Hiss.

In the face of Andreier’s accusations, Fenanche actually laughed.

He laughed loudly, arrogantly, as if he didn’t care about the audience watching the live broadcast.

The ogre laughed so hard that tears came out. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and said, “Andreier, your attitude is really ugly. In order to survive, you have lost your composure. You are not worthy to be my enemy.”

“Yes, I approved the exploration of the turbulent flow in the Virtual Realm. I bear the main responsibility both morally and legally, which is why I came here to accept the investigation. But if you think you can bring me down in front of the citizens of the entire city with this, then you are too naive.”

“A exploration operation involving the Hunting Hall, the war zone, and even the prison, how could it be a trivial matter that I can decide alone? As the saying goes, big things are discussed, and small things are talked about. Before the operation, the leaders of all parties held three meetings. Andreier, as a representative of the council, you wouldn’t forget about this, would you?”

“It was only after we all voted that this operation was fully implemented. The ‘422 Incident’ was a disaster, but it was also a man-made disaster caused by our collective misjudgment. I am not shirking my own responsibility, but your responsibility, Andreier, is no less than mine.”

Andreier nodded, “Indeed, that’s true. If we have to say it, this is just a war launched by rulers for their own interests, but unfortunately, this time we are the defeated side. If we had found the correct passage to the Virtual Realm first, you would not only be free from blame, but also gain support from all parties and be re-elected as mayor with a hundred percent certainty.”

“At most, I can only blame you. You pushed forward this operation for political achievements. Moreover, you have already apologized, so the citizens have nothing to say.”

Andreier looked at the stone pillar of the ogre, which hardly changed. This meant that the citizens did not deepen their resentment towards Fenanche because of his accusations.

This was beyond his expectations. After all, although the 422 Incident caused tens of thousands of casualties, what did it have to do with the living?

It’s not like they died.

Perhaps among the dead and injured were their friends or even loved ones, but… so what?

It’s not like they died.

If they suffered losses due to the attack, the Ministry of Affairs would be willing to compensate. As for the casualties and building collapses caused by the attack, it was actually beneficial to the living—vacant positions would be available, the collapse of buildings meant there would be new reconstruction work, rents would decrease due to fewer tenants, and the streets would be less crowded.

Originally, Camon City was a bit overcrowded, but now with the attackers coming, killing some and scaring away others, the remaining people naturally had more urban resources. At this moment, who knows how many people were grateful for the killings by the attackers, as they gained a lot of benefits from it.

Moreover, even the main person responsible, Fenanche, did not attract much hatred. The resentment he attracted in this matter was even less than that of the Dragon’s Den Apartments and the manipulated public examinations.

After all, those who truly hated him were already dead, and among the survivors, many had been deceived by the Dragon’s Den Apartments and had their positions stolen in the public examinations.

In the Blood Moon Kingdom, the living would not empathize with the dead.

It was a foolish dream to think that they could bring down Fenanche with the 422 Incident. Andreier was not so naive. He only needed this topic as a starting point.

“That’s right, if we only talk about the cause of the incident, every decision-maker is at fault. This is the responsibility of all the ruling class,” Andreier said, “But the course of the incident is your stage alone, my dear mayor.”

The ogre squinted his eyes and looked coldly at his political opponent.

Andreier continued, “After the arrival of the foreign realm sorcerers, the Church notified you of this news within 20 minutes. And what you did in the first three hours was to claim that nothing had happened, until multiple attacks occurred on the outskirts of the city, and then you informed the citizens not to go out, mobilized the Hunting Hall to confront the enemy, and gathered the adventurers from the war zone…”

“Informing the citizens before the arrival of the foreign realm sorcerers would only create panic!” the ogre said bluntly, “If the citizens gather and flee out of fear, it would provide the perfect opportunity for the foreign realm sorcerers to attack. The casualties would be even greater than they are now!”

“Yes, you’re right,” Andreier said, “If the only combat forces around Camon City were the Hunting Hall and the war zone, then your decision would be correct.”

At this moment, everyone, including Fenanche, showed panic on their faces!

Morgan even shouted loudly, “Andreier, do you know what you’re saying? Do you think you can survive just by saying everything?”

“Even if I don’t say it, I will definitely die,” Andreier said word by word, “I have never had the idea of just surviving. I just hope that before I die, I can have a clear conscience.”

Fenanche sneered, “Indeed, Andreier, coming from an advanced foster home, you actually have such luxurious and upper-class thoughts. It’s really funny. Did you suddenly discover your conscience when you entered prison?”

Andreier shook his head, “Fenanche, sometimes I also wonder if I am really qualified to sit in your position. Do I really have the ability to control the fate of so many people? Can I be as indifferent as you, watching so many lives die in front of me and still remain unmoved?”

He looked at the camera lens as if he was having a conversation with the hundreds of thousands of citizens of Camon City.

“In the Camon region, the most powerful armed forces are not the Hunting Hall or the war zone, but the research institute and the Church!” he said, “Every Blood Saint in the research institute, every Moon Shadow in the Church, is a sorcerer, and most of them are Second Wing Sorcerers!””Perhaps some people have heard that the researchers in the institute are not good at fighting, and the priests in the church only know how to pray. But these are all lies to cater to the common people’s disdain for the strong, and to satisfy the jealousy in your hearts.”

“After all, you are not sorcerers, nor are you Blood Moon Shadows. Therefore, Blood Moon Shadows must have ridiculous weaknesses, such as being afraid of sunlight, being afraid of flames, so that you can feel superior and convince yourselves that you don’t need to be jealous, so that you can live well.”

“But any sorcerer cannot be weak, let alone incapable of fighting!”

“If the institute and the church were to take action, although they may not be able to quickly suppress the foreign sorcerers, they can definitely control the situation within a smaller range and reduce the number of casualties to four or even three digits!”

“But they are unwilling to intervene because this matter has nothing to do with them. The foreign sorcerers will not attack their areas. What’s more, the Blood Saint Clan desires corpses, and the Moon Shadow Clan appreciates death. This unexpected massacre actually serves their interests.”

“The only person who can change the situation is you, Arandor Fenanche.” Andreier said slowly, “As the mayor, you have the authority to command the church and the institute. If you are willing, you can summon the Blood Saints and the Moon Shadows, completely reversing the situation of the foreign sorcerers’ rampage.”

The ogre’s face remained calm, seemingly indifferent to Andreier’s accusations.

“But you won’t. Because you dare not harm the interests of both clans, because you still need their support. Moreover, you know very well that the foreign sorcerers came through a level 2 virtual realm channel. This attack will last for at most three days, and the foreign sorcerers will definitely retreat on their own. Therefore, you sacrificed the interests of the citizens and used their corpses as gifts to please the Blood Moon Clans.”

A hint of mockery appeared on Andreier’s face. “No one told you to do this, and no one warned you not to do it. It was your own choice. You used the lives of tens of thousands of people to prove your humility to the Blood Moon Clans.”

The ogre looked at the wriggling chains on his body and sneered, “Your words seem to have little effect. Everyone understands my situation very well. Although this is not a glorious achievement, pleasing the Blood Moon Clans is not shameful.”

“Is that so?” Andreier smiled, “But what if I told you that the Dragon’s Den Apartment incident was also a result of your deliberate indulgence to please the institute?”

“Everyone knows that the Dragon’s Den Apartment used financial fraud to absorb a large amount of funds, and the chairman of Dragon’s Den has already gone into hiding. But few people know where those funds went—before the chairman went into hiding, he went to the four major institutes to undergo a 200-year life extension surgery. Just this surgery alone consumed one-third of Dragon’s Den Apartment’s liquid assets.”

“Not only that, several other directors of Dragon’s Den Apartment also went to the institutes for life extension surgeries, body repairs, and so on. It can be said that most of Dragon’s Den Apartment’s cash assets ended up in the institutes. Then the incident broke out, the directors disappeared, and tens of millions of people were burdened with debt.”

“Whether it’s your Forest Gallery or my Eternal Wine, we only gained a small benefit from this incident. The ones who swallowed the assets of tens of millions of people are the institutes.”

“And this is just one of the more prominent ‘achievements’ in your political career. If we really want to go into detail, half an hour wouldn’t be enough. But to summarize, it all boils down to one principle—”

“Squeezing the people, flattering the Blood Moon.”

Andreier looked at the Blood Moon in the night sky, fatigue showing in the crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes.

“This is why your approval rating has dropped in the polls, yet you have been in power for eight years. It is also the reason for your existence—the institutes and the church need someone like you as a puppet in the foreground. Once you have attracted enough public anger, they will send you to the Broken Lake Prison to satisfy the people’s thirst for justice.”

“Even if the 422 incident didn’t happen, Fenanche, you would only be able to serve as mayor for a few more years before facing the judgment of the Blood Moon. Because you are a ‘criminal’ who obtained the position of mayor by selling out the interests of the people.”

The ogre’s face no longer had any smile.

The stone pillar beneath him seemed to be melting, and the countless chains dancing around him seemed to be dragging him into the dark red Broken Lake.

“But even so, you are just an ‘ordinary mayor’. There is no difference between you and your predecessors. Every mayor is a future criminal, or rather, only criminals have the possibility of becoming mayor.”

Andreier said, “Fenanche, the reason why I went to such great lengths to compete with you for the position of mayor is because you tried to elevate the act of selling out the people’s interests into a higher form of art—you united the Elf, Orc, Ogre, and Goblin Rights Associations and promoted the development of the combat professional league.”

“Of course, your reasons are very righteous—absorbing the unemployed, reducing crime rates, cultivating sorcerer talents, developing the tertiary industry… It’s impeccable, and it even makes people who see your proposal for the first time wonder why no one thought of such a good idea before?”

“That’s because the previous rulers weren’t as ruthless and despicable as you!”

At this point, blood vessels filled Andreier’s eyes, and the wrinkles on his face gathered together, too angry to even manage his expression. “Fenanche, didn’t you foresee what would happen after the combat league appeared? A large number of young people would enter this industry that allows them to rise to the top in one step, gambling would become rampant, body modifications would become a trend, and the arena would be covered in layers of flesh and blood. There might even be orphanages specifically for cultivating combat machines!”

“Violence, death, corpses, they will become the only melody of this city! Fenanche, it’s not that you can’t foresee this future, it’s that you’re smart enough to foresee everything, which is why you’re pushing this plan!”

“The Blood Moon Lord locked the Blood Saint Moon Shadow in the research institute and the church, just to prevent them from creating slaughter, to suppress their devastation of the people, and to buy some breathing space for all races! And you, Fenanche, for your own desires, you’re willing to put all the people on the altar, to standardize, formalize, and streamline slaughter and death, just to please your master!”

“You’ve united all the high-ranking members of every race, just to establish a huge, shameless ruling group. The people are your best commodities, and the Blood Moon is your worshipped customer!”

“But don’t forget, Fenanche, you’re still a man-eating ogre, without crimson pupils, let alone a fluffy tail! No matter how much you flatter, in their eyes, you’re still food!”

Andreier’s scolding echoed over the shattered lake, the rest of the people were silent, shrinking in their seats, as if praying that the Blood Saint Moon Shadow watching the live broadcast wouldn’t notice them.

For a moment, the live broadcast was so quiet that only the sound of sliding chains could be heard.

At this moment, Fenanche suddenly glanced at Asho, revealing a strange smile.

“Are you done?” The ogre looked around: “Then, please allow me to make a few sophistries.”