"Listen up, Harley. I, together with the elders of the college will take turns and ask you a series of questions about the events that happened on that day. I must warn you to only answer truthfully." Silas spoke sternly as he looked intently at Zachary.
Zachary didn’t utter a word but just calmly nodded.
Wasting no time, one of the elders began the inquisition. "Good. Now, Harley, tell me why you fought with Louis and the other Imperial Level warriors that day. Be direct to the point."
Without a hint of panic in his eyes, Zachary told them everything.
"So, you’re saying that you went to look for Louis and the other Imperial Level warriors after getting the information that your companions were caught?" another elder asked right after.
"That’s right," Zachary replied while nodding.
"But according to the statement of the witnesses, you ambushed Louis and the others in advance. How will you refute that?" another elder inquired.
"First of all, I have no enmity with Louis. I have no reason to attack them. Besides, Louis is a warrior at the Sage Level, why would I dare to attack a peerless master like him? Furthermore, there were several Imperial Level warriors, who are as powerful as me, with him. Unless I have a death wish, I don’t think I will do that," Zachary answered convincingly.
"You may be right at that part, but they also said that you have a helper. You showed up on purpose to distract and set a trap for them. Then, that was when your helper sneakily attacked them afterward." One of the elders tried to put pressure on Zachary.
"Then, can they tell everyone who this helper was?" Zachary quickly responded with a straight face.
"Well, they said that they didn’t see his face clearly, but they were sure that he is a very powerful warrior," the elder rebutted.
"So, it also means that their statement cannot be considered as solid evidence, right?" Zachary concluded firmly. He clearly knew that these so-called witnesses just colluded to frame him up.
"That’s not necessarily true. According to our initial investigation, we found several fatal injuries on the corpses of Louis and the other slain Imperial Level warriors. This means that the one who inflicted those injuries must at least possess the strength at the Sage Level. But as you said earlier, you are just at the premium stage of Imperial Level, so it’s impossible that you’re the one who killed them. Therefore, we can clearly speculate that at least one Sage Level warrior was present at that time. If that person wasn’t your helper, then why would he kill Louis and the others?" One of the elders immediately clarified their analysis of the pieces of evidence collected by the investigating team.
"But you also can’t rule out the possibility that they were killed after I left," Zachary retorted. Although the injuries sustained b
ly focused on Silas’s voice.
Nathan, who was standing among the crowd, stared coldly at Zachary with a faint smirk on his face. In his opinion, although the Kong Clan lost a Sage Level warrior in Louis, if they could take this opportunity to kill Zachary, then it wasn’t much of a bad deal. Right now, he deemed that Zachary was indeed a threat to the Kong Clan, and even to the entire Vanity Kingdom. If Zachary was kept alive, he would surely make trouble for them in the future.
"During our discussion, we decided to delay the judgment and continue the investigation. After we collect enough evidence, we shall make the final decision on this matter," Silas announced sternly.
The crowd burst into an uproar upon hearing the long-awaited decision. No one expected that the Crane College would not convict Zachary right away. If they were continuing the investigation, everyone realized that the pieces of evidence presented weren’t enough to convict Zachary yet, nor prove that he was innocent. It was only natural for Crane College to delay this matter in order to prevent themselves from treading into a dangerous situation.
Hearing this, Jay, Tracy, and the others also breathed a sigh of relief. At least, this result was much better for them.
However, the Kong Clan wouldn’t just sit still and do nothing, since the outcome didn’t go in their favor. Wasting no time, Nathan, the young master of the Kong Clan, suddenly stood and raised an objection. "Sir, I don’t think there is any need to continue your investigation. As we all know, this is a matter involving the Kong Clan. Why don’t you just give him to us? We’ll take over the investigation, and bestow the judgment accordingly after we found the truth."
The people present also said the same sentiments. They asked the Crane College to hand Zachary over to the Kong Clan. With this, the scene suddenly became a bit chaotic.