Humiliation

"The Long Family really is cold-blooded and heartless. Just because Long Fei and his sisters' mother came from an ordinary family, they treated him like an outsider. Now that they've discovered Long Fei's talent, they want to call him back. When he refused, this is how you treated him. Your Long Family will pay the price sooner or later." Li Xiucheng spoke as he piloted the Proto Gundam Thunderbolt.

"Long Taotian, even if these MS units you brought are newly developed by the Long Family, their performance is inferior to the GM Mobile Suit, let alone this Brave Tiger MS that's already more than ten years old."

Within minutes, several GM Mobile Suit squads led by Li Xiucheng swiftly shot down every MS squad around Long Taotian and took control of all the Escort Ships.

Long Taotian slumped in his chair. He knew he was going to suffer badly next.

Taiga and Gude were escorted onto one space shuttle, while Long Taotian was shackled at the wrists and ankles and forced onto another.

Looking out the window, Taiga and Gude saw two Albion MS Carriers. Skywing Arms Manufacturing Company could not only produce ultra-high-performance Gundams, but also such formidable MS Carriers.

Both regretted rashly picking a target they never should have provoked.

The two space shuttles entered Albion 1.

After getting off the shuttles, the two were led by mercenaries to a room.

Once they were invited inside, Long Fei was seated on the sofa, brewing tea.

Long Fei gestured for them to sit.

After exchanging glances, they sat on the sofa opposite Long Fei, both trembling slightly.

Long Fei picked up the teapot and poured three cups of tea. He pushed two of them toward the pair and asked, "I wonder whether the two of you are accustomed to our Hanxia Empire tea?"

"Yes."

"I can drink it."

They answered in somewhat stiff tones.

"Gentlemen, there's no need to be nervous." Long Fei smiled, picked up his teacup, blew on it, and took a light sip.

Though still nervous inside, the noble upbringing they had received since childhood allowed them to quickly calm themselves. They picked up their cups and drank with composed expressions.

"Hanxia Nation tea is bitter, but it also carries a cool, clean fragrance. It is quite refreshing as well," Gude said as he sampled the tea.

"That's right. It tastes bitter when it enters the mouth, but after swallowing it, there's a feeling of freshness and invigoration." Taiga drained his cup and played with it in his hand as he spoke.

Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought the three were friends sharing tea and chatting, never knowing their private armed forces had just slaughtered one another.

Long Fei poured more tea and said, "Exactly. Different peoples have different styles of drinking tea."

Taiga and Gude continued drinking.

"I invited you two here for tea to thank the mercenary groups you brought for having such an excellent sparring session with my mercenary corps. This tea is my thanks for your enthusiasm."

Their brows twitched as they caught Long Fei's implication.

"Yes, the three of us." Gude immediately responded.

"Gentlemen, I'm sure you have many important matters to attend to, so I won't keep you any longer. Farewell for now; we can talk again another day." As Long Fei spoke, he filled both of their cups to the brim.

The two understood Hanxia Nation tea-table etiquette. A full cup meant the host was seeing guests off.

They drained their tea in one gulp and thanked Long Fei for it.

"See the guests out."

A mercenary escorted the two out of the room in Long Fei's stead and arranged for each of them to board a space shuttle back to the mercenary corps they respectively commanded.

Not long after they left, Li Jiaming entered the room and asked Long Fei, "Boss, will you see Long Taotian?"

Long Fei stood up. "Sure. I'd like to see him. Has our hospitality satisfied him?"

"I'd say he'll remember it for the rest of his life."

Long Taotian was currently locked in a detention room, bare-chested and wearing only underwear. Every part of his body was bruised purple and blue.

Two mercenaries stood beside him, using various tools on him.

He was sprawled on the ground, begging for mercy. There was none of the usual arrogant, prideful young master left in him. Instead, he looked like a commoner being trampled beneath someone's feet.

"Please, don't!"

One mercenary grabbed his right foot while the other raised a wrench, preparing to bring it down on his right knee.

Just as the wrench was about to fall, the door opened. Upon seeing who had entered, the two mercenaries immediately stopped and saluted Long Fei.

Long Fei entered the detention room, followed by the commander-in-chief. A mercenary brought over a chair and placed it behind Long Fei for him to sit on.

Seated in the chair, Long Fei looked at his utterly disheveled cousin, who had been served with torture.

"Long Fei! Long Fei! How dare you treat me like this! Grandfather will never let you off!" Long Taotian shouted angrily at Long Fei through tears.

"If he dares to avenge you, I wouldn't mind giving him a proper welcome too. I'd just have to think carefully about how to entertain him. Otherwise, he'd die after only a few rounds."

After saying that, Long Fei stood and planted a foot on the back of Long Taotian's head.

"Look at how pathetic you are now. This isn't the Long Family's Young Master Long Taotian, who usually looks down on people of ordinary birth and loves trampling commoners whenever he pleases."

"Look at your situation now. Isn't this exactly how you usually bully ordinary civilians? It's just that the roles have changed. Now it's me—the bastard with lowborn blood in the eyes of the Long Family—trampling you, the noble-blooded young master of the Long Family. Tell me, how does it feel?"

"Go to hell!" Long Taotian stubbornly refused to yield.

"Hahaha, you've got some backbone. But earlier, outside the door, I heard you begging like a pig being slaughtered. What, is Young Master Long trying to maintain his lofty dignity in front of me?"

The mercenary who had been holding the wrench prepared to strike Long Taotian's right knee.

Long Fei raised his right hand to stop him.

"Come, help this young master of the Long Family up. Don't let him kneel, lest it disgrace his status."

When Long Taotian was helped to his feet, both his legs trembled and he could barely stand steadily.

Long Fei drove a heavy punch into Long Taotian's stomach.

"Waaah!" Long Taotian screamed in agony and vomited up stomach fluid. Clutching his belly with both hands, he dropped to his knees.

Long Fei crouched down and mocked him. "Young Master Long Taotian, why are you kneeling? You're the lofty young master of the Long Family. You should stand tall as you usually do, using those contemptuous eyes to treat everyone you regard as commoners like ants. Kneeling like this, you can't look down on everything from on high."

Long Taotian raised his head and glared at Long Fei with hatred.

"Yes, that's the look. Back then, many people you trampled looked at you with those very same eyes. I'll never forget how you oppressed my third sister, how you stepped on her face in front of everyone and humiliated her with all those vile words. Today, you'll get a taste of how the people you trampled felt."

After saying that, Long Fei stood and ordered the mercenaries to throw him into the hangar.

In the hangar, Long Taotian was thrown into the center as everyone present gathered around to watch him.

From above, Long Fei addressed them all. "My dear mercenaries, allow me to introduce this young master of the Long Family, Long Taotian. Though he is my cousin by status, he has never regarded me or my sisters as family. Because our mother was of ordinary birth, he considered my sisters and me bastards mixed with lowborn blood. This Young Master Long Taotian has no ability whatsoever and relies only on his birth. He often tramples on and looks down upon people of ordinary origins, and he has committed countless evil deeds."

"Once, he took a fancy to a beautiful schoolmate from an ordinary background. When he pursued her and was rejected, his pride was wounded. In his mind, only he could reject the requests of lowborn people; lowborn people had no right to reject his requests. Otherwise, they were humiliating him and deserved punishment. So he had some people kidnap that campus beauty, then violated her. To retaliate for her rejection, he even had the people involved in the kidnapping ravage her as well."

As Long Fei said this, every mercenary present, male or female, had fury in their eyes as they glared at Long Taotian.

Long Fei continued, "Later, unable to bear seeing their daughter so violated, that girl's parents went to the police in hopes of obtaining justice for her. But Long Taotian used his family's influence to bribe the police and turn the tables, claiming the girl had willingly slept with him and was merely trying to extort him. Then he bribed countless media outlets to smear her and her family. Unable to endure the slander and the destruction of her honor, she finally took her own life."

"You trash!"

"Bastard!"

"Animal!"

The mercenaries roared in fury.

Long Fei continued listing Long Taotian's evil deeds one by one. By then, the mercenaries wanted nothing more than to skin him alive and devour him, or use torture to vent the victims' anger.

The two mercenaries who had been "entertaining" Long Taotian in the detention room, upon hearing their boss recount Long Taotian's crimes, wished they had been even harsher earlier.

Long Taotian trembled uncontrollably. At that moment, he felt that everyone around him wanted to kill him.

Long Taotian deeply regretted trying to capture Long Fei and not listening to his aunt.

Long Taotian had not understood at all that what was about to happen to him was not the result of trying to capture Long Fei, but of the evil deeds he had committed in the past.

If Long Taotian had not committed those evil deeds or oppressed Long Fei's sisters, then at most, he would have been beaten up, warned by Long Fei, and allowed to leave.