199: revenge!

"Your Majesty, we have arrived late to your rescue!"

A dense crowd of Imperial Guards rushed over. The leading commander, Qin Ming, and two deputy commanders cupped their fists to apologize to the Emperor before turning their angry gazes toward Xu Le.

"Rebel Xu Le, lay down your weapons and surrender immediately, or we shall hack you to pieces!"

Xu Le's expression remained unchanged as he took out his yanyue saber. "Since you were somewhat honest at the end, I'll give you a quick death."

"Stop! Xu Le, you dare to assassinate Your Majesty? Do you truly wish to isolate yourself from humanity and leave a name that stinks for ten thousand years?"

Qin Ming's eyes nearly split from rage. If the Emperor were assassinated under his protection, he couldn't imagine what kind of responsibility he or even his Family would have to bear.

"You don't represent everyone. I only do what I want. If I cared about the world's opinion with every move I made, what would be the point of living? Why would I even bother trying to level up?"

Xu Le struck the Emperor's neck with a powerful blow, but no blood flowed. Instead, the health bar of an Imperial Guard in the distance plummeted, nearly reaching zero.

Heart-Link Protector!

A rare SSS-rank Class that can bind one's life to another, bearing all damage on their behalf.

As long as the user doesn't die, the person they protect will never be harmed.

Qin Ming shouted sternly, "Xu Le, don't be impulsive! The one you're hurting right now is an Imperial Guard you've never even met. He's an orphan whose daughter was just born three months ago. Do you have the heart to be so ruthless?"

Xu Le remained unmoved and raised his blade to strike again. "Everyone must take responsibility for their actions. If he's willing to give his life, I'm willing to oblige."

"Besides, I'm a man accused of thirty-eight felonies. How can you expect me to have the heart of a Buddha?"

Puchi!

Another strike fell. The Emperor remained unscathed, while the Imperial Guard on the other side had his health bar emptied and collapsed to the ground.

Another strike!

As Xu Le raised his blade again, Qin Ming led the charge.

Berserk!

Savage Charge!

Due to the Berserk Skill, his agility and strength attributes increased significantly.

Combined with his daily training, this charge was executed perfectly, approaching the speed of sound.

However, he still felt uncertain.

A man's reputation follows him like a tree's shadow.

Xu Le's strength rivaled that of the world's number one, the Sword God Liu Rufeng.

He had no confidence that he could land the hit.

"Faster, just a little faster!"

Qin Ming screamed internally. Seeing that Xu Le hadn't moved, he crushed another item, boosting his speed even further.

Just as he was about to collide with Xu Le, he saw Xu Le point a finger, and a bolt of lightning struck the Emperor.

Fortunately, the Emperor's health bar wasn't completely emptied; he had about 100 health points left.

"Faster! If I knock Xu Le away, I'll be a hero who saved the Emperor!"

Bang!

Feeling the impact, Qin Ming's entire body trembled.

He had successfully collided with Xu Le.

The sensation of physical impact couldn't be faked.

He shouted loudly, "Brothers, use your crowd control Skills! Keep him locked down!"

"Brother, there's no need! You've already killed him."

A familiar voice rang out. Qin Ming stared blankly at the person he had hit—the Emperor, Emperor.

His chest was visibly caved in, he was coughing up blood, and his health bar was empty. He was clearly dead.

So... 0.01 seconds before he hit Xu Le, Xu Le had successfully dragged the near-death Emperor in front of himself.

How ruthless!

What a vicious tactic!

"Commander Qin, until we meet again!" Xu Le cupped his fists.

The Imperial Guards were frantic, shouting noisily about capturing Xu Le, but most were all talk and no action.

The Thousand-Year Fish transformed into Little Sparrow, grabbed Xu Le, and vanished instantly.

The Anti-Flight Formation in the palace seemed dead, showing no reaction.

"I..."

Qin Ming wanted to explain, but he didn't know how, especially as the looks from his former colleagues grew increasingly strange.

He knew it was retaliation.

Xu Le was retaliating because of the death of that orphaned Imperial Guard.

But why didn't he stop?

Why was he the one being retaliated against?

...The Zhao Prison.

This was a place where prisoners were held by the Emperor's personal decree; its security was even tighter than the Imperial Prison.

But it couldn't stop Xu Le at all.

With Little Sparrow's assistance, he blew in like a gust of wind, completely undetected.

Yan Tong was leaning against the wall, staring blankly. He had been questioned a few times over the past few days, but fortunately, the main interrogator was busy and had forgotten about them, so he hadn't suffered any physical torture yet.

Seeing Xu Le outside the door, he jumped up in excitement.

"Mr.—Mr. Xu, you've come to get me?"

Xu Le said, "The Emperor is dead. Are you still willing to follow me?"

He didn't say how the Emperor died, but saying it now clearly implied he was involved.

"I am. Three days ago, my Family and I committed to you. We'll follow this path to the end and never look back."

Xu Le snapped the Mana-Sealing Locks and let him out.

The Zhao Prison immediately erupted into a commotion.

"Sir, I'm innocent! Please, let me go!"

"Sir, my Family has tens of millions of Credits. If you let me go, they're all yours to use!"

"..."

Yan Tong spoke up, "Mr. Xu, if you need manpower, that one, that one, and those few are all quite good. They have high professional Ranks and good character; they were only sent here because they offended the Aristocratic Families."

Xu Le glanced at Yan Tong and realized he was actually quite a talent.

"Do you know of any talents in urban planning?"

A flash of joy appeared in Yan Tong's eyes. He had thought he would have to live in hiding from now on, but he hadn't expected to be planning a city.

He hurried to point out three people. "These three are all famous urban planners. That old man took bribes and leaked urban plans to buy equipment for his son, earning him a life sentence. That handsome middle-aged man complained every day in the office about low pay and corrupt leadership; someone spent a lot of money to get him thrown in here for life too. That..."

Xu Le looked at Yan Tong in surprise. This guy truly lived up to his background in the Security Department; his intelligence work was terrifying. In less than three days, he knew these details like the back of his hand.

"What's all the noise?" A group of jailers rushed in, but they froze upon seeing Xu Le, not daring to stop him.

A few even had eyes shining, wanting to rush up and ask for an autograph.

They had all seen Xu Le's heroic figure in the live stream and knew many secrets, so they scoffed at the fake video allegations.

However, they were of low status and didn't dare to speak out.

Xu Le explained the situation and took Yan Tong along with some innocent people who were willing to follow him.

Afterward, he went to the women's prison, picked up the families of Yan Tong and the others, and put them all into his Contract Space.

The first task he gave them was to plan the land within the Contract Space, and the second was to think of a way to reveal the information he knew to the public.

As for the Wu Family, he wanted the public to decide their fate.

As the person who knew everyone best, Yan Tong began arranging work and handling future living arrangements... Xu Le told his contracted beasts and two servants about his subconscious.

He mainly pinned his hopes on the Thousand-Year Fish and his two servants, as they were all quite experienced.

Especially the Thousand-Year Fish, who was suspected to be Divine-Grade and had incredibly powerful Skills.

The importance of the Sea of Consciousness went without saying. If he couldn't get useful advice, he would continue looking for professionals.

"I'll take a look for you!"

The Thousand-Year Fish, in the form of Little Sparrow, stomped its feet, and a strange Formation was engraved.

Xu Le suddenly felt something pulling at his mind, drilling into his Sea of Consciousness.

"Three minutes. No matter the result, the link must be severed."