General Li cleared his throat and spoke in a resonant voice: "Please hear me out, everyone. We all know very well that our enemy is Sanctuary. The very reason our Rebel forces exist is to drive every st Sanctuary soldier out of Huaxia Nation and recim our great homend. As long as that goal can be achieved, no sacrifice is too great.

  "This young man's attempt to assassinate Governor Suwen triggered the recent series of events and brought us tremendous losses — your anger toward him is entirely understandable. However, he killed the former Governor of Blue Sea City, and then went on to attempt the assassination of the newly appointed Governor, Prince Suwen. Whatever his reasons may be, one thing is certain: he is an enemy of Sanctuary. And an enemy of Sanctuary is a friend of ours. We cannot allow ourselves to be maniputed by Governor Suwen into harming our own friend — that would be the same as helping Sanctuary eliminate its enemies, which would be damaging to the cause of our Rebel forces. Wouldn't you all agree?"

  The Bald scarred man said, "That's all well and good, but what about our captured people? Are we just supposed to watch them be executed? Hand this man over, and all our people go free — we can't afford to pass up a chance to save them."

  General Li said, "Yes, we absolutely must save them — but there's no need to do it on Governor Suwen's terms. And besides, we have no guarantee that handing him over would actually result in our people being released."

  Someone backed General Li up: "That's true. Rebels captured by Sanctuary are almost always executed — we've never once seen Sanctuary release prisoners. And Sanctuary unches rge-scale offensives against us at regur intervals regardless. Even without the assassination attempt, Governor Suwen would have come after us sooner or ter."

  The Bald scarred man wavered slightly at this. "Fine," he said. "Forget what I said. I'll leave it to you, General Li, to decide what to do with this person."

  General Li looked toward Rulu and said, "Young man, what is your purpose in coming here? You forced your way into our secret meeting and openly admitted to being the one who attempted to assassinate Governor Suwen. There must be a particur reason for all of this."

  Rulu said, "Yes. My main purpose in coming here is to help you deal with Sanctuary and Governor Suwen."

  "Oh? You want to help us — how?"

  Rulu said, "In five days, Governor Suwen will execute your five hundred captured people in Blue Sea City. When that time comes, I will find a way to rescue every st one of them. At the same time, I intend to kill the newly appointed Governor, Prince Suwen. If I succeed, consider it both vengeance on your behalf and an account settled."

  At these words, General Li was stunned into silence — and so was everyone else. They all stared at Rulu with bewildered expressions, as if he were a complete fool.

  The Bald scarred man burst out ughing. "Kid, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? You, alone, are going to rescue five hundred of our captured people and kill Governor Suwen? That's the biggest load of hot air I've ever heard!"

  Rulu said, "On my own, of course I couldn't. But if everyone here is willing to follow my command and lend me their strength, I believe it can be done."

  The moment Rulu finished speaking, not just the Bald scarred man — everyone else began ughing too.

  "This kid must be out of his mind. He actually wants us to follow his orders — who does he think he is?"

  "A man who won't even show his own face thinks he can give us orders?"

  "Hey kid, how old are you anyway? Have you even grown up yet? Take your shirt off and let uncle have a look — if you have, maybe I'll think about it."

  Mocking remarks flew at Rulu from every direction. Enduring the ridicule, Rulu turned his gaze to General Li and said, "General Li, what is your opinion?"

  General Li suppressed the urge to ugh and said, "Young man, I understand you may have some ability — that's probably why you said what you did. But commanding troops in battle is not as simple as you might imagine. And we cannot trust a man who won't even show his face. So I'm afraid we cannot agree to your request."

  "Is that so..." Rulu said, with a hint of disappointment. He turned his gaze to Captain Guan. "Captain Guan, can you support me? Will you stand behind me?"

  Captain Guan hesitated, then said, "I'm sorry — my view is the same as everyone else's."

  Rulu felt a deep sense of loss. "Why? Don't you believe in my ability, Captain Guan?"

  Captain Guan said with an apologetic expression, "No — I do believe in your ability. But what you're proposing is simply too difficult to accomplish. I honestly cannot imagine how you would pull it off."

  "So you still don't trust me..." Rulu murmured, feeling as though his entire pn had come to nothing.

  General Li said, "Young man, don't be discouraged. If you truly want to help us, you're welcome to join our ranks. I'll find a suitable role for you based on your abilities. What do you say?"

  Rulu said, "No need. I have no interest in that. Since you're unwilling to accept my proposal, there's no reason for me to stay any longer. I'll take my leave."

  General Li said, "Very well. One more thing — what happened here today is not to be spoken of to anyone. I'm sure you understand what the consequences would be if word got out."

  "I understand." Rulu said quietly. He turned and walked toward the exit of the stone chamber. No one moved to stop him; they let him go. But just before he stepped out, he heard a chorus of hostile remarks from behind him:

  "Who does he think he is, wanting to be our boss?!"

  "That troublemaker got so many of our people killed. If it weren't for General Li, I'd beat him to a pulp — how else could I face all our fallen brothers?"

  "Hmph. Probably some punk who's desperate for fame, coming in here talking nonsense. What an embarrassment."

  Under the contemptuous, furious gazes of everyone present, Rulu left the stone chamber, left the hotel, and drove off in the direction of Blue Sea City.