292: Resist or surrender?

De Ming’s face was ashen, his lips trembling slightly. After a moment of hesitation, he finally managed to utter a few words.

“There is indeed a troublesome matter… and it’s a huge one… He silenced the Supervisory Group.”

De Ming’s voice was low and hoarse, as if he had expended all his strength. Each word was like a heavy bomb, exploding in this confined space.

“Ah!”

Upon hearing this, Nuo Lei and Er Pu’s faces instantly turned ashen white, as if struck by a bolt of lightning, and they were completely stunned.

“You’re joking, right? De Ming, this kind of joke is not to be made…”

Nuo Lei forced a smile, trying to convince himself that this was just a bad joke from De Ming.

His voice trembled slightly, yet his eyes revealed a hint of unease and anticipation, hoping that De Ming would tell him in the next second that it was just a prank.

However, when he saw De Ming’s serious expression, devoid of any hint of jest, and then glanced at Hei, who kept his head down, not daring to meet their eyes, Nuo Lei and Er Pu were completely dumbfounded.

Nuo Lei felt a surge of anger welling up from the bottom of his heart and couldn’t help but curse inwardly.

“You motherfucker, you’re going to get us all killed!”

“You’re not joking, are you?”

Nuo Lei, with a last glimmer of hope, looked at De Ming with a serious and burning gaze, as if trying to find a flaw in De Ming’s eyes.

“I’m not joking, he really did it…”

De Ming slowly shook his head, his tone resolute yet full of helplessness, as if pronouncing his own death sentence.

“You motherfucker!”

Nuo Lei could no longer suppress the rage in his heart. Like an enraged bull, he rushed forward, grabbed Hei by the collar, and unleashed a barrage of punches.

His eyes were wide and burning with fury. As he beat Hei, he cursed loudly.

“You idiot! You big idiot! What the hell were you thinking? Why attack the Supervisory Group? If you don’t want to live, fine, but we still want to live! You’re going to drag all of us to hell!”

At this moment, Nuo Lei had completely lost control of his emotions; anger consumed his entire being.

Hei screamed repeatedly as he was beaten, his face bruised and swollen. He covered his head with his hands, begging for mercy incessantly.

“Stop hitting me, stop hitting me… I didn’t expect this to happen either…”

Meanwhile, De Ming and Er Pu silently watched the scene unfold before them. Their fists were clenched tightly, knuckles white from the effort, which also showed their anger at the moment. They too wanted to join the “fight” and give Hei, the one who caused such a huge disaster, a good lesson.

But they knew in their hearts that if they really did that, Hei would likely be beaten to death.

Yet, even so, the anger in their hearts remained difficult to quell.

“Enough…”

Er Pu finally couldn’t help but speak up to stop them. Although he was also extremely angry, he knew that now was not the time to vent their fury. They had to quickly find a way to deal with this mess, otherwise everyone would be doomed.

“Alright, if you keep hitting him, he’ll really die. How will we explain it to the higher-ups then?”

Seeing that Hei was already half-dead, slumped on the ground, bleeding from his nose and mouth, De Ming finally came to his senses. He quickly stepped forward, reached out to stop Nuo Lei, who was still intent on continuing the assault, and put an end to this almost out-of-control farce.

At this moment, Hei’s eyes were tightly shut, his body twitching slightly, emitting faint moans, as if he could breathe his last at any moment.

“So what do we do now?”

Nuo Lei, his face full of anger and despair, turned and yelled at De Ming.

“The Supervisory Group is gone. Once the higher-ups learn of this news, they will definitely launch a comprehensive purge of our Wanjing Star System. At that time, all the things we’ve done over the years will definitely be completely exposed!”

As the highest Commander of the Guard Division, Nuo Lei was all too aware of how serious the nature of this matter was.

Under the Empire’s ruling system, even the accidental death of an ordinary official with administrative rank would draw high attention from the superior departments, and the entire Galaxy would undergo a thorough investigation and crackdown. Moreover, this time, the entire Supervisory Group was killed. This was practically an open challenge to the Empire’s authority, and the consequences were unimaginable.

The more Nuo Lei spoke, the angrier he became, feeling that it still wasn’t enough. He kicked Hei hard again, and Hei groaned in pain, then completely passed out.

“Now, we only have two paths before us…”

De Ming took a deep breath, trying to calm his emotions. A hint of resolve appeared in his eyes as he slowly spoke.

“One is to resist to the end…”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone’s faces. Fear and confusion were written on each person’s face.

“With the influence we’ve built in the Wanjing Star System over the years, perhaps there’s still a slim chance of survival. But this path is undoubtedly to openly oppose the Empire. The chances of success are minuscule, and once we fail, an eternal damnation awaits us.”

De Ming’s voice was low and hoarse, each word like a heavy stone, pressing down on everyone’s hearts.

De Ming had not even finished speaking when Nuo Lei, like an enraged lion, impatiently interrupted him.

“Impossible! Resist to the end?”

Nuo Lei’s eyes widened, filled with disbelief and anger, his voice becoming sharp with agitation.

“What will you resist with? Do you know that if things get any more serious, the nature of the matter will completely change? It will no longer be a general anti-gang and evil crackdown, but outright rebellion!”

Nuo Lei spoke, waving his arms, as if to vent all the anger in his heart.

Nuo Lei was no fool; he knew better than anyone that choosing to resist to the end would undoubtedly lead him to his death. Moreover, it wouldn’t just be about him; even his family would be mercilessly dragged into it and suffer a catastrophic disaster.

Thinking of this, Nuo Lei’s body couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

“Then there’s only one last path left…”

De Ming’s voice came as if from a deep valley, carrying endless helplessness and despair.

“That is to surrender now. While the higher-ups haven’t started large-scale operations yet, the earlier we surrender, perhaps the lighter the charges will be. If we wait until the higher-ups have launched a full-scale investigation before surrendering, by then, the situation will be completely different.”

After De Ming finished speaking, he stared blankly ahead, already seeing his bleak future.

Upon hearing this, Nuo Lei and Er Pu both fell silent.

The office was eerily quiet, with only the ticking of the wall clock, mercilessly counting down.

As for Hei, he remained unconscious on the floor, completely unaware of everything happening around him.

“Sigh, let’s surrender…”

After a long silence, which felt like an eternity, Nuo Lei finally spoke slowly, his voice carrying a hint of relief mixed with deep sorrow.

“Even if sentenced to death, at least it won’t affect my family.”

After saying this, he seemed to have all his strength drained away, slumping into his chair, his eyes filled with fear and confusion about his future fate.

“Indeed, given the current situation, this is the best option right now.”

De Ming sighed deeply, his eyes filled with helplessness and unwillingness.