"Wait, so that guy really is innocent?"
"Fuck you, I thought he really came to break someone out. I was hoping to escape while he was raising hell."
"That's clearly just sophistry. If the committee actually falls for it, you could call it dereliction of duty!"
The prisoners' chatter was too distant for Tang to hear all of it.
But he knew perfectly well that his sophistry couldn't convince everyone—
That had never been possible to begin with.
As long as his arguments held up and seemed even slightly reasonable, that would be enough to preserve the prison's fairness.
After all, Tang had never intended to walk free on a verdict of innocence:
"I know everything I've said will take time and evidence to substantiate. But now the Great Wall has collapsed, Wind Sand Islet faces threats from within and without, and we still don't know what Damon intends to do with those hundreds of thousands of lives.
"So I'm not trying to clear myself of guilt. I want the prison to postpone today's trial. At the very least, wait until I've uncovered the truth before determining the nature of my offenses today."
Muddying the waters and delaying the trial—that was his real goal.
Once he uncovered the truth, the Collector, Stella, or the hundreds of thousands of people on Wind Sand Islet would find some way to clear his name. Otherwise, he'd have to use the Stone of Oblivion to privately curse the lords of the Eastern Continent as a bunch of animals who only knew how to demand results without offering anything in return.
But all of that required the Warden's consent—
His deep-blue eyes flickered, and the steam pouring from the top of his head grew thicker.
As he pondered, Shalti, Night Wind, and Bella quietly awoke