NIKKE, When the Milky Way Blossoms

"If a muscle tear doesn't heal properly afterward, it can easily lead to chronic and persistent problems, Commander."

"……Row."

Phoenix nodded obediently, looking completely harmless. If the bed curtains were pulled back to show the prisoners, it would probably shock everyone.

The stark contrast between the ruthless killer being a henpecked husband and the shocking fact that he was actually henpecked was far too much for these psychopaths whose very existence was rooted in murder.

……

……

In the days that followed, with Lapi watching over him 24 hours a day, Phoenix, who was good at "doing evil," did have to behave himself quite well.

During this time, Ingrid even shamelessly came to the prison cell to sleep every day.

After all, the rumors of a secret affair between the two had already spread, as expected. If she didn't sleep with him back, wouldn't she, as a big capitalist, suffer a huge loss?

So Phoenix's life these days consisted of nothing more than taking care of his health, listening to the news, and staying by Ingrid's side as a guard with Lapi. He would sleep while watching Lapi, who was sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor, sleep.

A week later, amidst the bickering and wrangling among 48 people including Ingrid, Anderson, and Shum, the lieutenant finally faced his first hearing.

……

The person was personally escorted out by Yursha and Privati, under the protection of three layers of triangular troops.

On the way, the lieutenant was riding in the most heavily armored vehicle in the entire Ark, and the road to the courthouse had been cleared by the Triangle Force and ACPU personnel more than three times in shifts to ensure that no one would use anti-materiel rocket launchers to bombard the area.

Even the court itself temporarily installed a protective cabin to ensure that dangerous elements could not carry out a suicide attack on the lieutenant during the sentencing.

Such a grand scene surprised the Ark citizens, who were alarmed by it, as they had no idea what had happened.

Even with various public figures and influential figures on the Balabala homepage offering their speculations, a convincing conclusion has yet to emerge.

……

……

Banglanglang——

In the underground parking garage of the court, the doors of an armored vehicle slowly opened.

Following Yulsha's security instructions, Lieutenant Phoenix, dressed in a prison uniform with the insignia of the rehabilitation center, was surrounded by security personnel from various factions as he ascended the stairs, traversed the corridors, and finally arrived at the protective cabin of the Central Supreme Court.

The jury seats were full, and while there were many familiar faces, there were even more unfamiliar ones.

Someone was very satisfied with this.

Because Farin had already directed the ghost sisters to float behind the jury members one by one, secretly observing their cell phones, tablets, and documents.

A large amount of information began to be compiled for Farin, and after careful sorting, these carefully selected secrets would fall intact into the lieutenant's ears.

"Please come into the cabin, Lieutenant."

Seeing Phoenix standing still, the somewhat nervous bailiff quickly and amicably extended his hand forward, indicating that this protective cabin was his dock.

"Oh, okay, sorry."

The man smiled at the bailiff, thinking he was being gentle, and then, without caring whether the bailiff felt a chill or not, strode into the cabin to await the preliminary hearing.

Boom-!

The gavel was struck, and the Chief Justice began his speech.

"Given the special nature of this hearing, the hearing number will not be recorded."

"Defendant Phoenix, according to the evidence provided by ACPU, you are suspected of 16 counts of intentional homicide and 33 counts of intentional assault in Gold Coin Wars."

He also committed the crimes of obstructing official business, intentional damage to property, intentional destruction of evidence, and torture to extract confessions…

One by one, the charges were read out calmly from the Supreme Court's mouth.

The old man was quite old. After reading the entire page, Yu Leng picked up his cup, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then continued his questioning:

"Do you have any objections to this, defendant Phoenix?"

"some."

No one present was surprised by the lieutenant's answer. After all, he was the guy who shared a bed with the CEO of Gokuraku Jodo. This confession must have been planned. How could he obediently plead guilty in court?

The Supreme Court justice, who was already prepared, adopted a listening posture and gestured for Phoenix to raise his objections.

The man said this:

"In my personal opinion, the number of intentional homicide cases should be reduced by at least three."

As soon as the words were spoken, everyone, from the court staff to the jury members, looked around nervously.

Third, a very sensitive number.

Because three cyborgs died in the military.

Is this guy planning to play a trump card right from the initial review stage?

“I believe that the three individuals and their allies are suspected of betraying humanity. They are suspected of providing Niki to the Lecher faction in exchange for Lecher's advanced technology, and then deceiving Elysium into replicating the technology.”

Wow——! ! !

In an instant! The instant Phoenix uttered the last syllable!

The entire audience erupted in cheers.

Those who had crossed their legs put them down; those who were drinking tea nearly choked on their tea; and some even stood up, ready to start cursing, only to be pulled back to their seats by their colleagues.

Ingrid didn't expect it, Anderson didn't expect it, the military didn't expect it, and neither did the intelligence department...

When everyone present thought the lieutenant was about to play a trump card, he gave them a big surprise – a royal flush of 10, J, Q, K, A.

But that wasn't all. After the Supreme Court judge struck the gavel again to silence the audience, Phoenix continued to reveal his cards, using the implied meaning to tell everyone...

He was still holding a royal flush of spades in his hand.

"I discovered hundreds of Niki's bodies underground in the H district, including both mass-produced and non-mass-produced models."

"Before those three illegally modified humans attacked me, their first question was, 'Now that I've discovered the secrets of District H, either join us or die.' At that moment..."

"You're talking fucking nonsense!!!"

On the jury, a young major representing the military broke down on the spot, his face flushed red as he stood up and pointed at the protective pod, shouting:

"Believe it or not, I'll shoot you right now!"

After saying that, he was shoved back into his chair by a lieutenant colonel next to him, who was glaring at him with a beard bristling.

Then a hoarse voice came from inside the protective cabin.

"I was terrified at the time, fearing that they would raise their hands and shoot me dead on the spot."

So I had no choice but to kill them all.

I'm sure you understand my predicament, Major, right?

Major: "..."

Chapter 166 Chaos, chaos ensues!

Threat, naked threat!

The military major had just threatened to shoot the other party a second ago, and the lieutenant said the next second that he had killed all those who wanted to shoot him.

What is this if it's not a threat?

This is blatant provocation against the military's authority!

On the jury bench, the faces of the military representatives were so dirty from someone's false accusation and provocation that they looked as if they had just crawled out of a ditch. Openly threatening the life of a major, only Phoenix in the entire Ark dared to be the first to do so.

The problem is that the major's words themselves fall under the category of personal threats. If they were to use the charge of personal threats against someone, it would inevitably seem petty.

On the platform, the Grand Justice was still immersed in the Second Lieutenant's shocking accusations.

The accusation that the military betrayed humanity and cooperated with Lecher is so outrageous that it's comparable to the insectoid act of humanity betraying the Goddess Force years ago.

"Defendant Phoenix, what evidence do you have to prove that what you say is credible?"

When the old man raised his reading glasses, the age spots and wrinkles on his face seemed to have deepened due to his emotional state.

"Please understand that you are now making an extremely serious accusation."

“My words are evidence. As long as someone denies it, this kind of thing can go on and on.”

Phoenix once again displayed his sophistry, making no mention of his own involvement or the fact that one-sided testimonies cannot be treated as evidence.

Because he knew very well that since he had brought the matter of "exchanging Niki with Lechfon" into the open, there had to be a scapegoat to take the blame.

And the actor playing the scapegoat had already chosen a target for those in the know.

What follows is naturally the process of shifting blame.

Whether the confession is true or not is no longer important the moment it is spoken.

Importantly, it is true that someone in the Ark was secretly signing an unequal treaty with Lecher, and it is also true that Niki was sacrificed as a bargaining chip.

Therefore, the secret that someone within the military was cooperating with Lecher must also be true.

Otherwise, how could this mess be spearheaded by the central government?