Student Martin

"Not bad."

Hawkins did not deny it after hearing Pei Jin out.

But Pei Jin's gaze turned cold as he looked at Hawkins. "Owl, you've changed. You stink just like those politicians from back then."

Owl had been the codename Hawkins and Pei Jin used when they were soldiers together. Back then, neither knew the other's name, and they addressed each other only by their codenames.

It was only after the war ended, when Pei Jin was posthumously recognized as a martyr, that Hawkins learned his real name.

"I shower every day. I guarantee I don't stink. If you don't believe me, take a whiff." Hawkins smiled and held out his hand, only for Pei Jin to slap it away.

Hawkins put away his smile and explained seriously, "I know why you're angry. You think I sacrificed the people of the Sea of Heroes, using human lives to achieve my goal?"

"Wasn't that exactly what you did? Every person in those coastal villages died for your goal," Pei Jin retorted.

Though he had killed countless enemies as a soldier, and quite a few people after becoming a player, he had never laid a hand on the innocent, never harmed ordinary civilians.

The bottom line in his heart had always been his most precious treasure, something not to be sullied.

Hawkins knew Pei Jin's personality well, so he explained, "I merely know more than most, but I'm no savior. It was only a matter of time before they broke the seal and emerged, and the longer it was delayed, the more dangerous it would become.

"The choice I made now was the optimal one. It has indirectly saved countless lives already. As for the people you call sacrifices, that was merely one link in the chain of their original fate. If