Chapter 597 - 379: All-Out Manhunt
During the previous beast crisis, the Mo Xue Mercenary Corps shone brightly. Captain Shangguan Li wore both the Mo Xue and Edge badges and led over ten thousand mercenaries to the frontier, building a blood-and-flesh defense line, gaining fame worldwide.
After the beast crisis ended, Shangguan Li and Su Mo swore a blood alliance between Mo Xue and Edge, elevating the newly established mercenary corps to unprecedented heights.
Now Mo Xue, like Edge, is known everywhere in New Moon City and throughout the World Government Territory, and its power has begun to expand rapidly. Mercenaries from local and foreign cities come by daily, hoping to join.
Furthermore, Shangguan Li is a martial artist skilled in martial arts. As the number of people in the mercenary corps increased, more came seeking martial arts mentorship.
Shangguan Li is not stingy in this regard; as long as one is a "family member" of Mo Xue or Edge and sincerely wants to learn, she doesn’t refuse anyone.
Today, the martial arts hall inside the Mo Xue Mansion was at full capacity, with mercenaries practicing everywhere.
Some were still novices, clumsily learning basic techniques.
Some could already skillfully hit wooden stakes or spar in real combat with their companions.
As there were too many disciples for one person to handle, Shangguan Li appointed talented disciples like Dolan as mentors to lead small groups, while she mainly handled large classes collectively.
At this moment, Shangguan Li was walking around the field, inspecting those practicing martial arts.
Whenever she approached a place, the disciples practiced more vigorously, hoping to attract her attention.
Shangguan Li’s gaze swept across the crowd and settled on a young man.
The young man was hitting a sandbag. He had been practicing martial arts for a while, but his talent was lacking, causing even his supervising senior brother to strategically half-abandon him.
But he was very resilient, compensating for his lack of talent by training extra every day, seen practicing alone by Shangguan Li several times late at night.
As the young man punched the sandbag, a small hand rested on his arm.
Shangguan Li signaled for him to move aside, stood in front of the sandbag herself, and demonstrated a set of combination punches more standard than textbooks, breaking down the steps for him.
The young man was overwhelmed with gratitude, bowed ninety degrees to Shangguan Li, and began practicing more diligently.
As Shangguan Li continued to inspect the field, a front desk administrative officer hurriedly ran into the martial arts hall and urgently said beside her, "Captain, the people from the court are here!"
"What?" Shangguan Li was stunned and asked in confusion, "Why are people from the court coming here?"
The administrative officer shook his head, somewhat nervous, and said, "I don’t know. The leader is the special envoy from the news, accompanied by many people, and they have law enforcement recorders with them. It doesn’t look right."
Just as he finished speaking, the door to the martial arts hall was pushed open, and dozens of people in suits swarmed in.
"Good evening, Captain Shangguan." At the front of the group, Luo smiled at Shangguan Li.
The unexpected guests quieted the hall; the disciples stopped practicing, eyeing the group peculiarly.
Such high-ranking officials arriving unexpectedly without prior notice, with unclear intentions, made Shangguan Li anxious.
She greeted Luo with a very standard salute, saying, "Good evening, leader. How may I assist?"
This word "leader" amused Luo greatly. Her tone was warm, "No need to be so formal; just call me Luo."
Just as Shangguan Li relaxed slightly due to the gentle tone, Luo’s next words froze her expression.
"Captain Shangguan, do you confess to your crimes?"
Shangguan Li furrowed her brow, "What crime should I confess to?"
Luo: "Why would you think so? During the beast crisis, you gathered so many armed personnel to the frontier, shouldn’t that be a crime?"
Shangguan Li: "Why is saving people illegal nowadays?"
Luo casually crossed her arms over her chest and slowly asked, "I’m indeed curious, why did you choose to save people then, even tapping into your own resources? Can you tell me why?"
Shangguan Li stared directly into the special envoy’s eyes, saying only two words: "Conscience."
Upon hearing this, Luo burst out laughing, "Mercenaries talking about conscience, you’re quite humorous."
The accompanying clerks and guards also laughed heartily.
Some disciples couldn’t tolerate this ridicule and wanted to argue, but Shangguan Li stopped them with a look.
She knew very well that when faced with those who held power over her and came with malicious intent, the fewer words spoken, the better, so she said nothing and let the other continue talking.
Luo moved closer, looking down at Shangguan Li as she was much taller.
"You’re right; saving people is not a crime. But you do have a crime; do you know what it is?"
Luo leaned down, brushing Shangguan Li’s loose hair back, revealing her small ear, then slowly whispered in her ear, "You humiliated the authorities."
Upon hearing this, Shangguan Li subconsciously clenched her fist.
Luo continued, "Disaster relief is the City Council’s responsibility, not yours. Even if the City Council’s reasons prevented them from aiding, it wasn’t your place to overstep."
"Now it’s all well; you’ve stolen the spotlight, been praised and admired by tens of thousands, caused the authorities to be scorned, and made people lose faith in the World Government, don’t you see yourself as horribly guilty?"
Shangguan Li’s clenched fists had become pale, the veins faintly visible.
She broke her silence, coldly saying, "If you insist on charging me, do so. I am confident in my innocence."