Chapter 649 - Cameo (Patreon)

Unlike cultivator cities that could use spatial beads to send emergency long-distance distress signals directly to the Protectors, other places did not enjoy that convenience.

Instead, their distress signals relied on several intricate networks that depended on people traveling every day to relay the message until it reached the right recipient.

Organizations such as the Treasure Pavilion, the Cloud Continent postal service, the Alchemy Association, and a handful of others maintained well-established continent-wide systems for this purpose.

Each of their airships carried specialized spirit artifacts designed to detect and pick up these signals. As the vessels moved across the land distributing goods or carrying out their regular duties, the artifacts continuously scanned for the nearest Envoys or Protectors and passed the message along whenever contact was made.

If luck was poor, the signal might bounce from ship to ship for a long time before reaching anyone of real authority. But if luck was good, several of these artifacts might already be traveling close to one another, allowing the message to leap forward without delay. And if an Envoy happened to be nearby when the signal arrived, the response became almost immediate.

That was why Sect Master Bagon felt so elated. He truly believed the goddess of luck was raining favor down upon him tonight.

It had taken only a little over half an hour for an Envoy to arrive to his aid. He had not even been forced to burn through more spirit stones just to keep the barrier powered while waiting. Everything had lined up perfectly.

Of course, mere survival was never going to be enough. He intended to seize every advantage this sudden fortune offered. If he played the situation carefully, he could turn Layla’s aggression against her, claim heavy compensation, and perhaps even weaken the Leyan Family’s standing for years to come.

“Is what he claimed true?” Envoy Diana asked Layla, a slight frown breaking her usual stoic expression. Her tone carried a clear edge of scrutiny.

“Except for the part about it being a false accusation, it is pretty much as he said.” Layla replied, meeting the Envoy’s gaze without flinching.

“Bullshit! Don’t listen to her, Lord Envoy!” Bagon denied at once, his voice rising in panic.

“Shut up first!” Envoy Diana raised her voice. Her soul power flared sharply for a moment, pressing down on the air around him.

Sect Master Bagon immediately closed his mouth. The weight of her authority left no room for further outbursts. He forced himself to remain silent, unwilling to risk wasting the opportunity that had finally arrived.

“What crimes has he committed?” Envoy Diana probed further.

“To tell you the truth, he and his Gold Digger Sect have committed a great many crimes. For example, Sect Master Bagon has repeatedly falsified the amount of tax the Gold Digger Sect was required to pay over the years. Year after year the records were adjusted downward while the true income was quietly funneled elsewhere.” Layla paused, letting the accusation settle.

“That’s obviously not good, but it still does not justify bringing your force here to raze the sect. You could have reached out to us so we could look into it properly.” Envoy Diana shook her head, though her tone carried clear disapproval of the practice itself.

“That is not all, Envoy Diana. It is more serious than that. The Deed of Sovereignty granted my husband the full authority to govern Bara Territory any way he wished, as long as it does not contradict the overarching law of the continent.”

Bullshit! Clearly it was given to that panda woman, Sect Master Bagon thought inwardly, the words bitter in his mind.

“He has entrusted the role of managing the territory entirely to me. From what I have seen, Bara City and the surrounding areas were governed poorly by many previous city lords. Even the city lords themselves participated in the corruption. Envoy Diana, you must have heard of the City Lord Magna case over two decades ago, correct?” Layla asked.

Envoy Diana nodded, her expression darkening. “I remember that case very well. A city lord who maintained his own bandit group to rob people outside the city and carry out illegal activities. Truly preposterous. A complete betrayal of the position he held.”

“Right. For even a city lord that you appointed to be involved in such activities, it shows that the established system was already deeply infested by these kinds of people for many years. Corruption had woven itself into every layer. Even the city law enforcement was filled with incompetents and compromised officers who could not be relied on to solve major crimes. In many cases they actively protected the very people they were supposed to investigate.” Layla revealed.

Sect Master Bagon’s mouth twitched. Why the hell is this woman babbling so much? What point is she trying to make? Just get on with it already.

“In the first meeting I had with all the important figures, I immediately knew that I could not rely on ninety percent of them. The rot ran too deep. It was never going to work if I tried to reform from within.”

“That was why, immediately after I took over, I established my own forces that would only answer to me, in accordance with the governing freedom granted to me. I then began putting all of my efforts into cracking down on the real crimes happening behind the scenes. City Lord Magna was just the tip of the iceberg. There were many of the city’s important figures who were exposed as the masterminds every time we cracked a case. Officials, merchants, even some of the so-called righteous cultivators. They were already deeply embedded within the system, protecting one another for decades.” Layla said.

“I’ve seen the records. Bara City is quickly rising in the rankings and is no longer at the bottom among all cultivator cities. What you have achieved in just over two decades is nothing short of incredible.” Envoy Diana praised, her voice carrying genuine admiration. 

She had to admit that if she had been in Layla’s position, she might not have been able to accomplish the same results.

Within the barrier, Sect Master Bagon began laughing to himself silently.

City Lord Layla, are you trying to convince her that your actions are justified with nothing but flowery words? Just show the evidence of my heinous actions if you have it. Why waste everyone’s time talking so much? Chahahaha! The longer you drag this out, the more obvious it becomes that you have nothing solid!

“After cleaning up the city, naturally I planned to expand the scope to the entire territory. Sect Master Bagon and the Gold Digger Sect stood high on my list to clean up. On top of the tax issues, they have been hiding many wanted criminals that we planned to capture, and they were becoming a new hub for conducting illegal activities.” Layla continued explaining, glancing at the sect master when she mentioned him.

“I planned to proceed step by step to uncover their crimes, as I always have. But unfortunately, the Red Eyes Phenomenon occurred, and there were many matters that had to be prioritized first.” Layla sighed.

Then a sharp, angry expression settled on her beautiful face.

“But who would have thought that during this critical time of crisis, this vicious person would deliberately allow the group of mortals that their sect was supposed to escort to be slaughtered completely by crazed beasts? And not satisfied with that, they even captured crazed demonic beasts and released them against other escort groups, causing the deaths of multiple cultivators. Innocent lives discarded without a second thought.”

“Before they could cause further harm, I decided to deal with them as soon as possible. Sect Master Bagon and his followers deserve death for their actions!” Layla said, her voice cold and edged with clear fury.

“More lies! We’ve done no such things! City Lord Layla, just admit that you’re doing all this because you’re power hungry! You want to seize our land for its rich resources! This is nothing but greed dressed up as justice! Envoy Diana, you can’t let this happen! She has no respect for our law! She is using the crisis as an excuse to expand her own territory!” Sect Master Bagon argued again, his voice rising with the emotion of someone who felt deeply wronged and desperate to be believed.

Hehehe. You guessed correctly. We want to give your spirit stone mines to our beloved Mountain Dew Sect. They deserve this place more than you troublemakers, Anda thought while enjoying the show, responding to Sect Master Bagon inwardly.

Envoy Diana did not get angry at him this time. She let out a long sigh before turning to Layla again.

“City Lord Layla, do you have any proof of your claim? As much as I would like to be on your side, rules are still rules.” She asked.

Sect Master Bagon smirked to himself, a surge of certainty rising in his chest. If she had any sort of real evidence, she would not have talked in circles for so long. It’s over for you, stupid bitch. You have nothing.

“I have a witness who can verify everything. The witness saw them capturing a crazed demonic beast and releasing it against the Moon Maiden Sect escorts.” Layla replied.

Sect Master Bagon’s smirk faltered for a moment. A witness? Impossible. They had carried out the entire operation with the utmost secrecy. No one should have been able to see it. How could there be a witness? His confidence returned almost at once. Hmph. She must be bluffing. There is no way anyone actually saw us.

“Very well. Someone go and bring me this witness.” Envoy Diana said.

Unfortunately, unless the event had been recorded or supported by something of similar weight, even witness testimony would not be enough to stand as solid proof. Envoy Diana held little hope that it would meaningfully strengthen Layla’s case. Words alone, no matter how sincere, rarely carried enough force in matters this serious.

“Envoy Diana, the witness is already here.” Anda opened her mouth for the first time since Diana had arrived. Her voice was steady and unhurried.

“Oh? Is the witness among you?” Envoy Diana asked.

Anda did not answer at once. She simply smiled, calm and certain.

Time for the cameo.

“Hohoho! The witness is me!”

Suddenly a clear voice came from above, prompting everyone to look up.

With the illumination from Diana’s Soul Body, everyone saw an old man with long white hair and beard descending from the sky.

“I saw everything that happened.” The old man said.

“Lord Gandolf! What? You’re the witness?” Envoy Diana finally lost her calm completely. Her voice rose in disbelief. This plot twist had come out of nowhere and felt too strange, too impossible, to be true.

All the Bara Corps members stared upward in stunned silence. Caterina’s eyes widened as well, clearly caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Protector himself. Only Anda and Layla remained composed, exchanging a quiet, satisfied smile.

On the other side, Sect Master Bagon felt as though the world itself was ending. His eyes nearly left their sockets at the sight of the figure descending toward them. Everything around him seemed to crash down at once. The air felt too thin. His thoughts spun without direction.

He had been certain this night would finally bring down his hateful enemies. Instead, everything had reversed in a single moment.

What kind of cruel fate was this? The Protector of the South Region himself stood as the witness to his heinous actions. There was no room left to argue, no path left to escape. How could he ever recover from something like this?

It was over. Completely over.