The Trembling World

TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney

The feeling of joy experienced by Zhan Nan Shan could not be described. He was so fortunate to have correctly judged Liu Gan when watching the fight on stage. He was able to sense that Liu Gan’s girlfriend and his dog were not mammals. There was one thing that Zhan Nan Shan was definitely sure of, and it was to not turn Liu Gan into his opponent. His a.s.sessment was verified when Liu Gan arrived with only his dog. Leaving his girlfriend behind to guard LuLu and the others, Liu Gan only needed his dog for protection.

“I will go with you. I think we are close to done discussing things. I will also head back.” Liu Gan stood up.

Noticing how calm Liu Gan’s demeanor was, Zhan Nan Shan sighed. If he had to guess, by now Xie Dong Cheng, Qu Han, and Ge Rufeng were probably half as good as dead. No one would’ve thought that they would disobey his order from yesterday. To do such traitorous things, they deserved to die. Hopefully, this wouldn’t affect his secret agenda.

***

As Liu Gan and Zhan Nan Shan departed, by the time they arrived at LuLu’s villa the battle was over. A group of players were all on their knees by the villa doorway, while getting lectured by Han GuangMing. Third Elder Xie Dong Cheng, Fourth Elder Qu Han, and Seventh Elder Ge Rufeng were laid out on the floor with their blood still leaking out.

Half an hour ago, Qu Han received a tip that Liu Gan was heading up to Zhan Nan Shan’s mansion for tea. This was the opportunity the three rebellious Elders were waiting for. Immediately, Qu Han notified Xie Dong Cheng and Ge Rufeng about the news. These Elders didn’t come alone, they each brought a trusted aide along to attack LuLu’s mansion. Their mission was to kidnap Yin He, LuLu, and DongDong. Then they could trick Liu Gan into heading off to Evil Dragon Gulf.

They thought that with their combined power, they had more than enough hands to maintain the situation. Their plan was to kill their way into the mansion and overpower LuLu and LingLing. What actually happened was when they entered the villa, it wasn’t LuLu or LingLing that attacked first. It was Lord Liu’s girl, the gentle pretty-looking one.

They watched this gentle lady transform into a horrifying Armored Warrior with the glistening silver armor. Both her fists had lasers firing out. Instantly, Xie Dong Cheng and Qu Han’s weak [Mist Armor] shattered. Without any defense, they were beaten up severely.

All the trusted aides that came with their respective elders wanted to run, except they were blocked off by Han GuangMing, Jiang JinYuan, and LuLu. With the unbeatable armor equipped, no one could touch Yin He. Instantaneously unequipping the armor, the image of a gentle fragile girl came back into view. She ran quickly to take down the players that escaped the fastest. Ultimately, everyone involved had their knees on the floor as a symbol of surrendering. Side by side, these players were lined up in front of LuLu’s villa.

It didn’t take long for Han GuangMing to begin admonishing the subordinates.

“Second Elder… Help us!” Xie Dong Cheng, Qu Han and Ge RuFeng chimed simultaneously. They hadn’t died yet, they cried for help when they saw Zhan Nan Shan walk closer.

“You dared to be rebellious, but then ask for my help afterwards? No one can save you now!” Zhan Nan Shan angrily shook his head.

As more bystanding players join the crowd to watch, Zhan Nan Shan asked for Liu Gan’s permission to impose martial law. Unrelated players and local survivors are not allowed to leave their residences. To enforce martial law, guards were grouped into squads to patrol the perimeters. As for the appropriate punishment that had to be handed out to the partic.i.p.ating players, this was a task for the Elder Committee. Every Elder rushed out in the middle of the night to meet up and discuss the judgement. Naturally, the topic for the abrupt meeting was what to do with Third, Fourth, and Seventh Elders since they were the leaders of the rebellion.

The congregating Elders were meeting at the proceedings hall, which was just a huge lecture hall on the highest floor of the school building. Due to the location of the lecture hall, it was hard for anyone to eavesdrop. The front doorway was normally kept locked, while the back doorway was the route that Elders use to enter and leave.

This a.s.sembly Proceedings Hall had nearly two hundred seats, so even with over a hundred Elders, there were more than enough seats to host all of them.

This was Liu Gan’s first Elder Committee meeting in his role as the new leader. Liu Gan didn’t want to chime in his thoughts on the issue yet. His first task was to observe the way things operated in the Elder Committee, then he could add in the necessary adjustments.

It was a lie when Liu Gan said he wasn’t interested in taking over the village. With four thousand capable people, he could easily create an army. The first thing on his agenda would be dissolving the player-survivor slave ownership rule. Then he could organize the army into formations and start training them.

It was possible to completely get rid of all the zombies infesting NinJing City with this army. Then the northern and southern regions could be connected, turning this whole region into a base of operations. Lastly, the person left in charge of the day-to-day operations of the base had to be someone Liu Gan could trust. This way no matter where he went in the future, he could expect powerful backups and ample supplies.

In this village, society followed a series of set rules. No matter the issue, big or small, it must be brought to the Elder Committee’s attention first. This way the perpetrator and victim would both have a chance to dispute. This time LuLu, Han GuangMing, and Jiang JinYuan were the victims. The perpetrators were Xie Dong Cheng, Qu Han, and Ge RuFeng. They each had a chance to give a statement. As for the punishment, it was up to the rest of the jury of Elders in the committee to decide, after listening to both sides.

After the long and tedious procedural hearing, both parties debated and nitpicked the opponent’s statement. Since LuLu poisoned Qiu Zi Tao, she was full of flaws that could be used by the opponent if she made a statement. Jiang JinYuan stuttered quite a bit, so it was left for Han GuangMing to carry out the debate. Xie Dong Cheng would definitely hold onto the point that LuLu poisoned Qiu Zi Tao and say that he did what he had to do out of an impulse for revenge. The reason he wanted to capture LuLu was so he could carry out punishment, which aroused many of the juror’s sympathies.

Clearly Xie Dong Cheng and the rest of the perpetrators were successful with their ploy. They effectively turned their crime of treason into an impulsive rage case, which was backed by the majority of the jury of Elders.

Han GuangMing didn’t know Xie Dong Cheng’s purpose, but having LuLu on their side was a weak point. In the debate, they were gradually losing support from the jurors and were at a disadvantage.

“Ninth Elder, come out and tell what you’ve heard about Third Elder and his plans. It wasn’t to punish LuLu, but to kidnap the girl, Yin He, and the child, DongDong, then mislead Lord Liu to Evil Dragon Gulf, was that not the case?” Zhan Nan Shan called forth Ninth Elder once the debate was over.

Ninth Elder’s name was QiuTao. He listened in on Third Elder’s schemes and then snitched on them to Zhao Nan Shan, prior to the incident. QiuTao wanted the chance to rely on the new leader by showing his allegiance. At this time, Zhao Nan Shan mentioning his name was like pointing out that he was the snitch. This was when the low whisper among the Elders started.

The majority of the Elders were buying into the sob story of Xie Dong Cheng and his crew. With new evidence that Ninth Elder was betraying Xie Dong Cheng, the juries all glared at QiuTao with despicable looks that practically shouted “traitor”.