Chapter 770: Chapter 769: Secured
Emperor’s Suburb, Deep Blue Prison.
Duanmu Chao was fast asleep when a phone call abruptly awakened him, and he felt extremely irritated. He squinted to see the caller ID, and promptly became much more alert.
"Hello, Tianxing, what’s the matter so late at night?" Duanmu Chao suppressed his irritation and asked.
The military power in Imperial City was now under Chu Tianxing’s control. Duanmu Chao, holding a low position within the Duanmu Family, was naturally very polite to the newly risen Chu Family.
"Duanmu Chao, is everything quiet on your end?" Chu Tianxing inquired.
Duanmu Chao paused and listened carefully for a moment before shaking his head, "No, what happened?"
"Better there’s nothing. Listen, the Ning Family has betrayed us, we’ve lost. We must now find a way to save ourselves," Chu Tianxing spoke promptly.
Duanmu Chao was completely dumbfounded, "We lost... lost?"
He was a bit confused. How could they have lost just like that?
Although the public opinion had not been favorable for them lately, the situation had not escalated to the point of outright failure, right?
Wait, what did he just say? The Ning Family betrayed us?
Duanmu Chao began to tremble all over, a great sense of fear emerging, cold sweat streaming, and his palm clutching the phone was sweating profusely.
"You... you’re not lying to me, am I... how come I haven’t heard such major news?" Duanmu Chao voiced in panic, but he tried to maintain a certain level of clarity, analyzing whether Chu Tianxing was deceiving him.
"Why would I lie to you about something so big. Duanmu Chao, we were left to stay behind in Imperial City, seemingly trusted by our family but in reality just pawns. Anticipating that the Qin Family might carry out a decapitation strike, they fled to a military base for shelter, leaving us behind in Imperial City to handle affairs. Now that the situation is completely out of control, the Chu Family’s upper echelons are all caught in a single sweep, and the Central Battle Zone will definitely be taken over by the other side. With the Ning Family betraying us too, we’ve completely lost," Chu Tianxing explained urgently.
Duanmu Chao’s mind was in chaos. He did not know whether what Chu Tianxing said was true; he needed to verify it.
Just then, gunfire sounded from outside, followed swiftly by screams.
Duanmu Chao was shocked and remembered the question Chu Tianxing had asked at the beginning. It seemed as if Chu Tianxing knew something was going to happen here. He immediately asked, "Brother Tianxing, it seems I’m being attacked. Did you... did you know something in advance?"
"Have they made their move? Duanmu Chao, I’ve warned you. If you still want to save yourself, release the hostages immediately. Do not clash with those coming to their rescue. This will only needlessly sacrifice the lives of innocent citizens. You haven’t been deeply involved; you can still redeem your crimes with merit," Chu Tianxing said loudly, urgency and agitation in his tone.
Duanmu Chao responded, "Right... right, I... I was just in charge of Deep Blue Prison. Suddenly, so many people were shoved in here. I... my duty is to guard these people. I don’t know anything about other matters. If I release the hostages now, I shouldn’t be held accountable afterwards, right?"
"That’s right, release them, now!" Chu Tianxing’s voice urged.
At that moment, Duanmu Chao had lost his own judgement and believed in Chu Tianxing’s words without any doubt.
Hanging up the phone, he immediately issued orders through the prison’s internal communication system: "Everyone listen, lay down your weapons and do not resist. Let them take away those hostages."
Inside the prison, both the guards and the members of the Imperial Guard dispatched from above received the order and ceased their resistance.
In fact, when the enemy launched a surprise attack on the prison, these individuals were caught off-guard, with many unfortunate souls killed in the assault.
Compared to the prison defense forces, the attackers had significantly stronger overall strength, with several mysterious and untraceable experts among them. Wherever they passed, none survived. The assault was a dimensional strike for these ordinary soldiers and prison guards.
Even if they fought to the death, they wouldn’t be able to hold.
Now that they received instructions from above, they couldn’t wait to surrender sooner, all stopping their resistance, squatting with their hands on their heads, and even some prison personnel led the way, helping to open the cell doors of the detained hostages.
Thus, Hu Lizhong, Wang Chengcuo, Luo Yong, Luo Ping, and the experts from the Luo and Wang clans were completely baffled.
What was going on?
We were here to stage a prison break, and you’re not resisting?
"Chu Tianxing must have been coerced by Zhu Tianshou, and Chu Tianxing ordered no resistance here," Hu Lizhong immediately figured out the reason and couldn’t help but praise, "Zhu Tianshou is highly efficient at getting things done."
Wang Chengcuo and Luo Yong also silently nodded, believing that was the only possibility.
This was a huge stroke of luck for everyone involved, but they still remained cautious, worried about possible deceit. They had their subordinates lead the hostages out while they, the strong experts, kept an eye on the Imperial Guard and prison guard forces, wary of any sudden moves from them.
Before long, all the hostages detained here were taken away, and the operation went surprisingly smoothly.
There were no casualties on their side, while more than a dozen prison guards and members of the Imperial Guard lay dead.
It was Duanmu Chao’s timely command that prevented a disaster; otherwise, the jailbreak team’s strength was more than enough to sweep through the entire prison’s defenses.
Three Innate Realm experts led the team, accompanied by the elite forces of the Luo and Wang Families. Such a lineup was already a formidable presence for any secular department.
After the hostages had been moved, Hu Lizhong and his group also left the prison.
Once in the car, Hu Lizhong frowned and said, "Something isn’t right."
"It’s not right, too smooth," Wang Chengcuo also furrowed his brows.
Both men had served in the military and knew well that the combat prowess of Divine Continent’s regular forces couldn’t be this weak, and their efficiency in handling matters was extremely high.
Although they couldn’t stop the attack of these Innate Realm experts head-on, disrupting their rescue of the hostages should have been easy.
But the opponents did nothing.
Could Zhu Tianshou holding Chu Tianxing hostage truly wield such great power?
Could Chu Tianxing, now commanding the Imperial Guard of Imperial City, yield so easily?
Even Luo Yong started to feel today’s operation was a bit too dreamlike.
After pondering for a while with a frown, Hu Lizhong murmured, "There must be some other reason; otherwise, Chu Tianxing wouldn’t bow so easily. I still remember how he ordered the fire on Meishan Mountain. That man is definitely the type who dares to fight tough battles. He isn’t afraid of dying like this."
Luo Ping nodded slowly upon hearing this and said, "I know Chu Tianxing, aware of his character; indeed, he is not so weak. His position in the Chu Family isn’t very high, and given an opportunity like this, he would certainly cherish it."
In the midst of their conversation, Hu Lizhong’s phone rang.
It was Zhu Tianshou on the call.
As the call connected, before Hu Lizhong could speak, he heard Zhu Tianshou say, "Important intelligence. According to Chu Tianxing, the Ning Family betrayed them, sending all the top echelons of the Chu Family hidden in the East Combat Zone to the south. The Chu Family is probably finished."
"What?"
Hu Lizhong was stunned.
Wang Chengcuo, Luo Yong, and Luo Ping were all dumbfounded as well.
The Ning Family backstabbed and delivered the Chu Family wrapped up as a gift to the Qin Family?
The Chu Family was just gone like that?
This news was too explosive.
Wang Chengcuo and Luo Yong couldn’t help but exchange glances.
If the news was true, then they were indeed very lucky.
Luckily, they had listened to Zhu Tianshou earlier, and took action today. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even have had the chance to demonstrate their loyalty before the Qin Family claimed their final victory, leaving their own families in an incredibly awkward position.
Now it was good, with Hu Lizhong and Zhu Tianshou as witnesses, plus their recent participation in the operation and rescue of so many hostages, the Luo and Wang Families could be said to have redeemed themselves and made their intentions clear, right?
After a moment of shock, a sharp light flickered in Hu Lizhong’s eyes as he asked decisively, "Brother Zhu, is the news accurate?"
"It should be no mistake," Zhu Tianshou replied.
"And Chu Tianxing?" inquired Hu Lizhong.
"Still in my hands."
"Good, keep an eye on him. We’ll come over immediately. We must now stabilize the situation in Imperial City to prevent the Chu Family, Sun Family, Duanmu Family, and others from making desperate moves," Hu Lizhong stated resolutely.
Luo Yong and Wang Chengcuo both nodded vigorously, filled with determination.
They had another chance to prove themselves well.
As long as they assisted Hu Lizhong in stabilizing the situation in Imperial City, their decision to side with the Qin Family this time was sealed.