the young man who slapped the son of the second most powerful person in the entire establishment also called his father “old man” and openly and unconcernedly threatened him to the point of drawing his sword as if he was actually prepared to do what he was saying.
Finally, now even the most powerful person in the entire establishment was being treated so rudely!
Wu Keqian looked at Bai Zemin in astonishment as he himself could not believe that this educated young man was actually speaking to him in that tone of voice. The person he had practically treated as his son-in-law was actually standing a few meters ahead of him openly challenging him in front of so many people.
However, the support Wu Keqian received from all the people and soul evolvers was far higher than the support Sun Yun received; one of the reasons why he was able to easily seize the power of the entire base.
There were not a few people who were saved or helped by Wu Keqian!
“How dare you talk to Mayor Wu like that!”
There was an anger-filled roar similar to a lion’s roar followed by an explosion.
Bai Zemin looked out of the corner of his eye and saw a First Order soul evolver that seemed to have transformed into something similar to a bull charging toward him at full speed. However, just as Bai Zemin raised a hand, he saw something out of the corner of his eye and stopped his movement before ignoring that soul evolver.
Swoosh!
A shadow swooshed through the crowd before stopping right in front of the soul evolver transformed into a bull, surprising him. But the soul evolver transformed into a bull didn’t have time to stop at all or change his action when the person in front of him clenched the fist and punched forward.
Bang!
The soul evolver with the transformation skill who was actually a powerful level 38 warrior looked like a rag doll hit by a truck as his body was sent flying like a meteorite backward, destroying one of the tables and smashing through the wall before being buried under a pile of rubble.
Life or death was unknown.
“If you wake up after that you can thank me for saving your life.” Zhong De coldly snorted as he regained his stance and stood behind Bai Zemin as if declaring his posture.
Swoosh!
No one knew how or when but suddenly a petite, nimble silhouette appeared on the stage, right behind Wu Yijun. Before anyone could even react, the small silhouette that was like a shadow pulled out a dagger from somewhere and gently rested the blade of the weapon on Wu Yijun’s slender swan-like neck.
“Yijun!”
“No!”
Both Sun Ling and Wu Keqian screamed in terror with their faces as pale as a sheet as they saw that the person who had sneaked in was actually Cai Jingyi and at this moment she held her daughter’s life in her hands. Even Wu Keqian that was a powerful Second Order warrior did not trust to close a distance of several meters before the young assassin’s hand moved!
Wu Yijun was already on the verge of tears from everything that was happening so she didn’t even notice when Cai Jingyi had appeared behind her. Her whole world seemed about to crumble before her eyes so she couldn’t care less about her life right now. However, Cai Jingyi’s voice sounded like a whisper from behind her:
“Wu Yijun, don’t worry. I’m doing this in order that you don’t have to decide which side you’ll take regardless of what happens next.”
It would be cruel for a girl to have to decide between the man she loved most in this world versus her family, too cruel. Cai Jingyi did not want something like that to happen so she acted on her own without waiting for orders from anyone.
Nangong Lingxin stepped elegantly out of the crowd and with a faint smile stood next to Bai Zemin. The place was silent as she looked at him and asked in a low voice, “Leader, finally got bored of playing the role of the lamb?”
“Shut your mouth, Nangong Lingxin.” Bai Zemin said in a growling voice.
“Okaaay.” Nangong Lingxin let out a chuckle and started playing with her fingernails as if she didn’t care at all about the fact that they were surrounded by soul evolvers who in an instant could be their enemies.
Wu Keiqan watched the scene in front of him with a pale face.
Beside Bai Zemin were two of the team members who arrived with him a week ago, at the gate, Chen He was standing with a sky-blue energy bow like a soldier blocking entrance and exit. Wu Yijun was caught by Cai Jingyi, and last but not least, Shangguan Bing Xue stood in front of Bai Zemin’s family with a complicated expression on her face.
Even without anyone saying anything, everyone’s posture was too obvious not to notice what was going on here. Ye Linger and Bai Delan watched everything in disbelief while Meng Qi was calmly playing with an exquisite green ring with four root-like extensions growing from a tree-like token on the surface.
“You planned this from the beginning, didn’t you?” Wu Keqian looked at Bai Zemin and sighed.
However, to his surprise, Bai Zemin shook his head and said calmly, “No. My original intention was to come to as peaceful an agreement as possible with you and the rest. Although I have no time to be wasting with petty games, you and your wife gave birth to a good daughter. Were it not for Wu Yijun, none within this hall would be where they are.”
Wu Keqian raised an eyebrow and said very calmly, “That confidence of yours really is great.”
“Because I have the strength to back it up.” Bai Zemin replied indifferently. Without giving Wu Keqian time to say anything else, he continued, “Mayor Wu, there is only one thing in this world that I do not tolerate and that is for my family to suffer any kind of injustice. Therefore, for the sake of everyone here, I hope that you or someone inside this damn hall can give me a good explanation as to why that scum called Sun Jie was bothering my younger sister all this time.”
Bai Delan’s and Sun Ling’s eyes flashed with surprise as they listened to Bai Zemin. Bai Delan even looked at Meng Qi and with his eyes inquired if she had said anything, to which Meng Qi hurriedly shook her head as she looked at her big brother in wonder.
How did he know?
“What are you talking about?” Wu Keqian frowned and pointed out, “Sun Jie hasn’t gone near your sister again since she asked me. I’m sure of it.”
“Em?” Bai Zemin suddenly frowned and a weird flash of light glinted in his eyes.
For the entire previous week, one of the reasons Bai Zemin had stayed at home without exploring the base was because his sister Meng Qi strangely did not want to leave the privileged area. Although this seemed somewhat unusual to him, Bai Zemin simply thought that she did not have the heart to go to the poorer areas since he knew how kind-hearted Meng Qi was.
However, when Bai Zemin saw Sun Jie looking at Meng Qi with those eyes, he finally understood that the reason why Meng Qi didn’t want to leave the privileged area was because of that little bastard who had probably been bothering her all this time.
But now that Bai Zemin heard Wu Keqian say that Sun Jie had not approached Meng Qi since she asked him to, a thought appeared in Bai Zemin’s heart which caused his expression to sink.
He looked at Meng Qi and asked in a low voice but audible to all, “Meng Qi, could it be that the favor you obtained from Mayor Wu was spent so that little piece of … Sun Jie to stay away from you?”
Meng Qi hesitated as she didn’t want things to escalate any further if possible. However, she knew that her big brother was far from being foolish, and even if she lied he would find out for himself, and by the time that happened things would get worse. Therefore, after several seconds of silence, she nodded her head silently.
But contrary to the expectations of those who knew Bai Zemin, he simply nodded and did not look angry. On the contrary, he looked at Wu Keqian and sighed as he said quietly, “You have really disappointed me. I thought you were a good leader, part of the reason I was giving you time as I wanted to see what kind of leader you are. But now I see that you’re really no different than any other piece of trash.”
“You-“
“A person who out of fear of another cannot do his duty properly is not worthy to lead!!!”
Bai Zemin roared loudly, cutting off Wu Keqian’s words.
His voice was filled with anger that he barely seemed to be holding back. The ears of most of those present buzzed noisily and their heads felt dizzy as they took several steps back.
But Wu Keqian surprisingly wasn’t angry at Bai Zemin’s words or tone of voice either. Instead, the man’s shoulders slumped slightly and his expression turned bitter as he nodded, “You are right. It is precisely because I know that in this world I cannot lead that I told you earlier that I was willing to hand over my position to someone better qualified and who proves to be able to do better than me.”
Wu Keqian knew that the fact that a citizen of his faction had to use a valuable favor to ask for something that by rule Wu Keqian himself should fulfill was not something to be proud of at all and had always been a thorn in his heart. However, what could he do? Wu Keqian was not an all-powerful being, there were priorities and for the greater good, he had no choice but to ignore some things.
“Remember what I told you before?” Wu Keqian calmly pointed out. “Even if I know there’s contaminated water underground unless I’m willing to let the entire ground shake and risk many buildings collapsing I can only let that contaminated water continue to run.”
In this chaotic world, avoiding major chaos was the wisest option. However…
“That’s because you are weak.” Bai Zemin said mercilessly. “A capable leader enforces his rules to the letter and anyone who does not follow them should be punished accordingly. Earlier, you spoke about separating the rotten fruits from the healthy ones but in my eyes, it is nothing but foolishness! I, Bai Zemin, was no more than an ordinary student in the past, but today, I can firmly say that I am a better leader than you who has led all your life!”
“… And what makes you think that?” Wu Keqian asked still maintaining his composure.
Bai Zemin stepped forward and declared, “Because I, Bai Zemin, have barely lost subordinates during my entire conquest from Yanqing District to Changping District! In contrast to you who can only close an eye and turn a blind eye to what goes on within your own walls, any of the more than 30,000 survivors under my rule who dares to break any of the rules set by me and my government cabinet will face the consequences regardless of their power or rank!”
* * * * * * *
