Nightmare Light

Chapter 282 The Lies of Privilege
"What's the difference between you?"

Upon hearing Lin Wang's words, Tang Hongzhan and the federal officers were all stunned.

A few seconds later, Tang Hongzhan, his face flushed and filled with anger, shouted, "Of course we're different! We're the righteous! We're here to judge and clean up this trash!"

"So what? Just because you have this excuse, you can abuse your power?" Lin Wang said.

"And what about you! According to you, since you're forcibly controlling us now, can't we say that you're also abusing your power..."

“I’m different,” Lin Wang interrupted Tang Hongzhan. “I have big fists.”

Tang Hongzhan was speechless after being choked by Lin Wang's words, his face turning pale and then red.

A few seconds later, he gritted his teeth and said, “Northman, no matter what you say or do today… you can’t hide the fact that you did attack federal officials and officers.”

“Your actions will be reported to the federal government... You will pay the price for your actions!”

"Whatever, I don't care," Lin Wang shrugged.

"Don't you care about making an enemy of the entire Federation?!"

“First of all, with just a few of you, there’s a high chance you can’t convict me,” Lin Wang said. “Secondly, if the Federation is full of people like you… I really wouldn’t mind making an enemy of the entire Federation.”

Lin Wang used the word "mind" instead of "care," and Tang Hongzhan noticed it. He angrily retorted, "Northerner! Who do you think you are! Just because you..."

"At the Federal University, during the incident where the Blood Cult created a false god, he single-handedly killed the cult's false god."

"He repaired the sky. He also stopped an out-of-control temple that could have destroyed Tangsheng City."

"A few days ago, he also prevented a mad god from descending into the world."

Jiang Shanjun's cool voice rang out.

Several federal officers recognized her and exclaimed, "She's the head of the Fourth Section of the Sheriff's Department!"

"The most mysterious one?"

"Yes, someone in my family showed me her picture..."

Jiang Shanjun's gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on Tang Hongzhan's face: "Since you recognize me, you should know that I am telling the truth—this Northerner in front of you does indeed have the ability to 'not mind' being an enemy of the Federation."

"In fact, if the intelligence from the Security Bureau is correct, he has explicitly rejected at least two opportunities to reach the pinnacle of secular power, including once the position of archbishop and once..."

Jiang Shanjun looked at Tang Hongzhan: "The position of the Federation Emperor."

"The...Emperor?!" The young official from Luoyun Palace instinctively disbelieved it, but felt that Jiang Shanjun couldn't possibly be lying. In the midst of this struggle, he suddenly realized the key point of Jiang Shanjun's words.

Tang Hongzhan stared wide-eyed at Lin Wang: "You actually refused?!"

"What's so good about that thing? It's completely meaningless." Lin Wang shook his head.

After saying that, he untied the ice binding these people: "You can leave now."

Tang Hongzhan and the federal officers stretched their limbs. The former glanced at Lin Wang with a complicated expression: "You're just letting us go like this?"

“Otherwise what? Would I really kill you?” Lin Wang said.

Tang Hongzhan's expression shifted several times before he said in a deep voice, "But I will still report your actions toward federal officials truthfully."

“The Public Security Bureau will also report our eyewitness testimonies to Luoyun Palace in their entirety.” Jiang Shanjun added coldly, “As a federal law enforcement agency, we find it hard to believe that our colleagues are a group of power-hungry scoundrels who abuse their power.”

Tang Hongzhan opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything. He waved to his companions and left in silence. The group of young men from Lushan helped their fallen companion—Ji Shuxun's cousin—up and also left in silence. Only one of them stepped forward, bowed to Lin Wang, and expressed his gratitude.

After a moment of silence, Ji Shuxun stood up and nodded deeply to Lin Wang: "Mr. Lin Wang, Lushan thanks you for your help."

Then he added, "But you just said that the people of Lushan are scum and trash... I find that hard to accept."

"I don't care what you think," Lin Wang interrupted Lu Shan rudely. "Whether you can accept it or not is your business."

He looked at the girl from Lushan, whose expression wasn't very pleasant, and his tone became unusually serious: "Let's get this straight—I've never been on your side."

“I can’t stand that pretentious guy from Luoyun Palace, so I’ll say it. Your brothers are trash, and I won’t hide it from you.”

“Your brothers should be glad that they weren’t the ones committing evil today.”

Tian Taozi exclaimed from the side, "Wow! So cool! That was so satisfying to yell at!"

After Lin Wang finished speaking frankly and bluntly, the young girl from Lushan looked extremely pale—she was biting her lip tightly with anger, but the corners of her mouth were turned down—she was clearly about to cry.

After maintaining this expression for a few seconds, Ji Shuxun took a deep breath and forced herself to regain her composure: "Mr. Lin, ladies, please come with me."

They began to go through each of Lushan's rooms one by one and met with the people in the rooms. Some of them were not currently in Lushan, so they would have to come back again in the evening.

Because of the earlier conflict, Ji Shuxun remained silent the entire way.

As they were about to visit all the rooms in Lushan, the girl from Lushan suddenly smiled and said, "I suddenly understand why my brother admires you so much—you are essentially the same kind of people."

"Hmm?" Lin Wang glanced at her.

“Lushan is actually divided into two factions,” Ji Shuxun said. “One faction is my deceased uncle, Ji Xuance’s faction. He hopes that everything will return to the era of imperial power.”

"Another group of people believes that since the era has entered the federal period, we should actively seek greater influence within the federation. They believe that it is acceptable for the Deer Mountain family to become the largest political family, rather than having to return to the imperial era."

“My mother, as the head of the family, is actually neutral. She thinks that it would be a good thing if the family could be developed into the largest political family, but if the Ji family really comes to that point, she would not mind turning the Federation into an empire.”

Ji Shuxun walked to a corner of the corridor and turned on the light: "She has always wanted to groom my brother into a political star, whether he becomes president or emperor in the future."

"Gou-ge's personality definitely means he's not interested in this kind of thing." Lin Wang's mind conjured up the image of a man in combat uniform, with a messy beard and a fawning smile on his face.

“Yes, my brother isn’t interested.” Ji Shuxun nodded, then suddenly chuckled mischievously. “With his personality, if he became president or emperor… it would be a disaster.”

"That's your own brother!"

“If he weren’t my own brother, I would have said something even harsher.”

"..."

Ji Shuxun smiled: "I'm suddenly a little curious now, what if one day, our country, or rather our civilization, really were controlled by a group of privileged individuals..."

"That day will never come," Lin Wang said with certainty.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from the end of the corridor.

The group turned their heads and saw a security guard from Lushan running towards them.

Before Ji Shuxun could ask, the security guard spoke up urgently:

Someone died in the library!

(End of this chapter)