414: Chapter 414 This kid's a good actor!

The hands of the Man surnamed Wang, pressed against the containment wall, began to tremble.

He stared at the giant cocoon emitting green light in the center of the arena, his Adam's apple bobbing twice. The gears of the precise abacus in his mind, which had been running for most of the day, suddenly jammed.

Impossible.

There were all kinds of skills in this world—healing, recovery, even regenerating severed limbs—he had heard of them all. But those all had prerequisites: an intact body, remaining vital signs, and a time window not exceeding the golden hour of rescue.

He had seen with his own eyes what his younger brother had been crushed into.

That wasn't "injured." That was "pulverized."

So this couldn't be real. It was an illusion. Another trick by Organization. It was that madman surnamed Lin stalling for time.

Right. It must be so.

The Man surnamed Wang's fingernails dug into his own palms.

But those sounds of breathing were too real.

So real that he couldn't help but count. One, two, three... more and more. Every time the green light flowing on the surface of the cocoon pulsed, a new rhythm joined that symphony of breathing.

What if?

These two words burrowed into his mind and took root.

What if that mangled flesh was really reconstructing? What if his brother really was inside that cocoon? What if—ten minutes later, Wang Lei walked out of there alive and well?

Then what would his performance all day count for?

What would he do for the rest of his life?

How could he live off Organization for the rest of his life?

"No compensation" was what he himself had shouted out. A hundred thousand people heard it. Recording equipment captured it. The cameras for the city-wide live broadcast caught it.

The person is dead; we don't want money, we want a life for a life.

How heroic those words sounded when they were spoken.

But what if the person didn't die?

The life is returned, and he said he didn't want the money—then would he, this Man surnamed Wang, end up with nothing on either side?

No.

Absolutely not.

He released his hands from the wall and took half a step back. His forehead was covered in sweat, dripping down drop by drop into his eye sockets, stinging his vision into a blur.

The Man with old scar leaned in.

"Brother, that light..."

"Shut up."

The Man surnamed Wang's eyes darted around three times. Within ten seconds, he completed a full risk assessment.

Worst-case scenario: The person lives, the money is gone, face is lost, and the recording remains.

Best-case scenario: Interrupt him. Make him fail at the last step. If the person isn't saved, then the "life for a life" slogan still stands, and the bargaining chip for compensation is still in hand.

Lin Yu faced the light cocoon, motionless.

The Man surnamed Wang lunged at the containment wall, slapping both palms hard against it, roaring into the microphone.

"Stop! Stop right now!"

This shout was too abrupt.

The audience in the front row were startled by him, turning their heads to look at him one after another.

He himself was dazed for half a second—the sound was out, but he hadn't made up an excuse yet.

"You—don't you pull any of this nonsense!"

His speaking speed doubled, with almost no pauses between words; his brain was running at full speed, and his mouth was desperately trying to keep up.

"My brother's matter... he's dead... that... that was his fate! I accept it! I won't pursue it anymore!"

The Man with old scar's mouth fell open.

In the stands, a few scattered spectators who hadn't yet recovered from the shock also gaped.

Thirty seconds ago, this man was using the words "life for a life" to overturn the entire stadium.

Now he said he "accepted it."

The Man surnamed Wang himself could hear how absurd those words were, but he couldn't stop now. The pulse frequency of the cocoon was getting faster, the green light brighter; he didn't have much time left.

"Let's sit down and talk! Talk about compensation! Supervisor Chen! That Bereavement Fund you mentioned before—I accept it! I'll sign now!"

He turned his head toward the backstage passage and shouted, his vocal cords trembling.

"Any amount is fine! Sign now! Sign immediately!"

After three seconds of bewilderment, the Man with old scar caught the drift.

"Yes! Supervisor Chen! The dead cannot be brought back to life, and we've come to terms with it! We have no objections to the compensation plan proposed earlier!"

His acting was much cruder than the Man surnamed Wang's, the disjointedness of his tone shift clearly hanging on every word—but he didn't care anymore.

The woman holding the photo shoved that smiling face back into her pocket face-down, her movements quick; she folded the photo with two fingers and stuffed it in, then squeezed toward the containment wall.

"Supervisor Chen! We agree to a settlement! We can sign the agreement right now!"

The voices of the three collided—panicked, urgent—tearing the tragic and heroic persona they had painstakingly built over the last half hour into shreds.

In the stands, a young man wearing a Battle Axe Guild uniform still had the name "Wang Lei" written in blood on his arm. He held up the jacket serving as a flag, frozen in mid-air, his eyes darting back and forth between the Man surnamed Wang and the light cocoon in the center of the arena.

Someone next to him gave him a shove.

"He... didn't he say he didn't want money?"

The young man didn't answer. He slowly lowered the clothes in his hand.

Chen Jing stood behind the metal doorframe of the backstage passage, flanked by two guards. He watched the three figures pushing and shoving each other to get forward outside the containment wall, his mouth twitching.

These people really are...

Lin Yu just made some noise pretentiously, and they panicked.

However, this kid's mind really works fast. Just now, that one word 'Good' even fooled me, and then the acting was so seamless. If I hadn't seen so much of the world, I really would have thought you could resurrect people.

It seems this guy isn't as simple as I thought.

True, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to make Zhao Tianyang follow him so devotedly.

What a formidable kid. Twenty minutes ago, these three people used the name of the deceased along with their blood and tears to push Organization to the edge of a cliff. He had even prepared to pay out a nine-figure sum.

Now their ugly nature is fully exposed.

Desperate to sign the agreement. Desperate to get the money. Desperate to lock the cash in their hands before the 'life' was truly 'returned.'

That'll save a lot!

Chen Jing raised his hand and swiped across the control panel in front of him.

"Click."

A very faint electronic notification sound. The external communication channel was closed.

He turned his head toward the Security Captain behind him and lowered his voice, speaking word by word.

"From now on, every word and every action of these three people must be archived. Audio, video, biometric scans—don't miss a single thing."

The Security Captain nodded.

"And those few who were spreading news in the crowd earlier." Chen Jing's finger pointed toward the sixth row on the left rear. "The one wearing the baseball cap, lock him down too."

"Understood."

Alright, now I'm relaxed.

Eh?

Lin Yu hasn't stopped yet?

How professional, doing the full act.

Center of the arena.

The green color of the light cocoon began to fade.

It didn't suddenly go out, but peeled off layer by layer from the outside in. Those energy filaments flowing on the surface broke and drifted away, turning into fine light particles that slowly descended to the ground.