Chapter 309: Military Court

“We will now begin the military court! The case on trial is the disappearance of the Great Qin Flying Shuttle. The Great Qin Flying Shuttle, which was carrying 600 newly recruited freshmen and 108 interstellar warriors, was ambushed by the Spirit Race on its journey back to the Great Wall University. 657 interstellar humans were lost in the tragedy and only 51 survived! The accused, Feng Lin, was reported as a traitor who has pledged allegiance to the Spirit Race.”

The opening remarks echoed in the grand, majestic court, which was at least a few-hundred-storey tall.

Feeling the glaring spotlight on him, Feng Lin looked out from the dock where he was seated.

All that filled his vision was a giant pillar that seemed to extend into the skylines and a large room filled with rows and rows of people looking down on him from their courtroom seats.

Their gazes felt like daggers piercing through his heart.

The pressure was immense and would have been unbearable for most people.

Feng Lin took a deep breath and regulated his breathing. Sitting upright with his head held high, he looked right back at the audience in the courtroom.

He was being tried by the masses. In order to defend himself and prove his innocence, he must not panic.

“Is that him? I heard he is a traitor working for the Spirit Race!”

“That’s horrible! So many talented students died because of him!”

“Truthfully, if it was not illegal, I would have killed him already!”

The muffled whispers filled the courtroom, and the desire of the crowd to see this perceived traitor executed was unmistakable.

“Silence!” a booming voice hollered, cutting through the chaos and instantly putting an end to the chattering.

A large silhouette with a stern and intimidating presence sat behind the raised deck as he scanned the crowd for anyone who dared defy his words. With their heads hung low, the audience was undoubtedly daunted by this figure.

“Feng Lin, do you confess to the accused crime of treachery?” probed the judge.

“Well, it seems like I am infamous,” Feng Lin muttered under his breath with a bitter laugh.

Even though he was only a freshman, with the attention given to this trial, it would not come as a surprise if everyone from Great Wall University knew who he was by now.

But being infamous was nothing to be proud of.

“I’m innocent!” He pushed those distracting thoughts aside and declared with determination.

How could he confess to an offense he had not committed?

“What?” uttered the judge with a grim expression. And almost immediately, Feng Lin could feel an overwhelming sense of suppression weighing down on his spirit.

The suppression on his spirit made it impossible for his thoughts to wander.

He felt compelled to answer any question truthfully.

(Is this spirit suppression?)

Feng Lin was no match for this omnipotent power and suppression that he felt. It greatly exceeded his level of mastery.

Any regular individual under the control of such spirit suppression would not have been able to leave any secrets unspoken. You would have had to divulge every single wrongdoing and deviance, regardless of the time lapsed. Even if you had once peeped at another in the shower as a child, you would not have been able to resist sharing this secret with the world.

However, Feng Lin was unshaken.

“I’ll ask you again, do you confess to your crime?” Together with the power of the suppression, the judge’s voice channeled through Feng Lin’s spirit, seemingly digging for every last secret left in his soul.

“I am innocent!” Feng Lin exclaimed once again without hesitation.

“What? That’s interesting! His willpower is unwavering and unaffected by the spirit suppression of the judge!” Muffled chattering filled the room again as Feng Lin’s response startled the crowd.

“Well, this person is truly intriguing! Only elite cultivators have the ability to block the spirit suppression of the judge. He is certainly talented for a freshman!”

“So what if he is talented? If he truly is a traitor, he will only bring harm to mankind!”

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“That’s right! The more talented he is, the worse it will be for humanity!”

Third time’s the charm.

The judge stayed quiet for a long time as he contemplated his next move. Since Feng Lin seemed determined to not confess directly to the crime, the judge decided to take another approach.

“How did you, the accused, escape the ambush of the Spirit Race without taking the escape pod with the others?” questioned the judge.

“I brought my own collapsible flying shuttle. The patrol team from Great Wall University can attest to that fact,” Feng Lin responded.

“Chi Tianjiao, you were the one who brought Feng Lin back and also the one who arrested him. Is he speaking the truth?” The judge directed the question at the crimson-haired student.

“Yes, he is,” said the crimson-haired guy, Chi Tianjiao, as he stepped forward and added, “Indeed, Feng Lin took a private flying shuttle back to Great Wall University. When we met, he was being pursued by the star pirates. However, I am unable to attest to whether the private flying shuttle belonged to him.”

Despite how much he detested the fact that Feng Lin could be a traitor, Chi Tianjiao still frankly shared the facts he knew.

For clarity, the judge started retrieving the files on the case. At a click of his fingers, a hologram of a severely damaged and charred flying shuttle appeared before him.

“How could you have possibly escaped the Spirit Race’s pursuit on your own? How did the flying shuttle get into such bad shape? And how did you even find the exact location of the Great Wall University?” The judge bombarded Feng Lin with one question after another.

All these uncertainties raised reasonable doubt in the judge’s opinion.

How did he return to Great Wall University on his own without a global positioning system?

That was rather unbelievable!

This was especially so because Feng Lin was a newly recruited student who had yet to formally start school at the Great Wall University. How could he have accurately derived the location of the school?

Feng Lin took a deep breath and organized his thoughts.

He must not fluster at this point as it could affect the judgment on his innocence in the matter.

If he were to trip over his answers, not only would he not be able to prove his innocence, but he might also give them more reasons to question his involvement and perceive his honesty as fabrications.

“When the Great Qin Flying Shuttle was destroyed, I took my private flying shuttle and traversed the wormhole. That was when I encountered the spirit python! I had no choice but to retreat and to travel at sublight velocity through the massive interstellar galaxy. I was lost until I chanced upon a fleet of cargo shuttles and rescued them from the hands of space goblins. Unfortunately, I was robbed by the star pirates soon after, but I was able to retrieve the global positioning system of Great Wall University from the cargo shuttles before I escaped their clutches. It was then that I met the patrol team from the Great Wall University!”

Feng Lin summed up his experiences and shared it with sheer honesty.

Though he spoke with composure, it was not hard for anyone to realize that Feng Lin had been through a tedious journey to be where he was today.

“You can still find the skulls of the space goblins and the armor of the star pirates on my flying shuttle. These are all proof that I am telling the truth!” Feng Lin asserted.

The jury started murmuring and speaking amongst themselves.

Once again, the judge retrieved the information on Feng Lin’s flying shuttle and found evidence of the skulls and armors that proved that Feng Lin was telling the truth.

“The global positioning system of the Great Wall University is deemed as a valuable commodity. Why would those on the cargo ships give that to you?” the judge interrogated relentlessly, making it impossible for Feng Lin to hide any secrets from him.

“They did that because I saved their lives from the space goblins! After that they had infuriated the Black Skeleton Star Pirate Fleet. If I had not distracted the pirates away from them, they would not have been able to escape! The global positioning system was their bargaining chip to have me distract the fleet!”

Feng Lin responded vehemently. This interrogation had stirred up his emotions and being emotional was not going to help his case. He needed to remain clear-headed.

If he allowed himself to continue to be passively interrogated, he might end up revealing too much about himself, even secrets not associated with the case.

He decided to be on the offensive end instead and threw a question of his own, “Your Honour, if I may ask a question myself, may I know who was the one who reported me? I am definitely not a traitor! May I request to defend my innocence against that person in court?”

His blunt request resulted in a flurry of discussion amongst the jury.

Having heard his request, the judge contemplated the current situation. Feng Lin’s statements had no loopholes thus far, and any further question could be in futile.

He exchanged a look with the jury and quickly reached a consensus.

“Summon the plaintiff!” The judge hollered.

Soon after, the doors to the military court swung open.

A giant figure, standing at about five meters tall, was brought into the court by a group of military soldiers. Initially, he appeared shocked and seemed to have been caught off-guard by the subpoena. However, once his eyes met that of Feng Lin’s, all the uncertainty dissipated. He fixated a cold and steely-eyed gaze on Feng Lin as he proceeded to take his place in court.