“Paige, do you know them? Who are they?” Ivy turned her head and asked.
“Yeah,” Paige Martin nodded in response. “The person in the middle is Steven Thomas’s father, Mark Thomas. The one on his left is Daniel Hill, the head of the Hill family, and on his right is Larry Bell, the head of the Bell family.”
“Thomas, Hill, and Bell are the three major families in this city, apart from the Jackson family! They were among the first group of people to settle in the Extreme Snow Region of Glavale and are the unrivaled overlords of this town.”
“Damn! It feels like there are pests everywhere!” Stout muttered.
“Commander Gardner, what kind of deep hatred is there that made you take such ruthless action and cripple my son’s cultivation?” Mark Thomas asked Billy angrily, his expression slightly distorted, with a strong hint of coldness in his eyes.
“He’s here to demand justice for his son, what about you two?” Billy glanced at Mark Thomas and then looked at the other two, speaking calmly. “Are you here to join forces with him to seek redress from me?”
“Commander Gardner, you’re overreacting!” Daniel Hill took a deep breath and spoke loudly. “We only heard that Commander Gardner not only crippled Master Steven’s cultivation, but also crippled Mr Peterson’s cultivation. So we came to see what wrongdoing Mr Peterson had committed! Mr Peterson is a hero of Glavale, he killed thousands of enemies over the years. If there isn’t a sufficient reason, this matter will be hard to justify!”
“Heh, is that so?” Billy narrowed his eyes slightly.
“We know that Commander Gardner is personally appointed by the Emperor as Lord Dragon of the nation. But even so, you shouldn’t treat the heroes of Glavale like this, right?” Larry Bell added.
“What are you trying to do? Are you planning to rebel?” Just then, Ernest Shepherd’s voice rang out. “The Emperor has already granted Lord Dragon the authority to act first and report later. Not to mention just crippling their cultivation, even directly killing them wouldn’t be excessive!”
At this moment, Ernest Shepherd, Milo Guzman, and Otis Hum led a group of people and quickly approached. At the same time, many passersby on the street also gathered around.
“Mr Thomas, you’ve surrounded Lord Dragon’s mansion with so many people. What do you intend to do?” Ernest Shepherd walked up and looked at Mark Thomas and the others with a stern voice.
“Elder Shepherd, this matter has nothing to do with the three of you. It’s best if you don’t interfere, otherwise we will have a hard time!” Mark Thomas responded coldly.
“Mr Thomas, it seems like you’re overestimating yourself…” Ernest Shepherd furrowed his brow.
“Mr Shepherd, let me handle this!” Billy interrupted him.
“Lord Dragon, they’ve gone too far. Today, I want to see who gave them the courage!” Ernest Shepherd spoke again.
“It’s alright, I’ll handle it!” Billy smiled. Then, he turned and looked at Mark Thomas and spoke calmly, “Do you really want to know why I crippled your son’s cultivation?”
“You better have a good reason!” Mark Thomas continued in a cold voice.
“If you want a reason, I can give it to you!” Billy’s tone turned serious. “But you need to consider the consequences of doing so!” After speaking, without waiting for the other party’s response, he turned his head and shouted into the courtyard, “Ocean Martin, come out!”
In no time, Ocean Martin walked out of the courtyard and slightly bowed to Billy. “Commander Gardner!”
“You tell the clan leaders about what happened that day!” Billy said calmly.
“Alright!” Ocean Martin nodded and proceeded to describe the incident in detail. His voice was loud enough for everyone present to hear.
“Nonsense!” Mark Thomas shouted angrily after Ocean Martin finished speaking. “The City Lord’s Mansion has already reached a conclusion. It was your own greed that got you killed, and now you’re trying to falsely accuse my son. You have quite the audacity!”
“I guarantee with my own life that every word I said, if there is the slightest fabrication…” Ocean Martin responded loudly again.
“You dare to accuse the young master, kneel down!”
At this moment, an old man walked out from behind Mark Thomas and raised his hand, ready to strike Ocean Martin with a palm. But before his palm strike could land, Billy narrowed his eyes and a wave of energy swept the old man away like a high-pressure air wave.
Gasps sounded all around at the sight. Everyone’s faces were filled with surprise. They were well aware of the old man’s skills, as he was already at the Ninth-rank realm. Yet, he was effortlessly sent flying by Commander Gardner’s casual palm strike.
“If you dare to make another move, you’ll die!” Billy said sternly to the old man.
“You…” The old man struggled to get up from the ground.
“Commander Gardner, is this the reason? That’s a false accusation!” Mark Thomas interrupted the old man.
“You still don’t give up?” Billy narrowed his eyes. “Black Tortoise, bring him out!”
“Yes, Commander Gardner!” Black Tortoise nodded and turned back to the courtyard. Soon, he came out with a man named Oriana, who had regained consciousness.
“This person is the one responsible for intercepting Ocean Martin and the others on that day,” Black Tortoise said, throwing the man to the ground. Then, he looked down at the man and said in a low voice, “Tell the whole truth about what happened that day, and I’ll give you a chance to live!”
“I… I’ll speak, I’ll speak…” The man struggled to speak, then described the incident intermittently.
“No way? So, it turns out that Thomas young master was really just afraid of death and wanted to save his own life?”
“Yes! And they just watched Ocean Martin fight against people from Oriana alone? Is that even human?”
“Not only that, but Steven Thomas even falsely accused Ocean Martin and almost had him killed. It’s really too much!”
“…”
After hearing the man’s words, the crowd immediately started discussing, each filled with righteous indignation.
“Mr Thomas, do you have anything else to say?” Billy looked at Mark Thomas and spoke calmly.
“This is just his one-sided account. Who knows if he was tortured into confessing by you!” Mark Thomas’s face turned iron-blue. He clearly didn’t expect Billy to have this card up his sleeve. After a moment of contemplation, he took a deep breath and continued speaking. “I will continue to investigate this matter and come to a conclusion once there are results. Goodbye!” With that, he turned and walked away.
“You come and go as you please. Do you think this place is your backyard?” Azure Fang said coldly and chased after him with a curved wrist blade.
“Get lost!” The old man who had spoken earlier shouted angrily and struck at Azure Fang.
He didn’t hold back in his attack at all. It seemed that he didn’t care about Azure Fang’s life or death.
“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” Billy spoke at the same time. Then, his eyes narrowed, and an invisible ripple resonated from his forehead, swiftly sweeping toward the old man.
“Ah…”
The next moment, the old man let out a miserable cry, clutching his head and crouching down, his face twisted in pain. Obviously, Billy had severely damaged his spiritual strength. Before the old man’s voice even fell, Azure Fang swiftly raised his blade, and a head soared into the sky, blood spraying like a fountain.
At this sight, gasps of astonishment once again resounded throughout the surroundings.
Including the people from the three major families, everyone had shocked expressions on their faces. Even Ernest Shepherd and the others wore shocked expressions. Obviously, they didn’t expect Azure Fang to actually decapitate the old man.
“You scoundrels, you deserve to die!” Mark Thomas shouted in anger.
Another old man called out in pain. While shouting, he raised his hand and attacked Azure Fang.
“If you dare to make a move, you’ll die!” Billy released a powerful aura, causing the old man’s attack to freeze in mid-air.
“Stop!” Mark Thomas shouted.
“Sir, they killed my brother. I must avenge him!” the old man roared.
“You’re no match for him, come back!” Mark Thomas spoke again.
“I’ve long heard of Commander Gardner from Glavale. Today, I have the fortune of meeting him. It’s truly a rare encounter in a lifetime!” Just then, a figure appeared in mid-air.
The newcomer was flying through the air, revealing his cultivation as a Saint Realm powerhouse.