"I don't know," Dai Hao replied coldly, his eyes sharp as he stared at the young and capable Empress Marshal.
Juzi took a deep breath. "Do you still remember? Twenty years ago, on the borders of the Sun Moon Empire, you led your army, broke through our cities, and slaughtered our people?"
Dai Hao responded indifferently, "I've fought battles my whole life and killed countless enemies. Who remembers how many lives they've taken? In war, death is inevitable."
Two streams of tears slowly rolled down Juzi's cheeks. "But that time, you killed my father. He was just an ordinary man, a cook. My family used to live happily. I loved the meals he made more than anything. But after that day, he never returned. My mother died soon after from grief. I was left alone, an orphan."
Dai Hao was momentarily stunned. "So you're here for revenge?"
Juzi nodded and said with hatred, "That's right. This deep-seated hatred has been buried in my heart for twenty years—twenty long years. Every moment of those twenty years, I dreamed of peeling your skin and tearing your tendons, to bring peace to my parents' souls. That hatred is what kept me alive."
Dai Hao fell silent. He never intended to bring suffering to innocent civilians in war. But just as he had said—what war does not bring death?
Now, deep within enemy territory, with Star Luo already fallen, Dai Hao had considered mocking the Empress Marshal for her naivety. You want revenge? How many people across the three Douluo kingdoms lost their homes and families and wanted revenge against your empire?
But Dai Hao said nothing. Why? Because ever since the Sun Moon Empire began its conquest, aside from fallen soldiers, had any civilian truly suffered?
Had they?
Hardly. Perhaps even not at all.
Under the guidance of Chief Designer Huo Yuhao, the Sun Moon Empire had always enforced a policy of compassion during war. Their armies never used weapons that could harm civilians. After seizing a city, their first move was to comfort the populace, provide financial aid, and revitalize urban life with advanced soul tool production—ensuring that the people's postwar lives would be better than before.
Seeing Dai Hao fall silent, Juzi sneered, then said, "What's wrong, Duke White Tiger? Why so quiet? Are you worried that someone like me, bearing so much hatred, would act like you once did—bringing misery to those innocent civilians of the Douluo Federation, just like the one I once was?"
Juzi stood up. "To tell you the truth, I really wanted to. My hatred ran so deep that it turned me into a monster consumed by vengeance."
Dai Hao slowly raised his head. He watched Juzi pace in front of the marshal's throne and suddenly noticed the burning fanaticism and reverence in her eyes.
"But," Juzi continued, "the Chief Designer reminded me. Before the war began, he instructed me: never become someone like you. Only by doing so could our Sun Moon Empire hold the moral high ground, rendering the once-prestigious Duke White Tiger nothing more than a failure who brought about the fall of his nation—a disgrace that brought calamity to the common people."
"The Chief Designer said this part of history would be carefully recorded, passed down through the generations, as a cautionary tale. He said your name would be nailed to the pillar of shame for all time. Ha… hahahaha… perhaps in a hundred years, the very people of Star Luo who once idolized you will curse your name as nothing more than a pathetic, defeated fool."
Dai Hao's body trembled violently. At that moment, his legs finally lost all strength, and under the pressure of the soldiers, he collapsed to his knees.
Noticing his shame, a bitter smile formed on Dai Hao's lips. In that smile was deep sorrow. A failure, a disgrace—yes, someone like him… how could he possibly hope to triumph over a nation that possessed a man known as "Chief Designer"?
".So what are you waiting for? Didn't you want revenge? My neck is right here. Go ahead and take it," Dai Hao said hoarsely, lowering his head.
Juzi suddenly turned, gazing at the kneeling Dai Hao with a mocking glint in her eyes. "What? You want me to give you a clean death? No, no, no… I won't do that. Yes, I want to kill you. I've wanted to kill you for so long. But rather than granting you death, perhaps showing you a truth you cannot possibly accept is a more satisfying revenge."
"And more importantly… because of that truth, I am not even qualified to kill you."
Dai Hao lifted his head in confusion. Not qualified to kill me? Why would the mighty Empress Marshal of the Sun Moon Empire not be qualified to end the life of a defeated enemy?
He would soon find out.
"Report! Chief Designer Huo Yuhao has arrived and requests to see the Empress Marshal!" A messenger suddenly burst in through the tent flap.
A faint smile of interest and anticipation appeared on Juzi's face. "Invite the Chief Designer in immediately."
The messenger nodded and lifted the tent's curtain high. Outside, rows of soldiers stood in perfect formation, prepared to greet their honored guest.
Soon, Huo Yuhao, his face calm and composed, stepped into the tent. Inside, he saw the beautiful and commanding Juzi, and before her—kneeling with his back turned—his own father.
Standing beside Juzi, the captain of the Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Regiment, Luan Feng, drew a sharp breath the moment she laid eyes on Huo Yuhao.
Noticing her grandmother's reaction, Juzi quietly asked, "What's wrong, Granny?"
Luan Feng tried her best to steady her voice. "Marshal… if this old woman remembers correctly… before the expedition to the New Continent, the Chief Designer was merely at the Soul Sage level, wasn't he?"
Juzi looked thoughtfully at the composed Huo Yuhao. "That's right. What are you getting at, Granny?"
Luan Feng shook her head slowly. "I can no longer see through him… Marshal, you're not versed in cultivation, so you may not understand. When I say I can't see him, I don't mean he's hiding something or cloaking his aura. I mean that now, he is like a part of the world itself. No matter how I look, I can't detect anything about him. It's as if he's already become one with the heavens and the earth… That kind of state… is terrifying. Even in all my years, not even with Elder Kong or those two Ultimate Douluo of the Holy Spirit Cult, have I ever seen a realm so fearsome—the unity of heaven and man."
(End of Chapter)
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