Lord Piggy was thrown to the ground, and he landed with a bang. Stunned with terror, he curled up into a ball and stared at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin spoke calmly, “You’ve seen everything that happened here, even the people I want to take away.”
“No! I didn’t see anything!” Lord Piggy screamed anxiously.
At this instance, Liu Ye returned with Shui Chuanxiao.
Lu Yin turned to face Shui Chuanxiao. “Welcome to your prison escape, Grand Marshal.”
Shui Chuanxiao glanced around. He noticed the Warden, and his eyes eventually returned to Lu Yin. “Why do you want to take me with you?”
Lu Yin smiled and gave the man a gadget.
Shui Chuanxiao started reading.
Lu Yin glanced over at Lord Piggy. “I can’t risk letting the Hall of Honor know about the people I’m taking with me, so your fate has already been determined.”
Lord Piggy was terrified, and he started wailing, “Alliance Leader Lu, I’m your servant! I won’t say anything, nothing at all! Don’t worry, I won’t say anything! Never ever! Alliance Leader…”
Lu Yin actually had no plans of killing the pig. The creature had done nothing at all to help after the riot broke out, and only the Warden had taken action against the escaping prisoners. Someone reliable needed to stay in Gaia’s Swamp to explain what had happened after the Warden fainted, or else the disappearance of the Second Nightking, Liu Huang, and Shui Chuanxiao would be too suspicious, especially since Lu Yin had suffered no injuries at all.
In addition to Lord Piggy, Lǜ Cha and Lǜ Yan also could not leave the prison.
Just like with what had happened in the Dominion Realm, Lu Yin needed witnesses to prove that there was no connection to a major incident.
Lu Yin turned to Lǜ Cha. “Do you want your father to stay alive?”
Lǜ Cha stared intently at Lu Yin.
“Stay here with your father. Even if the Warden suspects your involvement in the escape attempt, his suspicions will have no grounds if Lǜ Yan is still here. I also need you to keep an eye on that pig. And in return, I can promise that I will get your father out of Gaia’s Swamp soon,” Lu Yin said.
“Alliance Leader Lu, I’ll stay,” Lǜ Yan immediately spoke up, as he had no other choice.
Lǜ Cha helplessly asked, “Will you really save my father?”
“I will make sure that both you and your father are able to leave,” Lu Yin answered.
Lǜ Cha was solemn as she looked at Lu Yin. “Alright, I promise.”
Lu Yin nodded. Both prisoners and guards had died during the riot, so not very many people could be allowed to escape. If all of the important prisoners escaped, then the incident would blow up. This was why Lǜ Yan needed to stay behind, and it was also why Can had to die. Only Liu Huang, the Second Nightking, and Shui Chuanxiao could be allowed to leave.
Lord Piggy silently dived back into the ground as he tried to escape into the depths of the swamp.
Lǜ Cha glanced over, walked towards the pig, and then easily pulled him up by the ear.
Lord Piggy whined, “Master Cha, please let go! Let me go! Alliance Leader Lu, help! She’s trying to kill me!”
Lǜ Cha tossed Lord Piggy onto the Warden’s head, and the pig started to nervously tremble.
“Pee,” Lǜ Cha commanded.
Lord Piggy blinked in confusion.
Lu Yin was also stunned. Pee? He suddenly thought of that bastard, Tu Qiming.
“Pee,” Lǜ Cha ordered again.
Lord Piggy was terrified, and he involuntarily pissed himself. He then started shrieking, “I’m dead! I’m dead! I’m dead! I’m dead! I peed on the Warden, I’m dead!”
“No matter what happens, anyone who pees on the Warden will die,” Lǜ Cha declared. She then turned to Lu Yin. “He won’t say anything no matter what.”
Lord Piggy rolled off of the Warden, tears filling his eyes. This was the worst day of his entire life, and he was surrounded by terrible people.
Lu Yin shot a sympathetic look towards Lord Piggy.
The Warden’s finger twitched, and the ground shook.
Lu Yin turned to Liu Huang. If the man did not make up his mind by the time the Warden regained consciousness, Liu Huang would die here in Gaia’s Swamp as Lu Yin would not give the man a chance to say anything.
Liu Huang met Lu Yin’s gaze. “The Great Eastern Alliance is a loose yet close-knit alliance. Even if the Sword Sect joins you, you still won’t be able to interfere with the Sword Sect’s internal affairs and can only decide our overall direction, correct?”
Lu Yin smiled. “Although you’ve managed to create the Fourteenth Sword, you’ve been imprisoned for too long. Has your brain spoiled?”
Liu Huang’s expression instantly changed.
Lu Yin’s voice grew cold, “That’s how it will be on paper. However, as soon as the Sword Sect joins the Great Eastern Alliance, you will need to listen to my orders. Still, you can try to replace me as the Alliance Leader, if you are able to do so.”
The Warden’s finger twitched again.
Lu Yin stared at Liu Huang with cold eyes. Liu Huang was the key for Lu Yin’s plan to force the Sword Sect to submit. However even if the man disagreed, Lu Yin would be able to come up with other methods.
Liu Huang turned to look at the Warden and saw the giant’s finger twitch yet again. He let out a reluctant sigh. “I want to leave this place and teach the Fourteenth Sword.”
Lu Yin glanced over at the Second Nightking. “Take them away.”
The moment the Second Nightking had helped Lu Yin stop Can’s attack, his position had been made clear. He was no longer in any position to refuse Lu Yin.
Both Liu Huang’s and the Second Nightking’s lives were under Lu Yin’s control. The only exception was Shui Chuanxiao, but regardless of if the man was willing to take on the position of Great Eastern Alliance’s Allied Forces’ Commander, Lu Yin would still take the man away from Gaia’s Swamp. En Ya had done a great deal for Lu Yin over the years, and her only request was Shui Chuanxiao’s freedom, and Lu Yin had promised to accomplish it.
Shui Chuanxiao was a terrible criminal, but his crime had ended up greatly benefiting the Human Domain. The former grand marshal’s fate lay in Lu Yin’s hands; if Lu Yin felt that Shui Chuanxiao’s contributions were enough to cancel out his crimes, Shui Chuanxiao would eventually be free to leave. However, if Lu Yin felt that Shui Chuanxiao was a true criminal, the man would die here in Gaia’s Swamp.
This was power.
…
The Warden woke up, and he reflexively punched the swamp, tearing the sky apart as he yelled, “Who dares to escape? I’ll kill you!”
Lord Piggy was tossed into the distance with a shriek.
The Warden looked around, and he saw Lǜ Cha silently standing nearby along with Lu Yin and the others.
“Where are the prisoners who escaped?” the Warden bellowed as he glared at Lǜ Cha.
Lǜ Cha answered coldly, “The Second Nightking, that old swordsman, and less than ten prisoners escaped. Can is dead, and Lǜ Yan has been recaptured.”
The Warden was shocked. He looked around and saw that everything had already returned to normal, with the exception of his distant castle slowly collapsing.
He glanced at Lu Yin and the others, and then over at Lord Piggy who had become stuck in the swamp. The Warden picked up Lord Piggy and shook him.
Lord Piggy whined, “Sir Warden, I’m Piggy! Don’t eat me! Don’t eat me!”
The Warden released the animal. “What happened after I fainted?”
Lord Piggy leaped up, panting. “After you fell unconscious, Alliance Leader Lu stepped up. However, your previous attacks were too strong, and Alliance Leader Lu was also wounded, so he wasn’t able to capture the Second Nightking and the other prisoners who escaped…”
Since both of Gaia’s Swamp’s assistant wardens were present, Lǜ Yan was back in prison, and Can had died, the Warden held no suspicions towards Lu Yin. Of particular importance was the fact that the Second Nightking had escaped, and the Warden believed that Lu Yin would never let that man go, as the Second Nightking was Lu Yin’s greatest threat.
Just the fact that the Second Nightking had escaped erased all suspicions towards Lu Yin could be cleared. On top of that, Lu Yin had actually told the Warden about Can’s plans before anything had happened, which had further proven that Lu Yin had no connection to the prison break.
Lu Yin was instead seen as the righteous person who had helped them stop a full prison break.
At least, that was the Warden’s perception. He profusely apologized to Lu Yin. “I was too careless. I never thought that they would be this powerful after being held captive in the toxic gas for so long.”
Lu Yin answered in a helpless manner, “Liu Ye and Fei Hua wanted to help out at first, but, Senior, your aurelian force was just too powerful! We couldn’t do anything at all.”
The Warden apologized yet again.
“We should find a way to capture the prisoners who escaped! The Second Nightking is one of them,” Lu Yin angrily declared.
The Warden continued to apologize, and he guaranteed that the Hall of Honor would quickly capture the Second Nightking.
As far as everyone else was concerned, the Second Nightking’s escape seemed to be extremely bad for Lu Yin, so nobody would think that Lu Yin had actually deliberately released the man from Gaia’s Swamp.
Emperor Luo was locked up in Can’s old place, and Lu Yin led Liu Ye and Fei Hua elsewhere to rest.
The Warden was going to be extremely busy for the time being, as he needed to rechain the prisoners, tally the various deaths, and determine exactly who had managed to escape. In addition, he also had to uncover the reason why there had been a successful prison break to begin with.
The first person the Warden spoke with was Lǜ Cha.
“Why didn’t you escape?” the Warden asked Lǜ Cha. His castle had already been repaired, as a few guards had easily taken care of that matter.
Lǜ Cha answered coldly, “The entire universe belongs to the Hall of Honor, so what’s the point in trying to escape?”
The Warden’s voice was equally cold. “Your father surrendered and never even considered leaving Gaia’s Swamp, but then he changed his mind after you arrived to keep him company. He wanted you to leave this place as he doesn’t want you to stay here forever. So, why didn’t you leave with him?”
Lǜ Cha raised her head. “This is a good place, so why would we leave? My father has his opinion, and I have my own. I don’t want to leave. I’m the reason why he’s here, so I want him to leave this place proudly, not escape in shame. Even if I am forced to die here, I will still stay with him.”
The Warden took a flask out from his cosmic ring and took a swig. “Hahahaha, that’s the right mindset for an assistant warden of Gaia’s Swamp! Alright, I understand.”
Lord Piggy rushed in as soon as Lǜ Cha left. However, this time, the pig did not run into the Warden’s toe. After seeing the power of the Warden’s aurelian force, the pig knew that he would never be able to kill the Warden, not even if he grew ten times bigger. “Sir Warden, what should we do regarding Liu Huang’s identity? Alliance Leader Lu asked me about this a few times, and I don’t think we’ll be able to keep it a secret.”
The Warden glared at the pig. “You must keep that from him no matter what! Don’t ever mention that name again!”
Lord Piggy jumped up, and his ears drooped. He then carefully looked up, saw the Warden’s face, and remembered peeing on it. Just thinking about it made Lord Piggy feel like he could be killed at any time. “Yes, keep it. I have to keep it from him. I won’t tell anyone.”
The Warden was satisfied with this response. “That’s right, keep it a secret. Say nothing to anyone.”
“I understand, Sir Warden. I won’t tell anyone.”
…
The Warden reported the riot and the escapes to the Hall of Honor after regaining consciousness. The news shocked the council of overseers, the Interstellar Supreme Court, and even Arch-Elder Zen.
Gaia’s Swamp not only housed criminals, but it also held people like Liu Huang who could expose the Hall of Honor’s dark side. If such matters were revealed, the Hall of Honor’s reputation would be threatened.
OMA’s Thoughts
Translated By: WQ
Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox
TLC’ed By: OMA
