172: Chapter 171 A ten-meter-tall alchemy manual slams onto the table! The generals are all stunned.
By the time the motorcade drove into the Donghai City Military District compound, the sky was pitch black.
The dim yellow light of the streetlamps spilled onto the asphalt road, casting circles of hazy halos.
The sycamore trees on both sides swayed gently in the night breeze, their leaves rustling as if whispering secrets.
The car stopped in front of a three-story gray building.
Two sentries with live ammunition stood at the entrance; seeing the license plate, they saluted simultaneously.
Lin Feng pushed open the car door and got out.
The night breeze hit him with the chill of early autumn, and he pulled up the zipper of his jacket.
Xiaoguang poked half a head out of his left pocket, its golden body glowing slightly under the streetlights like a moving little golden bean.
Xiaojin lay on his right shoulder, clutching half a Spirit Stone and munching on it with a crunching sound.
Debris fell onto his shoulder, and Lin Feng casually flicked it away.
"This is the place."
The General got out of the car behind; his military overcoat was draped over him again, and the lieutenant general rank on his shoulders glinted coldly under the streetlights.
He walked up to Lin Feng and looked up at the small building.
"The conference room is on the third floor. Everyone has arrived."
"Everyone?"
Lin Feng looked at him sideways.
The General's mouth twitched, as if he wanted to laugh but held it back.
"You kid caused too much of a stir this time—over a hundred lives, all killed by you alone. The foreign affairs department's phones are ringing off the hook. Plus the matter of the Taotie, the Secret Realm, and that massive pile of Materials... the heads of several departments are here, waiting to hear your personal report."
Lin Feng nodded and said nothing.
Zhao Gang and Su Xue also got out of the car behind.
Zhao Gang had changed into a clean military uniform, but a section of the sleeve was still missing—it had been corroded away when he was swiped by the Taotie's tail in the Secret Realm, now revealing his forearm wrapped in bandages.
Faint traces of blood seeped through the bandages, but his spirit was quite good.
Su Xue was still in that white Explorer uniform, her hair tied in a neat ponytail.
A pair of short swords with white scabbards hung at her waist as she followed behind Zhao Gang with light steps.
"Let's go, don't keep the chiefs waiting too long."
Staff Officer Zhao got out of the passenger seat, holding a tablet computer with a screen full of recorded data from this Secret Realm expedition.
He pushed up his glasses and whispered to Lin Feng.
"The people coming tonight are all big shots: from the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of State Security, and the head of the Explorers Association. Watch your tone, don't be as impulsive as you were in the Secret Realm."
Lin Feng glanced at him, said nothing, and stepped into the building.
The conference room was large, capable of holding at least fifty people.
At the moment, a dozen people were sitting inside, all middle-aged men over forty or fifty, wearing various uniforms—military uniforms, Zhongshan suits, and Explorer uniforms.
The shoulder straps and badges on their chests sparkled under the lights.
They sat behind a huge oval conference table with teacups and folders in front of them, their expressions serious and their gazes sharp.
When the General walked in, everyone stood up.
He waved his hand, signaling everyone to sit, then pulled out the chair at the head of the table but didn't sit. Instead, he turned around and beckoned toward the door.
"Come in."
The moment Lin Feng stepped into the conference room, a dozen gazes snapped onto him in unison.
Among those gazes were scrutiny, curiosity, appraisal, and a few with obvious doubt.
After all, standing before them was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth wearing an ordinary black jacket, a black-sheathed longsword at his waist, and a dung beetle munching on a Spirit Stone perched on his shoulder.
"It's him?"
A white-haired old man in a deep blue Zhongshan suit frowned slightly and turned to look at the General.
His hair was combed meticulously, his face was thin, and he wore old-fashioned round-framed glasses, looking like an old scholar.
But those eyes were very bright, like two blades hidden in their scabbards.
The General nodded.
"It's him. Lin Feng, S-Rank Explorer, recipient of the National Hero title. He defeated seven Iron Bone Clan warriors alone in the Yanjiao arena and decapitated a Taotie alone in the Kunlun Ruins Secret Realm, killing... forget it, you all know these things, I won't say more."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"If you have any questions, ask him directly."
A middle-aged woman in an Explorer uniform spoke first.
She was the representative sent by the Explorers Association, in her early forties with neat short hair; her face had almost no wrinkles, well-maintained.
She looked at Lin Feng, her gaze lingering on the dragon slaying sword at his waist for a moment before moving to his face.
"Comrade Lin Feng, I am Secretary General Wang of the Explorers Association. First, on behalf of the Association, I thank you for your contribution at the Yanjiao arena—that victory reclaimed the exclusive rights to a Secret Realm we had lost for ten years; it is of great significance. Secondly..."
She paused, her tone becoming a bit more serious.
"Regarding the Kunlun Ruins Secret Realm, we need a detailed report. The conditions inside, the distribution of monsters, the types of Restrictions, and... the specific causes of death for those Explorers."
Lin Feng looked at her and fell silent for two seconds.
Then he spoke, his voice not loud, but in the quiet conference room, everyone heard him clearly.
"The report can be written. But let's be clear—most of those people were killed by me. Should I write that in!"
The conference room went silent.
It was so quiet that one could hear the rustling of leaves in the wind outside.
One could hear the humming of the old-fashioned air conditioner in the corner.
One could hear the crisp crunching of Xiaojin munching on the Spirit Stone.
The white-haired old man—the one from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—held his teacup frozen in mid-air, his lips slightly parted as if he wanted to say something but forgot the words.
Secretary General Wang's eyes widened, her fingers unconsciously clutching the documents in front of her.
A middle-aged man in military uniform sitting in the corner had originally been crossing his legs; hearing this, he put his leg down and leaned forward slightly, staring at Lin Feng.
"You... what did you say?"
The white-haired old man put down his teacup and adjusted his reading glasses.
He was the Deputy Director of the East Asian Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, surnamed Zhou, in his fifties; he had been in diplomacy for most of his life and had seen countless tough nuts.
But this youth before him made him almost spit out his tea as soon as he opened his mouth.
"I said, those people were killed by me. Around a hundred and forty of them, I didn't count carefully."
Lin Feng's voice was very calm, as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.
"They were stealing our ancestors' things, so I killed them."
Deputy Director Zhou was stunned for a long time before he reacted, snapping his head toward the General.
"You... did you hear that?"
The General leaned back in his chair, picked up his teacup, and took a sip, his expression very calm.
"I heard it."
"And this is your attitude? Over a hundred lives! Involving dozens of countries! How will we explain this diplomatically? How will we respond to international public opinion? The United Nations—"
"Old Zhou."
The General put down his teacup and interrupted him, his voice calm but every word carrying weight.
"Those people entered a Huaxia Secret Realm and tried to steal things belonging to Huaxia's ancestors. They signed a waiver—'The Secret Realm is dangerous, enter at your own risk'. It's there in black and white on the agreement. They want an explanation? The agreement is the explanation."
Deputy Director Zhou opened his mouth to refute, but then felt the General's words were reasonable, and for a moment he actually didn't know how to respond.
He had spent most of his life in diplomacy, relying on that mouth of his that could turn black into white.
But at this moment, he found all his diplomatic rhetoric useless—because the General was telling the truth.
The agreement was indeed signed, the words were indeed written, and those people had indeed sought their own deaths.