426 I’m Wrong! I Understand! (1/2)
It was not until all the civil and military officials had their heads lowered did the Emperor of Ziyou speak, his voice flat without any hint of emotion.
”Since the day I was enthroned, I have been confident. I assumed that I had the heart of a world dominating king, the determination to take on the world, the ability to shuffle and reorganize destiny, the power to conquer Tianxuan, and the brain to obtain world peace! I – have never been as disappointed as I am today.”
The Emperor of Ziyou's indifferent tone turned explosive as he suddenly roared, ”Not only am I disappointed, I feel utterly hopeless!”
”Hopeless, do you understand?”
The Emperor of Ziyou's voice resembled that of a fierce beast that had been injured, growling in angered grief.
”For so many years, I've always thought that I wouldn't be found lacking compared to the Empire of Yutang's Emperor Yu Peize – maybe even better! I despised the fact that he still couldn't dominate the world even though he had the strong assistance of the Nine Supremes! If the Nine Supremes were in Ziyou, I would have long conquered Tianxuan!”
”I had always thought that God was unfair! Why did the Nine Heavens Demesne land in Yutang all those years ago? Why not Ziyou?”
”However, today, I finally realized how wrong, how absolutely wrong I was.”
The Emperor of Ziyou's voice was quivering; he took in a deep breath to stabilize it and returned to his nonchalant tone, ”Today, I see the difference.”
”Half of Zilong city's people have been evacuated, a wide dragnet has been set up, there was even a spiritual restraining formation that specifically targets the Nine Supremes' powers! Yet, nothing could capture Supreme Cloud, a handicapped man!”
Emperor of Ziyou asked in a pained voice, ”Let me ask all of you. Does Ziyou truly not have the ability to take on Supreme Cloud?”
His gaze lingered on his officials one by one as he enunciated each word carefully, ”Zilong City has exerted its combat power in entirety and we still can't lay a finger on Supreme Cloud?”
”Millions of soldiers from the core of the empire, a spiritual restraining formation, and an inescapable dragnet!”
His tone grew increasingly grim, ”How is it possible that this man has managed to evade all of these? Are we so inept as to be unable to catch and take down one man? This one man who jumped out to open fire at everyone, taking on the crowd single-handedly and doing battle with tens of thousands of warriors? After all that, he managed to break through the siege!”
”How is it possible that no one was able to catch him?”
The officials were ashen-faced as each of them had their heads lowered, but no one dared utter a word of explanation.
”Good. No one has decided to start arguing and give excuses, stating the reasons that allowed Supreme Cloud to escape. You still have a shred of dignity left after all. Not bad, every man here is a person of honor.”
”I'm reluctant to believe in this outcome.”
”However, the fact remains that he can't be captured! No one managed to restrain him! He has walked away unscathed from a siege of millions of soldiers and the top-notch forces of Ziyou; he slaughtered his way through the ranks and fled! He comes and goes as he wishes as if he were entering an abandoned city.”
”I am humiliated. Still, I understand it well – what's there to feel humiliated about? Didn't we foresee the possibility that this would happen? This is how it should be!”
”From the very beginning, we should have known that if we managed to apprehend Supreme Cloud, it would be an incredible stroke of luck, a one in a million chance. The chances of God going blind would have been higher!”
The Emperor of Ziyou's bellow sounded like a crack of thunder.
Hearing his words, all the officials trembled. They could guess why His Majesty was so enraged; all of them felt a pang of pain in their hearts, but no one dared speak at this moment.
Whatever they said would only make them look weaker in front of the truth.
”I've always thought that the Empire of Ziyou's martial power is the best in the world, the peak forces of military peerless! We are equipped with the capabilities to dominate the world, but because of Yutang's geographical advantage and the birth of great generals, we were unable to expand our territory. Even when we lose our army every year, we attack every year, we come back empty-handed every year. I thought it was because our time has yet to come. God can't continue to bless Yutang forever and allow exceptional generals to guard them eternally!”
”I've always thought that the Empire of Ziyou was made up of noble families with domineering martial powers and generations of heritage. They're the empire's true force, the greatest assistance to the empire! However, the truth has spoken; I have been terribly mistaken. I have taken it for granted. Those aren't the empire's forces nor are they of any help! They are only forces belonging to you noble families!”
”They are only your forces!”