MMORPG: War God, You are Invincible Again-Chapter 582 - 70: The Poisonous Scheme

The investigation of the Blood-colored Divine Might Army was prioritized. Though Questasa and the Liu Family provided detection assistance, Aragon was still utterly exhausted.

"I... I really can’t go on." Clearly suffering from severe magical exhaustion, Aragon’s face was as pale as death.

"The Skill ’Holy Day Flaming Wheel’ is a powerful ability of the Third Transition late phase; the strain on my second brother is indeed immense," Augustus began saying, "and the divine crystals were used up six months ago for cultivation purposes, leaving him with no choice but to rest for half a month to alleviate the damage caused by the depletion of his Magic Power."

Lu Hong nodded in agreement, addressing Aragon, "Second Brother, you have had a tough few days. Get some good rest. The Empire has already sent a reply; they will be lending a group of personnel from the Holy Court, who should arrive at the Second Town soon."

"With that, I am at ease," Aragon said, settling into a wooden chair before waving his hand, "you two brothers don’t need to worry about me. I need to properly rest for a few days. Go tend to your matters. Dealing with the agents of the Underworld cannot happen without you, Big Brother."

"Alright, second brother, you rest well. Tonight, the third brother and I will come to see you, and I’ll bring you a nice bottle of wine."

"Mm-hm, off you go."

Once Lu Hong and Augustus had departed, Aragon could no longer hold himself together, spewing a mouthful of dark blood.

The agents of the Underworld hiding within the Blood-colored Divine Might Army were not lacking in strength, and they harbored deep hatred for Aragon, thus executing some kind of method to infuse him with the power of the Underworld.

In the beginning, Aragon was able to suppress it, but as the Magic Power dried up, this force roaming his body finally revealed its fangs, violently disrupting the functions within its host.

Trembling, Aragon took out a golden Magic Potion from his Space Ring and swallowed it, his complexion then somewhat recovered.

Holding the ten divine crystals that Lu Hong left behind, Aragon began to frantically draw the power contained within to repair his body and replenish his depleted Magic Power.

With the inspection of the Divine Might Army complete, everyone’s attention turned to the civilians.

The civilians, already surrounded by the Liu Family Army, were panic-stricken; without Lu Hong’s trusted face, there would have likely been an uprising already.

"Is everything ready?" Lu Hong arrived on the scene, with Augustus close behind.

"All is prepared," Liu Mei gestured, as the Liu Family Army stood ready, their gaze locked onto the tens of thousands of civilians gathered in the square.

Without Aragon’s assistance, screening thirty thousand people was the limit of what the Holy Court’s team could manage.

Lu Hong stepped up to the front and called out to the restless civilians, "Everyone, please spread out a bit, and don’t crowd. You only need to stand still under the Holy Light for a moment. Please be assured, this will not harm you; it’s just to root out the malefactors of the Underworld hiding among you."

"We’ll do as you say, Duke Sir!"

In response to Lu Hong’s request, a large number of civilians complied, and any thoughts the agents of the Underworld had of inciting chaos were completely extinguished.

But before the Holy Court’s magic could begin, disturbances arose.

Suddenly, the bodies of over a thousand civilians began to swell unnaturally.

"This isn’t good! Quickly suppress them!"

"Get away! Everyone, get clear!"

As soon as Lu Hong spoke, there was a loud bang, and the swollen civilians exploded like bombs, releasing purple-black Magic Power that enveloped the entire square.

"Rescue them!" Liu Mei instantly gave the command, and the soldiers rushed into the square to save those civilians who had survived the explosion.

When the rescue was over, Lu Hong stared somberly at the devastated square—this was a provocation from the agents of the Underworld!

"Damn it!" Lu Hong cursed.

Then, he spoke to the Holy Court team, "Cast the Holy Light and inspect those surviving civilians."

"As you command, Champion Earl!"

As the Holy Light poured down, the expressions of Lu Hong and the others slowly turned to terror.

For the nearly ten thousand surviving civilians, their bodies began emitting purple-black smoke.

"No! Run!"

The explosions came quicker this time; before Lu Hong’s words even finished, those civilians mingled with the Liu Family soldiers burst open one after another. freeweɓnovel~cѳm

The purple-black Magic Power of the Underworld, like venom, corroded the surrounding soldiers, and their agonizing screams were unending.

The inspection of the civilians had barely started, and nearly ten thousand soldiers had already been lost. The Liu Family had only brought four hundred thousand troops; how many more inspections could they withstand?

Looking at the hellish scene before him, Lu Hong couldn’t help but tremble with both hands, "Underworld! I am irreconcilably opposed to you!"

The situation hadn’t calmed down yet, when an even greater crisis followed.

Out of nowhere, news began to spread among the commoners that Duke Divine Might was plotting to kill them in batches. Under the leadership of the Underworld’s agents, countless civilians began to breach the Liu Family’s army’s blockade.

Upon receiving the news, Liu Mei turned to Lu Hong, "What should we do?"

Lu Hong’s expression fluctuated between light and dark. Should he order them to be shot? That would only corroborate the rumors. Should he let them leave? If a few more suicide attacks occurred, how could he ensure the safety of the soldiers in the Second Garrison?

Seeing Lu Hong hesitating, Liu Mei said lowly, "There’s no choice now! You must make a decision!"

With no alternative, Lu Hong closed his eyes and said hoarsely, "Kill!"

Following the command, the Blood-colored Divine Might Army and the Liu Family army raised their blades and turned towards the unarmed civilians.

Meanwhile, each of these events was recorded by the villains of the Underworld with magic imagery, and strong individuals used special spatial channels to spread the information.

In just three days, this imagery shocked the entire Star Sea.

Everyone was stunned. What did they see? They saw Duke Divine Might ordering the massacre of innocent civilians!

As the imagery spread, rumors about Duke Divine Might grew like wildfire.

"Do you know? The real Duke Divine Might is actually dead. The one in the imagery is not the real Duke, but a puppet created by the Underworld using magic power."

"That can’t be possible, can it?"

"Why not? Have you ever seen Duke Divine Might heartlessly slaughter civilians? That person is an impostor and must be punished."

With rumors running rampant, the Empire’s interior was shaken to its core.

Although the high-ranking officials observed the situation with more complexity than the common people, the incident had already damaged Lu Hong’s positive image.

A person can do ninety-nine good deeds, but they can’t outweigh the impact of one bad act.

Those with bleeding hearts are in no shortage anywhere, and they have a strong ability to propagate their message, feeling full of righteous indignation while in reality being mere puppets led by others.

It was because of these fools that protests against the impostor Duke Divine Might spontaneously organized in all major planes, calling for the Empire to punish the murderer who had impersonated the Duke and harmed innocent civilians.

For a time, countless memorials were sent to Konstantin, pleading for his judgment.

Faced with the unexpected situation, Konstantin was also headachy to the extreme.

Temporarily appeasing the emotionally charged ministers at the court session, Konstantin returned to his study with a belly full of anger and violently flung the memorials on the table to vent his frustration.

"Your Majesty!" At that moment, a sage knocked on the door of the study.

Konstantin composed himself and took a seat, "Come in!"

The sage pushed open the door, glanced at the mess of memorials scattered on the floor, and hurriedly walked to Konstantin, kneeling in front of him, "Your Majesty, the emotions of the people across the major planes are extremely agitated. We must do something, or else the unrest among the people could lead to greater chaos."

"I know," Konstantin replied, closing his eyes and gently massaging his temples. "Send a space mage to the Second Garrison. I need to speak with Duke Divine Might."

"Yes!"

Under the sage’s arrangements, it wasn’t until the early hours of the next morning that Konstantin connected with Lu Hong through the magic vision.

"What do you want?"

Lu Hong’s face was calm, completely unaffected by the incident.

Konstantin clenched his teeth, "Do you realize you’ve done a terribly foolish thing?"

"I am aware," Lu Hong nodded. "But I had to. Those civilians were likely controlled by the Underworld; they had Underworld magic bombs planted inside them. Once activated, the bombs’ killing power is immense; just a slight contact turns people into dense liquid."

"But you couldn’t go about it so brazenly!" Naturally, Konstantin believed Lu Hong, so his concern was entirely with the secrecy of the incident. Had it been him, the priority would probably have been to blockade the plane and maintain the secrecy of the affair.

Lu Hong sighed, "I didn’t consider it thoroughly. Given the situation, do you have any way to salvage this?"

Konstantin shook his head, "Even if we reveal the truth now, many will still believe those civilians could be saved. This incident can never have a definitive right or wrong, and just half an hour ago, I was pressured by the ministers in the court. The Underworld played their hand well, using public opinion to try to topple you from your pedestal of faith. I’ll try my best to suppress this issue for you, but you must be extremely careful in dealing with the Underworld forces in the northern territory from now on. Do not let the enemy catch you on the wrong foot again. The more chaotic the public sentiment, the more opportunities they will have to capitalize on."

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