20: Chapter 20 Public Execution Scene

The greasy voice on the broadcast was still echoing over the campus, every word like a slap, fiercely striking the faces of those students who once idolized Defendant Ye Tian.

Ten minutes later, police sirens blared on the playground of Zijing Middle School.

There was no long-winded assembly signal, nor even a single word of nonsense. Fully armed Special Police directly blocked every exit, and several black Iveco Special Police vehicles drove straight onto the red plastic track.

Gu Changan's cold command came over the broadcast: "All teachers and students, assemble on the playground. Immediately, right now."

Thousands of students in uniform flooded onto the playground like startled quails.

Usually, these wealthy and privileged Young Masters and Young Misses would dare to play on their phones even while the Dean of Students was lecturing, but today, no one dared to act out.

The air was filled with a murderous atmosphere.

The rostrum was surrounded tightly by the Special Police.

Gu Changan stood in front of the microphone in the center, his posture as straight as a pine, his black uniform absorbing heat and looking solemn under the sunlight.

At his feet, a person was kneeling.

Or rather, a human-shaped object tied up like a rice dumpling.

Defendant Ye Tian had long since lost his previous arrogance. The wound on his thigh was wrapped simply and crudely with a tourniquet, and fresh blood seeped out, staining half of his jeans red.

His hands were handcuffed behind his back, and a special anti-biting ball was stuffed in his mouth to prevent him from spewing any more filth, leaving him only able to emit muffled "woo-woo" sounds.

His hair was disheveled, covered in dust and blood, and that "wicked and arrogant" expression on his face was replaced by pain and ferocity. Now, he didn't look like some returning Soldier King, but rather like a mad dog with a broken spine.

The students below were deathly silent.

They watched the "Brother Ye Tian" who once dominated the basketball court, dunked with one hand, and beat rich second-generation kids until they were scrambling, kneeling now like a death-row inmate in front of all the teachers and students.

This visual impact was far more intense than any sermon.

"Is this the hero you worship?"

Gu Changan's voice spread across the entire venue through the high-power speakers; it had no fluctuation, yet carried a piercing power.

He reached out and grabbed Defendant Ye Tian's hair, forcing him to lift his head, exposing that twisted face to thousands of eyes.

"Woo-woo! Woo—!" Defendant Ye Tian struggled desperately, staring at the crowd below with venomous eyes, trying to intimidate people with his so-called "Killing Intent." Unfortunately, without the support of the System, this look only appeared comical and perverted to others.

"Look clearly."

Gu Changan pointed at Defendant Ye Tian, his gaze sweeping across the audience: "A twenty-five-year-old unemployed adult, faking an identity to infiltrate a high school. He doesn't need to attend classes or take exams, but spends all day showing off violence in front of you, packaging fighting as 'passion,' and ignoring rules as 'personality.'"

"Do you think he is cool? Do you think it is manly of him to confront teachers and beat up the principal?"

Gu Changan sneered and took the iPad from the Special Police officer next to him, swiping his finger across the screen.

The huge LED screen behind the rostrum lit up instantly.

It wasn't photos of Defendant Ye Tian looking cool, but shocking injury assessment reports, along with several photos of the victims.

The old vice-principal who had two ribs broken was lying in a hospital bed on oxygen; the student whose kneecap was shattered had steel nails in his leg; and there was that surveillance screenshot of Defendant Ye Tian holding a knife with a ferocious expression, about to stab a female police officer.

"Violence is violence, and crime is crime. There is no 'Soldier King' filter, nor any excuse of 'protection.'"

Gu Changan's voice suddenly raised: "When violence is cloaked in the guise of 'affection,' it is the most vicious bait. His so-called protection is just turning you into his accessories, tools to satisfy his twisted desire for control."

The crowd below began to stir.

Those girls who had once screamed for Defendant Ye Tian were now pale, biting their lips tightly. Some even covered their faces, not daring to look at the images on the big screen, so ashamed they wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

It turned out that the "domineering CEO-style affection" in their eyes was, in the eyes of adults, molestation and abduction.

Chu Yuxun, standing at the very front of the Grade 2 Class 3 formation, was trembling all over.

She looked at the man on the stage wriggling like a maggot, and her stomach turned violently.

Just half an hour ago, she was still sitting on the rooftop, eating the meat grilled by this man, listening to him tell those bloody stories from the jungle, thinking it was the most romantic thing in the world.

She even subconsciously wanted to elope with him when the police rushed in.

But now...

That Defendant Ye Tian, stripped of his halo, his greasy, brutal, and bottomless nature, was laid bare under the sun.

It was like someone eating half an apple, only to suddenly find a fat, plump worm inside.

Disgusting.

Pure, unadulterated disgust.

Chu Yuxun's tears couldn't stop flowing, not for Defendant Ye Tian, but for that stupid version of herself that had almost destroyed her.

She turned her head to look at the policewoman and teacher beside her, and for the first time, she felt that these people who usually disciplined her and whom she found annoying were the ones who truly stood in front of her to shield her from the wind and rain.

"True strength is not about how many people you can trample under your feet."

Gu Changan's voice sounded again, bringing everyone's thoughts back.

He released Defendant Ye Tian's hair and took an arrest warrant handed to him by a staff member.

The red seal was exceptionally glaring in the sunlight.

"True strength is, regardless of how much power you have, knowing how to exercise restraint and knowing how to revere the rules." Gu Changan held up the arrest warrant, articulating clearly, "Approved by the Yanjing City People's Procuratorate, criminal suspect Defendant Ye Tian is hereby arrested in accordance with the law for suspected crimes including forging official documents of state organs, intentional injury, picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and attempted child molestation!"

"Clatter—"

The students below suddenly looked up.

Those boys who had been bullied by Defendant Ye Tian and dared not speak up now had a spark in their eyes.

Justice may be late, but it will never be absent, and it will certainly not be absent just because the other party has some "background" or "Protagonist Halo."

"Take him away!"

Gu Changan waved his hand.

Two burly Special Police officers immediately stepped forward, grabbing Defendant Ye Tian from the left and right.

Just then, Defendant Ye Tian, who had been "woo-woo"-ing constantly, suddenly struggled violently. He seemed to want to make a final desperate struggle, or perhaps convey some look to Chu Yuxun below the stage.

A Special Police officer took out a black cloth hood expressionlessly.

The movement was swift and decisive.

"Swish."

The black hood covered Defendant Ye Tian's head tightly, completely cutting off all visual communication between him and the world.

The world was quiet now.

That arrogant Soldier King, that man who wanted to turn the school into a harem, now remained only as a black silhouette, dragged off the rostrum by the state apparatus like trash, without a shred of dignity.

Nobody knew who started it first.

Perhaps it was a classmate of the boy whose leg was broken, or perhaps some top student who had long been annoyed by Defendant Ye Tian's posturing.

"Clap, clap."

Scattered applause began.

Immediately after, the applause seemed to be contagious, spreading rapidly to the whole class, the whole grade, and the whole school.

"Good!!"

"Well caught!"

Some even threw their hats into the air, letting out cheers of relief.

This was not sycophancy toward power, but rather the longing for fairness and justice that had been suppressed in everyone's hearts, finally finding a vent.

The fear that Defendant Ye Tian had built up with his "fists" and "background" was, at this moment, completely shattered by the iron hammer of the law.

Chu Yuxun wiped away her tears, watching as Defendant Ye Tian was escorted onto the black armored vehicle marked with the words "Special Police." She didn't clap, but instead bowed deeply to the man in uniform on the stage.

Goodbye, damned nightmare of adolescence.

Gu Changan stood on the stage, watching this scene, his face showing little expression.

He straightened his collar, which had been ruffled by the wind, and turned to walk down the steps.

Just at the moment Defendant Ye Tian was stuffed into the vehicle and the door was slammed shut.

A mechanical notification sound, which only Gu Changan could hear, rang out crisply in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Campus tumor cleared, target character "Defendant Ye Tian" Protagonist Halo completely shattered.]

[Calculating rewards...]

[Obtained 12,000 points of Luck.]

[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the reward: Mastery of Special Individual Combat.]