Chapter 1062: Is This the Work of Hero Lin?

Chapter 1062: Is This the Work of Hero Lin?

Things went smoothly; with just one strike, Lin Nuo crushed everything, exclaiming it was exhilarating.

He always had a distaste for the Royal Guard, initially thinking Luo Yi was just a lackey and not harboring any ill feelings towards her, which is why he didn’t strike them down earlier.

But now that he knew this so-called lackey was actually the Empress, Luo Xiaoxue, it only fueled his anger. Now that he had found them, their lives would be forfeit.

He planned to kill all the elites and then casually set the camp ablaze—one swift act, done and dusted.

But before setting the fire, he thought he should take a look around the camp to see what treasures he could scavenge.

There were quite a few bounty notices regarding him in the camp; was this mass production? Did everyone get one?

Of course, that might be an exaggeration; there were only about a hundred of them. Compared to the tens of thousands gathered here, it wasn’t too overwhelming.

Let’s burn them; just the sight of them irritates me.

Lin Nuo ignited the heaps of bounty notices, and since he didn’t find anything useful in the camp, he figured it was fine to let it go down in flames.

Fire it is. Burn!

As the flames roared to life and spread, the entire military camp was engulfed.

How satisfying.

Lin Nuo clapped his hands. It was time to leave. Just then, a few soldiers rushed in from outside. Upon seeing their camp ablaze, they were astonished and terrified, their legs turned to jelly, collapsing to the ground.

“What—what happened here…? How did their camp catch fire…?”

“How strange, we’d just gone ahead to scout… Look, that’s him!”

They spotted a young boy in the fire, his expression cold and detached.

“It’s Lin Nuo! The one from the bounty notices!”

“Hey, do you think we can claim that bounty…? If you can talk him into going back to the palace, I’ll eat dirt upside down.”

“Let’s give it a shot…”

One soldier stood up, gulping nervously, his mind racing on how to persuade Lin Nuo to return to the palace, but when he opened his mouth, he stumbled over his words:

“L-Lin Hero… ahem… the Emperor… really misses you… Please, return to the palace…”

“Hmm? There are survivors?”

Lin Nuo turned his gaze to the soldiers. They were so weak that he couldn’t even sense a trace of killing intent from them.

“Are you looking to rush back and die?”

Lin Nuo raised his hand, gathering Demon Soul Power above it; with just a gentle wave, they would meet their end.

“Ah! So the fire… Hero, spare us! Hero, please! We mean no harm! We were just trying to get by! We were forced to comply with Han Tao’s orders!”

They hurriedly knelt and begged for mercy, realizing what a mistake they had made!

Han Tao plotted rebellion, and by following him, they were guilty of a grave crime. Lin Nuo assisted Luo Xiaoxue in ascending the throne, so he certainly wouldn’t tolerate such acts, which is why he burned the camp and aimed to kill all the traitors. Hence, they were in the wrong.

This was great disloyalty, and they would surely face retribution, but still hoped that Hero Lin could show mercy!

“Besides you, how many others are still around?” Lin Nuo asked.

“Just us… Unless others are out, there’s no one left… We were sent to scout, and now we’re back… We never intended to serve Han Tao; we were just forced into it…”

They continued to kneel in supplication, their heads reddening from incessantly banging against the ground.

Lackeys who shout slogans all day, willing to die for their homeland, yet now begging for mercy—such faith is laughable.

Cowards, truly nauseating.

You all should just die.

“You may leave now; go, just go.” Lin Nuo stated indifferently.

“Ah, thank you, Hero! Thank you!”

They repeatedly thanked Lin Nuo, hurriedly getting to their feet to flee. However, they hadn’t run very far when Lin Nuo shot a magic bullet at them—just like that, they were gone.

“Letting you go meant to die, not that you actually get to escape. How naive.”

He withdrew his hand and turned to leave.

……

In the capital, the Royal Palace.

“Han Tao actually took the liberty to call away a batch of elites to join forces with Qin Dao! How could I, the Luo family, have treated him well, only for this betrayal!”

Luo Xiaoxue, now aware of Han Tao’s schemes, realized it was too late. Han Tao had left with the elites, joining forces with Qin Dao, which would surely allow him to breach several city defenses smoothly.

Qin Dao hadn’t made a move yet, not because he was afraid; it would be easy for him to strike if he wanted to. However, he hadn’t acted yet, likely wanting to capture cities intact rather than leaving them in ruins.

But the Qin Dao army had many demons among them, with many dying under the torment during their transformation, so the common people believed that if the Qin Dao army came, they would definitely face death and would fiercely resist, never back down to surrender.

If Han Tao rebelled, with his connections and the authority of the Royal Guard, it was very likely that the cities would fall without a fight.

At that time, the people would think they were following General Han Tao, not Qin Dao, but in fact, Qin Dao would use Han Tao to impose rule over the cities.

This is troublesome. The cities must be falling now, and Han Tao would inevitably provoke more people to rebel. This chain reaction would lead to a collapse.

Having just ascended to the throne, and with public sentiment still unsteady, this situation was undoubtedly a heavy blow.

If only she could eliminate Han Tao before he joined forces with Qin Dao.

But there was no way; she had to respond strategically.

“Immediately summon all the strategists for discussions on countermeasures!”

Luo Xiaoxue hastily called for a meeting with the strategists, when suddenly, a servant rushed in with urgency:

“Your Majesty! All of Han Tao’s elites are dead!”

“Hmm? All dead? Who killed them?”

Luo Xiaoxue was startled; just moments ago she was worrying about Han Tao’s betrayal, and now he was actually dead.

“The details are unclear. A scouting unit went to investigate and found Han Tao’s camp engulfed in flames, but no one appeared to escape, so they must be dead. However, we also didn’t see any foreign troops attacking them.”

“Hmm? Such a thing?”

Luo Xiaoxue pondered briefly, wondering if it were possible that they had turned on themselves and burned down the camp.

It was possible, but the likelihood was low.

“Your Majesty, someone reported seeing the figure of a man at that moment, but he was incredibly fast; they only caught a glimpse and couldn’t see his appearance clearly. I suspect he may be related to this.”

“A man, incredibly fast? It couldn’t be…”

Hearing this, an image of a person materialized in Luo Xiaoxue’s mind.

Lin Nuo.

A man as suave as the wind, appearing and disappearing without a trace, able to take the enemy general’s head amidst thousands of troops—unparalleled in the world.

It was very likely him. After all, Han Tao’s batch of elites was strong. If his camp was set ablaze without a substantial army attacking them, it was very likely the work of an individual. Who but Lin Nuo could pull off something like that?

Moreover, Lin Nuo had ample reason to act; having paved the way for her ascension, he would surely be aware of Han Tao’s intentions and would come to eliminate them, relieving her of worry.

Yes, it must be so.

Oh dear, how shameful. Having just ascended to the throne, I still have to rely on Hero Lin.