Merging with Demon Spirits

The voices questioning Hong Tao grew louder and louder. Even though no media outlet dared to report it, everyone already knew about this.

On the surface, what happened in the Land of Chaos seemed to concern only the volunteers, but it had touched everyone’s nerves.

Because no one wanted to be abandoned in the near future, turned into a sacrifice.

The origin of the Spirit Medium had also become a hot topic. People felt great sympathy for this cute girl with the heavy dark circles under her eyes.

Hong Yi’s experience also made people firmly believe Lin Feng’s accusations against Hong Tao.

A man who could be so cold-blooded toward his own clansmen and juniors—what could there possibly be that he wouldn’t dare to do?

Before this, Hong Tao had been high above, a respected Emperor, but now he had become a villain everyone despised.

Posts online that questioned and cursed Hong Tao could be seen everywhere.

If this had been before, netizens definitely wouldn’t have dared to do this.

People still feared and respected an Emperor, but now that Lin Feng had taken the lead and the Avengers Alliance served as their "backer," they no longer had so many scruples.

As public opinion fermented, the incident grew bigger and bigger, completely surpassing what the government could control.

Faced with the sea of doubts online, Hong Tao did not give any reasonable explanation.

The Hong Race.

For these three days, Hong Tao had stayed at home and never gone out.

At this moment the atmosphere within the Hong Race was extremely oppressive. Even when the clansmen spoke, they didn’t dare raise their voices, all acting exceedingly cautious.

No one had imagined that the "monster" in their eyes could actually join the Avengers Alliance.

Now, because of her existence, the Hong Race had instead become the target of doubt and ridicule.

In the dim study, Hong Tao looked at Xie Chun and Chen Tiangeng in front of him, his face dark.

Emperors cared about their reputation too.

He was naturally no exception.

He had anticipated that Lin Feng’s accusations would cause a stir, but he hadn’t expected it to blow up this much. It seemed someone was pushing from behind. At this point even the government did not dare intervene and control things lightly, deeply afraid of once again agitating the citizens’ sensitive and fragile nerves.

For the moment, he, an Emperor, had become the target everyone wanted to attack.

"Looks like the government has already made its choice," Hong Tao said, his voice tinged with a trace of coldness.

In his view, the government’s silence was itself a choice.

Compared to the boundless potential of the Avengers Alliance, he had already been abandoned.

"Sigh."

Xie Chun let out a sigh, her face full of helplessness. Back then, they had tried their best to stop it, but Hong Tao had been bent on his own way. The backlash today was not unexpected.

Of course, behind Hong Tao’s decision there had also been several people of high rank supporting him, but at this point it was meaningless to haggle over who exactly should bear the blame.

When all was said and done, this proposal had still been brought up by Hong Tao.

He certainly had to shoulder the main responsibility.

Fortunately, Hong Tao had no intention of dragging anyone else down with him.

"Choose what? This is indeed something you did. What kind of response are you expecting from the government? To lie for you?"

Xie Chun asked. Seeing Hong Tao’s face grow even darker, she consoled him: "Back then, when you sent Hong Yi into the Land of Chaos, hadn’t you already prepared for the worst? If Lin Feng hadn’t obtained the Key and closed the Land of Chaos, the accusations you’d face would be ten times, a hundred times worse than now."

Here Xie Chun paused, then added, "Perhaps it wouldn’t just be a matter of people questioning you anymore."

Hong Tao fell silent.

These words were not wrong.

If he had detonated Sha Mi back then, caused the space to collapse and buried all the volunteers and Abnormal People in the Land of Chaos, the pressure he’d have to endure would definitely be far greater than now.

He might not even be able to stay in the country.

"So in the final analysis, Lin Feng actually did you a favor. You owe him a debt. There’s no real blood feud between you two. Let this matter end here. As for the Spirit Medium, she’s quite pitiful too—just let her stay in the Avengers Alliance," Xie Chun continued to persuade.

But clearly, it had no effect.

Hong Tao’s face remained gloomy.

Xie Chun also knew that getting Hong Tao to accept this logic was not going to be easy.

She knew Hong Tao very well. She knew that he could accept any outcome—but it had to be something he accepted of his own will, not something forced on him.

As an Emperor, being threatened like this by a bunch of youngsters was something the always arrogant and domineering him simply could not swallow.

He had never suffered such a loss.

But the Avengers Alliance had now grown up; they weren’t easy to mess with either. If they could kill Alfonso not long ago, they could naturally also possibly kill Hong Tao.

Whoever won or lost, it would be an enormous loss for Hua Country.

The government would not allow such a thing to happen.

"You two are here to keep an eye on me?"

Hong Tao asked mildly.

Xie Chun glanced at Hong Tao and said with a smile, "We’ve been old friends for years. Can’t we just come to see you? Haha, fine, if you insist on putting it that way, you’re not wrong. There are people watching on the Avengers Alliance’s side too. You’re not allowed to come into contact with them during this period."

"Look on the bright side. It’s just some criticism. Your status and position haven’t changed. The Divine Martial Continent has been making bigger and bigger moves these past two years. A great war is coming. If you keep brooding over these trivial matters, you’ll only make yourself a laughingstock."

Chen Tiangeng also tried to persuade him. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Lin Feng has already become the Celestial King Hai’s Apostle. Before long he’ll be joining the Pure Land. Everyone knows Apostles have a very high mortality rate. What’s more, Lin Feng has killed quite a few Apostles. This trip is bound to be extremely dangerous."

"Ha."

Hong Tao let out a laugh, the gloom on his face easing a little.

Chen Tiangeng’s words had taken some of the anger out of him.

Compared to the great war that was coming, these conflicts really were trivial.

As for Lin Feng entering the Pure Land, this was both a consolation and a threat.

If Lin Feng died, then their grudge would naturally dissolve.

If Lin Feng survived and thrived in the Pure Land, then any thought Hong Tao had of revenge would become even more impossible.

The one who should be worried was whether Lin Feng would take revenge on him.

Lin Feng had already become a King. With his talent, after joining the Pure Land, to what level would he grow?

Would he become a Celestial King?

Xie Chun gave Chen Tiangeng a somewhat surprised look. She hadn’t expected the usually silent and slightly wooden Chen Tiangeng to be so good at comforting people.

"Enough, stop staring at me. I’m not so reckless that I can’t see the bigger picture," Hong Tao said calmly.

An Emperor was not just a noble title. Each Emperor had their own responsibilities. For example, he had to suppress a ten-star-level Space Gate; being away too long was certainly not acceptable.

"Mm."

Xie Chun nodded. Hong Tao wasn’t someone who ignored the bigger picture.

Besides, he might not even be a match for the Avengers Alliance.

...

After returning home, Lin Feng turned down all sorts of private meetups and commercial invitations, staying at home the whole time—never stepping out the front door, not even the courtyard gate—spending his days watching TV and keeping his family company.

As for the online voices questioning Hong Tao, he also paid some attention, but didn’t take them too much to heart.

Hong Tao was an Emperor, holding a high position, responsible for guarding a ten-star-level Space Gate. As long as he didn’t betray the Human Race, some doubts and criticism wouldn’t have too great an impact on him.

Lin Feng’s public accusations and threats were only meant to ensure that Hong Tao wouldn’t dare lay a hand on Hong Yi lightly.

"Bro, where did Duck Egg go?"

Ma Lele lay slumped on the sofa, her head resting on Lin Feng’s thigh as she asked.

"Yeah, it’s been a while since we saw Duck Egg. I actually kind of miss her,"

Lin Kerou, sitting to the side, also asked.

They had lived with Duck Egg for a period of time. Usually, when Lin Feng had no time or energy to look after her, they were the ones who took care of her.

Duck Egg was a little schemer. At that time she hadn’t yet awakened her gifted ability; apart from being cute, she was completely useless.

Not only that, her daily expenses were huge. She had to be fed Essence of Life every day, costing tens of millions a month. Aside from Lin Feng, who had gotten rich overnight and had money to burn, an ordinary person really couldn’t afford to raise her, nor would they be willing to.

Knowing she was useless and terrified of being abandoned, Duck Egg had a very sweet tongue and knew how to curry favor, so the whole family liked her a lot, often buying her pretty clothes and all kinds of snacks, treating her completely like a daughter.

"She’s in a place together with Yue Mingming’s Tentacle Monster."

"Then can you bring her over?"

"We’d have to get Yue Mingming here. I’ll call him over this afternoon."

In the afternoon, Yue Mingming arrived and used the Tummy Bag Beast to Summon Duck Egg out. The arrival of this sweet-mouthed little girl made the family atmosphere even more joyful.

After all that killing, Lin Feng was enjoying a rare moment of leisure.

He gave himself a one-week vacation.

After a week, he would be heading to the Pure Land.

To that organization that made all the countries of the world wary.

To search for a way to resolve the Nightmare, while rapidly improving his strength.