Chapter 380: Target of Public Criticism

The sounds of questioning spread throughout the square, touching the hearts of everyone present once again, while simultaneously stirring up intense curiosity as they all looked toward Hogan in unison.

Hogan noticed those pairs of eyes and felt increasingly uneasy; he gave a dry laugh and said, "Princess Laila has truly grown up, speaking with such a loud voice."

The surroundings were deathly silent. Hogan's smile froze on his face, and anger rose from within. He turned his head to look at Burton and roared, "Burton, how much longer do you intend to play dead there?! Why don't you hurry up and take Princess Laila away..."

Hogan froze in place once again. He stared at Burton with a look of astonishment, only to see several people standing beside him—

Queen Fatima, Chen Che, and Xie Wanning.

Yet Burton looked at him with an indifferent expression, saying nothing and doing nothing.

For a moment, Hogan felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar; he finally realized that he had been betrayed.

"Burton, you actually dare to betray me?! You two-faced, ungrateful wretch!"

Hogan was overcome with rage and, no longer able to maintain the dignity of a king, he shouted and hollered.

"Hogan, you have been betraying others all along; now that you have finally tasted the flavor of being betrayed by others, how does it feel?"

Laila's mockery was perfectly timed.

Hogan raised his head and glared viciously at Laila. He wanted nothing more than to rush up and wring Laila's neck right then and there, but he held back.

Now he had to save himself, and there was still a chance!

"Laila, I know you are dissatisfied that King Abdullah passed the throne to me, but you cannot slander me like this. Regarding everything you just said, I can tell you clearly: I have done none of those things. My heart is clear, and I have done right by everyone."

Hogan straightened his back, lifted his head, and looked at Laila with a calm expression, yet the temples dampened by cold sweat betrayed his guilty conscience.

Laila sneered and asked again, "I am asking you, do you dare?!"

Hogan's body shook, his heart was in turmoil, and the surrounding gazes made him increasingly panicked, his breathing becoming rapid.

"You dare not say it? Fine, I will say it for you!"

Laila looked at the surrounding citizens and said loudly, "Hogan is a traitorous criminal. He coveted my father's throne, so he conspired with the Du'e Cult Leader, wanting to use me to harm my father. Fortunately, our friends from Xia discovered their conspiracy in time."

"However, the Du'e Cult Leader died during the conflict. All of us, including my father, His Majesty King Abdullah, were deceived by Hogan, and we wrongly blamed our friends from Xia."

"Later, Hogan was unwilling to accept the failure of his plan, so he acted alone, led people to break into the palace, and murdered my father, His Majesty King Abdullah!"

"Not only did he once again push the blame onto our friends from Xia, but he also seized my mother and wantonly slaughtered believers and civilians!"

"The reason he had to kill the Due Sect believers was to use the sorcery of the Du'e Cult Leader to create monsters, in order to stabilize his own rule!"

Laila's expression was agitated, and she was already covered in tears before she knew it. She looked at Hogan and continued her accusation: "For his own selfish interests, Hogan murdered my father and slaughtered the people of Ansili. Now, he actually dares to try and sit on the throne... such a person is not a human at all, he is a beast!"

"He is not fit to be the King of Ansili, not fit to receive the love of the people, and even less fit to be a... human!!!"

By the end, Laila screamed at the top of her lungs, as if venting.

There was a deathly silence in the square.

Everyone present was moved by Laila's words, and the looks they cast at Hogan added a layer of hesitation.

Xie Wanning gazed at Laila's proud figure, a smile curling at the corners of her lips: "The crybaby has grown up; I actually see a shadow of my mentor's wife in her."

Chen Che also smiled with gratification: "She will be a competent queen."

Queen Fatima gazed at her daughter's ability to stand on her own, her eyes brimming with tears. She said to Chen Che, "Thank you, noble friends. Without you, Laila would not be where she is today; it is you who gave her a new life!"

In the square, Hogan was panting heavily. He could no longer suppress the urge to hack Laila into pieces, but he still could not; if he did that, it would truly confirm Laila's words.

He was unwilling to give up everything he was about to obtain just like that; as long as there was a glimmer of a chance, he had to fight for it.

"Laila, I know you are very sad, and so am I. We are both saddened by the passing of Abdullah, but you cannot fabricate such things to frame me."

Hogan suppressed his emotions and said, "Furthermore, speaking requires evidence. Since you say all of this was done by me, what evidence can prove it? And who can prove it?"

"I certainly have it!" Laila wiped the tears from her face, "My mother, and our friends from Xia... and Burton, they can all prove my words!"

Hogan's expression was disdainful as he laughed: "They are all your people and will certainly speak in your favor, so what they say carries no credibility."

"Then what about me?"

A cold, clear voice came through.

The voice was not loud, but it was exceptionally clear in this deathly silence.

Hogan was struck as if by lightning; that all-too-familiar voice sounded like a thunderclap exploding in his ears.

He turned around with a look of astonishment on his face and saw Yuri walking slowly out of the palace.

Yuri walked slowly along the red carpet, arriving in front of Hogan, her face filled with disappointed indifference.

"Yuri, you..."

Hogan felt as if a large rock were blocking his chest, making him almost suffocate.

Yuri paid Hogan no mind at all and looked at everyone around: "I, Hogan's own daughter Yuri, testify here! Everything Princess Laila said is true!"

Yuri glanced at Hogan, her pupils trembling, and she gritted her teeth, saying: "Hogan is nothing but a heinous criminal!"

Boom!

Yuri's words detonated in the crowd like a bomb.

The silent crowd once again erupted into a stormy sea:

"My god! It's actually true! Princess Laila was actually telling the truth!"

"Princess Yuri is Hogan's own daughter; since she has testified, there is no more doubt about anything!"

"I never expected Hogan to be such a person. He murdered His Majesty King Abdullah, bullied the Queen, and attempted to become the new king; he is truly too despicable and shameless!"

"Criminal! You have deceived us for so long; Hogan, you are not fit to be king!"

"That's right, the criminal must be punished! Murdering the king, slaughtering the people—punish all crimes together, hang him!"

"Kill him!"

"Kill him!!"

"Kill... kill... kill...!!"

………

Public sentiment was outraged; Hogan fell directly from the clouds into the mud, becoming the target of public criticism.

Listening to the spurning, cursing, and cries for his death from the surrounding crowd, Hogan lowered his head; he already realized that he had been abandoned by all, and there was no longer any possibility of reconciliation.

But he was not reconciled!

He was not reconciled to the throne that was about to be his being lost just like that!

He was not reconciled to all his long-term efforts turning into bubbles!

What he had obtained, no one could snatch from his hands!

Hogan suddenly raised his head, his pair of ruthless eyes filled with killing intent: "I am the King! I am the King! Those who defy me, all go to hell! You all go to hell!"

Hogan roared madly at the sky, the entire plaza trembled violently, and there were even faint roars of beasts coming from it.

Following the fluctuations of his thoughts, those death warriors he had hidden beneath the royal palace became active, about to rush to the surface and begin a massacre.

"Whoosh!"

Chen Che's figure flashed and arrived; he struck Hogan's forehead with a palm, and the jewel-encrusted crown fell off, emitting a crisp metallic sound.

As his palm separated from the forehead, a wisp of True Qi consciousness adhered to Chen Che's palm, pulling away from Hogan's skull.

Following the extraction of this consciousness, Hogan became like a piece of fruit that had been squeezed dry; his eye sockets sank, and his whole body slumped down weakly.

At the same time, the ground of the royal palace plaza also stopped trembling, and the roars of the death warriors grew weaker and weaker.

"Did you really think this thing the Cult Leader of the Deliverance Sect gave you was a treasure? Those death warriors are not something you can control, and this wisp of True Qi consciousness would have devoured you sooner or later."

Chen Che said coldly, closing his five fingers and crushing the mass of consciousness hovering in his palm until it dissipated.

Chen Che turned around to glance at Laila and Yuri, saying, "There is no need to worry about the problem of the death warriors anymore; he cannot control those things now. Just find an opportunity later to burn the remaining death warriors with a fire."

"Moreover, I just happened to extract all of Hogan's True Qi as well; he is just an ordinary person now."

After Chen Che finished speaking, he retreated back into the crowd, "Solve the remaining matters yourselves; I have already finished what I needed to do."

However, the atmosphere at the scene became somewhat subtle at this moment.

Laila looked at Hogan, who was kneeling on the ground with his head lowered and swaying unsteadily, then secretly glanced at Yuri, feeling somewhat at a loss for a moment.

Laila's feelings for Yuri were complex and profound; although their statuses were different, she had always regarded Yuri as a good friend she could trust.

Even though Hogan had killed her father, she had never once thought about venting her anger on Yuri because of this matter.

And Yuri, whether out of duty or guilt, had always protected Laila with his life.

For a moment, Laila turned back into that indecisive, innocent, and cute Princess, and said to Yuri in a delicate tone: "Yuri, how about..."

However, just as Laila opened her mouth, Yuri suddenly lunged forward and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Bang!"

A piercing gunshot suddenly rang out; everyone present was startled, their bodies jolted violently, and they stood frozen in place.

………