The blood mist slowly dissipated.
The interrogation room was dead silent.
Dean Li knelt on the ground, his hands propped in the pool of blood.
His shoulders trembled slightly, as if suppressing rage.
"Crack."
A crisp sound.
A fine crack appeared on the dial of the luxury watch on Dean Li's wrist.
Wang Mingyuan was already channeling spiritual energy throughout his body, ready to respond to any sudden situation at any moment.
He could feel the air in the entire interrogation room trembling.
Zhao Lin's Adam's apple bobbed, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
Even Su Zhan and the other four in the next room.
Had silently prepared for combat.
Uh... even though their fighting might not be of much use.
The situation instantly became tense as drawn bows and loaded crossbows.
"You... forced my daughter to death..."
Dean Li's eyes were lifeless, gray and defeated, as he murmured to himself.
The next moment.
The entire Aberrant Purge Division building shook violently.
Dean Li's clothes burst open, revealing arms covered with thunder patterns.
Lightning-shaped spirit patterns emerged on his skin.
SS-grade Life Soul, Thunderclap Hands.
"All of you, accompany my daughter in her burial."
These words fell lightly.
Wang Mingyuan's pupils constricted sharply: "Retreat!"
White spiritual energy instantly formed protective barriers enveloping Su Zhan and the other four.
Almost simultaneously, a ten-meter diameter pillar of lightning shot skyward.
The blinding blue-white lightning vaporized Zhao Lin on the spot.
This team leader of Lan City's Aberrant Purge Division didn't even have time to scream before dissipating into a wisp of smoke.
Su Zhan stood dumbfounded.
This terrifying oppressive force made his heart tremble with fear.
Was this the strength of a dean-level awakened from the academy?
Before such power, he felt like an ant, not daring to entertain any thought of resistance.
Even this Zhao Lin who appeared so imposing before others couldn't even resist in time before Dean Li.
Or rather, couldn't even scream in time.
"Boom!"
The entire load-bearing wall was swept by the lightning, the concrete instantly melting into molten red liquid.
Su Zhan and the other four didn't dare touch anything, being pulled along by Wang Mingyuan as they fled rapidly.
The scenery around them constantly changed.
In the blink of an eye, they reached the main entrance.
"All of you, die."
Dean Li clasped his hands together, thousands of lightning snakes emerging from his palms.
Surveillance cameras exploded one after another, corridor staff carbonizing in the lightning.
All the glass on the entire floor shattered simultaneously, the fragments directly sublimating into gas from the lightning's high temperature.
Blood trickled from the corner of Wang Mingyuan's mouth, the white spiritual energy barrier torn to shreds by the lightning.
Just as everyone leaped through the entrance.
The entire building behind them collapsed inward.
Dean Li pressed his hands against the ground, a giant thunderstorm cage rising from the earth within a five-hundred-meter radius. Lan City's Aberrant Purge Division building disintegrated under billions of volts.
Reinforcement bars melted into rain of iron pouring down, even the concrete burned into molten red liquid.
When the dust settled.
Only a charred five-hundred-meter diameter crater remained, with blue-purple lightning snakes still dancing at its edges.
And Dean Li, still kneeling at the center.
He stared fixedly at Wang Mingyuan, his gaze like looking at a mortal enemy.
Su Zhan broke out in a cold sweat. He glanced at Wang Mingyuan, only to discover his teacher still maintained a composed expression.
Seriously, buddy, where exactly is your confidence coming from?
Su Zhan and the other four saying they weren't panicking would be a lie.
Their hearts were stuck in their throats.
Run, why aren't we running yet!
But Wang Mingyuan remained unmoved.
As the sky filled with lightning was about to erupt again.
A gentle voice sounded:
"Old Li, that's enough."
An elderly man wearing indigo blue Tang suit walked through the air, his silver-white hair remaining perfectly still amid the thunderstorm.
With each step he took, ripples spread beneath his feet, blocking the raging lightning outside.
"Director Zhou!"
Wang Mingyuan clasped his fists in salute, visibly relieved.
The boulder weighing on Su Zhan and the others' hearts finally dropped.
Should have said so earlier.
With the director of Lan City's Aberrant Purge Division here, they could finally relax.
Director Zhou nodded slightly, but his gaze remained locked on Dean Li.
"Old Zhou, are you going to stop me?"
The lightning around Dean Li grew increasingly violent, his eyes bloodshot as he roared: "They forced my daughter to death!"
"They did nothing wrong."
Director Zhou stood with his hands behind his back, his voice steady as a bell: "Your daughter was an Aberrant, and you, as dean of Starlight Awakener Academy, knowingly broke the law, concealed and didn't report it. Now you've killed so many innocent people. Do you admit your crime?"
"Admit my crime?"
Lightning crackled around Dean Li: "My daughter was kind since childhood, wouldn't even step on an ant! Just because she's an Aberrant, she deserves to die?"
"Old Li, we've known each other for decades, you should understand."
Director Zhou sighed: "Aberrants are no longer human, they are calamities that must be eliminated. No matter how kind she was as a child, after becoming an Aberrant, she must hunt humans to survive.
If your daughter wasn't eliminated today, how many more innocent people would she kill in the future?"
Director Zhou stepped forward, golden light swirling around him: "As a dean, you teach students to take the world as their responsibility.
Yet now you disregard righteousness for personal feelings. Are you worthy of the students who trusted you?
Are you worthy of the people victimized by Aberrants?"
Dean Li staggered, the lightning around him dimming slightly: "I was just protecting my daughter..."
"Protection?"
Director Zhou's voice suddenly raised: "You're harming her! Letting her survive miserably as a monster, making her hands stained with blood - is this what you call fatherly love?"
"Enough!"
Dean Li's expression was pained, the surrounding lightning flickering unpredictably.
"Old Li, turn back."
Director Zhou's tone softened slightly: "Your daughter has already atoned with her life. Do you really want more people to be buried with your obsession?"
Dean Li stared blankly at where his daughter had been moments before, the lightning in his eyes gradually extinguishing.
His knees weakened, powerless as he knelt on the ground, the thunder around him dissipating.
Director Zhou nodded slightly, gracefully landing from the air.
Coming to Dean Li's side, he placed a hand on his shoulder:
"Old Li, Aberrants can emerge among ordinary people at any time. We both know clearly that while awakeners won't mutate, what about our loved ones, our family members?"
Dean Li looked up, his eyes bloodshot.
"The moment our closest loved ones become Aberrants, they're destined to survive only by hunting humans."
Director Zhou's hand exerted slight pressure: "Family love is precious, but it cannot become reason for our weakness. How many more innocent lives will your protection today cost tomorrow?"
In the distance, Wang Mingyuan watched all this indifferently.
Some clenched their fists, even Liu Ziming remained silent.
"Starlight Academy teaches students to protect human civilization, yet you as dean..."
Director Zhou sighed: "The responsibility for your crimes will not be reduced, but considering your years of service, the authorities will give you a dignified ending."
Dean Li stared blankly at the bloodstain on the ground.
When using his Life Soul, he had specifically protected this area.
This was the last proof of his daughter's existence.
After a long time, he slowly closed his eyes: "I... understand..."
Director Zhou withdrew his hand, helping Dean Li to his feet.
Everyone noticed that the man who had just killed like crushing an ant now had a hunched back like an ordinary old man.