I am a wicked dragon, and you want me to fall into goodness?

Chapter 114 Puse: Sent to mining, indefinite term! (3k)

Inside the Starshine Kingdom's courtroom.

Cold crystal lamps hung from the dome, and Pu Se sat on the high platform, his dragon eyes sweeping across the steps below. His fierce aura suppressed the people in the courtyard, who dared only whisper among themselves.

Cedric, dressed in a silver-white robe, stood to the side, his brows slightly furrowed as he kept his eyes fixed on the files on the table.

The first case brought in involved a fight between the Levi and the Long-eared tribe.

The Levi man had a shoulder injury, and the long-eared youth had a torn ear tip. The two knelt on the ground, still glaring at each other and muttering curses under their breath.

This is a very common case. The two races have different cultures and customs, and it is inevitable that some friction will occur when they live in the same city.

The argument between the two grew increasingly heated, and Puse, holding a wooden hammer, slammed it heavily onto the judge's bench.

"So noisy!"

"Sent to mining, indefinitely!"

The two people below fell silent instantly, trembling with fear.

Cedric quickly stepped forward: "Your Highness, the two races occasionally have disagreements while living in Starfall City, but it is not a deliberate fight. Severe punishment may deepen the rift between the two races. In this case, a three-year sentence is sufficient."

Pu Se glanced at him sideways, his dragon nostrils snorting hot air: "Difference? Daring to make a move in Starshine Territory means you don't take me seriously."

"The original sentence was life imprisonment, but seeing your pleas, it's reduced to five years for mining. Let's drag it out."

The Red Fang Knight immediately stepped forward, lifted the two men who were limp on the ground, and dragged them away. The two men didn't even dare to cry out loudly, for fear of being sentenced to more years.

The second theft was then presented, involving a thin, long-eared boy who still had a sapphire in his pocket that he hadn't had a chance to get rid of.

Puse's eyes widened: "You actually dared to steal! You've got some nerve!"

Blue Dragon slammed his gavel down: "Send him to mining, life imprisonment, and the stolen goods must be confiscated permanently."

The long-eared boy was terrified, his face drained of color. He kowtowed with a thud, crying, "My lord, spare my life! I was just too cold and hungry. I'll never do it again!"

Cedric, unable to bear it, advised again, "Your Highness, the boy is young and forced to make a living. He is not a habitual thief. According to the laws of the royal court, let him mine for a year."

Pu Se impatiently waved his dragon claw, clearly annoyed by the persuasion, but still relented: "Add another year, two years for mining."

"Dare to slack off, and the penalty will be doubled."

The boy, though still desperate, dared not beg again and was silently dragged away by the knight.

The third case involved an elderly man from the Long-eared ethnic group, whose body was somewhat hunched over.

Puse slammed his hammer down again: "Send him to mining, indefinitely."

Cedric rubbed his forehead; he hadn't even presented the old man's charges to Pruse yet!

This is an elder of the Levi tribe who withheld the winter rations that were distributed, causing dozens of elderly and weak families in the tribe to suffer from the cold, and some even died from frostbite.

The elder knelt on the ground, repeatedly arguing that it was a mistake in counting the grain and that it was by no means intentional withholding. However, there were witnesses and physical evidence to prove that the evidence was irrefutable.

Cedric quickly pressed down on Puse's retracting dragon claw, shoving the dossier in front of him and saying urgently, "Your Highness, it is true that he withheld rations, causing his people to freeze and fall ill, but he is old, and a severe punishment might not be enough to withstand the hardships of working in the mines!"

The elder prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly. His white hair was covered in dust, and his voice was hoarse: "Great Dragon Lord, spare my life!"

I was blinded by greed; I am willing to return all the grain to make amends to my people!

Pu Se lowered his eyes and swept over the charges in the dossier, his dragon eyes showing no emotion: "Withholding life-saving rations and treating the lives of his people like dirt, he deserves to die."

"It's good that he won't live much longer. Send him to the mine and we'll dig up every piece we can. It'll be a way for Xinghui to make some use of his remaining energy. It's better than him staying at home stealing food and harming people."

"Sentenced to life imprisonment for mining!!!"

The audience seats below were crowded with Levi people, all relatives of the elders, who could no longer contain themselves upon seeing this.

Several young men crawled forward on their knees, their voices choked with sobs as they pleaded in unison, "Your Highness! He was just confused for a moment. Please, for the sake of the Levi tribe's unwavering allegiance to Starshine, show him leniency!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Levi people in the audience echoed his sentiments and pleaded for leniency.

The courtroom was soon filled with the sounds of kowtowing and pleas, disrupting the solemn atmosphere.

Pu Se was already impatient, and upon hearing this commotion, he suddenly became fierce, his cold vertical pupils sweeping over the people pleading for mercy below, and his violent aura instantly surged.

Those dark blue dragon eyes flashed with a cold light, sweeping over every Levi who pleaded for mercy. Those who were targeted froze, as if locked onto by a ferocious beast.

A young man was so frightened that his legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground, but luckily someone next to him caught him.

The clamor of pleas for mercy abruptly ceased.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Pu Se withdrew his gaze: "If you dare to utter another word, you will be considered to be disrupting the court, and you will all be dragged to the mine for three years!"

The Red Fang Knight immediately stepped forward, glaring menacingly at the Levi tribesmen below, and grabbed the young men who had led the plea for mercy, throwing them out.

The crowd was so frightened that they didn't dare to lift their heads and could only watch helplessly as the elder was carried out of the courtroom by the knights.

The Red Fang Knight dragged the hunched elder away, his breath still weakly pleading for mercy, but no one dared to stand up and speak up for him.

The people in the audience lowered their heads, their awe of the blue dragon growing even stronger, mixed with a touch of indescribable fear.

Everyone knows the rules of Star Glory.

When Karen was on duty, she always followed the law and regulations. Even when it came to sentencing, she would listen to people’s reasons and, if their pleas for leniency were reasonable, she would always give them a lighter sentence.

Even though it was Cedric who presided over the trial, he was still kind-hearted.

When he encounters cases involving the elderly, the infirm, or those with extenuating circumstances, he will proactively reduce the sentence without anyone asking, seeking only to leave some room for human compassion beyond the law.

But when it came to Pu Se, there was no room for leniency.

He didn't care about any background or consequences, nor did he care about the elderly, weak, women, or children; he started mining indefinitely.

It seemed that in his eyes, mistakes should be punished severely, and all the so-called difficulties and sentiments were just trivial noise.

The three cases just now are clear evidence: the two clans fighting, the starving boy, and the confused elder. If it were Karen or Cedric, the maximum sentence would not have been more than five years.

But when it came to Pu Se, he immediately said "indefinitely."

Karen stood silently in a corner of the courtroom throughout the entire proceedings, without uttering a single word.

He watched as the elders of the Levi tribe were forced to the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy; he watched as the tribe's disciples, pleading for mercy, were silenced by Puse's ferocity; and he watched as the final verdict of life imprisonment for mining was handed down.

His face, which had never shown much of a smile to begin with, slowly blossomed into an even deeper smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes; instead, a chilling coldness remained.

Others feared Puse's tyranny, but Karen knew that the blue dragon's strictness perfectly suited Starshine's stability.

In this world, not everyone can be a good person. There always needs to be someone who plays the villain and gets rid of the internal parasites.

If Karen or Cedric had made the judgment, as fellow human beings, we would inevitably feel a sense of sympathy and find such a judgment too cruel.

But the Puser are different. The Puser are neither Levi nor Long-eared, and have virtually no conflict of interest with the Levi, placing them outside of both groups.

His verdict will not touch upon the sensitivities of the Levi and the Long-eared Tribe.

They only felt that the Blue Dragon's sentence was too harsh, that encountering Puse in the court was really bad luck, and that they were even more afraid of Puse's existence.

Poseidon liked their fear.

He relished the fear of being enveloped in awe, and enjoyed seeing all living beings trembling in his presence.

This made him feel more at ease than a room full of treasures.

This is the majesty unique to dragons, the most straightforward submission of all living beings to the strong.

He had already heard those whispers and unspoken nicknames from the Red Fang Knight.

Words like "mine owner" and "damned slave owner" are crude and straightforward, yet they resonate with him perfectly.

He never questioned these private nicknames; instead, he secretly accepted them in his heart, even quietly memorizing them and savoring them slowly.

To him, these fears were more real possessions than treasures, and those fear-laden nicknames were medals bestowed upon him by all living beings.

He was never a benevolent ruler.

Violence is his true nature, intimidation is his means, and the fear of the masses and their private contempt are merely byproducts of his control over Starshine.

Those fear-inducing nicknames circulating in the streets and alleys of Starfall City will, along with this deterrent, take deep root in the hearts of all races.

This is exactly the result he wanted.

Poseidon felt he was becoming a great evil dragon.

Karen's smile faded, and she left the courtroom unhurriedly.

The morning breeze from outside the corridor swept into the courtroom, dispersing the lingering violent atmosphere and easing the tense aura around him.

He stepped steadily out of the courtroom, shutting out Poseidon's oppressive aura and the fear of the crowd.

At this moment, a small golden dragon, more than two meters long, was curled up beside a pillar on the side of the door.

Upon seeing him come out, he immediately straightened up; it was Green, who had been following Karen the whole way.

She suppressed her usual stubbornness and nagging, and quietly followed behind Karen, taking a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow, keeping a distance of just two steps from him.

Karen didn't stop walking, taking it all as just the stubbornness of the young Jinlong and not paying it any mind.

Green was heartbroken.

Karen never expected that Green would follow him for a whole month, and he still is.

Karen went to handle the resettlement of displaced people and observed the court proceedings. Green huddled behind him, not making a sound, just quietly watching him.

No one dared to drive her away. As soon as Karen came out, she immediately flapped her wings and followed, her voice soft and gentle, carrying a cautious plea: "Karen, you've done a good job settling the refugees, but Gabriella is innocent. She wouldn't harm the people of Starshine. Please let her go, okay?"

Karen either ignored Green's request completely, or she said coldly, "Your Highness Green, please leave."

Karen suppressed her impatience and was about to say something when she was interrupted by hurried footsteps behind her.

A red-toothed knight caught up quickly with steady steps, knelt on one knee in front of Karen, and spoke respectfully but with a hint of solemnity.

"Lord Karen, a group of magnificent carriages has arrived outside the city. Their banners are embroidered with the golden cross of the Holy Radiance Empire, and they claim to be an envoy from the Holy Radiance Empire."

"We have now arrived at the newly built Red Fruit Courtyard, with approximately twenty people in our entourage."

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