Chapter 308: How Could He? [Part 2]
He didn’t spend too much time on the second category, but he mentioned a lot of people including the seemingly unruly but principled Naimi. He didn’t give names, but those people who knew them would be able to put together the clues and figure it out themselves. More importantly, his speech had shed light on both the n.o.bles and the non-n.o.bles.
After the second category was over, Cillin turned down Flick’s offer to enter break time and dove straight into the third category, the Q&A session.
There were a lot of people who wanted to ask him questions, so much so that the questioners nearly fought among themselves.
Cillin answered all the questions he was asked to a degree except the private ones such as “on what basis do you think you have the right to claim this” or “what do you think I should do in my life” etc. In those cases, he avoided giving a direct answer. After all, if these people couldn’t even figure out what they wanted to do with their own life, why the h.e.l.l would he be able to answer them? Plus, it wasn’t the right time to say those things yet. One day they would find out the answer themselves, and that day might even be closer than they thought.
It was said that countless people had strongly requested the presentation to be extended after the time was up. Hong Xi himself tried to squeeze his way through the crowd to reach Cillin, but he was denied by the laws of physics.
Cillin stopped answering all questions and left the second time was up, however. No one could stop him once he had made up his mind to leave. When Flick turned around to talk to Cillin, the young man was already gone.
After slipping away from the academic hall with Wheeze, he waited until an opening presented itself and got on a departing s.p.a.ceplane.
“You seemed to have offended a lot of people this time,” Wheeze said while swaying its tail.
“Yes, but who cares? Teacher Guan’s the one who told me not to hold back. Plus, it’s not like they can do anything to us, can they?” Cillin was as he said, completely uncaring of the consequences. Some parts of his speech were quoted directly from Guan Feng himself, and Cillin said them because he agreed with them. Of course, a large group of people—especially the n.o.bles and various governments—were going to come after him after today.
It was at this moment Cillin’s communicator rang. He smiled and accepted the call when he saw who it was.
“Cillin, you just offended a lot of people today.” Tousen’s face appeared on the screen. He looked more expectant than worried, however.
“I know.”
“But it’s fine. There has been too much rot as of late, and this is the perfect opportunity to flush them out.”
“That is none of my business.”
“Really? Do you really think you can stay out of it? I heard that your return trip won’t be a peaceful one. Do you know that?” Tousen poked fun at Cillin a little.
“Right. Thanks for the warning.”
Tousen watched Cillin closely and saw none of the worry he expected to see on the latter’s face. He said curiously, “If you’re planning to apply for protection from us, you can do so now.”
“It’s fine. I don’t need it.”
“You truly are an arrogant man.”
“I’m confident, not arrogant.”
“Well, whatever.” Tousen’s curiosity only grew when he noticed that Cillin really was as uncaring as he looked. “Speaking of which, weren’t you going to visit some old friends after this?”
“I am going to do just that, but only after I’m done taking out the pests. It would be incredibly annoying if they buzz around during my visits.”
Tousen’s expression turned strange. “I really have no idea what you’re thinking sometimes.”
“Thank you for your offer regardless.”
“Like h.e.l.l you’re thankful. Now be on your way, and be careful. Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are as underhanded as they come.”
“Don’t worry, I promise you that none of them will make it back to their owners.”
Tousen fell into deep thought for a moment after bidding Cillin goodbye, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t understand where Cillin’s confidence was coming from. Who were Cillin’s supporters? Guan Feng? The man alone wasn’t enough to stop what was coming for Cillin. The Gen Family? They wouldn’t involve themselves directly in this matter, not to mention that they didn’t have too much influence in the twenty third star region, and they were too far away to help Cillin now. So what on earth was Cillin thinking?
Then, a thought entered Tousen’s mind and caused his forehead to become covered in cold sweat.
Was Cillin’s action tacitly approved by the emperor himself?
If that was true, then a lot of people were going to go down this time.
A couple minutes later, Tousen contacted some people and said, “Tell them to be at their best behavior and reject all missions for the moment; spin it as a vacation or something like that. And if anyone rejects this order, then tell them to f.u.c.k right off.”
“h.e.l.lo, Tousen here. Tell them to watch out for a person called…”
It wasn’t just Tousen either. Although Thomas’ family was also affected by Cillin’s speech, Thomas’ timely contact persuaded them to revise their original decision and be at their best behavior.
Some people were watching from the sidelines, some people were still hesitating, some people were in the middle of a plot and some people were on the move already. A war quietly started where light couldn’t reach.
Some time later, the local n.o.bles who struck Cillin first quickly learned that none of the a.s.sa.s.sins they had sent had returned. They had disappeared so thoroughly that it was almost eerie.
After that, even more n.o.bles received news that their men had almost been annihilated. More importantly, the army of the twenty-third star region never made a move from beginning to the end.
But how was that possible!?
How could a mere honorary scholar of the RAS protect himself to this extent? How did he survive without the military’s protection?
Who was he? What was his background? How could he do such a thing?
Some people really started contemplating the ins and outs of the situation, and some gave up outright. Short-term interest was just short-term interest after all. They could always act again after the dust had settled.
Some people tried contacting some famous upper n.o.bles living in the capital star region itself, but they failed to catch anything specific. More accurately speaking, the people they contacted didn’t even know something like this happened until they heard from the inquirers.
Meanwhile, the Three Musketeers were enjoying a good time in a bar and clinking gla.s.ses with each other. Gen Xingming said, “Hehe, What a bold guy he is. That isn’t something anyone can say carelessly.”
“What are you talking about? If I understood even half of the things he said, I would’ve said them myself. The sooner the rot is gone, the better.”
“Ceh. Do you have any idea how many people are involved in this matter?”
“Still, how on earth did he take care of the a.s.sa.s.sins?”
“Curious, how very curious. Xingming, did you manage to contact him yet?” Bel asked.
“Nope, he just disappeared after he finished his presentation. I’m sure he’s fine though, or my family would’ve raised h.e.l.l by this point.”
“That’s true.”
Sometimes, the unruliest of people saw certain things clearer than anyone.
Inside the royal palace, the Mist Bodhisattva Emperor read the message he received and smiled a little. Then, he said to his Captain of the Guard, “Leave him. He knows what he’s doing.”
The Mist Bodhisattva Emperor had no qualms with Cillin unplugging the sockets of some people. “It looks like things will go much smoother thanks to this effort.”
“Of course. Some practices deserve to be stopped by hook or by crook. I didn’t have the ability then or now, but Cillin does.” The man replying to the Mist Bodhisattva Emperor was none other than Guan Feng himself.
“Well, the boy finally came into his power, and we got to clear out some rot. This is good for both of us. Still, I want to see results after this.”
While all eyes were on Cillin, the man himself and his cat had traveled to Old Chang’s planet.
The planet was extremely secluded, and not many people here knew that Cillin had made a historical presentation just a short time ago. In fact, the news was known to only a small amount of people, not to mention that the live broadcast was shut down halfway. It was positively dangerous to even speak about it, which was why barely anyone knew about Cillin the honorary scholar.
It was the same old planet and region. Not much had changed since the time he left.
After Cillin landed his s.p.a.ceplane, he followed a familiar trail and arrived at Old Chang’s shop.
It looked like the shop was doing good business. Even from afar, he could hear the brats prattling away like a machine gun and Old Chang laughing at their antics. From the sound of it, they were all doing pretty well physically.
Alai, the a.s.sistant Cillin hired before leaving the shop was also present. He was greeting a customer when Cillin walked in, although he had failed to recognize the young man immediately. It was because they weren’t close to each other in the first place. The two service robots were busy distributing the parts at the side.
“Welcome! Is there anything you need from our shop?” Alai walked up to Cillin after finis.h.i.+ng his business. But before he could say anything else, the kids had already swarmed Cillin.
“Big brother Cillin!”
“Why are you here, big brother Cillin?”
“Grandpa, big brother Cillin is back!” Chang Eight shouted loudly.
Chang Five was currently studying outside, so only the three kids were still at home. That being said, they didn’t look too lonely because they got to communicate with their siblings all the time now.
Old Chang dropped his work immediately when he heard Chang Eight’s shout. The old man was still doing fine, and the improved living condition was definitely showing on his const.i.tution. Besides that, the three kids were a lot taller than the last time he saw them. Cillin gave them some toys to play, but they still enjoyed stacking hands—or in this case, paws—with Wheeze the most.
Cillin stayed a night at Old Chang’s place before bidding them goodbye. Before he left, he went back to the commoner area and checked things out for a bit. Not much had changed since he last saw it; it was still the same spider-web layout he saw last time. However, the amount of trash in the area had definitely increased. The city area was developing slowly, but the commoner area was declining even as its people repeated the same simple lifestyle day after day. Some people were satisfied with just that, and some people were overflowing with grievances.
He left not long after he visited the planet. He wasn’t worried that his enemies would bring harm to Old Chang’s family because there were “people” protecting them at all times.
“Where are we going now, Cillin? Are we heading home?” Wheeze asked.
“Not yet. There are still a couple of ‘robbers’ blocking our way.”
Wheeze’s eyes immediately lit up in excitement. “Let’s stay a little longer then! Where are they?”
“You’ll see them very soon.”
His prediction was right on the money. When Cillin was eating some Chinese food at a restaurant, he found that the meal was poisoned. He continued eating like normal though, and Wheeze was the same. This level of poison was nothing to them at all.
After they were done enjoying a delicious meal, they walked to a secluded area and waited for three robots to decloak themselves.
“Have you taken care of them?”
“Yes sir.”
“Good. Send a message to their owner and tell him that I’ll be visiting him very soon.”
“Yes sir!”
After that, the three robots vanished again like they were never there.
While they were attempting to leave the planet, a small fleet suddenly blocked their way. The fleet looked perfectly ordinary besides the fact that it had no identifying mark whatsoever, and it was armed to the teeth.