dognovel Chapter 1399 Dog bites dog
Chapter 1399 Dog bites dog
As Xiao Yuanwang spoke, his eyes filled with admiration as he spoke of Xiao Ce's prowess...
"His Dragon Abyss mech was like a beam of light tearing through the darkness! He used the Empty City Stratagem to lure the enemy deep inside, layer upon layer of traps to wear down the enemy forces, and finally laid a net of heaven and earth at Don River Fortress!"
"General Han Da's timing in detonating the explosives was impeccable, Wei Wuji's Ghost Squad was elusive and unpredictable, and Uncle Axe Bull's Mountain-Splitting Mech clashed head-on with Xiao Dingshan's energy cannon... Every step was meticulously planned!"
Eva listened quietly, tears blurring her vision again, this time with a sense of relief and an indescribable pride.
She nodded gently, her voice trembling slightly: "I know... I've always known how good he was. His wisdom, his courage, his responsibility to this land..."
Her words concealed too many complex emotions that she could not express to her son!
Her admiration and gratitude for Xiao Ce perhaps also contained a faint hope for reconciliation, a hope that had long been crushed by reality.
Xiao Yuanwang keenly noticed the complexity in his mother's eyes!
He reached out and firmly grasped Eva's hand: "Mother, don't worry. Father asked me to tell you that the reconstruction of Slavs is of paramount importance. He said that you are here, and there are countless people who yearn for peace and a homeland."
"As long as you stay here, manage things well, lead everyone to rebuild their homes, fade the traces of the old empire, and truly integrate the Slavs into the Federation, everything will be alright! This place will be revitalized and even better than before! I believe you can do it!"
The boy's words were filled with unquestionable trust and power.
Eva looked at her son, as if she saw hope for the future.
She hugged Xiao Yuanwang tightly again, burying her face in his still thin but already strong shoulders, sobbing silently. Yes, for Yuanwang, for this land that had suffered so much, for the people who trusted her, she had to be strong.
As for that broken mirror... who can know what the future holds?
At this moment, being able to embrace her son, whom she had lost and then found again, and feel the warmth of surviving this ordeal, is already the greatest blessing from fate.
In the following days, Don River Fortress and even the remaining Slavic territory began to show faint signs of recovery after the catastrophe.
The news spread like wildfire: the tyrant had been executed, the traitor had been captured, and peace had arrived!
Those Slavic civilians, forced to flee their homes amidst the chaos of war, hiding in the mountains and wilderness, enduring hunger and cold, returned to their ravaged homes in small groups, then in droves, like migratory birds...
The road was filled with weary yet hopeful figures...
People pushed dilapidated carts, helped the elderly, and held bewildered children, their eyes filled with sorrow as they recognized their unrecognizable homeland, but even more so with a resolute determination to rebuild their homes...
On the ruins, people began clearing away the broken bricks and tiles, searching for any surviving belongings!
Smoke rose from the makeshift, simple shack, a sight that had been absent for a long time.
The children were the first to run and play happily among the rubble; their long-lost laughter was the most beautiful melody on this ravaged land...
Eva stood on the partially restored walls of the Don River Fortress, overlooking the entire scene.
Her heart was filled with complex emotions: the joy of seeing her compatriots return, the pain of past disasters, and a heavy sense of responsibility.
She knew that simply bringing the people back was not enough.
The trauma of war, especially the anger and humiliation of being betrayed and exploited, needs an outlet and a clear explanation so that the Slavs can truly let go of the past and move towards the future together.
The time was ripe for the ceremony she had been preparing for.
She hadn't held this ceremony before because there weren't enough spectators.
It seems the audience is now in place.
News of the trial ceremony, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, quickly stirred up huge waves throughout Slavic countries.
The location is the huge open space that has been cleared in front of the ruins of Don River Fort!
This place, once the battlefield where Xiao Dingshan's main force was annihilated, will now become the judgment seat for settling scores with betrayals and comforting the souls of the dead...
Time passed quickly. On the day of the ceremony, the sky was overcast, with low-hanging leaden clouds, as if bearing the weight of countless departed souls. However, this oppressive weather could not deter the Slavs' progress in the slightest...
Upon hearing this news, even those who weren't from the Slavic capital gathered there...
Before dawn, the area around the open space was already packed with people!
People, dressed in worn but clean clothes, gathered silently, supporting the elderly and leading the young.
Their faces bore the marks of suffering, and their eyes burned with long-suppressed anger and an urgent thirst for the truth...
Although they had heard a lot...
But they need to know the truth...
At this moment, the temporary platform stood solemn and majestic.
Eva stood in the center of the platform, dressed in simple Slavic traditional clothing, her expression stern and solemn.
Behind her stood Wei Wuji, who was in charge of maintaining order, the elite members of the Ghost Squad, and Axe Bull, who was in charge of carrying out the mission.
Xiao Yuanwang stood in the shadows behind the platform, silently watching his mother and this trial that concerned the future of Slavs...
Below the platform, near the crowd, stood two sturdy wooden stakes.
Shahar and Riz, two former Tsars and Tsarist heirs!
Now, dressed in filthy prison clothes, they are chained to wooden stakes with thick iron chains. Their treatment is drastically different: Shahar's mouth is not gagged, but his eyes are empty with fear, and his body trembles like a leaf...
Meanwhile, Rhys's mouth was tightly gagged with a thick, oil-soaked strip of cloth!
He could only utter muffled whimpers as he struggled desperately, the chains rattling. His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Shahar and Eva on the platform, filled with resentment and bitterness...
Eva's gaze slowly swept over the dark mass of people below, her silent anger as heavy as a physical entity.
She took a deep breath, and her voice, amplified by the loudspeaker, resonated clearly throughout the venue, carrying an undeniable power:
"Children of the Slavs!"
"We experienced hellish warfare and lost countless relatives, comrades-in-arms, and homes!"
"All this suffering began with betrayal! It began with greed! It began with the ruthless trampling of this land and its people by those blinded by power!"
"We didn't have to suffer this; they made us endure this death...this pain!This separation of life and death for no reason!"
Her voice suddenly rose, pointing at the two people locked to the wooden stake!
"Today, right here, under the watchful eyes of the countless fallen heroes!"
"On this land ravaged by the iron hooves they themselves brought upon themselves! We will make the traitors confess their crimes! We will expose their filthy souls to the sunlight!"
Let all Slavs see clearly who pushed us into this abyss!
She paused, her gaze piercing Shahar like a blade: "Shahar, former Prime Minister of the Empire, one of the main culprits who colluded with foreign enemies and betrayed the country!"
"Now, it's your turn! Confess your crimes to the Slavic people! Tell them all your betrayals! Every detail! Every drop of blood you shed!"
The soldiers stepped forward, unlocked some of the chains binding Shahar, and pushed him to the front of the platform, facing the angry crowd.
Shahar's legs buckled, and he almost collapsed to the ground. The crowd's anger was instantly ignited, and suppressed curses and cries surged forth like a tsunami!
Meanwhile, Rhys, standing to the side, stared wide-eyed, trying to say something.
Because Eva initially agreed to let him speak first...
Eva ignored him; her arrangement was naturally influenced by him...
"traitor!"
"Executioner!"
"Hang him!"
Shahar was pale and completely broke down amidst the shoving of the guards and the raging anger from the audience.
The instinct for survival overwhelmed everything; tears streamed down his face as he screamed with all his might, his voice distorted by fear:
"I'll talk! I'll talk! I repent! I'm guilty! I'm guilty of a terrible sin!"
He fell to his knees with a thud and kowtowed frantically to the crowd: "It was me! I coveted power! I was afraid of losing my position!"
"But it was Rhys... it was Rhys who first came into contact with that devil Xiao Dingshan! He told me that as long as we sided with Xiao Dingshan and betrayed the Federation, we could make the Slavic nation independent from the Federation! Then the Slavic nation could gain a higher status within the Federation!"
"I...I was so...I was bewitched and believed him!"
Whether Shahar's statement is true or false is no longer important...
A more furious outburst of curses erupted from the crowd, and spittle and stones, though stopped by the soldiers in time, flew toward him.
Eva continued, "Go on to the details!"
Shahar huddled in fear, continuing his confession with a sob in his voice!
"I...I followed Xiao Dingshan's orders and secretly contacted the robot unit in the city's defense forces, instructing them not to resist when the capital fell, but to evacuate through the underground passages..."
"I also... I also helped them move a third of the gold and rare metals from the national treasury to Don Fortress... hidden... hidden in a hidden compartment in the military supply depot!"
"Later...later, in order to curry favor with Xiao Dingshan and gain his trust...it was me...it was me who ordered the Third Mountain Brigade to launch a full-scale attack on the valley, knowing it was a trap! More than a thousand people...all...all gone...I also...I also told Xiao Dingshan's bombers the locations of three civilian villages that refused to surrender...they...they..."
At this moment, even Shahar's own mind was starting to go haywire.
Some of the things were entirely his imagination...
Of course, none of that matters anymore...
Eva just wanted him to admit it...
Every word of Shahar's confession was like a red-hot branding iron, searing the hearts of every Slav.
In order to save his life and shirk responsibility, he not only confessed his crimes but also did everything he could to smear Reese, portraying himself as an innocent person who was misled by Reese and forced to carry out his orders.
When Shahar mentioned the deaths of over a thousand people and three civilian villages, the grief and anger at the scene reached its peak!
The bereaved families let out heart-wrenching cries!
Some of the newly recruited Slavic soldiers had bloodshot eyes and clenched fists with veins bulging. The entire venue was shrouded in a violent grief and rage.
Just then, with his mouth gagged, Rhys witnessed Shahar pinning all the blame on him, especially the dirtiest and bloodiest decisions. Seeing Shahar's pathetic behavior of groveling and distorting the truth to save his own life, and witnessing the rage in the audience that could burn everything... the last bit of support in his heart completely collapsed!
What sinister, what arrogant, what patient...
Faced with Shahar's shameless excuses and survival instincts, and the immense fear of being nailed to the pillar of historical shame and becoming the sole bearer of all guilt, everything turned into hysterical madness!
"Waaaaah!! Waaaaah...!!!"
Rhys let out a beast-like roar, his bound body writhing and twisting violently, the chains taut and groaning under the strain.
His eyes bulged out, bloodshot, staring intently at Shahar as if he wanted to tear him apart with his gaze!
Eva watched this scene coldly; the time had come.
She slightly raised her hand. A soldier stepped forward and roughly ripped the gag out of Reese's mouth.
The moment the restraints were released, Rhys's pent-up anger, humiliation, and fear erupted like a volcano! He unleashed a deafening roar, as if his vocal cords were being torn apart, using almost all the strength he had left:
"Shahar!!! You liar, you cowardly bastard! You despicable coward!! You're talking nonsense..."
"You're talking nonsense..."
His voice, sharp and piercing from excitement and shouting, instantly drowned out the clamor of the entire arena.
Everyone, including Shahar who was repenting, was stunned by the sudden, extremely hateful roar, and all eyes turned to Rhys.
Ries was breathing heavily, staring intently at Shahar, each word seemingly squeezed out through clenched teeth, laced with blood and froth:
"To bewitch you?"
"Bullshit! It was you! Shahar! You were the one who came to me on your own initiative! You heard that Xiao Dingshan was looking for you!"
"They say the Slavic Empire can secede from the Federation and become independent..."
"And you pounced on it like a dog smelling a bone, wagging your tail! You were afraid the military nobles would seize your power! You were afraid the new Federation would settle scores with you for the crimes of the old empire! You wrote the pledge of allegiance yourself! It bears your signature and the Prime Minister's seal..."
Shahar's face turned deathly pale instantly, and his lips trembled as he tried to retort.
Ries gave him no chance, speaking rapidly like a machine gun, completely tearing away Shahar's fig leaf:
"Transferring gold from the national treasury? That was your idea! You want to leave yourself a way out!"
"And you sent the soldiers to clear the mines..."
"You deceived unarmed people into defending the city for you, all to frame the Federation..."
"You're a beast..."
"Are you even human? Shahar, you're worse than an animal..."
"And...you even want to harm your own son...what else wouldn't you do...you even want to frame me..."