Chapter 493: Light-Speed Crash

As long as someone still strives to act, isn't that stronger than giving up completely?

After hearing the plain yet resolute words of the female police officer, Li Ang couldn't help using the Black Goat's soul vision to observe her soul's condition.

Though her luminous white soul carried a faint, lingering restlessness and its glow was slightly harsh, it burned steadily and throbbed with intense fervor.

Like a newly lit flame, it struggled to radiate warmth, trying to bring a little comfort to the small world around it with its still-fragile light.

Unfortunately, the closest thing to her now was not a fragile soul waiting for warmth, but a surge of cold fire desperate for release.

……

This person… will surely become our obstacle in the future!

Though she knew this deduction was absurd, the female prisoner's heart still couldn't help forming this thought as she met the officer's gaze.

Human nature always seeks stability and excels at self-deception; even if life is painful now, as long as hope remains for the future, most people won't seek change.

Only those like herself, who have known the deepest despair and been driven to utter desperation, truly throw everything aside, resolve to seek vengeance against all who harmed them, and so…

You're a good officer, but you're also our enemy!

Listening to the earnest assurances—"Please believe me one more time," "I will uncover the truth"—the female prisoner's eyes didn't soften; instead, they grew sharper with each promise.

As the leader said, when the "new world" everyone longs for will arrive isn't up to us—it depends on how fast the kingdom rots!

Only by thoroughly churning up this nation's sores, even fueling them, forcing everyone to witness its decay and disgrace, can we make those content with the status quo abandon their false hopes and stand firm beside us to overthrow it!

So whether it's the reform-minded princess, the defense minister desperately holding the military together, or you—closely tied to the current defense minister—you are all targets that must be eliminated!

'Ah ha~ Li Ang, look at this!'

The changes in the female prisoner's soul naturally escaped no notice of the Black Goat, a great demon.

Watching her soul shift from crimson to dull darkness, sensing the fierce killing intent pulsing with the flame, the Black Goat blissfully closed its eyes and declared:

'One doesn't approve of the other's actions but intends to spare no effort to save her; the other acknowledges the first's kindness but has already prepared to kill her herself.

How wonderful! For the sake of some so-called noble ideal, one can recklessly commit evil—this filthy, sticky soul is truly magnificent!

And as for the other, when her heartfelt sincerity meets the most vicious response, what evil thoughts will erupt within her heart?

Ahahaha! It's too beautiful! I can't wait to see her reaction!'

'…'

What kind of great demon talks like he's in the final stage of middle-school delusion?

Li Ang pressed his foot harder on the goat's head, rolling it slightly on the filthy floor of the carriage, drawing a string of curses from the Black Goat, then silently gripped the Holy Relic pendant, ready to intervene.

If the target had been someone from the Layn family, fine—he might not actively kick them while they were down, but occasional delays in rescue would be understandable.

But from the conversation he'd just heard, though the police officer was stubborn and a messy nuisance, she wasn't truly evil—if he could help, he should.

As he vigilantly observed the rebel's state, the moment the darkness in her soul surged violently and her hand shot toward the officer's neck, Li Ang activated the pendant ahead of time, summoning an invisible hand to clamp down hard on the prisoner's wristband.

'How is this possible?' A searing pain shot through her wrist; the bandage, meant to float free, was pinned immovably by an unseen force, causing the prisoner to gasp in shock.

Yet the instant she moved, the officer had already shifted her shoulder to intercept the hand aimed at her neck, then slammed the edge of her other palm hard below the prisoner's ulnar styloid.

Seizing the moment the prisoner's elbow and wrist went numb and her posture froze, she gripped the prisoner's right wrist, twisted her shoulder, and locked the joint into a reverse elbow lock, neutralizing all power.

Finally, she dropped her center of gravity, twisted the wrist, and shoved the shoulder, hurling the prisoner off the seat with the force of a body crashing to the ground—thud!

Though the sequence sounded complex, the officer executed it with astonishing fluidity; by the time Li Ang had shaken off his coat covering his head, she had already completed the entire move, dragged the prisoner off the seat, and firmly subdued her.

'…'

Damn… you've got moves like that?

Watching the officer pin the prisoner flat on the floor—left knee pressed against her lumbar spine, both hands twisting her right arm into the shoulder socket—Li Ang gaped in surprise, a flicker of relief crossing his eyes.

Thank goodness I've got a good temper and never fought her before—if I had, given my combat strength, I'd probably be in no better shape than this prisoner.

Within 0.2 seconds of regaining control over the prisoner's attack, the officer instinctively raised her head, scanning the surroundings per police protocol, checking for hidden accomplices—and then…

'You?!'

'I just happened to be passing by!'

Seeing the officer's delicate eyebrows snap upright, her lovely face a storm of shock, hesitation, panic, and resolve—as if someone had spilled a whole shop of seasonings—Li Ang sat back down on his seat before she could leap at him.

'I'm on an out-of-station assignment, and I boarded before you!'

After briefly asserting his position, Li Ang pulled out his credentials and waved them at the ticket seller, who had rushed forward from the front row, ready to scream at the trio.

'Police escorting a prisoner. Please cooperate.'

'Police? I'm a Level Two Carriage Clerk with the Road Administration Department! Even if you are police—'

'Secret Investigation Bureau.'

'Secret… then never mind…'

Seeing the glaring badge of the Police Department on the credentials, the ticket seller shrank back; after spotting the prisoner locked in a restraint hold on the floor, her boiling rage vanished instantly.

Amid the passengers' bewildered stares, her slightly bow-legged legs pivoted like compasses, her stout frame twisting nimbly backward, then crouching low, she scurried back to the front and plopped down on her seat.

The prisoner, half her face pressed to the floor, caught sight of Li Ang in her peripheral vision—and in that instant, everything clicked into place.

'Coward!'

(End of Chapter)