Primal Angry Owl Sect

The Marines' electromagnetic rifles opened fire in a fierce volley.

Under the fierce barrage, the middle-aged man could no longer launch a counterattack like before. He could only struggle to maintain a Storm Shield, keeping himself from being shot dead.

But he was about to give out.

Supernatural powers were certainly strong, but they couldn't withstand the full force of several Electromagnetic Rifles. The fact that he'd held out for a few seconds was already astonishing.

The Storm Shield was on the verge of giving way. The ordinary human body behind it wouldn't be able to take even one Metal Spike before being killed.

But just then, the Marines stopped firing.

At that moment, only one person could have made them stop attacking: Gu Hang.

"Take him alive."

Yan Fangxu raised his fist to signal a ceasefire.

By then, the Storm Shield around the man had grown very weak. The white, swirling storm had faded until it was almost gone.

The man himself was pale, partly from fear of his desperate situation and partly from the misery of having expended too much Psionic Power.

Gu Hang stepped forward and simply waved a hand. An invisible blade of soul found the exposed weakness in the Storm Shield and cut through it.

The backlash from the Psionic Power made the middle-aged man spit out a mouthful of blood.

Gu Hang studied his face for a moment, then said, "You're Vaughan, right? We've met once, when I first arrived on this planet."

At Gu Hang's words, a little more life returned to Vaughan's dull eyes, as if he'd finally recognized him.

Without even wiping the blood from his mouth, he said, "Governor... Governor, I can explain... I..."

He faltered there.

"Hm? Why did you stop? Don't even know how to make excuses?"

Vaughan really didn't know what to say.

There was no point in lying outright. He'd just stolen the cargo and brought it back; it hadn't even made it into the warehouse yet, and the governor's forces had already arrived and crushed the mercenaries he'd worked with for years.

Caught red-handed with the goods, how could he possibly make excuses?

"I lost, Governor. I accept every charge. I surrender to you completely. I beg you, spare my life. I'm willing to pay any price..."

As he spoke, he struggled to move, then knelt and bowed low before Gu Hang.

He was doing his best to show how sincere he was.

Gu Hang smiled broadly. "Only when you've reached a dead end do you realize you should turn back. Isn't it a little late for that? Vaughan, I'm sorry. You were once an Alliance councilor. You should have been part of the planetary government under the governor, eligible to become an official recognized by the Empire. But you committed serious crimes: robbing cargo, attacking the governor, paying lip service while acting against him, and... colluding with a heretical cult."

"I admit to everything... What? Colluding with a heretical cult? No, no..." At those last four words, Vaughan's eyes widened.

He wasn't some ignorant commoner. He understood perfectly well what that meant.

If it had only been the first three charges, he might still have had a chance. After all, his greatest crime was simply opposing the governor. He'd lost, but he hadn't lost everything.

He still had businesses and influence in Revival City, and controlled a major share of the grain trade. Those things should be valuable to the governor. If he surrendered completely, handed it all over, and became a loyal, reliable dog for the governor, he might really survive. Or perhaps he could weather the crisis and, in a couple of years, when this governor was finished, become a major figure in Revival City again.

But if he was implicated in a heretical cult, he was finished.

Across the Empire, heretics and cultists were considered the most serious internal traitors, guilty of unforgivable crimes. There was only one faith within the Empire: the great God-Emperor.

The heretical cults on Nuxiao Planet had it a little better—but only a little. The planet faced so many threats to humanity's survival that there simply wasn't enough room to carry out a large-scale purge of heretics.

But that didn't mean confirmed heretics would be treated gently.

On Nuxiao Planet, heretics were practically synonymous with the Primal Owlbear Cult.

Nuxiao Planet had been named after a huge predatory land animal that lived there before the world-ending war. It had the body of a giant bear covered in feathers, an owl-like head, and antlers. Judging by the surviving records, the creature had looked rather goofy and cute, and was mild-tempered and gentle—but when angered, it was extremely ferocious.

The cult believed that on the once-beautiful Nuxiao Planet, the owlbear had represented all that was good. The first owlbear had been born alongside the planet, becoming a god who protected the whole world. The war that destroyed the world had enraged the Primal Owlbear, and its fury had become the Wasteland Energy Storms that raged eternally across the planet's surface. The storms would not cease until humanity had atoned for its sins.

The Primal Owlbear Cult devoted itself to atonement. Aside from their own religious rituals, their most important act of penance was sacrificing sinners who refused to follow their beliefs to the gods, in the hope of earning "forgiveness."

They had also caused considerable destruction. The horrifying blood sacrifices were bad enough, though human life was cheap on Nuxiao Planet anyway. Being eaten by a mutant monster, starving to death, dying of disease, or being sacrificed by a cult didn't seem all that different.

But the cult didn't target only a few people. These cultists wanted the entire planet to atone to their god. They had caused multiple disasters that wiped out entire settlements and worked to expand the areas contaminated by Wasteland Energy Storms. That meant fewer fields could be farmed, mineral deposits couldn't be used, and factories built with investment were ruined.

That made them enemies of everyone.

Whether he looked at it from the perspective of Imperial law or the situation on Nuxiao Planet, Vaughan knew that if he was found guilty of colluding with a heretical cult, he would die.

He regretted it bitterly now. Why had he used a storm spell when the other side broke down the door?

And worse, he couldn't escape!

All he could do was keep trying to explain himself. "Governor, please believe me! I didn't collude with a heretical cult! I don't even know them! I... I... I just suddenly realized one day that I could use..."

Gu Hang nodded. "I've heard your statement, and I'll investigate it. Next, you'll be interrogated. Tell us everything you know. Finally, I'll hold your trial in Revival City and deliver the final verdict. Don't worry. It won't take long. You'll soon get what you deserve."