You call me a calamity? But I am Hyper Zetton!

Wu Minmin's body tensed up suddenly, and she froze on the spot.

With a crisp click, the sound of a metal belt buckle being unbuckled came from behind, followed by a whoosh as the belt was neatly pulled out of the waistband.

Wu Bai's voice sounded softly behind her, carrying a chilling aura that sent shivers down her spine: "Sis... take a deep breath. It's normal to feel pain. Just bear with it and it will pass."

Upon hearing this, Wu Minmin's heart skipped a beat.

Without any hesitation, she pushed off the ground with both feet and lunged to the side...

...Then, with a side roll, it quickly escaped from its original position.

Almost at the same instant she dodged...

The leather belt whistled through the air and lashed hard against the vermilion door.

With a loud bang, the door couldn't withstand the immense force and shattered on the spot, sending wood chips flying everywhere.

Wu Minmin squatted on the ground, staring wide-eyed at the dilapidated door.

"Brother, are you trying to murder your own sister?"

Wu Bai did not answer, and raised his right hand high again.

Wu Minmin shuddered, her feet felt like they were coated in oil, and she suddenly lowered her body.

...With a whoosh, he slipped through the hole in the broken gate and went straight into the courtyard.

"Still dare to hide?" Wu Bai's face darkened as he followed closely behind, carrying his belt, and crawled inside as well.

"Brother, I was wrong, I was really wrong, please stop hitting me."

Inside the courtyard house.

Wu Minmin has been cornered and has nowhere to retreat.

She clasped her hands together above her head, her features scrunched up, her face full of pleading.

Wu Bai stopped two meters away from her: "Wrong? When have you ever not said you were wrong, only to do it even worse next time?"

"Last time it was a blond guy... This time, it's a middle-aged man. I don't think you have any remorse at all."

"If I don't beat you to death right here today, I'll take your surname..."

Having said that…

Wu Bai swung the belt in his hand, as if he was about to charge forward again.

"What are you doing?" a questioning female voice suddenly interrupted.

Wu Bai paused, the belt in his hand hanging in mid-air, and looked in the direction of the sound.

Ye Lan was bending over as she squeezed in. She straightened up...

...First, he glanced at the broken door panels scattered all over the floor.

Then, his gaze lingered between Wu Bai, who was carrying a belt, and Wu Minmin, who was hiding in the corner.

Upon seeing the person who arrived, Wu Minmin felt as if she had found a lifeline.

She transformed into a blurry golden streak of light and arrived behind Ye Lan in the blink of an eye.

He gripped Ye Lan's shoulders with both hands, only peeking out half his head, watching Wu Bai warily, ready to run away again at any moment.

Wu Bai watched this scene and sighed deeply. It couldn't have come at the worst possible time; such an opportunity to educate his younger sister was hard to come by.

He coughed somewhat awkwardly, casually putting the belt back on his waistband as he tried to explain:

"This brat is disobedient, so I'm giving her some necessary... 'education of love,' you know, the eldest brother is like a father."

Ye Lan looked at the two lively siblings in front of her and was somewhat speechless.

But since it was their family matter, she couldn't pry into it.

She turned to Wu Minmin and explained the true purpose of her visit: "We hope that someone from the base city has delivered a letter of complaint."

"They formally accused Ji Changge, the demigod of the Great Xia Dynasty, of deserting during the previous battle after being defeated by Hyper Zetton."

"Not only that, in order to save face for the demigod and cover up the fact that he had escaped, he even sent his grandson Ji Xuan back to try to massacre the city and silence them."

Ye Lan paused, then emphasized, "The main city has made a decision to hold a public trial of the highest level for the demigod Ji Changge."

"The higher-ups have given orders that everyone coming from Hope Base City must be present."

"A public trial?"

Wu Minmin frowned slightly, her face full of confusion.

"The opponent is a demigod, the top combat force of the main city, and its face."

"Logically speaking, this is to maintain the image of the top leadership and the stability of the situation."

"Shouldn't the main city have suppressed this matter and settled it privately through a deal-making exchange?"

"Why choose to hold a public trial? Isn't that tantamount to exposing our own dirty laundry?"

Ye Lan nodded and explained, "According to convention, it will indeed be suppressed, but hopefully the base city's operation this time will be very clever, or rather... very ruthless."

"They knew very well that they couldn't possibly defeat a demigod by simply submitting materials through normal channels."

"So, before they submitted the complaint to the main city..."

"...we have already spread the news that Ji Changge deserted his post and attempted to silence him to all the survivor base cities within the Great Xia territory."

"Hope Base City just survived the beast tide by luck and didn't die at the hands of the monsters, but in the end, it almost died at the hands of humanity's own guardian deity."

"This stark contrast and sense of betrayal has ignited the fury of all the people of the Great Xia Dynasty."

"Public opinion outside is now in complete uproar, and people are extremely agitated."

"In this situation, even if the main city wants to protect him, it cannot, otherwise it will lose the support of the people."

"Hopefully, this move by the base city clearly shows that they intend to fight the demigods to the bitter end, even if it means mutual destruction."

"A direct confrontation? I doubt it." Wu Bai walked over, stroking his chin, his eyes deep.

"I think this time, Hope Base City is trying to protect itself."

He continued his analysis: "If we don't make a big fuss, if everyone knows about it..."

"Once the main city manages to suppress this matter, Hope Base City will likely face annihilation soon due to various 'accidents'..."

"...for example, the beast tide going out of control, the Cocotar invasion, and so on."

"Only by completely binding our own survival to Ji Changge, and making countless eyes in the entire Great Xia Dynasty watch us."

"Ji Changge wouldn't dare to do anything behind the scenes; only in this way can Hope Base City survive."

Upon hearing these words, Wu Minmin and Ye Lan fell into deep thought, and then nodded in unison.

That makes sense.

Ye Lan raised her wrist to check the time and urged, "The trial is about to begin. The car is outside, let's go."

……

Main city.

The Supreme Court Chamber is a very spacious hall with tiered seating that can accommodate thousands of people.

By this time, the place was already packed with people, and various voices mingled together in a noisy commotion.

The circular walkways around the hall and the high stands were packed with reporters from various media outlets, who were broadcasting the scene live to all the base cities of the Great Xia Dynasty.

Ye Lan led the way, guiding Wu Bai and Wu Minmin through the crowded throng to the core area at the very front.

Sitting there were the Awakened Ones who had returned from Hope Base City.

Qi Yuanbao and several high-level representatives from Hope Base City.

They sat at the very front, in a specially designated, independent area.

In front of them was the complaint area, but there was no one there; clearly, Ji Changge had not yet arrived.

When Qi Yuanbao saw Wu Bai, his eyes lit up instantly. After exchanging a few words with the people around him, he stood up straight and, under the gaze of everyone present, ran all the way to Wu Bai.

Then, he did something that shocked everyone around him...