CHAPTER 190.2: THE TRIBUNAL (PART TWO)

Once the plaintiff and defendant’s representatives finished their long statements, the victims’ families went to the witness stand to speak. They were mostly elderly people and women.

They all spoke about how kind the victims were and what sort of touching things they had done. They poured their hearts and souls into their stories and even started crying, so many of the observers’ hearts went out to them. Weeping came from the gallery.

The judge watched quietly. Once they finished giving their testimonies, he turned to Chen Chuan and asked him a question according to procedure. “Defendant Chen Chuan, the plaintiff has accused you of murdering thirty-seven students in the West Post District’s Li’an Machinery around midnight on the twentieth of August. Do you deny this?”

Usually, the defendant would state that they had not done such a thing. Then, the lawyers of both sides would come forward to begin arguing the point. Considering the complexity and the large number of powerful forces involved, it would be a long process.

To the judge’s surprise, Chen Chuan turned to him calmly and answered, “I do not. I killed all thirty-seven of them that night.”

The judge wasn’t expecting Chen Chuan to admit to it so readily, but it was not a huge shock. It would have been difficult for him to deny that he did it. The reason why he did it was a much more important detail.

“Were you threatened or controlled by a ritual when you killed the students? Is that why you did it?” he asked.

“No. I killed them of my own volition. I wasn’t threatened or controlled by any ritual,” Chen Chuan stated calmly.

The crowd burst into a commotion.

“Murderer!”

“Killer!”

Someone stood up in agitation and screeched, “My son was a good and honest boy, and he treated us well! He was just a child! Why did you kill him? Why?!”

Chen Chuan turned to the woman and said, “Because he deserved it.”

“Y-You...” The woman trembled under the force of Chen Chuan’s stare.

Chen Chuan then looked at all the people sitting in the gallery and said earnestly, “All of them deserved to die. They intended to control me into killing myself through a ritual, but failed. They shot at me after that. So, in order to protect myself, I had to kill them.”

“You’re saying they intended to control you? What proof do you have?”

“Even if they shot at you, that isn’t enough reason for you to kill them! You don’t have the right to do that, you murderer!” a furious accusation came from the gallery.

Chen Chuan turned to the man. “I do, actually.”

He reached into his pocket, and his action made all the people tense up. Some of them even wanted to call for security.

The judge became nervous as well. Chen Chuan had killed dozens of armed Martial Valor University students and security guards. If he went berserk here, the closest person to him was the judge himself.

Quickly, he asked, “What are you doing, Chen Chuan? If you want to retrieve something, I can ask a court clerk to get it for you.”

“I just want to show you why I had the right to execute them,” Chen Chuan answered and pulled his hand out of the pocket. He raised his arm up for everyone to see what he was holding.

It was a black-green jade card with red hues on the surface resembling both cinnabar diffused in water and like bloodstains.

Since the observers were situated some distance away, some of them couldn’t clearly see what he was holding, but those in the front row could. They recognized it right away and cried out, “The unrestricted defense permit?!”

The judge stared at it before adjusting his glasses. Then, he turned his gaze to Chen Chuan and added, “And it’s a Class B permit...”

Chen Chuan’s steady and powerful voice rang out through the courtroom.

“You asked me whether I had the right to kill them, and I will repeat: I did. The Great Shun Republic has granted me the right to defend myself with lethal force. If someone intends to hurt or kill me, I have the right to pay them back in the same manner. In the factory, those people threatened my life, so I killed them.”

The observers fell silent. The echo of Chen Chuan’s words was the only sound.

Many of them stared at him in fear. Some hands even started trembling; they couldn’t tell whether it was because he had obtained the unrestricted defense permit or for some other reason.

“How could he have the unrestricted defense permit?! It has to be fake!” Someone immediately voiced their doubts, and a ruckus broke out.

The judge struck the base of the xiezhi statue. The loud thud drowned out the clamor in the gallery. “Chen Chuan, for the sake of justice and fairness, allow me to inspect your permit.”

“Of course,” Chen Chuan said with a nod.

The judge walked down from the bench and took the card. After inspecting it, he said, “It’s real. The material, number, and name on it all fit the standards. It’s also certainly a Class B permit...”

His words made the gallery fall silent again. Many of the rich and powerful turned pale. They slumped down in their seats, because they knew that with the permit, they could not convict him unless he was caught committing an unprovoked murder or unless the evidence was overwhelmingly against him.

Wei Hang shut his eyes. The worst possible outcome had come to pass.

They had thought about it before. While it was possible that Chen Chuan had the unrestricted defense permit, they couldn’t let him go just because of this. After all, the chances of it being true were infinitesimally low, and what else were they supposed to do? Give up on holding him accountable?

Now, it was proven that Chen Chuan had the unrestricted defense permit, but they had to prosecute him either way.

They could no longer use legal means to have him killed, so Wei Hang had only one option left. It would mean taking a step after which he could not turn back, but his back was against the wall.

He cast a glance at the young man sitting beside him, and the young man gave him a nod. Then, Wei Hang stood up with the help of his cane. “Honored judge and everyone present, I’d like to have a word.”