Chapter 9: Proving Innocence
Xu Le's sudden outburst caught the attention of the night watch team.
Normally, ordinary people stranded outside at this time would either be trembling in fear, too scared to make a sound.
Or they would be truly contaminated by Guyin Duo, their minds unclear and unable to speak coherently.
Someone like Xu Le, who stood up and loudly declared he had no problems, was a first for them in all these years.
So these night watchers hesitated for a moment, and then...
They resumed discussing how to deal with Xu Le.
The earlier pause was merely out of curiosity, while what Xu Le truly wanted to express had been completely ignored by them.
Xu Le knew this was a matter of value.
If he didn't demonstrate some worth, these people wouldn't even care whether he was contaminated or not.
Or rather, disposing of contaminated individuals was just an excuse to abandon them in the wild.
Xu Le calmly looked at the young team member who had examined him earlier.
This person was the one he felt most favorable towards.
He'd start with him.
"I know you don't care about the life or death of an ordinary person.
So... Mr. Wang Shu, you have a Guyin Duo residue on your left leg.
From my perspective, it should be a hidden ghost anomaly fragment.
Although I don't know if you care about such things.
But I imagine carrying these anomaly fragments back to the Lighthouse would cause some trouble, wouldn't it?"
"The Wang Shu you're talking about, is that me?" Wang Shu pointed at himself, asking somewhat uncertainly.
"Yes, it's you," Xu Le nodded.
Wang Shu looked at Xu Le with slight confusion, then glanced at his other teammates.
The others clearly hadn't taken Xu Le's words seriously.
Just an ordinary person, what would he know about anomalies? Did he understand how anomalies were formed?
Talking as if it were true, hah!
Wang Shu hesitated for a moment, then pointed at his left leg and asked uncertainly:
"You mean here?"
"A bit lower," Xu Le pointed downward, and this small gesture made Wang Shu's gaze become serious.
He had been feeling an itch in that spot on his left leg, but he couldn't be sure if this itch was related to the anomaly fragment Xu Le mentioned.
So he deliberately mentioned the wrong location to inquire again.
And Xu Le actually pointed out the exact location of the anomaly fragment, precisely where his left leg was itching.
"Captain!" Wang Shu looked at the captain.
Their daily cooperation made the female captain immediately understand Wang Shu's meaning.
She took out something that looked like an ancient lady's makeup mirror, walked in front of Wang Shu, crouched down, and shone the mirror lightly on his left leg.
Soon, a transparent finger still clinging to Wang Shu's trouser leg appeared in the mirror.
"There really is something?" Some team members looked at the finger with slight surprise.
Their captain had already handed the mirror to Wang Shu, letting him deal with the fragment on his leg himself.
She walked in front of Xu Le, slightly raising her hand:
"Alright, you can say what you want to say now."
Xu Le sighed in relief. His ability had earned him some respect in terms of value.
It gave him a chance to explain himself.
"Sigh, you should be members of the Lighthouse Night Watch, right?"
"Yes."
"Although I don't know what your specific tasks are, as the Lighthouse Night Watch team, you should at least follow the basic Lighthouse civil rights and laws, right?
I'm right here. Before dealing with me, shouldn't you ask for the opinion of the person involved?"
The female captain raised her head with interest:
"Do you think it's necessary?"
Xu Le didn't argue on this point. It was meaningless.
What he needed to do was to keep himself alive:
"I am human, a normal person. I'm not contaminated.
To prove my innocence, I can accept the most stringent and detailed inspection from the Lighthouse.
But before that, you have no right to carry out vigilante justice on me.
Lighthouse Civil Law Article 39-4 states that Lighthouse military forces have the obligation to rescue scattered Lighthouse citizens in the wild.
As a law-abiding citizen of the Lighthouse, a student of Lighthouse University,
I have the right to fight for my life. These are the basic treatments I should receive.
If you kill me here without any regard, it would be trampling on Lighthouse laws and Night Watch rules.
Is that enough, Captain?"
You think Xu Le was using the law to rebuke the Night Watch?
That's small, too narrow-minded.
In fact, Xu Le was using the law to prove he was a normal person.
A person contaminated by Guyin Duo, or just an ordinary person, cannot maintain sound and rational thinking.
Especially those complex Lighthouse laws, even normal people can't remember them all.
Let alone someone contaminated by Guyin Duo.
This self-proof was much more effective than shouting "I swear by XXX, I didn't..."
Looking at the articulate and clear-spoken Xu Le, the woman actually took out a lipstick.
She twisted out the color and applied it to herself.
"Well said."
You know I spoke well, and then what?
Xu Le didn't know for a moment what this woman meant.
Until she put away the lipstick and extended her finger towards him:
"Hello, my name is Bai Jing. I'm the captain of the 6th Squad of Dark Pioneers, the Night Watch for this B2 area.
So, young man who knows the law, what should I call you?"
Xu Le collected himself.
"My name is Xu Le. 'Xu' as in 'perhaps', 'Le' as in 'happy'."
"Alright, Mr. Xu Le, now I know your name.
You're right, as Night Watchers, we shouldn't trample on Lighthouse laws.
I also hope that, as you said, you can endure the most stringent and detailed inspection after we return!
Lastly, do you know why you're still alive?"
From Bai Jing's words, Xu Le keenly noticed the word 'endure'.
These two words were not ordinary!
But now, more important was to answer Bai Jing's question.
"Is this a test?"
"It's not a test."
Looking at her smiling face, Xu Le didn't believe a single punctuation mark.
"I think I should be much stronger than those who just kneel down when faced with problems, crying and begging not to be killed."
"Hmm, I like this answer. Indeed, much stronger."
She was somewhat surprised that Xu Le could maintain such a calm state and clear mind in this situation.
Generally speaking, even if not contaminated by Guyin Duo, most people appearing here at this time would be in a state of panic.
The quality of this young man before her... not bad.
She stared at Xu Le for a while, until he felt uncomfortable, then said with a hint of playfulness:
"Your thinking is quite clear. Studying law at Lighthouse University?"
"I took law as an elective."
"Hmm, I've heard that law students are very proficient in finance. Can you cook the books?"
"No," Xu Le said righteously.
"Well, a gun from Zion costs 45, plus two magazines for 9 dollars.
If I were to file for reimbursement, how much should I report?"
Xu Le's hesitant gaze carried a hint of inquiry:
"459?"
(End of Chapter)
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