The Battle Queen They Blindly Kicked Out (Joanna) novel Chapter 350

Chapter 350 The Cost of a Life

Don refused to admit any wrongdoing.

The Chief judicator, long accustomed to such stubborn deflection, spoke in a cold, measured tone. “The defendant should stop playing word games. Just say yes or no. Are you dissatisfied with the compensation amount?”

“Yes!” Don barked.

The Chief judicator nodded once. “Then, I request System Arbitration.”

One minute later, the arbitration result materialized.

The verdict was transmitted to every interface in the hall.

Don let out a loud laugh, as if he had expected nothing less.

Joanna Lane opened her document.

“Verdict: In the case of Don trafficking the reproductive rights of Sophie, the evidence is conclusive. However, considering Don’s status as a Sage-tier professional and Dark Gold-tier Summoner, his high Contribution Score to the Space Alliance, and the fact that the crime was attempted but not fully realized.

“Sentence: 3 months imprisonment on Hurriblade Planet, suspended. During probation, he may travel to any Divine Battlefield to reduce his sentence (killing 10,000 Level 90 creatures offsets 3 months).

“Victim Sophie Armstrong is awarded 280,000 Starcoins in mental damages and 1,070,000 Starcoins in reputational damages.

“Fine: 500,000 Starcoins payable to the Space Alliance Public Account as a warning.”

The judgment was final.

Sophie received 1.35 million Starcoins in total.

She was so angry her teeth throbbed. What was this pittance for?

A single livestream session earned her millions.

Don had destroyed her career, and this was the extent of the punishment?

Next were several other girls whose reproductive rights Don had also trafficked.

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Sophie had found them and brought them forward.

The charges were upheld, but their compensation was even lower than Sophie’s.

Their “reproductive value” was calculated at 100,000 Starcoins per child. Combined with Sophie’s payout, Don was only ordered to pay 6 million. Did he care about that amount? Not at all.

His total prison time amounted to nine months.

In other words, kill 30,000 Level 90 monsters-and he walked free.

The gallery murmured knowingly.

“Killing 30,000 Level 90 creatures will take him three to five years. That’ll give Don a headache!”

“Those girls are pitiful.”

“Pitiful? If they weren’t vain, would they have fallen for his trap? If they’d just married ordinary men and contributed normally to the Alliance, none of this would’ve happened. They’ve disgraced themselves.”

A coldness crept into Joanna’s bones.

This was the Space Alliance.

Ever since awakening in high school, she had known this world was icy.

She also realized that even if she reached the pinnacle of power, she couldn’t change this rule.

Because this heartless, infuriating law was actually the most “rational.”

Unfair, yet rational.

Why?

Because the victims were weak. Their highest level was only 25.

After high school, if one cannot enter a top university, dungeon tickets become expensive. Without strength, combat professionals’ leveling speed drops drastically. Eventually, they can’t afford the dungeons and are forced to work mundane jobs.

Without killing monsters, their levels stagnate.

These people were junior professionals.

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Chapter 350 The Cost of

Joanna and Sophie were Intermediate Professionals.

Don was a Sage-tier Professional.

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Don’s high level meant that the Level 90 monsters he hunted were world-ending threats to the lower planes.

The evil he did now did not negate the fact that he had saved entire worlds in the past.

He had contributed to the Space Alliance.

The girls’ contributions were negligible.

Lives were not worth much.

Or rather, the weak were not worth much.

If the strong were denied privilege, who would risk their lives for the Alliance?

Joanna steadied herself with a simple truth.

She could not rewrite the world’s fate.

But her own destiny was firmly in her grasp.

Now, she would learn exactly how much her life was “worth.”

The Chief judicator turned his gaze back to Don. “Don, regarding your attempt to harm the Academy’s top student, Joanna Lane-do you plead guilty?”

This time, Don was blunt. “I plead guilty. It was an attempt. But if I am guilty, Sophie was my accomplice.”

A sheen of sweat broke across Sophie’s forehead.

She looked at Joanna, bit her lip. “Joanna, I never intended to hurt you. I was frightened by Don. I wasn’t thinking clearly. And besides, I was a member of the Decennial Team. Fighting to stay on the team is natural. You can’t suspect me just because of that.”

Joanna’s expression remained indifferent.

“Sophie, you’ve always harbored hostility toward me, haven’t you? What you say is completely different from what you think. Actually, from the beginning, you didn’t want to go to the Decennial Tournament of Prodigies with us. You just wanted an excuse to quit.

“Without the Don incident, you likely would have ‘naturally’ retired or made it look like we forced you out.

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“Am I right?

“If you say I’m wrong I will apply to the tribunal for a lie detection!”

The Space Alliance Tribunal possessed countless interrogation talents.

For example-

Lie Detection (C Rank): Determines whether the target is speaking falsehood.

Eavesdrop Thoughts (B Rank): Allows direct access to the target’s inner thoughts.

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