Chapter 349: Punishment

Twelve was respectful in front of the president of the council. The salutation that he performed was perfect, but upon a closer look, there was an unusual poise in between his movements.

The poise was definitely not something a subordinate would show in front of his superior. He did not feel any pressure, and in between the respect and salutation was calmness.

However, the president did not care.

While Twelve might be a member of the Stardust Sixteen and was Tang Long’s follower, his position was a few hundred thousand miles away from the president’s. However, the truth was that Twelve was ‘his’ direct subordinate. Twelve had been purposely sent to Tang Long’s side since he was young.

Theoretically, Twelve was not obliged to answer to anyone because he would only listen to ‘his’ order.

Who was ‘he’?

‘He’ was the shadow that had appeared earlier.

“Twelve, you need to go to Darkness Port.” The president never beat around the bush with Twelve and always went straight to the point.

“I understand.” Twelve was also straightforward. As a direct subordinate, of course, he knew the lord had come by.

“Tang Long has to be restricted, and I can’t think of anyone else who fits the job. I’m counting on you.” The president had to use those words.

“Not a problem.” Twelve nodded.

“Go.” The president ended the swift and brief conversation.

He would never admit that even as the dignified president of the Stardust Council, whose powers were considered one of the strongest in the world, he felt a tad bit pressured when facing a mere teen.

He would also never reveal that he had no idea how Tang Long should be restricted or why.

As the most important seed of that lord, Tang Long’s loyalty to the Stardust Council was indubitable. Tang Long should prove himself in Darkness Port and suppress Tang Ling with everything he had, just so he could get the legacy of the Dragon Army. Why did the lord want to restrict him? Would it not be the exact opposite of what Tang Long was trying to do?

However, the president dared not ask why because he was afraid that the lord would view him as an incompetent fool. After he got Twelve’s swift answer, he did not ask what Twelve wanted to restrict Tang Long from.

The president had a strange emotion rumbling in his heart.

Am I not as good as this teen?

The president would never say something like this verbally. Instead, he maintained his usual composure and nodded to end the meeting.

Twelve then went out respectfully.

Some consideration later, the president sent out another order. “Tell Higan to wait for me in the Judgement Room.”

…

In the Judgement Room on the Battleship Fortress.

No one else in the entire Stardust Council was allowed to move in and out of this room freely except for the president.

It was named the Judgement Room, and it was where the most important decisions were made. It was equivalent to the president’s office.

The whole Judgement Room was black with a rare black mineral used for the tiles.

Under normal circumstances, the stars all over the Judgement Room acted as the source of light. The whole room was designed to look like the starry sky. It was even more realistic, beautiful and overwhelming than the starry sky of the old civilization.

However, the man-made stars were not switched on at the moment, so two dim yellow oil lamps replaced the stars as the only source of light in the room. Two statues of the Redeemer were used as the stands for the oil lamps.

The dim lighting made the huge Judgement Room depressing, solemn, and cool.

The president of the council was sitting behind a working desk that was made out of a type of mineral called the Blood Jade. He wore a long black robe with stars all over it as decoration. There was a starry crown was on top of his head and beneath the crown was an icy cold platinum mask. The simplistic mask had only two slits for the eyes and one for the mouth.

This was the president’s typical appearance in front of other people. There were less than 10 people in the entire council who had ever seen his true face before.

Even Higan did not know what the president looked like because from the very first moment he appeared before her, he had been wearing the same old mask. She did not care about how the president looked under the mask anyway.

“Sit,” said the president.

Standing in the center of the Judgement Room in a white dress, Higan nodded. She moved to the crimson desk and sat down in front of it.

It had only been a short while, but Higan seemed a lot more worn out although it did not dampen her unrivaled beauty. Furthermore, the exhaustion on her face would only increase people’s compassion for her.

Looking at Higan, the president could not help but sigh with heavy emotions. He saw how Higan had grown up to be such a beautiful young lady with his own eyes just like the unique flower that only appeared in the Purple Moon era—the Hell Poppy. As though she contained all the beauty of the flowers in her, every glance at her was breathtaking.

However, the flower was just a normal flower when it was young. The more it grew, the more enchanting it got, and the more enchanting it was, the more poisonous it was. When the Hell Poppy was fully matured, even a rank 6 Purple Moon Warrior had to be careful around it.

Once enchanted by the flower and poisoned, that would be the end for anyone. The flower’s poison was a hundred times deadlier than the poison from the old civilization.

The beautiful young lady before his eyes was precisely a Hell Poppy. Even a faraway glance would move one’s heart.

However, the president did not forget who he was. He remembered his duty and the role he had to play, so he said, “What’s the objective of this meeting?”

“I want to leave the Stardust Council.” Once Higan made a decision, she would never hesitate anymore and tended to be honest about it.

“Leave? What’s the reason?” The president feigned a surprised look.

Higan tightened her lips and kept quiet.

“It’s fine. I actually know about it already.” The president rapped the desk with his knuckles. He then asked without the slightest sarcasm, “Tang Ling?”

Higan glanced over at him and nodded strongly.

“Hoho…” The president sneered but was not surprised.

Human beings were strange living beings. In the primordial age, whatever men feared back then was carved into their DNA and passed down through the generations. This fear became shackles to the soul, and even after a few thousand years, human beings could not break free from it, let alone erase it.

Higan’s response was within his expectations.

“President, please let me leave,” she pleaded, her voice trembling.

The president had once planted the seed of fear in her. Even though she did not find the president scary most of the time, as if he was a different person, the seed had been planted too deep and she could no longer escape from it.

It was Tang Ling. He had been supporting Higan by infusing courage in her heart and consoling her.

“I’m not afraid of death. I’m only afraid of not being close to you, and if that’s the case, I’ll face everything that comes my way with courage.” Higan’s hand that was hidden in her dress curled up tightly.

“The Stardust Council isn’t a place where you can come and go as you wish. Don’t forget who was the one who brought you to this real world, who pulled you out from hell and taught you everything,” the president stated, but he did not deny her request.

“I cannot stay anymore.” Higan looked at the president, her icy-cold beautiful eyes showing the humane side of her for the first time. She paused before continuing, “I don’t know how can I ever repay you. President, it is your decision to make and the only thing I can’t give is my time.”

“Because you are eager to see Tang Ling again?” The president chuckled. He stopped tapping the desk with his knuckles and lay his palm flat.

Higan did not agree to or deny anything.

“Very well. I never expected the queen that the council has paid such a heavy cost to bring back is betraying us because of a kid that she met for less than a day.” The president flapped his robe and stood up. He walked around the desk and then continued around the room.

Around 20 seconds later, he stopped and raised a finger.

A tiny wind blade took form at the tip of his finger and was hurled out, landing on a certain spot in the ceiling, creating a clear clink.

After the clink subsided, a crumbling noise echoed in the Judgment Room.

A while later, the crumbling noise stopped.

On the left wall of the room, a crooked crack opened, resembling a dreadful wound on the body of the wall.

Judgment was the decision made towards a certain important matter with a heavy sense of solemnity and determination.

When a judgment was made, punishment would follow.

Inside the Judgment Room was something that would strike fear into people that knew about its existence as they would tremble whenever it was mentioned—the Stardust Punishment Room.

“You owe me nothing. Everything I did, I did for the council. I taught you, saved you, and raised you for the council’s sake, so you and I have nothing in between us. You don’t have to answer to me if you want to leave. It’s the council that you have to answer to and the council has its own rules. If you want to leave, leave according to the rules.” As he spoke, the president walked into the crack in the wall that was big enough for two people to pass through at the same time.

Higan was calm as she watched the president’s back.

When the president said that he and her had nothing in between them, a tinge of sadness flashed over her eyes. However, when she knew that his decision was to punish her, she felt relieved.

Physical pain was nothing. Back in that hellish world, Higan was used to being numb to the pain in her body.

Without a second thought, she followed the president into the terrifying Stardust Punishment Room.

The punishment room was the same color as the previous one. Several braziers were the only source of light, and with the light, the legendary nightmare punishment room was revealed to be a short corridor.

On both sides of the short corridor were several rooms. The labels on the rooms spelled metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

“Do you know the rules? If you can stay in any of the rooms for over 20 minutes and walk out, the council will permit you to leave.” The president raised his hand and a disk came down from the ceiling and landed in front of him.

He calmly spun it and said, “Let’s see which room fate wants you in. I hope you can get the easiest since it’s not my own will to punish you. I’m just executing the rules.

Then, the disk stopped and landed on ‘wood’.

Even under the mask, the president could not help but sympathize with Higan. The Wood Punishment Room was not the deadliest, but it was the most tormenting.

It seemed like Higan’s luck had run out.