The chief justice looked deeply at Lin Xiaohe. “A result born from force is never truly just.”
Lin Xiaohe couldn’t have cared less. “I don’t care what you think. I care what I think. I think this verdict is just, so it is just!”
The chief justice was choked into silence. If you’re going to be that subjective, why even ask him?
Lin Xiaohe didn’t want to do anything special. She just wanted to tell him that Federation law was a joke. It could be swayed by power and influence, and it could be swayed by force.
Lin Xiaohe’s gaze swept past Cassian. She was about to take her people and leave this place, to embark on her escape, when her hand was tightly gripped by Cassian.
His voice was trembling, but a flicker of concern showed in his eyes.
“Lin Xiaohe, for the sake of you being a student of our Central Military Academy, please spare me and your fellow students.”
Hmm?!
Lin Xiaohe’s face darkened with exasperation. Principal, you’re such a drama queen. Why are you adding lines for yourself?
She wasn’t actually crazy. Why would she want to kill people from the Central Military Academy?
Cassian shoved something into Lin Xiaohe’s hand and looked her straight in the eye. “Out and about like this, I didn’t bring much with me. Just this modified ‘Hummingbird’ class ship. I’m offering it in exchange for the safety of my students. Deal?”
Lin Xiaohe gripped the warship key in her palm, her heart full of shock and uncertainty.
Every student at the Central Military Academy knew that Principal Cassian didn’t care for beautiful women, but he loved modifying warships.
The ‘Hummingbird’ was a retired assault ship. It was fast, highly maneuverable, equipped with defensive weapons and light attack weapons, but its protection was relatively weak.
After Cassian’s modifications, its defensive capabilities could match a frigate.
Cassian loved that ship to death and rarely let the students touch it.
Why had he driven the ‘Hummingbird’ to the courthouse?
Lin Xiaohe had a faint guess in her heart.
She lowered her eyes and said hoarsely, just one word: “Deal.”
Cassian’s eyes instantly turned red. He knew that Lin Xiaohe understood his intention.
A thousand words got stuck in his throat.
It was his fault for being a useless principal, unable to protect his own student.
Cassius’s eyes flickered. He sensed something from the unusual behavior of the principal and Lin Xiaohe.
He hesitated for only two seconds, then decisively pulled off the mech key hanging around his neck, strode up to Lin Xiaohe, and said gruffly,
“After I graduate, I’m going to be a Federation soldier. Use this mech in exchange for the lives of three military special forces soldiers. Does that work?”
Lin Xiaohe took the mech key, her expression blank. “It works.”
Cassius’s lips moved slightly. He wanted to say something, to give some advice, but he firmly pressed his mouth shut.
Wrong timing, wrong place. He couldn’t say it.
Nick walked over and shoved a briefcase at Lin Xiaohe. “My final exam project. In exchange for the lives of three special forces soldiers. Does that work?”
“It works.” Nick’s final project was a small-scale miniature ion cannon matrix.
Lin Xiaohe looked down at the silvery-white case. During the time she’d been locked up, had Nick actually finished his final project early?
“My custom mech, for three people.”
“I don’t have anything, just a medical kit. Swap for one person. Is that okay?”
The Central Military Academy students generously gave whatever they could, practically emptying their pockets.
The military special forces soldiers nearby wanted to speak up, to tell these naive students that Lin Xiaohe hadn’t originally planned to kill the special forces soldiers at all.
But their captain stopped them.
The special forces captain sighed inwardly and silently allowed the Central Military Academy students to use them as an excuse to send weapons and equipment to Lin Xiaohe.
Actually, everyone knew deep down that even if they gave Lin Xiaohe the highest-spec warship, she couldn’t possibly escape the Federation, or even get out of the First Star Ring.
Right now, the space above the planet was probably already filled with aircraft carriers and battleships, just waiting for the moment Lin Xiaohe stepped into space to send her to her grave!
To wash away the shame the Federation had suffered with her blood.
Seeing this, Brother Thunderbolt pulled out a burlap sack from who-knows-where, walked up to the chief justice, and said arrogantly, “This is a robbery!”
Hmm?!
The chief justice and the court bailiffs stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what they’d just heard.
Brother Thunderbolt glared at them angrily. “What are you looking at? Never seen a space pirate before?!”
While Brother Thunderbolt ransacked the chief justice and the bailiffs, Brother Blackjack ransacked everyone else.
No one knew what they might encounter during the escape ahead. The Federation credits in Lin Xiaohe’s account would only become meaningless numbers.
Of course, they had to take advantage of the moment to collect as much supplies as possible.
The two were so skilled at their work that they didn’t even miss the private stash some people had hidden in their shoe soles.
When everything was ready, Lin Xiaohe took one last look at Cassian and her classmates, then turned and strode away without looking back.
Their figures were so resolute, so final.
The ‘Hummingbird’ lifted off. Only then was the yellow protective shield over the courtroom withdrawn.
Cassian and the others quickly ran out of the courthouse and looked up at the ‘Hummingbird’, which was about to fly out of the atmosphere. Their hearts felt like they’d fallen into a sizzling wok of oil, churning with an indescribable feeling.
Cassius clenched his fists tightly. He believed Lin Xiaohe was innocent. “Principal, can Lin Xiaohe escape?”
Cassian’s gaze was heavy with grief. “I hope she can.”
The ‘Hummingbird’ truly lived up to its reputation as a warship modified by Principal Cassian. Its ascent speed was extremely fast.
It pierced through the final layer of the atmosphere like a slender silver shuttle.
As expected, outer space around the planet was filled with Federation space warships.
The ‘Hummingbird’ was instantly swallowed up by a cold, steel jungle.
What greeted their eyes wasn’t the stars, but countless cannon muzzles all aimed directly at them.
A massive orbital platform, like a silent mountain range of steel, loomed ahead, completely overshadowing the ‘Hummingbird’.
All around, space battleships and frigates, their colossal bodies like moving fortresses, formed an airtight encirclement.
They weren’t arranged haphazardly but maintained precise distances from each other. Their cold, steel hulls reflected a merciless gleam under the light of the parent star.
Weapons arrays on every giant ship were clearly visible.
Main gun turrets rotated slowly, with faint blue energy gathering deep within the muzzles, ready to fire at any moment.
Dense missile launch cells, like swarms of bees, had their cold launch covers quietly slide open.
The slender ‘Hummingbird’, surrounded by these behemoths, looked as tiny and fragile as a leaf floating on a stormy sea.
Its engines hummed at minimum power. Inside, it was deathly silent, except for the radar screen, where countless red dots representing enemy locks flashed wildly, emitting a monotonous, life-counting tick tock.
A final ultimatum came over the enemy channel: “Lin Xiaohe, traitor to the Federation, why aren’t you surrendering yet?”
It was a meaningless question.
Both sides knew full well that Lin Xiaohe would never surrender!
When the Federation warships asked this question, it was a performance, dripping with condescension.
They wanted to stand at the highest moral and legal ground, right in front of all Federation citizens, and openly put Lin Xiaohe on trial!
Even if this was an extremely unequal act of bullying, like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, they wanted to use their actions to tell the Federation and the Empire that anyone who trampled on the Federation’s dignity must die!
Old Cao the Madman stared blankly at the tiny, ant-like ‘Hummingbird’ on his live stream feed, his heart aching and sour.
Was the legend from the slums, the former rising star of the Federation, about to fall like this?
