Free Web NovelChapter 248: Chapter 208: Punishing the Spy
Wind Eye Market, Trading Hall.
The azure Light Shield overhead was flickering erratically.
FZZT... FZZT.
Like a faulty old lightbulb, it was a sign that the Energy was about to run out.
The sounds of impacts from outside merged into a continuous roar. Each boom felt like a heavy hammer slamming directly into the chests of the several hundred people present.
In the center of the hall, a crowd had formed a tight circle.
Inside the circle, Zhao Hai was pinned to the floor.
Lei Qianjun’s large hand, covered in a metal exoskeleton, was clamped firmly around his neck, causing his face to turn a deep, congested purple.
Even so, Zhao Hai was still laughing.
He laughed maniacally, spittle flying from his lips:
"Go on! Kill me!"
"If you kill me, you’re all coming down with me!"
"Still talking tough when you’re about to die?"
Su Yue stood to the side, her fingers flying across a holographic screen as lines of glaring, crimson code were projected into the air.
"Half an hour ago, you sent Han Feng’s coordinates to Base G-01."
"Five minutes ago, you activated the Spiritual Energy Shield’s self-destruct sequence."
Su Yue pushed up her glasses, her gaze behind the lenses as cold as shards of ice.
"The failure of the previous distress signal was also because of an intercept command you planted, wasn’t it?"
"Fuck! So it was you, you son of a bitch!"
"Conspiring with an Evil Cult to harm us? Kill him!"
The crowd instantly erupted.
In that moment, the fear of death transformed into extreme violence.
Several Meridian Passage Realm students, their eyes red with fury, raised their blades and rushed forward, the edges glinting coldly.
"Everyone, calm down!"
With a thunderous shout, Zhang Hao moved to block the way in front of Zhao Hai, his face ashen.
"Zhang Hao! Are you out of your goddamn mind? Why are you protecting a traitor?"
A boy with a blood-streaked face roared, spraying spittle all over Zhang Hao.
"He can’t die yet!"
The veins on the back of Zhang Hao’s hand bulged as he gripped his blade, roaring back through gritted teeth:
"He’s a researcher from Star Sea Technology! He’s a living witness!
If we kill him now, we’ll have no proof when we get out of here. Star Sea Technology can just turn around and frame us for ’infighting’!"
"Get out? You think we’re getting out of here alive?"
Someone cried out in despair, "The Shield can only hold for another half-hour at most! Han Feng has been gone for so long without a word, he must have... "
Before he could finish, Zhao Hai, still pinned to the floor, suddenly burst into neurotic laughter.
"Heh heh... Hahaha!"
Zhao Hai struggled to turn his neck, his bloodshot eyes staring fixedly at the crowd, filled with mockery.
"Han Feng? He’s a dead man!"
"Even if he had three heads and six arms, he’d be ground to dust the moment he set foot on the Core Floating Island!"
"That’s G-01! Manager Mo is overseeing it personally, and it has a Tier Three Peak defense system!"
Zhao Hai grew more agitated as he spoke, his voice turning shrill:
"Right now, I’m the only one who knows how to delay the waymark’s detonation! I’m the only one with the key!"
"Let me go!"
"If I’m in a good mood, maybe I’ll let you all survive a few more days!"
This was a blatant, open scheme.
He was gambling on human nature.
Betting that this group of students was afraid to die.
Sure enough, upon hearing "delay the detonation," the murderous crowd hesitated.
Even with a one-in-ten-thousand chance, who didn’t want to live?
Zhao Hai keenly sensed this hesitation, and the smile on his face instantly grew wild.
"Zhang Hao, Lei Qianjun, you two are smart men."
"Kill me, and it’s game over for everyone. Let me go, and we can still..."
BOOM—!!!
A world-shaking explosion brutally cut off Zhao Hai’s performance.
The entire Trading Hall trembled violently as dust rained from the ceiling.
Everyone looked up in terror.
’Did the Shield break?’
But in the next second, everyone’s pupils constricted.
In the plaza outside the hall’s entrance, a massive, sky-blotting shadow slammed heavily to the ground, instantly cracking the pavement in a spiderweb pattern.
The dust settled.
It was a ferocious-looking Tier Three Fusion Beast.
But this Fierce Beast, which could have easily wreaked havoc inside the hall, now had its razor-sharp wings folded, lying on the ground like a docile housecat.
Atop the beast’s head, a slender, upright figure was unfastening the buckles of a Wingsuit with unhurried movements.
He dusted himself off with a look of distaste.
"Let you go? Did you ask for my permission?"
The voice wasn’t loud.
But like a sharp blade, it instantly sliced through all the noise in the hall.
’That voice...’
Zhang Hao and Lei Qianjun’s eyes flew wide open, sheer joy flooding their faces.
"Holy shit! Brother Feng!"
Wang Meng immediately tossed his Large Axe aside, let out a whoop, and charged forward. "I knew you were too tough to die!"
The crowd automatically parted to form a path.
All eyes converged on that figure, as if witnessing a miracle.
Han Feng strode into the center of the hall.
His jet-black eyes were devoid of emotion, yet they seemed to drop the temperature of the sweltering air by several degrees.
He walked up to Zhao Hai, looking down at the researcher who had been so arrogant just moments before.
"What’s wrong? Don’t stop now. Continue."
The corners of Han Feng’s mouth curled up slightly, but his eyes were terrifyingly cold.
"You were putting on quite a show just now, weren’t you? I’d love to hear what other tricks you have up your sleeve."
Zhao Hai looked as if he’d seen a ghost, his body trembling uncontrollably like a leaf in the wind.
"You... How could you possibly have come back alive?"
"Manager Mo... Manager Mo won’t let you get away with this!"
"Oh, Mo Sen."
Han Feng casually pulled an object from his System Space.
It was half of a gold-rimmed glasses frame.
The lenses were shattered, and the frame was still smeared with wet blood.
*Clatter.*
The frame was tossed carelessly in front of Zhao Hai, landing with a sharp noise in the dead-silent hall.
The moment Zhao Hai’s eyes fell on the glasses, he looked as if he had been struck by lightning.
Those were Mo Sen’s glasses.
The custom-made glasses that Mo Sen never took off, that he valued as much as his own life!
"He should be on his knees right about now."
Han Feng’s tone was casual, as if he were discussing what he’d had for dinner.
"Probably comparing notes with Sun Changhe on what it’s like to get a ’mixed doubles’ beatdown."
"As for that so-called base... hmm, it was a bit of a pain to dismantle, but it was pretty stress-relieving. Felt good."
Dead silence.
You could have heard a pin drop in the hall.
Everyone’s brains seemed to short-circuit from the sheer overload of information.
’He dismantled the base?’
’Captured Mo Sen and Sun Changhe alive?’
’Using a Tier Three Fusion Beast as a mount?’
’Is this something a student is capable of doing?!’
"N-No... Impossible..."
Zhao Hai’s face was deathly pale. He stared at the glasses frame on the floor, his psychological defenses completely crumbling.
’Mo Sen had fallen.’
’His greatest backer, the man who could blot out the sky with a single hand in East Sea City, had fallen.’
’Without Mo Sen, he, Zhao Hai, was nothing.’
"You’re lying! There were nearly a hundred Death Warriors there! And hundreds of controlled students..." Zhao Hai was still making a last-ditch struggle.
"You mean those ’elites’ you kidnapped?"
Han Feng cut him off, a hint of pity in his eyes.
"Unfortunately for you, they’ve woken up."
"They’re full of pent-up rage with nowhere to vent it. Who do you think this bunch of chosen ones will take it out on?"
BOOM!
Those words were the last straw that broke Zhao Hai.
’The lid had been blown off.’
’All his trump cards had been torn to shreds by Han Feng.’
"Oh, right. I have some more good news for you."
Han Feng glanced at the time on his wrist, delivering the final blow.
"The Su Family used a Void Waymark to send a signal out. If my calculations are correct, the Grandmaster Level powerhouses from East Sea City will be arriving on the battlefield in less than ten minutes."
"Ten minutes..."
Zhao Hai collapsed to the floor, his eyes vacant.
’It’s over.’
’It’s all over.’
’The signal being sent meant that everything that happened here would be exposed to the light of day.’
’Conspiring with an Evil Cult, kidnapping Noble Family Members, murdering Trial Takers...’
’Star Sea Technology would, without a moment’s hesitation, throw him to the wolves—sacrificing a pawn to save the king.’
"Alright, that’s everything that needed to be said."
Han Feng turned, not sparing another glance for the beaten dog.
He looked at the surrounding students, their eyes bloodshot, barely able to contain themselves any longer.
"Zhang Hao was right. This man can’t die yet."
Hearing this, many people showed looks of resentment.
But given Han Feng’s current, overwhelming prestige, no one dared to object.
"However," Han Feng’s tone shifted, turning icy.
"He just needs to be left breathing and able to talk."
"As for whether his limbs are all intact... I doubt the council’s investigation team will be too concerned with such minor details."
Han Feng spread his hands, a brilliant yet chilling smile on his face.
"Everyone, you’ve all had a pretty rough time these past few days, haven’t you?"
"Especially our brothers who bought the ’Clear Spirit Liquid’ and almost turned into puppets."
He pointed at the pathetic heap on the floor.
"Now, he’s all yours."
"Avenge your grievances. Settle your scores."
The moment his words fell.
"ROAR!!!"
The crowd, which had already reached its breaking point, surged forward like a bursting dam and instantly overwhelmed Zhao Hai.
"You bastard! Give me back my brother’s life!"
"I’ll beat you to death, you traitor!"
"AHH—! Help me! Han Feng! You can’t... AHHH!!!"
His bloodcurdling screams echoed through the hall.
The sickening thuds of fists meeting flesh rose and fell, a sound that was both spine-chilling and incredibly satisfying.
