Chapter 381: Destruction Device

The plaza fell into a dead silence.

The sudden scene caused everyone present to widen their eyes, their faces filled with disbelief and astonishment.

Laila's face was blank, shock and bewilderment filling her features, but the Princess's beautiful face was currently splattered with fresh blood; warm, fishy, viscous blood flowed down to her chin, dripping down drop by drop.

"Yu... ri..."

Laila widened her eyes, her heart feeling as if it had plummeted into an abyss.

Yuri raised her head, pulling a smile with her pale lips: "Princess, we have finally... returned to the past again..."

Yuri plunged into Laila's embrace, slowly sliding down... With a dull thud, Yuri collapsed at Princess Laila's feet.

Hogan trembled all over, staring blankly at Yuri lying on the ground, his mind a complete blank.

He had just taken advantage of everyone's distraction to pull out the handgun hidden under his robe at his waist, wanting to take Princess Laila away at the very last moment, but Yuri had blocked this shot for the Princess.

"Crack!"

Chen Che flashed back, grabbed Hogan's wrist, twisted it until it snapped, and then kicked his knee, causing him to lose all ability to move.

Afterward, Chen Che came before Yuri, immediately checked her condition, and applied all the Ghost Gate Needles on her.

However,

The power of a True Qi Bullet was not to be underestimated; at a distance of less than five paces, hitting the back of the head, there was absolutely no possibility of survival.

Chen Che's body jolted; he looked up at Laila. The Princess still had a blank expression, but her gaze subconsciously rested on Yuri. After noticing the change in Chen Che's expression, the last glimmer of light in her eyes also vanished.

Chen Che opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.

Yuri was at the Earth Master Realm; at such a close distance, even if she hadn't sensed Hogan hiding a gun earlier, she shouldn't have ended up in this state.

She could have completely used other parts of her body to block the muzzle; even if she were injured, she could have kept Princess Laila safe and sound, and she herself would not have lost her life because of it.

But she still chose the most inappropriate way, saving Princess Laila and also liberating herself.

Laila moved her gaze away from Chen Che and onto the gun that had fallen to the ground; she walked over slowly, bent down, and picked it up.

The gun was not heavy, but in the hands of the Princess who had been pampered since childhood, it was a bit unsteady.

Under everyone's gaze, Laila walked to Hogan and looked down at him from above.

Hogan's limbs were bent at a bizarre angle, and his eyes looked at Laila in terror: "Laila, you can't kill me, you are a good child, you are afraid of blood! You don't even dare to step on a bug, you won't do it, you won't!"

Laila held the gun with both hands, aiming at Hogan.

Hogan panicked and roared: "Laila, Princess! I grew up with your father... I am Yuri's father! You... you can't kill me! You can't kill me! I don't want to die!!!"

"You are not worthy..."

A soft murmur escaped Laila's lips, and she pulled the trigger.

"Bang... bang bang bang bang..."

Hogan was dead, but Laila kept pulling the trigger; even when the bullets were spent and the handgun made clicking sounds, she did not stop her actions.

Queen Fatima trotted over, carefully took the gun from her daughter's hands, gently wiped the blood off her daughter's face, and finally hugged Laila into her arms with a heart-wrenching expression.

Looking toward Yuri, Queen Fatima could not help but burst into tears, hugging her daughter even tighter.

Xie Wanning came to Chen Che's side; she glanced at Yuri and looked at Chen Che with an inquiring gaze.

Chen Che shook his head, his expression compassionate.

Xie Wanning's delicate brows trembled; she took off her coat and covered Yuri's face.

Burton watched this scene unfold; naturally, he could not feel grief. His mood at this moment was only panic and fear.

He had been forced to betray Hogan, so in this struggle, he had to support Laila; only if Laila won would he have a chance to survive.

But now it was different.

Yuri was dead.

Yuri was the only backer Burton had to survive after Hogan's failure.

He was Hogan's confidant; Princess Laila and Queen Fatima could not fully trust him. Even if he defected, the one he had defected to was Yuri.

Now that Yuri had also fallen, his own fate was basically sealed.

Burton's eyes darted around, his breathing becoming increasingly rapid; he had to find a way now to plot a path to survival for himself!

But among these few people who could decide his life or death, was there anyone he could trust?

The people of Xia were definitely not to be relied upon... then that only left the Princess and the Queen...

There was no way out!

Burton clenched his fists tightly, anger surging in his chest; almost in an instant, an extreme idea appeared in his mind.

………

Chen Che walked toward the Queen and the Princess, glanced at Princess Laila who was still distraught, and said to Queen Fatima: "Queen, things have come to this; for the matters that follow, you will still need to preside over the big picture."

Queen Fatima nodded, gently stroking her daughter's hair: "You have been a great help; afterward, I will definitely thank you properly."

Chen Che shook his head, watching Laila, and after thinking about it, he ultimately decided not to tell her the truth.

"Woo-wah~~ woo-wah~~"

Suddenly, a piercing alarm sounded.

Chen Che looked up in surprise at the specially decorated strobe lights on the palace walls, which were now emitting rapidly flashing light.

The next second, the ground of the plaza... no, the ground of the entire capital city was trembling.

"What is happening?!"

"Could it be that those monsters of Hogan's have started acting up again?"

"No, the alarm on the palace walls has never appeared before!"

The citizens spoke all at once; although they didn't know what was happening, they all sensed that something bad had occurred.

Chen Che frowned; he knew very well it wasn't the death servants. Zanpu Dunzhu's residual consciousness had already been destroyed by him, and those death servants couldn't create an earthquake of this scale.

"Heavens! It's the Destruction Device!" Queen Fatima screamed at this moment.

Everyone's gaze turned over, and Chen Che hurriedly asked, "Queen, do you know what has happened?"

Queen Fatima was burning with anxiety and said, "It is the Destruction Device! Buried beneath the capital of Ansili are many bombs!"

"These are things left over from the war period, intended for the event that the capital was breached, so that in a desperate situation, the enemy could be blown to the sky along with the capital!"

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present was shocked beyond measure.

"The alarm sounding means the device has already been activated; in three minutes at most, it will explode!"

Queen Fatima held Laila even tighter, "Once it explodes, the entire capital will be reduced to ruins, and we will all die!"

"No! I don't want to die! I don't want to!"

"Run! Flee!"

"I want to go home! I want to go home! I want to leave this place!!!"

It was not just the commoners; the officials, soldiers, and everyone else lost their composure and panicked, all fleeing for their lives in terror, and even though they knew it was already too late, they still tried their best to escape this place.

"Three minutes..."

Chen Che hurriedly asked, "Then after this device is activated, how can it be shut down?!"

Queen Fatima's face was full of despair, and she shook her head, "There is no way... even if there were, I wouldn't know... only a few people knew about this matter... my husband and Hogan might have known, but now they are both dead... both dead..."

"Hogan..." Chen Che muttered, turning around abruptly to search, only to find that Burton had already disappeared.

"Bastard! It's Burton!" Chen Che cursed angrily, disregarding the offense to etiquette, and pressed the Queen, "Then where exactly is this device located?!"

The Queen's expression was blank, and she shook her head.

"Damn it..." Chen Che gritted his teeth, quickly thinking of a countermeasure.

Xie Wanning rushed over and asked in a panic, "Think about it, if we both use our full strength, how many people can we save from the explosion?"

Chen Che shook his head, "With the power to blow up the entire capital, let alone protecting others, I can't even save myself!"

"The Destruction Device must be shut down!"

"But right now we don't even know where the device is! Or how to shut it down! And..." Xie Wanning glanced at the time and shouted directly, "There are only two minutes left!"

………