Astral Apostle

Chapter 189: Killing and Interrogation (3)

The remaining people took the opportunity to run far away. After all, they were Mutant Blood Warriors.

Although Zhou Jing was fast, he still had to chase after them one by one. Seeing that the distance between them was getting longer and longer, he simply ignored these small fish and turned around to kill Dorton.

Dorton’s eyes almost popped out at this scene. He roared and charged at Cole with all his might, wanting to escape.

Seeing this, Cole risked being slashed a few times to stall Dorton for even a second longer.

The next instant, Zhou Jing charged into the two of them and smashed his two blades against the scimitar.

Clang!!

A buzzing tremor spread along the blade, and the webbing on Dorton’s hand tore again, almost causing him to lose his grip on the weapon.

Zhou Jing attacked with all his might, each strike faster than the last, firmly suppressing Dorton.

Without the other bandits holding him back, Dorton didn’t even have a chance to catch his breath, let alone run away. He only felt like he was enduring a violent storm of slashes and could only defend bitterly.

After blocking dozens of slashes, Dorton’s hands were badly mangled. Finally, his stance was broken, and Zhou Jing sent the scimitar flying.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Zhou Jing used the hilt of his saber to break the joints of his enemy.

With a plop, Dorton collapsed to the ground.

Zhou Jing swung his saber around, finally sheathing it.

Cole covered his wound as he spoke in surprise, “Why didn’t you kill him?”

“This is the first time such a big thing has happened in the fortress city. He’s the leader of this group of bandits and an important criminal. Instead of killing him here, it’s better to bring him back to the capital city for a public trial.” Zhou Jing’s eyes flickered.

Although it seemed like it was a small matter that Deep Rock City had been easily taken down, in reality, this group of bandits who called themselves the Sons of Mutant Blood was the first group of bandits to raid the fortress city. The repercussions were very important and were far worse than Jason’s assassination of the lord.

It was lucky that his team happened to bump into them. If these bandits really succeeded, the entire Terra Empire would be in an uproar. The royal family would definitely be furious.

If he brought Dorton back for a public trial, as the person who had contributed the most to stopping such a vicious incident and personally captured the bandit leader, he would definitely enter the sights of the royal family and quickly establish a connection.

Currently, Jason’s life goal was to obtain the title of the Empire’s Chief Hunter. Strength was the main factor, but he also had to gain the reputation of the royal family and make some contributions. At the very least, he had to entire their sights first to be considered.

With this in mind, Zhou Jing did not kill him. He was prepared to maximize the benefits Dorton could bring to him.

“Just kill me…” Dorton collapsed to the ground, his voice hoarse.

“Alright, when it’s time for the public execution, I will apply to carry out the execution personally,” Zhou Jing agreed readily.

Dorton shut his mouth with an ashen expression.

At this moment, Cole squatted down and punched Dorton in the face. He was furious as he yelled, “How dare you pretend to be a hunter and attack Deep Rock City? The reputation of hunters has been ruined by you!”

Dorton closed his eyes, not bothering with him.

Cole refused to give up. He angrily continued, “I heard that you used to be a Mutant Beast Hunter. Why did you abandon the values of a hunter to do such a thing!”

Dorton knew that he had no way out, so hearing the outburst from Cole, he opened his eyes again and sneered.

“I’ve participated in dozens of hunts, big and small. Even if I’m lucky enough to survive once, there will be a next hunt. There will be no end to it until I die in a certain hunt. This is the so-called value of a hunter? You guys are so pathetic! People are inherently greedy, and will demand us to fight until we die. It’s as if we’re born to sacrifice our lives to protect them. I’ve long hated such days! Even if I die in your hands, I don’t regret everything I’ve done today!”

Crack!

Zhou Jing directly broke Dorton’s chin and casually shook his hand.

“No matter what, an atrocity is still an atrocity. You just have to hand over your confession obediently during the trial. There’s no need to say anything else. Behave yourself.”

After Zhou Jing finished speaking, he turned around and saw Cole standing rooted to the ground. He couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

“What kind of reaction is that? It can’t be that you were convinced by such a clumsy reason to pursue the freedom to do evil, right? No way, no way?”

“How is that possible?” Cole denied it flatly, his expression helpless. “I just think that something he said might make sense. Although I volunteered to become a hunter and don’t regret it, the world always hopes that hunters will fight to the death. This is also wrong…”

“Your thinking too hard.” Zhou Jing shook his head. “Today, I’ll tell you a truth that I’ve just comprehended not long ago.”

“Uh, what truth?” Cole got distracted.

Zhou Jing’s expression was serious. “Do what you love.”

Cole was stunned. What sort of truth is that?

“Uhh…. so?”

“So the moment you stop loving this line of work, you can just quit. The world depends and hope on hunters. That is true, and is part of the hunter’s duty. You chose to be a hunter, so accept it. If you’re unhappy, then don’t be a hunter. It’s not like you have no choice but to live this life. What’s there to be conflicted about?”

Zhou Jing shrugged, picked up Dorton, and swaggered away.

Cole was stunned for a long time before he scratched his forehead and followed.

...

The sky was bright, and the morning light gradually expelled the night.

The bandits who had been killing people everywhere were gone, and the fire had been extinguished. After a night of chaos, the civilians who were hiding everywhere walked out onto the streets again and looked blankly at the unrecognizable town.

While they were feeling lost, they saw the Imperial Hunter team leading most of the hunters from Deep Rock City who had yet to recover from running around the streets, gathering the surviving civilians.

The civilians who had nowhere to go could only follow behind. The crowd grew larger and larger until they finally gathered in the square in front of the castle.

The hunter team then explained the situation. Only then did the civilians know what had happened. When they found out that the Imperial Hunters had stopped this atrocity midway, they felt that they had escaped death and were relieved.

The Lord of Deep Rock City was dead, and so were the people from the Imperial Inspectorate. Many town officials had also been killed by the Sons of Mutant Blood, so there was no one present to give orders. At this moment, the entire town was leaderless.

In the end, under the organization of the hunter team, they got the survivors of Deep Rock City to form a team to treat the injured, collect the corpses, and calculate the losses. In addition, they sent people to the surrounding cities to seek help from other lords.

Before the troops of the other lords took over Deep Rock City, Zhou Jing’s hunter team decided to temporarily camp in Deep Rock City to prevent the town from falling into chaos again after they left.

Zhou Jing did not participate in the team’s maintenance of order. At this moment, he was in a temporary tent, staring at Weber.

Weber looked at Zhou Jing’s familiar face and secretly convinced himself once again that there were no ghosts in the world.

“Do you know a Jason·Wood?”