Chapter 748 - 288: The Divine Hidden Emperor Returns
The alliance leaders of the Eastern Alliance and the Central Yu Alliance stepped forward one after another and openly condemned the Bai Ze Realm’s actions as a celebration of criminals, a fanciful move, while hinting at the possibility of deciding to attack the criminals of Bai Ze Realm.
In every sentence, they mention the words ’criminals’ because they know that once the people of Bai Ze Island successfully remove the label of criminals, the officials of the two alliances lose their reason and stance to crusade against them.
However, the attitude of the Divine Hidden Alliance remains elusive.
Different from the enraged and radical reactions of the Eastern Alliance and the Central Yu Alliance, the Divine Hidden Alliance has consistently refrained from stepping forward to condemn the Bai Ze Realm.
Even during interviews conducted by international reporters, the leadership of the Divine Hidden Alliance maintained a mysterious demeanor, avoiding discussions.
On this day, the Alliance Leader of the Divine Hidden Alliance was again surrounded by reporters during a coalition meeting for an interview.
"Alliance Leader Lin."
A reporter wearing an Eastern Alliance badge around her neck sharply questioned Lin Jiaoxiao, the Alliance Leader of the Divine Hidden Alliance: "Recently, the criminals of Bai Ze Realm clamored to establish a Fourth Alliance outside the Three Great Alliances. Once the Fourth Alliance is established, these criminals will enjoy the rights of legal citizens, which is undeniably unfair to other law-abiding citizens."
"Both the Eastern Alliance and the Central Yu Alliance have stated their decision to rally martial power to crusade against the criminals of Bai Ze Realm. May I ask Alliance Leader Lin, why does the Divine Hidden Alliance hesitate to make an unequivocal statement?"
"Is it conceivable that the powerful Divine Hidden Alliance might actually fear a mere Bai Ze Island?"
This was a provocation.
Faced with all reporters from the Three Great Alliances, Lin Jiaoxiao had no choice but to respond to such an unpleasant challenge directly.
Lin Jiaoxiao, a middle-aged man wearing rimless glasses and dressed in a light gray suit, appeared gentle and benign when he pursed his slightly reddened lips, and his smile seemed as warm as spring.
With amusement in his eyes behind the lenses, he gazed calmly at the questioning reporter and with a smile in his voice said, "Such a beautiful lady, how can she speak so aggressively?"
The female reporter knew what kind of person Lin Jiaoxiao was; as gentlemanly and elegant as he sounded, he would be decisive and ruthless when drawing his sword.
Nevertheless, the female reporter remained unmoved by Lin Jiaoxiao’s charm, keeping a cold expression. "Alliance Leader Lin, please respond directly to my question."
Lin Jiaoxiao remained unfazed, "Certainly."
He cheerfully adjusted his glasses and took a step back to ensure his upper body appeared in every camera shot.
Gazing at those dark camera lenses, he laughed and said, "Before answering your question, I find it necessary to enlighten everyone about the history of Bai Ze Island."
The reporter frowned but did not interrupt Lin Jiaoxiao’s speech.
Lin Jiaoxiao’s voice was gentle yet powerful: "Initially, Bai Ze Island was an overseas desert island, deemed barren and worthless by the Three Great Alliances. Bai Ze Island has never belonged to any territory of the Three Great Alliances throughout history."
"It’s not our territory, so how can our alliance invade Bai Ze Island on a large scale?"
Lin Jiaoxiao smiled at the lady reporter, raised an eyebrow slightly, and politely said, "If our alliance can freely invade Bai Ze Island, then it might as well freely seize any city within the Eastern Alliance or the Central Yu Alliance. Isn’t that the logic?"
The reporter’s fair face turned red with anger at Lin Jiaoxiao’s question.
She wanted to accuse Lin Jiaoxiao of twisting concepts, yet what he stated was indeed a fact.
Lin Jiaoxiao continued, "According to our investigation, the truly egregious criminals have already been apprehended days ago. The remaining criminals on Bai Ze Island are not guilty of major crimes against the alliance but are mostly civilians who violated familial rules."
"Bai Ze Realm’s new leader is a mysterious powerholder with profound abilities."
"I would like everyone to know, although our soldiers are fearless in the face of blood and injury, they’re flesh-and-blood people, children to their elders, parents to their children."
"Our warriors in the Divine Hidden Alliance will only put their lives on the line to uphold the honor of the Divine Hidden Alliance and to protect its people! Every warrior is a treasure, their lives are precious, and they should never be used as expendable political weapons!"
Upon hearing this, reporters initially discontent with the alliance’s delay in expressing a stance against Bai Ze Island’s suppression now regained clarity, realizing they nearly became pawns used against the Divine Hidden Alliance due to international opinions.
These reporters were the first to withdraw their microphones.
However, international reporters from the Eastern Alliance and the Central Yu Alliance continued holding their microphones and cameras as if attempting to solidify accusations against Lin Jiaoxiao.
The previously questioning reporter asked again, "So, does the Divine Hidden Alliance plan to sit back and allow that group of criminals to establish the Fourth Alliance?"
Lin Jiaoxiao gave a gentle smile, "Madam, you have misunderstood."
He stated, "We are not sitting idly by."
Patiently, he emphasized, "If you personally investigate Bai Ze Island, you’ll find that out of over 20,000 criminals on the island, the Eastern Alliance constitutes the highest proportion with 10,035 criminals. The Central Yu Alliance follows with 6,890 criminals, while the remaining three thousand belong to our Divine Hidden Alliance."
"Your alliances bear the highest proportion of criminals, hence your urgency. Why not let the Eastern Alliance and Central Yu Alliance first proceed to Bai Ze Island and retrieve your criminals, and we will follow suit?"
Lin Jiaoxiao righteously proclaimed, "Rest assured, our Divine Hidden Alliance will never allow criminals to roam free."
The reporter: "..."
With sheer verbal dexterity, Lin Jiaoxiao dispelled the sharpness of all reporters.
Having driven away these naturally provocative reporters, Lin Jiaoxiao returned to the backstage lounge. After a sip of water, he noticed the chief secretary of the alliance leader’s office stride inside.
"Alliance Leader," the secretary informed Lin Jiaoxiao, "Director Ming liked Bai Ze Realm’s promotional video online, drawing insults from netizens within the Three Great Alliances. Do we need to handle this?"
"Has the teacher caused trouble again?" Lin Jiaoxiao sighed, "Please contact Director Ming on my behalf."
"Alright."
The call was quickly connected.
"Teacher, how could you just casually like such a video?"
Feeling troubled, Lin Jiaoxiao massaged his temples and couldn’t help but complain to Ming Feng, "I just managed to drive away the vicious dogs of the Eastern Alliance, and now you’ve brought me trouble again. Are you trying to keep me busy because I seem too idle?"
Ming Feng chuckled and questioned Lin Jiaoxiao, "So, what’s your view on the Bai Ze Island incident?"
"I watch with my eyes." Lin Jiaoxiao replied with a cold joke.
In truth, Lin Jiaoxiao also disagrees with the establishment of the Fourth Alliance by Bai Ze Realm, but given his teacher’s orders to hold off, he can only comply.
Within the Divine Hidden Alliance, seventy percent of the leaders are actually students and subordinates of Ming Feng.
While the elder immerses in ancient artifacts, his students are significantly burdened.
"Teacher, you haven’t told me why you allow Bai Ze Realm’s existence." Lin Jiaoxiao was eager to find out.
Ming Feng asked him, "Did you watch that video?"
"Yes, I did." Lin Jiaoxiao found nothing unusual about the video.
Ming Feng asked him, "What’s the last scene in the video?"
In his mind, Lin Jiaoxiao recalled the final frame of the promotional video, depicting the silhouette of a mysterious man wielding a bamboo sword. Unable to comprehend his teacher’s intention, Lin Jiaoxiao humbly inquired, "Is there anything special about the last scene?"
"You wear glasses, yet you remain blind." Ming Feng’s tone turned chilly.
Lin Jiaoxiao: "..."
"You didn’t recognize the Divine Hidden Sword?" Ming Feng would likely smack Lin Jiaoxiao a few times if he stood before him.
Lin Jiaoxiao hesitated, saying, "Isn’t that sword a replica brought by Huo Wen’an?" He certainly recognized the sword as the Divine Hidden Sword, but any toy store in Emperor City had it.
The Divine Hidden Sword had long vanished.
This point is generally accepted by everyone.
Hence, upon seeing Huo Wen’an’s silhouette, Lin Jiaoxiao never considered the possibility of the sword being the genuine Divine Hidden Sword.
"Teacher, do you mean that sword is the true Divine Hidden Sword?" Upon asking this question, Lin Jiaoxiao felt breathless.
"Yes." Ming Feng confirmed, ending the call abruptly.
Lin Jiaoxiao leaned against his office chair, staring blankly at the personal portrait of the Divine Hidden Emperor hanging on the opposite wall, while his heart pounded intensely.
The prophecy, unbelievably true!
Their Divine Hidden Emperor has returned!