Chapter 28: Punishment

Taking a deep breath, listening to the roaring shouts around him, observing everyone’s expressions, and hearing their words, Rod felt warmth in his heart, yet his eyes stung as if on the verge of tears. It had been a long time since he’d felt such emotions; he never expected to experience such a profound impact in such a situation—it made his blood boil.
“Alright, let’s face this together!” Rod said loudly, exhaling deeply and extending his hand.
One by one, hands were placed over his, filled with smiles and affection from everyone.
Once everything settled, everyone calmed down, waiting quietly for the members of the Black Tooth Legion to arrive.
Less than half an hour later, several figures rushed toward the training ground where they were. Seeing this, everyone fell silent, watching the approaching individuals without saying a word.
When those people reached them, Rod’s anxious heart eased slightly. The leader was none other than General Nagran, the deputy commander of the Black Tooth Legion, along with a few others he recognized as high-ranking officials of the legion. It seemed they had sent a significant force.
A faint smile appeared on Rod’s lips as he felt a bit more relieved. With these people here, things would be much easier. After all, with his relationships with Nagran and Emio, he shouldn’t face any major difficulties, he reassured himself.
“Brado… Hey, you guys. Never mind, come with me!” Nagran approached Rod and his group, offering a helpless smile. He glanced at Rod and then at Skora and the others beside him, sighing before speaking in a deep voice.
Then he led Rod to a tent. Inside, it was clearly a meeting room, with nothing but rows of tables and chairs.
“Alright, tell me—how should we handle this?” Nagran said helplessly, looking at the gathered people. He already had a general idea of what had happened, but still, trouble had arisen. It had been a few days of relative peace, and although the battles outside had slowed down, danger still lurked everywhere. A greater crisis might be imminent. And now, at this critical moment, such a troublesome issue had cropped up.
Gathering people inside the camp to fight privately was a serious offense. If pursued, the consequences would be severe. Looking at the members of the Death Scythe Squad, he sighed, cursing these damned guys for not giving him a chance to act in secret.

“I say, you guys… it can’t hurt to take a couple of days off, right? You have the energy to fight monsters on the city walls—why fight among yourselves? Look at you now, so happy already. You really drive me crazy!” Seeing that Rod and his group remained silent, Nagran continued to complain.

“Hmph, it’s not our fault. They started it first. If you’re not up to it, go ask someone else. Many people saw what happened. If given another chance, they’ll do the same thing!” Finally, Curly Hair couldn’t hold back and started retorting! Everyone knew what caused the problem. Could they just sit idly by when such a thing happened?

“You…!” Nagran’s face turned red from Curly Hair’s words. He stood up abruptly, pointed at him, and shouted loudly, looking utterly frustrated. If it were someone else who did such a thing, there would be no hesitation—countries have laws, families have rules, and the army has its own discipline. They would be dealt with accordingly. But these people were none other than the most prominent and sought-after Death Scythe Squad! Known as the strongest fighting force in Iron Bar Town, they consisted of hundreds of powerful warriors, forming a terrifying force. Moreover, they had indeed made significant contributions to Iron Bar Town, repeatedly stepping forward in crises to help the army defend the city walls. Their leader, Brado, had even achieved great military exploits! Besides, Brado had done many other things for the entire town, which everyone could see. While action was needed, it certainly couldn’t be handled in a purely formal manner, or else turning these people against them would create serious internal and external problems.

How to deal with this was also a headache for Nagran. If possible, he would rather not deal with it at all. But who made him take charge of District C? He had to face whatever happened within it.

“Enough, Lei Ao, sit down!” Seeing that things were going wrong, Rod quickly shouted, signaling Curly Hair to sit down with a glance. Then he turned to Nagran and said, “General, we admit we were at fault in this matter. That’s why we came to accept punishment. But you must also know that it was Carter’s group who went too far. They first harassed women and then detained my brother. When I went to get him back, they attacked us. If we didn’t fight back, were we supposed to just wait for them to kill us? Right? You’ve seen what happened to me—I almost died at their hands. If Brother Ke Ruode and the others hadn’t arrived in time, we would be dead now! Ask anyone, and everyone will confirm this.”

Also, there’s a guy in their group named Vente! This guy has done all sorts of evil deeds. You might not know this, but it’s not the first time. The previous two times, he kidnapped two girls and tied them up in the mountains with sinister intentions, but I managed to stop him both times. If you don’t believe me, I can help you find those two people so you can ask them.

People like this shouldn’t be kept. If we tolerate them this time, although such things might not happen again, what about next time? They’ll start harming people again—no one knows how many people they’ll hurt or how many evil deeds they’ll commit. Keeping such people around will only dampen everyone’s fighting spirit and disrupt the stability and unity of Zone C, right?

Besides, think about those people who were framed before—those poor youths, those innocent people. Who helped them get justice? Do they deserve to die? So, killing them might have been a bit extreme, but our intentions were good. As Lei Ao said, if given another chance, we would still choose to do the same. Isn’t it our purpose to protect the people from harm? Isn’t it the empire’s duty and responsibility? Isn’t it what the army should do?

The reason we resist the beast horde this time, the reason we sacrifice so many brothers for this, is also to protect the people from great harm—just a bigger scale of harm, right?” Then, Rod took a deep breath and began analyzing the situation step by step, starting with Nagran.

As he analyzed, everyone grew quiet. Gradually, the members of the Death Scythe Squad showed excited expressions. Under Rod’s words, they all felt uplifted, as if they had done something truly great. Their previous guilt and shame completely disappeared, replaced by firm determination, as if they hadn’t done anything wrong and shouldn’t be punished but instead rewarded. Their faces turned red with excitement.

As for the officers on the other side, including Nagran himself, they gradually fell into deep thought after hearing Rod’s words. Why did this group suddenly seem so noble?

Gradually, their expressions changed unnoticed.

“Damn it, you bunch of brats! I almost fell for your tricks. You talk big, but all I see is excuses. Fine, I know it’s indeed their fault! But even if it’s their fault, engaging in private fights and causing such a big problem has undermined military discipline—those are two different things. Punishment is necessary. Figure out yourselves what to do! Think about how to punish yourselves!” A cool breeze blew moments later, making Nagran shiver slightly as he came back to his senses. Looking up at Brado’s smiling face, his expression changed drastically. He thought to himself, “This damned guy! I almost fell for his trick. Good thing I snapped out of it quickly. My words almost made me praise these guys!” With a bitter smile, he realized that this man truly could turn black into white. Though he understood the situation somewhat, he didn’t deny many of Brado’s points—Kater and his group were indeed no good. He had been watching them for quite some time. It was said that they used to be a bunch of scoundrels who committed every kind of evil, earning countless enemies. Coming to Iron Bar Town, it was more about seeking refuge than fighting monsters. Here, they didn’t have to be hunted anymore and could live openly. So, he had no sympathy for such people.

“General, please… don’t do this. Look, what we said wasn’t wrong. Let’s just drop this matter. Can’t we just admit our mistake? We promise it won’t happen again. We’ll go to the battlefield and make up for it! Is that okay?” Seeing Nagran’s change in attitude, Skora shamelessly pleaded.

“The punishment can be reduced depending on the circumstances, but they can’t be let off. Punishment is necessary, and it can’t be mild. Otherwise, who knows what trouble you brats will cause next! It’s a good chance to set an example by punishing a few of you, so those who are itching to cause trouble will think twice!” A sinister smile appeared on Nagran’s lips as he said these words, sending chills down Rod and the others’ spines.

“No, General…” Hearing this, Rod became anxious and hurriedly spoke, hoping to use his relationship with Nagran and Emio to intercede.

No sooner had the words faded than an officer rushed into the tent, leaned close to Nagran’s ear, and whispered something. Before Nagran could respond, his expression changed abruptly. “Wait here, I’ll be back in a moment!” he said before hurrying outside.
The sudden change left everyone confused about what was going on. Some even began to worry that something serious might have happened on the city walls, otherwise why would Nagran’s expression change so drastically?