111: Chapter 111 The First Trial of the Interstellar Court

Surrounded by the Guga Fleet, A-Zu raised his hands high above the tips of his antennae and shouted calmly to Chief of Staff Danzo.

"Chief of Staff Danzo, I am cooperating fully."

Chief of Staff Danzo raised one hand, and the soldiers behind him lowered their weapons simultaneously. The aircraft overhead also vanished in the same instant, leaving only a ring of diffusing pale blue ionization afterglow in the air and the sunlight that once again flooded Fifth Avenue.

Leaning on his cane, Chief of Staff Danzo walked step by step toward A-Zu. "A-Zu, you've certainly stolen the spotlight today."

Chief of Staff Danzo lifted his eyes, a cold smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You Planet Wuhu people are a superior race, so what does that make us from Guga Planet?"

A-Zu's hands were still raised in the air, but he immediately revealed a sunny smile. "Chief of Staff Danzo, you jest. In front of those low-class Earthlings, I am a superior race."

"But in front of you and Commander Chen Mu, I, A-Zu, will always be a dog of Guga Planet."

Chief of Staff Danzo snorted.

He shifted his gaze away from A-Zu's face and swept it across the wet bloodstains and scattered placard fragments on the ground around them.

"Good that you understand." He nudged his cane forward half an inch. "I've long felt that Commander Chen Mu is too merciful to these Earthlings. Livestock kept in captivity will forget who their master is if they aren't whipped from time to time."

"You did well this time. This group of Earthlings deserved a lesson."

He pulled his body back and straightened up on his cane. "When you arrive at the Interstellar Court later, just say that the Earthlings provoked you first and that you were forced to retaliate. Do you understand?"

A-Zu did not hesitate and immediately nodded repeatedly, his rhythm so fast it looked like his neck was fitted with springs.

"I understand, Chief of Staff Danzo. Rest assured, once this matter is over, I will certainly teach those lowly Earthlings a good lesson for you, letting them know who exactly is..."

"Thud!"

The cane struck the paving stones heavily, the sound as dull as a cannonball landing in mud.

Chief of Staff Danzo looked up, a cold light shooting from his eyes, effectively pinning the second half of A-Zu's sentence in his throat.

"What kind of talk is that? If I really wanted to teach them a lesson, would I need you to do it?"

A-Zu's antennae instantly stiffened backward, and he immediately bowed. "I'm sorry, Chief of Staff Danzo, I misspoke."

"Hmph." Chief of Staff Danzo withdrew his gaze from him, turned around, and walked a few steps in the direction he had come, leaning on his cane. "A low-level civilization, indeed. Can't even speak properly."

"That's enough. I won't escort you. The Interstellar Court session starts promptly at two in the afternoon."

He raised his cane and tapped it lightly on the ground.

An aircraft overhead suddenly materialized, and a deep blue beam of light shot down vertically from its base, enveloping Chief of Staff Danzo and the ten Guga soldiers.

The beam of light shone for an instant, then shrank into an extremely thin blue line that dropped vertically from the sky to the ground, and Chief of Staff Danzo and his party vanished instantly from the spot.

The entire Fifth Avenue was left with only the Planet Wuhu people, the scattered placard fragments, and the bloodstains that had not yet been cleaned up.

Sunlight flooded the road again, shining on the charred laser scorch marks, while the paving stones at the edges of the burns were still sizzling with faint heat.

A-Zu slowly lowered his hands from above his head. He looked at the spot where Chief of Staff Danzo had vanished, a flash of anger crossing his eyes, but it was quickly suppressed. He said to Kara, "Kara, prepare what we need to say at the Interstellar Court."

"Just as Chief of Staff Danzo just instructed: the Earthlings provoked us first."

——————

The Interstellar Court was located on the second-to-last floor of the United Nations Building.

This floor had originally been the Security Council's closed-door meeting room, and it took only one week to convert it into a courtroom.

Commander Chen Mu had removed the original circular conference table and replaced it with a towering judge's bench and two rows of opposing seats for the involved parties arranged in a fan shape, leaving an empty aisle in the middle covered with a deep blue carpet that ran to the end.

The overhead lights were set to a cold white, shining on the Guga flag that had been enlarged several times over above the judge's bench.

A display screen hung on each side of the judge's bench; they were currently black, but everyone knew what it would mean once they lit up.

The back half of the courtroom was packed with journalists from various countries, the red lights of their cameras forming a dense matrix; behind every camera position were at least 300 million screens across the globe that were refreshing.

Commander Chen Mu sat in the center of the judge's bench, holding a gavel in his hand, and tapped it lightly on the surface.

"Order."

This crisp sound instantly caused the journalists in the back half of the courtroom who were whispering to each other to fall silent simultaneously.

The crisp sound of the gavel striking the bench was broadcast throughout the entire floor via the amplification system hanging from the dome.

Commander Chen Mu put down the gavel and pointed to the left. "The plaintiff may speak first."

Cole stood up and adjusted the angle of the microphone in front of him down by half an inch. "Ball Chief, honorable international society."

"At 9:03 this morning, citizens of Earth from the United States and many other countries around the world held a peaceful demonstration on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York."

"They were holding placards, not carrying weapons, not storming storefronts, and not inflicting physical violence on anyone."

"At 9:04, the Planet Wuhu leader A-Zu walked out of the store. Without having received any substantial attack, he fired high-intensity energy beams from his eye sockets, indiscriminately strafing the demonstrating crowd."

"The entire process lasted about three seconds, resulting in 137 deaths on the spot and 326 people injured to varying degrees."

"Among the deceased, the youngest was a ten-year-old girl. She had become separated from her family in the chaos and was struck in the head by flying metal fragments."

"The oldest was an 81-year-old World War II veteran. He was holding his retirement medal box against his chest at the time. His name was William Carter. He was my father's comrade-in-arms."

A very low commotion broke out in the back half of the courtroom, and some people began clicking their shutters.

Cole reached into his suit's inner pocket, took out a data drive, and held it up before the judge's bench.

"Ball Chief, I have a video of the scene here, recorded by a self-media photographer among the protesters at the time of the incident."

"That is unnecessary; I saw the entire process."

Commander Chen Mu's voice came down from above the judge's bench. He set the gavel aside, crossed his hands on the table, and his expression was very plain.

Cole's hand froze in mid-air, and he finally put the data drive back into his pocket. "Yes, Ball Chief."

He sat down. The few young lawyers from the legal team behind him looked at each other. One of them asked in a low voice, "Why didn't he let us play the video?" Another nudged him with an elbow to make him shut up.

Commander Chen Mu shifted his gaze from the left side to the right. "The defendant may now speak."