Heroes' Prison

Chapter 668 - 642: Something Brought by Number 2

At this moment, Miyamoto Musashi, who was being condemned by the entire world, was leveling up at the 120th floor of the Tower of Pantheons in the five-member mode together with "Twin Lords" of the Martial Arts Guild—Meng Junlin and Jun Zhiye.

Both Miyamoto Musashi and Jun Zhiye had been killed by Huang Yi yesterday. High-level fighters like them possessed Deathproof Equipment attributes. Although their equipment didn’t suffer any loss, they weren’t able to preserve their level and still dropped by one level. Now, both of them were at level 120, while Meng Junlin was at level 121.

All of them were of Rare Classes and didn’t have Demon Cores to level up with; opportunities to kill bosses dozens of levels above themselves were sparse. Their level progression was extremely slow, far behind that of ordinary players.

Miyamoto Musashi had a stern expression on his face, slightly distracted, and fought the monsters mechanically, his mind clearly not focused on the battle. Generally speaking, he wouldn’t care about public opinion, having quite a strong mental fortitude. But the fierce degree of this backlash surpassed his expectations and had affected his state of mind.

"God of Slaughter is really shameless to use public opinion to attack us! Only cowards resort to verbal fights!" At this point, Jun Zhiye spat out angrily. His temper was the most volatile, and coupled with being killed by Huang Yi personally the day before, he had accumulated a lot of resentment. Discovering today that the entire world’s public opinion was against them, he felt an overwhelming sense of frustration with no outlet.

"If it were a real fight, you would die even more miserably!" Meng Junlin said flatly at that moment. He was dressed in a black samurai outfit, with a mustache shaped like an inverted "八" on his face. He stood tall and firm with a resolute expression, creating a stark contrast to Jun Zhiye’s volatility.

Jun Zhiye’s face turned red, remembering the thrilling second that cost him his life in Huang Yi’s hands the day before—indeed, in a martial battle, he really couldn’t beat his opponent. Clenching his teeth, he said, "Then what should we do? Are we really supposed to hand over Qin Shiyu? Now the entire world is berating us, even our own people are scolding us. Members are leaving every moment, and if we continue to hold onto Qin Shiyu, this hot potato, we’re going to have a tough time ahead!"

"We must absolutely not let her go, releasing her would mean admitting defeat!" Meng Junlin shook his head, his tone very decisive and brooking no argument.

"So we just continue this standoff?" Jun Zhiye furrowed his brow and retorted, "We can’t win a war of words against the God of Slaughter, now that public opinion is on his side; we can’t change that. In a martial fight, we’re also no match, the strength of the God of Slaughter is very strange. His power seems to have suddenly doubled, and none of us can match him. And the only hostage we have, Qin Shiyu, we can’t touch, or the public condemnation will be even worse."

"Have you noticed something strange?" Meng Junlin looked at Miyamoto Musashi and then at Jun Zhiye, his voice deep, "Since God of Slaughter arrived in the Land of Dongying, he has never taken the initiative to kill anyone."

"Hm?" Hearing this, Miyamoto Musashi, who had been silent up until now, regained his focus as if he had suddenly grasped something significant.

He began to recall carefully, and indeed, he noticed something he had previously overlooked.

Yesterday, when Huang Yi was in Muyi City, he was ambushed and killed those who attacked him, which was self-defense, and he didn’t target any other innocent players;

Yesterday, when Huang Yi incarnated in Northern Sea City to rescue hostages, it was also self-defense, with no sin value gained;

Yesterday, when Huang Yi was in the forest, it was Jun Zhiye who first attacked the Barbarian God, placing the Japanese faction in a state of malicious attack, still self-defense;

Yesterday, when Huang Yi went to the beach to board the Thunder God Warship, he resisted injury from beginning to end and did not kill anyone.

All of this was indeed self-defense!

"What’s so strange about that, he just doesn’t want to earn Sin Value, that’s all! We originally wanted him to kill a large number of innocent players to gain hundreds of Sin Value points, to die and drop to level one, but he didn’t fall for it!" Jun Zhiye shrugged helplessly. Yesterday, he personally commanded a large number of cannon fodder players to surround Huang Yi on the streets of Muyi City and even taunted him, hoping Huang Yi would lose his temper and kill, thereby gaining Sin Value, but Huang Yi never struck.

"Is it only about not wanting to gain Sin Value? Is it that simple?" Meng Junlin’s eyes, as deep as the starry sky, gazed ahead at the never-ending hordes of monsters, "With God of Slaughter’s personality, killing people is as easy as eating or drinking; why would he be afraid of gaining Sin Value? A year ago in Dragon City, he dared to kill thirty thousand people without ever considering the Sin Value. Why would he now be so cautious?"

"Indeed very suspicious," Miyamoto Musashi nodded, his demeanor turning playful, "Since arriving in the Land of Dongying, God of Slaughter’s only proactive attack was on the five drivers aboard the warship. According to those drivers, the Attack Power of God of Slaughter was not high at that time, suggesting he’d removed his equipment, and he even allowed our five drivers to leave voluntarily, clearly to avoid killing them. When has God of Slaughter ever shown mercy to enemies? He is not Dao Feng."

Hearing this, Jun Zhiye also fell into deep thought. This series of actions didn’t seem like what they imagined of the God of Slaughter, but rather resembled Dao Feng, who seldom drove enemies to desperation. Forums often say "Better to provoke Dao Feng than Instakill." God of Slaughter was viewed by people all over the world as someone who shows no mercy to his enemies; it was unlikely for him to be this benevolent.

"That’s why I suspect that God of Slaughter is in a particular state that makes it inconvenient for him to kill," Meng Junlin concluded. He looked at Miyamoto Musashi and said, "Since God of Slaughter won’t kill actively, let’s fight him to the end because no matter what we do, we are in the active position!"

"Exactly!" Miyamoto Musashi’s face finally thawed into a satisfied smile, "Let’s stop worrying about public opinion. Qin Shiyu is our biggest reliance, and God of Slaughter doesn’t dare to kill actively, giving us no reason to fear. The Heavenly Curtain Barrier in Muyi City was too rudimentary to trap God of Slaughter, this rampant dragon. We’ll transfer Qin Shiyu to Northern Sea City, where there are three different Heavenly Curtain Barriers. Previously, we only activated one of them, but this time we will activate all three and cut off all his Teleportation Skills! This time, we shall ensure he has no way out!"

Toward the end, Miyamoto Musashi’s voice became decisive, and the katana in his hand swung with vigorous force, unleashing waves of Sword Qi that sliced through the monsters, sending limbs and severed body parts flying chaotically.

He finally shook off the slump and was filled with fighting spirit once again.

...

Leaving the forum, Huang Yi logged back in and reappeared outside Muyi City. The Heavenly Curtain Barrier of Muyi City was still activated, remaining unclosed. However, the city gates were extremely bustling, as groups of Japanese players gathered outside, holding banners, seemingly protesting and demonstrating.

"We strongly demand Miyamoto Musashi to admit his mistake! Release Qin Shiyu!"

"Miyamoto Musashi, please have an open and fair duel with God of Slaughter!"

The Japanese characters on the banners were translated into Chinese by the system, and these protestors recited their slogans while holding banners demanding Miyamoto Musashi to admit his mistake and release the prisoner.

Huang Yi turned his head and noticed that many people were wearing black headbands with a blood-red "Slaughter" character on them. Among these crowds, banners in the same format were easily visible with a few large characters— "God of Slaughter’s Japanese Support Group."

These were Huang Yi’s fans from Japan; they were the most outraged among all the protestors, with fierce expressions and vehement words, some even burning portraits of Miyamoto Musashi.

Miyamoto Musashi was now truly isolated and without support, having provoked condemnation from all over the world, and even his homeland Japan was no exception.

Huang Yi checked Qin Shiyu’s status; she was not online at the moment, but her body was still in The Second World. Normally, when players log off, their bodies disappear. However, in special circumstances such as combat, abduction, or metamorphosis, if they log off, their bodies will remain uncontrolled and won’t vanish, still susceptible to harm.

Huang Yi continued to wait. If Miyamoto Musashi would release her, that would be best, but if not, he had his plans ready.

Half an hour passed, and suddenly, Huang Yi received a message, sent by Qin Shiyu who had finally logged on.

"Brother Yi, just now, number two called me. He has sent someone to deliver something to you. Go into the Flaming Forest near the Flame Mountain Range. That person is waiting for you there, coordinates as follows..."

A thought struck Huang Yi’s mind; if number two had sent someone with something, it must be extraordinary!

He immediately found a secluded spot and summoned Little Dragon, riding it toward the nearby Flame Mountain Range.

"Ee-ya ee-ya!" Little Dragon called out in a babyish voice while flying in the air, seemingly greeting Huang Yi.

Huang Yi patted Little Dragon’s head, feeling somewhat emotional, "Little Dragon, hurry up and advance to the Growth Phase! Only then can I borrow your attributes!"

After his evolution at level 140 into a Golden Holy Dragon, he had learned a Racial Skill called "Attribute Borrowing," which allowed him to borrow the attributes of a contracted Dragon Clan partner. But Little Dragon was still in the Juvenile Phase, not yet reached the Growth Phase, and didn’t have much strength to lend his attributes effectively.

"Woof woof!" Little Dragon, not knowing if it understood or not, cheekily responded to Huang Yi with a dog’s bark.

Before long, Little Dragon brought Huang Yi to the location called Flaming Forest. This forest was home to towering trees known as "Fire Trees," whose leaves were red in color, resembling flames that reddened them, presenting a unique beauty.

Huang Yi dismounted from Little Dragon and began searching based on the coordinates Qin Shiyu had given.

Before long, under a tall Fire Tree, he spotted a figure. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your Recommendation Tickets and Monthly Tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)