A World Worth Protecting

1

Li Wan’er heard Wang Baole’s shouting voice when she walked into the room. She had no expression on her face. Zhuo Yixian immediately turned and greeted her when she walked in.

“Greetings, Minister Li.” Zhuo Yixian got even more excited at the sight of his superior. He had been investigating in secret and on his own all along. Once he cracked the big case, part of the glory would inevitably go to Li Wan’er, but he would still have the lion’s share.

He had no intention of keeping this matter under wraps. Before he had gone to interrogate Wang Baole, he had sent a voice transmission to Li Wan’er. He didn’t expect her to make a personal appearance. He had only just started asking a few questions.

<em>This shows how seriously she treats this case. I’m definitely going to be rewarded for cracking the case! </em>The more Zhuo Yixian thought about it, the more excited he got. He found his reasoning and deductions iron-clad. He deliberated on how he should showcase himself before his superior. He turned and leveled an icy stare at Wang Baole.

“Wang Baole, it seems like we’re going to have to rough you up before you will talk!”

Wang Baole lifted his head suddenly when he heard that. He glared at Zhuo Yixian furiously and yelled.

“I’m one of the Federation’s hundred seedlings, the dean of the Dao Mountain Mist Academy. I’m a Secondary Rank Four Noble. I’m also the founder of the Soaring Cloud Student Platoon, which the Governor personally named. I saved dozens of people in the Blood Cave. Zhuo Yixian, you dare use torture on me?”

The look on Li Wan’er’s face darkened as she listened to Wang Baole’s hollering. Frustration simmered inside her. She had been busy with other missions during this period, and her own cultivation had reached a critical stage. That was why she hadn’t been spending as much time and attention on the Colony Disciplinary Order, which resulted in the current oversight…

She hadn’t been able to sit still since she had received Zhuo Yixian’s voice transmission. She had rushed over, fury burning inside her. She gave Zhuo Yixian a frosty glare. She had originally approved of the way he had conducted himself and worked. Those feelings were slowly turning into annoyance and irritation.

Wang Baole had been observing Li Wan’er. His eyes flashed. He decided to dial it up and shouted again.

“Zhuo Yixian, don’t bother trying to get anything out of me. I won’t say anything, no matter what you do. Even if I’m to lose an organ or body part, you won’t be able to make me talk!”

Zhuo Yixian was furious. It wasn’t just the difficulty of prying anything out of Wang Baole; it was how Wang Baole dared to yell at him in the presence of his superior. Li Wan’er looked really unhappy and seemed displeased with him. This made Zhuo Yixian angrier. He had planned to showcase himself in front of her. He slammed the table in front of Wang Baole again.

The loud thud resounded in the room. His voice was colored with the threat of violence and brutality as he spoke.

“Wang Baole, I don’t care if you’re one of the hundred seedlings or a Secondary Rank Four Noble. You’re nothing before the Colony Disciplinary Order. You’re going to talk, whether you want to or not… I’ll have you know… there hasn’t been a mouth that I haven’t pried open and gotten to speak since I, Zhuo Yixian, was posted to the Colony Disciplinary Order!

“You don’t have to try and hide. I’m not trying to trick you. You weren’t in Martian City on the night of the blood-colored mist and winds. I have undeniable proof of that!”

“I also know exactly where you were that night, and I will find out who you met and what you did that night!” The force behind Zhuo Yixian’s words grew as he spoke, asserting pressure on Wang Baole.

“I won’t tell you what I did!” Wang Baole heard what Zhuo Yixian said and saw the increasing unhappiness on Li Wan’er’s face. He tried to appear nervous, as if his heart was racing. He snorted then stopped talking.

Zhuo Yixian also sensed Li Wan’er’s sour mood. He clearly misunderstood the reason for it though… he thought she was displeased at how he had failed to make Wang Baole talk. He started to panic. He knew that torture was just an empty threat. Unless he had concrete proof and the necessary approval, he wouldn’t be able to go ahead with torture.

Wang Baole remained stubborn, and Li Wan’er was clearly in a bad mood. Zhuo Yixian gritted his teeth. He knew the solution was to weaken Wang Baole’s resolve and spirit. He slammed the table again.

“Wang Baole, you can continue to be stubborn. But let me tell you, I’ve already sent out ten teams—a total of three hundred people—to the Dao Mountain Mist Academy before I walked into this room. They will be searching through your room and the entire school. I don’t believe you can completely hide what you did that night!

“I’ve also found out that you have an accomplice. Your partner was the one who helped you erase all your records of that night. Wang Baole, your partner has some skill, but no matter how skilled he or she is, there is no such thing as a complete wipe!”

“You and your partner must have something to do with the appearance of the blood-colored mist and winds, and the appearance of the strange villages!” Zhuo Yixian sneered. He noticed the flicker of emotion across Wang Baole’s face. The latter seemed nervous. Zhuo Yixian’s eyes flashed, and he turned towards Li Wan’er nervously.

It might seem like his words were directed at Wang Baole, but they were actually meant for Li Wan’er. He wanted to prove his competency in front of her. He wanted her to know how hard he had worked.

He snuck a glance at Li Wan’er. Her face seemed to have darkened a shade, stiff with anger. It was as if she was brimming with fury and was on the verge of eruption…

Zhuo Yixian shuddered inwardly. He wondered if she was thinking how incompetent he was for having nothing to show for it after dispatching so many people out on the search.

Panic flooded Zhuo Yixian. He had the perfect case before him. He wasn’t going to ruin it. He decided that he needed to pump in a bit more work and continue to break Wang Baole’s spirit. It was then that suddenly, his voice transmission ring vibrated.

Zhuo Yixian glanced at it and was instantly overcome with joy. He turned it on immediately, and an old, aged voice rang out.

“Young Master, the task you have requested has been completed. The erased video segment has been sent to you.”

Li Wan’er’s eyes widened when the voice rang out. Wang Baole froze in shock as well. Zhuo Yixian lifted his face towards the ceiling and broke out into mad laughter. He was beyond joy and couldn’t control his excitement and glee. He immediately played the restored video clip that had been sent over to everyone in the room.

His voice transmission ring instantly projected a screen in the room. An image formed. It was of the heretic cultivator’s cave outside the city. Wang Baole’s big face appeared in the image…

He seemed to be studying the surroundings curiously.

Everyone’s pupils contracted when they saw that scene. Their cultivation started churning. They immediately locked onto Wang Baole, who was sitting, confused, in the room. They stared at him as if he was their greatest foe. Their sudden hostility was clearly because of Wang Baole’s appearance in the video.

“Wang Baole, you think no one knows where you were that night? You were in the heretic cultivator’s secret room outside the city. Your partner somehow erased the recording, but I’ve spared no effort and even employed my family clan’s resources to restore the recording. Take a look at that. Isn’t that you?

“Wang Baole, you appeared in a secret room you should have no knowledge of. You were there when the blood-colored mist and winds appeared. It’s too late now for you to say anything. I have no doubt that you are a heretic cultivator. You took part in the conspiracy that led to the blood-colored mist and winds!”

“Your partner… will definitely appear in the video as well. See, there’s your partner. Let’s take a look and find out who that is…” Zhuo Yixian said excitedly. He burst out in maniacal laughter again. A myriad of expressions flashed across Wang Baole’s stunned face. Li Wan’er’s eyes burned. They looked like they were about to shoot lasers out of them… it was then that a female silhouette with a curvaceous form appeared beside Wang Baole on the screen.

Before it could fully come into the screen, with only a partial form revealed, Li Wan’er’s rage finally reached its climax and exploded. She hadn’t taken action earlier because she wanted to know how much Zhuo Yixian knew. Now, she knew that Zhuo Yixian had even gone to the extent of restoring the recording. She could hold it in no longer. She dashed before Zhuo Yixian. With a sweep of her finger, a deafening thunder exploded. The projection alongside Zhuo Yixian’s voice transmission ring disintegrated instantly. As they turned to dust, she turned towards a dazed Zhuo Yixian and leveled a glacier-like, murderous glare on him.

“Enough! Release him immediately. This case ends now. And one more thing… Zhuo Yixian, do you want to die!?”

Li Wan’er had forced the last few words out one by one through her clenched teeth. Every word sent the temperature in the room spiraling downwards. There was an oppressive tension in the room that intensified. When she was finally done speaking, everyone in the room, except Wang Baole, was sweating profusely. Their hearts were racing a mile a second.

They seemed to have connected the well-curved form in the video with Li Wan’er’s outburst. The realization was an unpermitted taboo thought. They felt as if they were being pulled under by a ferocious tsunami. The expressions on their faces changed suddenly. They turned towards Wang Baole and stared at him in horror. It was as if they were looking at a demon. Their minds started buzzing, and a white blank descended in their heads…

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