The accusations of the two, and the details accused by the team leader, all matched up. The seamless narrative only made Bianka feel suffocated.
She didn't know why these people had all started to identify her, and they spoke so vividly and corroborated each other, making Bianka wonder if she had really done such a thing without remembering it.
No... it was definitely not her! She remembered every single thing that had happened in the past few days clearly. This was definitely not her doing!
But why did everyone say it was her fault? Why did everyone say they saw her do such a thing...
Could it be... that they were lying?
But how could she prove that she hadn't done it? The only thing she could think of was to have others prove it for her, and now the witnesses were on the opposite side...
What should she do...
The pressure around her made it hard to breathe, and the gazes around her were like thorns on her back. She turned her head and subconsciously cast a last plea for help to Cecilia, only to see that everyone around Cecilia had avoided her gaze.
Only Cecilia looked at her with an unbearable gaze.
In the end, she closed her eyes and sighed softly.
Wasn't she on her side either?
Bianka squatted down in pain, returning to the posture of wrapping herself up.
The accusations in her ears were like sharp blades, constantly cutting into her heart, leaving it bloody and scarred.
The wind in the desert seemed to be getting stronger, and the dust that was kicked up blurred the skyline into a hazy yellow. Suddenly, many people at the scene closed their eyes in discomfort, and the sand in their eyes forced them to raise their hands to rub them.
But the old man just raised his eyes slightly, glanced at the dim yellow skyline, and then lowered his head, raising his hand to signal the two to stop.
"Do you have any more objections?" he asked Bianka, who was squatting down, in a symbolic manner, and then raised his hand and waved at a black shadow behind him.
"Since there are no more objections, let's get started," the old man said indifferently, then turned his head. In the city, the screen on the sky focused on the old man's front.
"Audience of the City of Sighs, as you can see, this is a heartbreaking trial," the sound of the wind whistled, mixed with the rustling sound of sand, and mixed with the old man's old voice, making it difficult to hear clearly.
But what he said was generally correct. After all, the facts were already in front of them, so what was the need for rebuttal?
This was not the era when the internet had just emerged and everyone was anonymous online. Rebuttal here would be investigated!
"Seeing such a result, I am very sad. I believe no one would want to see such a result," the old man sighed long and showed everyone a compassionate expression.
"But it did happen, it happened to such a seemingly harmless person, it happened around us, and even to you, to me, and right before our eyes."
Following the old man's finger, the crowd saw the witnesses who had identified Bianka.
"You may be very confused as to why I would sentence such a serious crime for this small matter," the old man pulled back the camera, his gaze passing through the sky screen and falling on everyone.
"Such a crime was just a small matter in the past. It could be covered up with compensation, silencing, and some other news to lower the heat. The perpetrator could still do whatever they wanted, and the victim had nowhere to seek justice.
"I believe many of you have not heard of this, and that is because this is the method they used on you in the past..."
The city was in an uproar again.
Because after repeated thinking, the crowd found that they really had no such memory.
"I told you! This is their usual trick!" Someone finally seized the opportunity and immediately spoke up in agreement with some excitement.
"But it's not possible now," the old man showed everyone a smile: "Because now it's after the Honkai, a time when we all have to unite and do our best.
"We can't tolerate any filth. We need to live, and we need to gather all the strength we can to have a chance to get through this difficult time. Only by being united and sharing weal and woe can we continue to live before this Honkai."
"So from today onwards, in order to prevent such disputes from happening again, I once again announce that the City of Sighs will reclaim all survival resources such as water, food, and cloth, and instead adopt a system of distribution according to need and wartime supply!"
The boiling city instantly fell silent. It took less than a second for everyone to go from boiling to silent.
The wartime rationing system, this term was very unfamiliar to the people here, but not too unfamiliar.
Everyone knew what kind of system it was, but they had not personally experienced such an era. Reason told them that this was a very serious matter, but psychologically they felt that it was not a big deal.
And the old man seemed to see the quietness in the city, and the smile on his face became more and more prosperous.
"The guards in the city have already assembled. Please don't be afraid. They will go to every household to collect all the supplies. Please don't resist."
His words paused for a moment, and then his face became a little gloomy, "If anyone tries to destroy our collective and our hope of survival during the collection of supplies, we will also conduct a corresponding trial on your actions.
"And the supply collection plan cannot be delayed. Therefore, all acts of resistance will be regarded as destruction of the collective. Therefore, I grant all members of the guard the right to enforce the law with violence, and allow you to use force to teach a lesson to all those who try to destroy the collective!"
"Bang—!!"
As soon as the words fell, a few sounds of violent door-breaking suddenly came from the city. The sound of broken glass and women's screams rose and fell, and the cries of children spread layer upon layer.
The people in the city listened to the chaos in the distance in a panic, and looked at the person who had opened the city gate to welcome them in disbelief.
The kind old man who stood at the gate, leaning on a cane, and still greeted them one by one, was now surrounded by the chaotic noise. Everyone was familiar with the smile on his face, but at this moment it was so strange.
The rationing system was to concentrate everyone's resources and then distribute them equally according to each person's needs.
And the concentrated supplies needed to be managed by or a force, and this person who managed all the supplies had absolute control over them.
And who was this person?
Undoubtedly, it was the kind-looking old man in front of them, the group of people who had accepted their refugees, guided them to explore this city, and finally used violence to confiscate their supplies when their lives were finally getting better.
Was all this calculated in advance?
At this moment, everyone understood the meaning of the trial on the sky screen.
It was just a perfunctory answer given to them by this group of higher-ups, packaging an irrelevant matter into their own magnificent and glorious medal, and then satisfying their own selfish desires under the guise of a grand excuse.
This was their usual trick, to give you all the resources and opportunities, and then rely on their experience in this field that was several times greater than yours to wipe out the achievements you had worked so hard to get.
During this period, no one did anything wrong. It was just that you were not as good as them.
And the victim often didn't even know what the other party had done, and could only attribute everything the other party had done to a "conspiracy."
A "conspiracy" that they couldn't understand. But what could be done?
The old man had never proposed the concept of "unity," but had been emphasizing self-reliance. Out of the protection of their own interests, no one in this city really huddled together for warmth, and the city guard was the only one.
This was a long-term problem. Everyone was thinking about how to live, while they were considering how to live better.
So because of everyone's selfish little evils, they ultimately failed to escape the great evil from the old man and other higher-ups.
The old man smiled and looked at the panicked crowd below from the sky screen, like a demon.
A strong wind carrying yellow sand suddenly came, messing up the camera and blowing the old man's meticulously combed long beard into a mess. The higher-ups below were blown into a mess, and were all recorded by the fallen camera.
"This is..." The chaos in the city was still going on, and everyone's attention was once again focused on the sky screen. And those who had gone out of the city for transportation could tell at a glance where the yellow sand came from.
"It's the Sandstorm Emperor!!" Someone exclaimed, but for some reason, there was a hint of relief in this person's voice.
All the higher-ups were there, which meant that if the Sandstorm Emperor could slaughter everyone there, this wartime configuration might become a joke.
Everyone could regain their own gains, and maybe even leap up and take over everything from these higher-ups!
No one knew how complicated the people's hearts were in the city at this moment, but at the scene, the moment the yellow sand descended, the old man's expression suddenly relaxed.
"You've finally come..."
Leaning on his cane, he slowly turned around, once again with his back to the crude cross, and stood straight, looking at the black shadow that had descended on the scene.
"How should I address this uninvited guest?" he raised his head, his calm eyes as calm as a pool of stagnant water, without any fluctuations.
Compared to the undisguised and disgusting face just now, the old man at this moment was more like a high-ranking person who was in charge of everything. Even though he was facing an existence that was standing higher than him, he did not bend his thin figure for a moment.
And above the crowd, a huge white shadow was slowly descending.
The Sandstorm Emperor... no, it should be called Xiezhi now. It circled and slowly descended from the air, dyeing everything around it yellow.
And the Herrscher stood on the single horn extending from Xiezhi's head, frowning and looking down at the crowd below.
"What... are you doing?" her voice trembled, filled with unbelievable anger.
"As you can see, we are judging a heinous sinner," the old man raised his eyebrows and said to the Herrscher perfunctorily, "Or did you not see clearly? Do you need us to judge her for you again?"
"What kind of judgment is this!" a roar came from the Herrscher's mouth. The surrounding swirling sand and wind fell silent for a moment, and then fell one after another.
"Bending the law for personal gain... turning the judgment into the scene of your own crime, you..." The Herrscher's chest heaved violently. But just as he raised his hand, the old man chuckled and spoke to the Herrscher.
"So you are going to angrily commit atrocities against us, and attack us once before judging us, in case our crimes are not big enough for you to vent your anger?"
"You don't seem to be any different from us~" the old man stroked his beard slowly. His harmless smile made the Herrscher's eyebrows relax slightly.
"I will judge all of you," the Herrscher looked at the old man standing straight, and then at the higher-ups who had recovered from their pathetic state and cleaned themselves up. She faintly felt that something was wrong.
But she still raised her hand at the old man.
"You are the second person to voluntarily apply for a trial..." she said, the fluctuations of her power already gathering in her palm.
The last person to voluntarily request a trial was Siegfried, the person who had brought her a great surprise and made her understand what kind of person this world needed, the personification of innocence...
And this old man in front of her... he would not be innocent, the Herrscher could say with certainty.
The power covered the past, and the old man's eyes instantly became dazed. The world changed in an instant, turning into that white church.
The Herrscher withdrew her hand and turned to look at the other higher-ups, but at this moment she heard a cold laugh.
"Herrscher..." the old man seemed to mumble. His eyes, which had always been squinted, opened at this moment, revealing a pair of pupils like an abyss.
"Don't underestimate the malice of humans..."
It was a tsunami that rushed towards her! It was an unstoppable landslide!!
A thick, distorted blackness almost instantly polluted the entire trial court! The filth was like twisted monsters, clinging to the ground, pillars, and all the white places, gnawing and polluting everything!
The figures in the jury seats behind them let out sharp screams. Even their blurry faces could show their fear of those black monsters.
The light here could indeed make all darkness have nowhere to hide, but this did not mean that the light was enough to deter a large amount of darkness.
Just as the old man had said, one should not underestimate the malice of humans. It was precisely this light that forced out the darkness in the old man's body, creating such a scene.
What kind of sin was this!! To be able to pollute even such a place!!
The Herrscher instantly mobilized all her power. The light in the trial court instantly soared, and transformed into knights bathed in holy light, wearing heavy armor and holding long spears, fighting against those monsters.
A fierce battle broke out in the trial court. And outside, the moment the Herrscher was in a daze, several figures rushed out almost at the same time, attacking the Herrscher from different directions.