Douluo Jueshi: Picking up Firefly at the Beginning

Chapter 326 Tang San's Explanation

After witnessing the extremely shocking and horrifying scene, the Shrek Academy group was briefly shocked like a layer of haze, covering everyone's heart.

But soon, they took action quickly. Xuan Zi's face was as gloomy as the sky before a storm, covered with dark clouds. He gave an order and led everyone to rush towards the distance.

For the vast majority of the strong men in Shrek Academy, they were filled with doubts and confusion at this moment.

They had no idea what was happening and why such a thrilling and devastating scene appeared before their eyes.

The mushroom cloud rising into the sky, the violently shaking earth, and the smell of destruction spreading everywhere all made them feel extremely frightened and confused.

In this panicked crowd, including Zhang Lexuan, only a few people could guess from some clues that the horrific scene just now might be inextricably linked to the Tang Sect.

However, they only had some vague guesses and were not sure what the truth was.

Wang Dong'er, Tang San, and Xiaoxiao knew the entire incident most clearly, because they worked together to help install those powerful timed high-explosive soul guides. Recalling the busy scene in the underground warehouse at that time, every detail was vivid in their minds.

Before leaving the underground warehouse, Huo Yuhao carefully considered and deliberately destroyed the elevator and the door to the first floor.

His purpose in doing this was very clear, which was to delay the time for the situation in the warehouse to be discovered by the outside world as much as possible.

During the implementation of the entire plan, he carefully calculated every step, considered every link extremely thoroughly, and did not make any mistakes.

He even calculated the time for the explosion of the timed high-explosive soul guide repeatedly and got it extremely accurate, as if everything was under his control.

In fact, Huo Yuhao's original purpose was very simple. He knew the importance of this underground warehouse to the Sun-Moon Empire, as it contained a large amount of rare metals and mid- to high-level soul guides.

Once a war breaks out, these resources will become a strong support for the Sun-Moon Empire, so he decided to blow up this underground warehouse, so that the rare metals that cannot be taken away will be reduced to nothing in the powerful explosion, and at the same time, a large number of mid- and high-level soul guides will be blown up as well.

He believed that as long as this goal was achieved, the Sun-Moon Empire would suffer huge losses, and as a result, their desire to launch a war of aggression would be greatly delayed.

In order to ensure the feasibility of the plan, Huo Yuhao made meticulous calculations on the power of those fixed-type soul guide shells.

According to his speculation, since these bombs were buried a hundred meters deep underground, their explosive force could spread to about one kilometer at most, causing the earth to shake.

Mingde Hall, which was very close to the underground warehouse, obviously could not survive the explosion.

In his opinion, the damage caused by the simultaneous bombing of the underground warehouse and Mingde Hall, two extremely critical places for the Sun and Moon Empire, was enough to achieve their intended strategic goals.

However, Huo Yuhao did not know that fate is always full of unexpected variables. In the underground warehouse of Mingde Hall, a place that is highly encrypted and heavily defended, like a solid wall of steel, sixteen level nine fixed-type soul guide shells are quietly sleeping.

These ninth-level fixed-type soul-guided shells are considered the kings among soul-guided weapons, possessing terrifying power that can destroy the world.

The huge explosion that he carefully planned and triggered was like a key that accidentally awakened these powerful weapons sleeping underground.

Sixteen level nine fixed-type soul-guided artillery shells, plus tens of thousands of various level five and above fixed-type soul-guided artillery shells, the terrifying energy they contained superimposed and triggered each other, eventually causing this despairing disaster, turning a corner of Mingdu into ruins in an instant, and countless lives disappeared in this catastrophe.

Not long after, the Shrek Academy group, led by Xuan Zi, hurriedly fled into a remote mountain.

The surrounding mountains and forests were dense, and the silence was somewhat oppressive. Xuan Zi raised his hand to signal everyone to stop, and said solemnly, "Let's rest here for a while."

The voice echoed in the empty mountains, carrying a hint of fatigue and helplessness.

Xuan Zi turned around, reached out and pulled Huo Yuhao, who looked dazed and like a walking corpse, and silently walked to the side.

Then, he raised his voice and shouted to everyone, "Little guys from the Tang Sect, Tang San, Le Xuan, and Master, come here."

The gloomy voice seemed to carry an invisible pressure, spreading in the air.

Upon hearing Xuanzi's words, Yu Xiaogang and the others as well as the elders of Shrek Academy were all shocked.

They looked at each other and saw the same worry in each other's eyes, which confirmed their original guess.

Flanders and Liu Erlong opened their lips slightly, as if they wanted to say something, but in the end they said nothing.

They just watched silently as Yu Xiaogang brought Tang San and followed Xuan Zi with heavy steps.

"Tell me, what's going on?"

Xuan Zi's gaze was sharp, directed at Huo Yuhao, who was being carefully supported by Wang Dong'er. His voice was low, yet it held undeniable authority. Huo Yuhao's face was as pale as paper, as if he had aged instantly. He slowly raised his head, eyes filled with pain and self-blame, and said in a deep voice, "Master Xuan, I did all this. I originally planned to blow up that underground warehouse, hoping to destroy some of the Sun-Moon Empire's strategic resources and thus delay their war. According to my calculations, the explosion would only affect an area within a one-kilometer radius, and since it was underground, it wouldn't cause much impact. I really didn't expect it to end up like this..." His voice trailed off, choking with a hint of sob.

Xuan Zi couldn't help but gasp. Zhang Lexuan's expression became extremely complicated, showing both anger and regret. Yu Xiaogang also pulled the corners of his mouth stiffly, not knowing how to react for a moment.

Although they had been mentally prepared and had vaguely guessed that the disaster might be related to Shrek Academy, they were still extremely shocked when they heard it with their own ears and learned that the extremely terrifying explosion was actually caused by Huo Yuhao.

"Yuhao, have you ever thought about how many people will die in this explosion?" Zhang Lexuan frowned, her face terribly gloomy. She was extremely dissatisfied with Huo Yuhao's actions.

In her opinion, even if Huo Yuhao's mistake was unintentional, the facts before him could not be changed. Huo Yuhao had inadvertently become the "executioner" of this disaster, and countless innocent lives had been lost because of him. This could not be easily forgiven in any way.

Huo Yuhao slowly lowered his head and clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

He said in a hoarse voice, "Master Xuan, Senior Sister, I did it all by myself. I am willing to accept any punishment. Even if you expel me from Shrek Academy, I have no complaints."

He knew in his heart that if his actions were known to the outside world, Shrek Academy would be greatly implicated.

Rather than letting the academy suffer the shame, it is better to take all the responsibilities and keep Shrek Academy out of this storm.

Hearing this, Wang Dong'er and others suddenly became anxious.

Wang Dong'er's eyes were red as she quickly defended herself emotionally, "Master Xuan, Senior Sister, Yuhao didn't mean for this to happen! No one expected things to develop like this. Besides, we were all involved in this operation, and we helped install those time bombs. Yuhao only sent a spiritual clone to participate at the time. The main decision-making wasn't made by him alone, so it had little to do with him!"

At this moment, Tang San, who had been silent the entire time, stood up. His expression was calm, and he analyzed the situation methodically: "Master Xuan, although this incident did result in the casualties of a large number of innocent people, it is indeed a tragedy. But let's think about it from another perspective. The Sun-Moon Empire has always been eyeing other countries covetously. It's only a matter of time before they start a war."

"Although this explosion caused heavy losses, in the long run, wasn't it a severe blow to the Sun-Moon Empire? It successfully delayed their ability to launch a war. And think about it carefully: if Huo Yuhao hadn't destroyed those soul guides at the time, once war broke out, they would have become deadly weapons, and how many innocent people would have died at their hands?"

In Tang San's view, war is inherently cruel and merciless. In this complex situation, although the people of the Sun-Moon Empire are innocent, their sacrifice has delayed the war. To some extent, it has reduced the casualties that more people in other countries may face. It can be regarded as a "value embodiment" of a helpless move.

After all, if a full-scale war breaks out, the death toll will likely far exceed the casualties caused by this explosion, which will be an even more terrible disaster.

In fact, there was still something in Tang San's heart that he hadn't said out loud.

Their operation was planned extremely secretly. From the early preparations to the specific implementation, every step was done to leave no trace.

Even though the Sun-Moon Empire had doubts about the explosion and vaguely guessed that it might be related to Shrek Academy, they could not produce any conclusive evidence to prove that the disaster was caused by Shrek Academy.

After all, it is absolutely impossible for their own people to admit this matter voluntarily, and other relevant personnel who may know the inside story have already died in the earth-shaking explosion and cannot testify.

Even if some discerning people knew from various signs that this was most likely done by Shrek Academy, in the absence of evidence, given the high prestige that Shrek Academy had accumulated on the continent over thousands of years, ordinary people would not easily believe such speculation.

As long as the public does not believe it, this incident will not cause much waves in the public opinion level, as if it could be treated as if it never happened.

Elder Xuan listened quietly to everyone's stories and arguments, shook his head slightly, and said calmly: "Okay, I understand the whole story now. Let's end this matter here. Everyone go and rest."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and slowly left, without showing any intention of punishing Huo Yuhao and the others.

This naturally includes Master Xuan's own considerations. Huo Yuhao and others are the most outstanding disciples of this generation of Shrek Academy. They are extremely talented and have unlimited potential.

If they were expelled because of this incident, who would Shrek Academy's future inheritance depend on? The academy's glory needed these young and promising successors to continue. In Xuan Lao's mind, after weighing the pros and cons, he chose to keep the matter quiet.

When Zhang Lexuan heard Master Xuan’s decision, her expression froze for a moment, her eyes filled with surprise.

She never expected that Mr. Xuan would let this matter go so easily, as if this major incident that caused countless casualties was just a trivial matter.

Her lips trembled slightly, and she seemed to be hesitant to speak. She was very conflicted inside. She felt that this matter could not be let go so easily. After all, the consequences were too serious.

However, when she inadvertently glanced at Beibei and saw the complicated look in Beibei's eyes, she hesitated.

Beibei and Huo Yuhao had a deep friendship, and she didn't want to embarrass Beibei because of her insistence. After thinking it over again and again, she finally gritted her teeth, said nothing, turned around and left silently.

Wang Dong'er and others stood there, looking at each other, their eyes full of confusion and puzzlement.

They had all been mentally prepared to accept severe punishment, whether it was being scolded, grounded, or even being expelled from the academy, they were willing to bear it.

But no one expected that Xuan Zi just asked a few simple questions and then let it go so lightly. This seemingly huge matter ended inexplicably like this?
(End of this chapter)