Chapter 1569: Execution

It was late at night when Chen Ling passed through the Embers of Civilization and returned to the Gray World.

Chen Ling didn't know how many days had passed since he entered the Embers of Civilization. As soon as he arrived in the Gray World, he stomped his foot hard on the ground!

Boom—!

A slight tremor traveled underground.

After a brief pause, massive shadows, like ferocious beasts growing from the underground, shattered the nearby land. Under the dim moonlight, winding shadows prostrated themselves respectfully before Chen Ling.

At the very front was the red-and-black Wu Yi, with the Toad Poison Head Chan Yi and the Scorpion Poison Head Xie Yi on his left and right.

"How much time has passed since I entered the Embers of Civilization?"

It wasn't Wu Yi who answered, but Xie Yi. After all, Wu Yi had also entered the Embers of Civilization, and time was equally chaotic for him. As for Chan Yi... its brain was slow to begin with, and it wasn't good at calculating time.

"Thirty-nine days..." Chen Ling's brow furrowed tighter.

If it were before, Chen Ling wouldn't have cared about being missing for so long, but now he was the Red King of the Twilight Society... A Red King missing for over a month, that was...

Well...

Okay, the Fifth Red King seemed to be missing all the time, and it didn't have any impact.

Through his conversation with Xie Yi, Chen Ling learned that ten days after he entered the Embers of Civilization, the other two Poison Heads, worried about the Abyss of Ghostly Mockery, had taken some of the weaker Calamities and returned first. Only these two had remained here, waiting for the Great King to emerge.

Having been missing in the Embers of Civilization for so long, these underlings didn't seem to worry at all that he might encounter any accidents. In their eyes, the Great King was, of course, the Great King who could walk sideways wherever he went; it was already quite something that he hadn't dismantled this so-called Embers of Civilization.

"Let's go, let's leave this place first."

Chen Ling sat directly on Wu Yi's head. As the many Calamities of the Abyss of Ghostly Mockery began to crawl, his thoughts immediately connected with the Gray King and Liu Qingyan.

He wondered what the situation in the human domains had become over the past month.

……

Lingxu Domain.

A figure wearing amber knight armor walked slowly along the corridor of the base.

Unlike other bases, the Lingxu base was not buried deep underground but built against a mountain. Therefore, its structure was not fully enclosed. From the outside, it looked more like a dark gray building full of Russian apocalyptic aesthetics. One side of the corridor was half-open, without windows, allowing the mountain wind to pour in.

At this time, there were still many figures walking in the base, but everyone had a pale complexion and thick dark circles under their eyes, looking so haggard that they seemed about to faint on the spot... But seeing the knight walking toward them, they still took the initiative to speak:

"Good day, Commander."

"Good evening, Commander..."

"Hmm."

The Amber Knight Commander saw these people, and a complex look flashed deep in his eyes.

The Knights of the Lingxu Domain were different from the knights of the Eternal Domain. The latter were ordinary people wrapped tightly in armor, the enforcers of order, while the knights of the Lingxu Domain were more like a symbol... He didn't wear armor, just a simple half-cape symbolizing his identity. He was tall, with several amber rings on his fingertips, and his temperament was deep and reliable.

He walked straight to a door, knocked gently, and only after a faint "Come in" sounded did he push the door open and enter.

In the office, the disheveled Lingxu Jun was sitting in a chair, head down, fiddling with something. Opposite him stood a man with glasses, seemingly reporting to Lingxu Jun.

"...In short, the Workers' Rights Union has had a significant impact on the current project progress. Under their incitement, a large number of workers have chosen to strike, and in the last week alone, there have been over a hundred incidents of workers leaving the construction site without permission to return and reunite with their families..."

"Those workers whose hometowns are in other domains are openly protesting and even smashing the already-built Akashi Tower. According to your instructions, all personnel involved have been arrested..."

"However, there is a lot of resentment among the public about this, and I'm afraid..."

Lingxu Jun didn't intend to listen to him finish at all. He kept his head down and interrupted directly: "How much longer until the Akashi Tower is completed?"

The man was stunned for a moment before answering: "According to the original plan, it should be completed within fifteen days... But now, with the workers' strike and the smashing of the Akashi Tower, the completion time is impossible to estimate."

Lingxu Jun's brow furrowed slightly.

"How were those workers who led the trouble and smashed the Akashi Tower dealt with?"

"They are still being held in prison."

"How many?"

"Six."

Lingxu Jun was silent for a long time before slowly closing his eyes.

"Tomorrow morning, drag them to the foot of the Akashi Tower and execute them publicly."

"...What?"

Both the man and the Amber Knight who had just walked in were shocked.

"Lord Lingxu Jun, although they caused trouble, but... but their crimes don't warrant death, do they?"

"Special times call for special measures," Lingxu Jun's tone was terrifyingly calm. "My calculations won't be wrong. Although I don't know why, this time it's returning with unusual speed... Hearts are restless, order is chaotic. At this time, only absolute deterrence and fear can bring the stalled production capacity back on track."

"But sir, such tyranny will cause public resentment..."

"As long as we find a way out for humanity before public resentment erupts, everything can be redeemed."

“……”

Since Lingxu Jun had said as much, the man naturally didn't say anything more. He nodded silently and turned to walk out of the office.

After dealing with this matter, Lingxu Jun's gaze didn't look at the Amber Knight.

"You will supervise the execution tomorrow," Lingxu Jun said, looking down and fiddling with his fingernails. "Anyone who dares to make trouble at the scene, arrest them all. If their behavior is too intense... you can execute them on the spot."

The Amber Knight's chapped lips parted slightly. He seemed to want to say something, but Lingxu Jun didn't even look at him, continuing to speak to himself:

"In addition, you will lead people to patrol the construction site every day. Anyone found trying to escape in secret will be given fifteen lashes each, and then thrown back..."

"In this way, in two days at most, everything will be back on track."

Seeing that the Amber Knight hadn't responded for a long time, Lingxu Jun finally raised his head and looked him straight in the eye.

"Do you have any questions?"

"I just think... this is wrong," the Amber Knight's voice was a bit hoarse.

"If you don't want to do it, I'll find someone else," Lingxu Jun lowered his head again to fiddle with his fingernails. "But you must understand... everything we do now is for the sake of humanity."

The Amber Knight was silent for a long time before finally taking a deep breath:

"...I understand."

As he finished speaking, he didn't want to say another word, turned around, and left the office directly.

Bang—

As the office door was slammed shut, Lingxu Jun's hands trembled slightly...

He kept his head down, messy hair falling over his forehead. His hands, which were fiddling randomly, unconsciously sped up, and even his fingertips rubbed out streaks of blood.