Phoenix finally arrived.
She could briefly deduce what had happened from everyone's discussion.
Her expression was grim, and her face was contorted with rage. “Declan, come with me.”
“Sure, sure!”
Declan immediately followed behind Phoenix, and he entered her room.
Phoenix closed the door, and her smoldering gaze fell on him. “Tell me, Declan. Were those three guards really killed by the newcomer?”
Declan tried to appear calm even though his heart was racing. “Of course, it's true, Ms. Phoenix. How can I joke about this?”
Phoenix asked suspiciously, “Why would they do that? Isn't that digging their own grave?”
Declan answered, “Those people were extremely arrogant. What's stopping them from anything?”
Phoenix inquired, “Could it be that you guys provoked them recklessly?”
Phoenix was clear about the temper of Declan and the others. They had the ability to cause trouble even if there were none.
I shouldn't have let the four of them go on this mission.
Declan declared, “We're innocent, Ms. Phoenix! We spoke to them politely, but they felt we were beneath them and unworthy to talk to them. They insisted on speaking to you directly. I told them I would convey their message to you when I got back. But they insisted that we were looking down on them by sending the four of us, and they wanted to make us pay the price. They killed three of my comrades after that. Boohoohoo... Ms. Phoenix, you have to avenge them!”
Phoenix lifted her hand. “Don't worry. Our people will never die in vain!”
Declan added, “They also said they would spearhead an all-out attack to exterminate Phoenixion if we don't submit to him within three days. Ms. Phoenix, we don't have much time.”
Phoenix nodded. “This is too much! I have misjudged this newcomer's ambition. Declan, you can leave and rest first. I will come up with a plan. I won't let this go easily!”
“Sure, sure!”
With that, Declan took his leave.
Doubt was etched across her face after Declan left.
It didn't seem likely that a newcomer would act so mercilessly. Declan shouldn't be deceiving me, much less using the lives of his comrades to lie to me.
Phoenix did not know what to do at that current moment.
After giving it some thought, Phoenix summoned Scar Face, who had just submitted to her.
When Scar Face entered, he bowed and said obsequiously, “Ms. Phoenix, how can I help you?”
Phoenix inquired, “Scar Face, how did that newcomer unify the ten Contubernia? Did he use violent means?”
Scar Face responded sincerely, “According to what we know, Zeke Williams didn't resort to violent means.”
Zeke Williams?
Phoenix asked doubtfully, “Is Zeke Williams the name of that newcomer?”
Scar Face nodded. “That's right.”
Phoenix stated, “I don't know about this guy's character, but he has a good name that sounds righteous. Go on.”
Scar Face continued, “After Zeke replaced Megahead as Decanus, Megahead conspired with the other nine Decani to take him down. However, Zeke had used a large amount of spiritual water to exchange for quite a number of meat. He used the food to tempt the Decani and their men to join hands with him. Ultimately, they all submitted to Zeke after failing to withstand the temptation. We miscalculated the opponent's strength because Zeke did not resort to violent means. This caused Mr. Calix to die in their hands.”
Phoenix fell into deep thought and nodded. “With Zeke's capabilities, he could easily unite the teams through violence, but he chose to use a gentler approach. He shouldn't be an aggressive person, and he has no reason to kill our people. There's something fishy about this.”
Scar Face was astonished. “Ms. Phoenix, you're suspecting Declan?”
Phoenix responded, “I'm not sure. It's just a suspicion for now. I'll conduct a thorough investigation into this matter! Scar Face, I have a task for you.”
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