Chapter 1130: Evidence
Seeing that the entire Fifth Fleet had been damaged, Elder Zumar obviously felt the pinch. However, considering the future development plans of the Gilded Kingdom and the Illuminati in the Breezy Plains, as well as the strength of that young president of the Tower of Dusk, he had no choice but to blame everything on Lin Li’s impulsiveness in a bid to make the matter blow over.
However, Lin Li did not buy it at all. As soon as Elder Zumar finished speaking, he smiled, and responded, “Elder Zumar, I’m well aware of the individuals I have on board The Star. Sneaking up there? Can anyone just sneak onto your alchemical battleships?”
“Elder Zumar, you heard it, he has already said that it can’t be that the fugitive has sneaked onto the ship, so it must be that they have deliberately housed the fugitive!” High Priest Poer immediately continued after Lin Li. He was extremely displeased with Elder Zumar’s approach of making things easier for him because he was right in the first place, so there was no need for Elder Zumar to find excuses for him at all.
“It seems High Priest Poer has some issues with comprehending. In this case, I might as well make it clearer: my ship, The Star, has never harbored the fugitive that you are looking for, and no one secretly sneaked onto it.” Although Lin Li didn’t care if a war would break out with the Gilded Kingdom, he was never willing to take the blame for something that he had never done.
Besides, even though Elder Zumar seemed to be looking for a way out, he had in fact set up something there. If Lin Li admitted that the fugitive might have secretly boarded the ship, the matter of harboring the fugitive would be over, but they would settle scores with him for destroying the Fifth Fleet later on. After all, it would be reasonable for the Gilded Kingdom to board the ship and arrest the fugitive in that case. Besides, Lin Li would also seem like he was overreacting.
“Hmph, we caught the fugitive on your ship, it’ll be pointless even if you deny it.” Seeing that there were two Sanctuary powerhouses, namely his father and Elder Zumar, on his side, Delano immediately felt courageous and confident.
“Um, President Felic, do you have an explanation for that matter?” Elder Zumar asked, pretending to be put on the spot, but he was actually trying to express that Lin Li had put him in a tough predicament because he refused to reciprocate the fact that he had given him an out.
“Hah, what is there to explain? I have 100 ways to shove a random stranger onto your ship, how could you not have thought of that, Elder Zumar?” Lin Li said, looking at Elder Zumar with derision in his eyes.
This time, Elder Zumar was really put in a difficult position. In the beginning, his intention was to have the people of the Tower of Dusk admit that the wanted fugitive had sneaked onto The Star so that the Gilded Kingdom would have a good reason for detaining the ship. Afterwards, he would also be able to make the Tower of Dusk explain the reason for causing such a big loss to the Fifth Fleet. Although it would not be enough to make the other party compensate with a fleet, it would be enough to give them an added leverage for future negotiations.
However, Elder Zumar did not expect Lin Li to be so adamant about it. Not only did he refuse to admit to harboring a fugitive, he also refuted the conjecture that the fugitive had possibly sneaked onto the ship. Hence, it would be difficult to solve that matter.
If it was proven that Lin Li was lying, how could the matter be put to rest? Would the Gilded Kingdom really go to war with the Tower of Dusk? Or would they have to bear with the humiliation? If it was proven that Delano was the one who had been lying, how could they make up for the losses? They would definitely be put at a disadvantage for the future negotiations.
“Nonsense, are you insulting my character? It’s an undeniable fact that the fugitive was found on your ship, and many of us can prove it. Well, do you have any evidence to prove that the fugitive wasn’t on your ship!?” Delano retorted, panicking because Lin Li was vehemently refuting. He decided to make that request because he suddenly remembered the countermeasure he had discussed with his adjutant previously.
In fact, according to Delano’s previous conjecture, the worst that could happen after he seized The Star and the crew on board should be a confrontation with the king. Regarding that issue, he had already made all the arrangements beforehand, and thus had all the evidence and witnesses he needed.
However, to Delano’s surprise, Lin Li had no intention to reason with him, and simply sent a monster out to s.n.a.t.c.h The Star from him at that time. The monster even crushed the Fifth Fleet. As things were now finally returning to the expected trajectory, he immediately said everything that he had prepared beforehand with great impatience.
“Oh? Delano, since you were the one who caused this matter, you should be the one to prove your claim.” Elder Zumar glanced at Delano, totally able to imagine what this entire situation was about because he understood Delano well. If the Fifth Fleet hadn’t been destroyed, he might have reprimanded Delano a few times for being insensible, and then let the matter blow over. However, now that the Fifth Fleet had been damaged, he knew that there had to be something fishy about this matter, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go all the way.
Delano did not know how much Elder Zumar hated him, and was simply overjoyed when he was asked to show his proof, thinking that he finally had the chance to show the evidence that he had prepared long ago to defeat Lin Li. Hence, he agreed and immediately brought them to the port. He then waved his hand to beckon a subordinate whose face had turned pale to come over. He said, “Do not be afraid, the high priest and Elder Zumar will make decisions for us. Go and get all the people involved in the capture of the fugitive immediately. We now need their testimonies.”
“Yes, Lord, I’ll head there immediately,” the subordinate answered in a shaky voice. He then turned around, and proceeded to get the people who were involved, just as Delano instructed.
Fortunately, Delano had made arrangements for those people, and not all of them were on the battleships. Otherwise, it would probably be difficult to find a bunch of witnesses now. Soon, more than 10 warriors of the Fifth Fleet scurried over, shivering and obviously still in shock from the intense battle. In fact, their leader was precisely Delano’s adjutant Hajis.
“Okay, all of you, perk up and answer all of Elder Zumar’s questions truthfully. Do you hear me?” Delano specially instructed, afraid that they would say something wrong when they were panicking.
“Yes, Lord,” they chorused.
Looking at them, Elder Zumar couldn’t help but frown a little. After a moment of silence, he said, “I’m asking you, did you guys go with Delano to The Star to nab the fugitive?”
“Yes, Elder Zumar, apart from us, there were also a few others. However, some of them have fallen in the battle just now, and some were heavily injured, so they can’t come here now,” Hajis answered Elder Zumar on behalf of everyone after he looked at Delano, and the people behind him all followed and nodded.
“So, how did you get the information that the fugitive was on The Star?” Elder Zumar immediately asked without saying anything else.
Hajis pretended to be recalling something so as to make himself seem more reliable. “The thing is, the people on The Star were adamant about not letting us inspect the ship, and vehemently refused to let us do so. Hence, Lord Delano sensed that there was something suspicious about them. After The Star entered the port, Lord Delano specially asked a few of us to carefully keep an eye on The Star, and report to him immediately if there was anything unusual. Later, one of us saw a familiar figure who looked a lot like a wanted fugitive on the deck of the ship.
“Lord Delano considered that the fugitive is too important to the kingdom, so he thought of negotiating with the people on The Star in hopes that they would hand him over. However, the people on The Star simply ignored us, and insisted that the person we wanted to find was not on their ship. Later, as a last resort, Lord Delano ordered to temporarily take into custody all the people on the ship, and also instructed us not to hurt them before starting the search.”
After taking a look at Lin Li, Elder Zumar turned around to ask, “So, was the fugitive on the ship?”
“Yes, he was in a hidden room. If not for the fact that we had done a careful inspection, we would have almost missed it,” Hajis said, his answer making everyone behind him nod profusely.
By saying that they almost missed the fugitive in the secret room, they were clearly trying to say that the people on The Star were deliberately hiding the fugitive. Otherwise, how could a stranger find such a secret room on the ship?
“How is it? I know my son very well, he wouldn’t lie about such things.” High Priest Poer’s expression was extremely smug. He turned around and looked at Lin Li with a mirthless smirk. “President Felic, with so many witnesses to prove it, what else do you have to say!?”
“Is this the so-called evidence? Well, in that case, we can also vouch that Delano is actually not your biological son.” Hearing the words of the so-called witnesses, Claus and the others could no longer tolerate it. At this moment, when he heard that High Priest Poer wanted to make a conclusion based on the testimony of these few people, they immediately objected in dissatisfaction.
“You people have a death wish!” High Priest Poer was a Sanctuary powerhouse whose reputation in the Gilded Kingdom was comparable to King Bradlor’s. Just when had he ever been insulted like that before? His face turned sullen immediately, and he just wanted to pinch them to kill them.
However, Lin Li was still there, so how could he allow High Priest Poer to kill the people from the Breezy Plains? Besides, Lin Li agreed with Claus’ words. Finding a bunch of random people to testify and conclude the outcome based on that was simply outrageous and unreasonable.
Seeing that High Priest Poer wanted to attack, Lin Li humphed coldly, and the gemstone on the Helios’ Scepter immediately lit up. Although the two of them were Sanctuary powerhouses, while Elder Zumar was a high-level Sanctuary powerhouse, there was nothing for Lin Li to fear.
“Calm down, both of you, calm down.” Knowing that Lin Li wasn’t scared, Elder Zumar naturally did not dare to let the two of them get into a fight there. Besides, at this moment, the national celebration was about to begin soon, and there were lots of people swarming over from all directions. Destroying Helena Port would be a small matter, but the defeat of High Priest Poer of the Gilded Kingdom would be embarra.s.sing.
“Elder Zumar, you heard it, they insulted me first, so I must make them pay the price!” Although High Priest Poer was quite harsh with his words, he did not make any further move. In his heart, he also knew that he might not be a match for Lin Li with just his own strength. Hence, he wanted to drag Lin Li down with him too.
“Insult? If it was according to your logic just now, their words seem to be the truth instead of an insult,” Lin Li said, ignoring the murderous gaze in High Priest Poer’s eyes, while the Helios’ Scepter swayed in his hand in a seemingly casual manner. However, each time it swayed, there was a special rhythm. Clearly, there was an extremely terrifying magic spell charged on the scepter. It seemed to be able to destroy Helena Port easily.
At this moment, Elder Zumar finally managed to placate High Priest Poer, and then turned around to look at Lin Li. “President Felic, no matter what, they have already provided the evidence with witnesses to testify for them. If you don’t have any evidence, I’m afraid we have to accept their testimony.”
“Yeah, show us some evidence too. Didn’t you say that you don’t believe our testimonies? In that case, come up with some credible evidence too,” said Delano, who was also infuriated because of what Claus and the others said. Most people probably would not be able to stay calm after someone said that they were not their father’s son. After hearing that Elder Zumar was asking them for evidence at this moment, he immediately clamored.
Of course, Delano also had an agenda for saying so, and that was to get Lin Li to find some other witnesses apart from his sailors or accept the testimonies of Delano’s subordinates.
However, after hearing Delano’s words of coercion, Lin Li simply turned around, and said to a new sailor who had just come over, “Get on the ship and ask them to bring all the items in the pilothouse over.”
Be it High Priest Poer, Elder Zumar, or Delano who’d planned all this, they didn’t believe that Lin Li could come up with any strong evidence to support his claims in this situation. Regardless of whether or not Delano’s witnesses were credible, they had at least caught the fugitive on The Star, and that was a fact that could not be disputed.
Lin Li wanted to prove that the fugitive had nothing to do with The Star, and protest against the fact that the fugitive had been caught on The Star. However, he could not get the crew to be the witnesses, so it was extremely difficult unless he could get the fugitive to come out and confess everything himself, or get someone from Delano’s side to dispute the claims.