Old General Li smiled and nodded, saying, "By the way, Captain Guan, I heard that the former governor of Blue Sea City was killed by your organization. Is this true?"

Captain Guan was taken aback. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Well... it’s partially true, but not entirely."

Old General Li was puzzled: "What does that mean?"

"Because..." Captain Guan was about to explain when suddenly a young man's voice came from the direction of the stone chamber's entrance: "Because I am the one who killed the former governor of Blue Sea City."

Upon hearing this, everyone present was taken aback. They turned their heads towards the entrance of the stone chamber, where the black iron door slowly opened, revealing a man in black attire wearing a white smiley face mask walking into the stone chamber.

"Who are you, and how did you get in here? What about the guards outside?" The bald scarred man stood up and shouted at the masked figure, while the others looked at the masked man with astonishment.

"I said I am the one who killed the former governor," the masked man repeated his words in a low voice.

At this moment, Captain Guan in the stone chamber realized something and stood up, saying loudly, "Everyone, don't be nervous. This person is my friend, and what he said is true; the former governor of Blue Sea City was indeed killed by him."

"What? The former governor was really killed by this person?!"

"From his voice, he seems quite young, probably only around twenty years old. How did he kill the former governor?"

The crowd in the stone chamber was even more astonished, whispering and discussing among themselves. At this time, Old General Li spoke up: "Since this young man is Captain Guan's friend, he is also my friend. Young man, could you please take off your mask? Speaking to us while wearing a mask is disrespectful. Everyone here is your friend; you don’t need to hide."

"That's not necessarily the case," Rulu, the masked man, replied. "I think many people here harbor malice towards me, even hate me very much, so I cannot reveal my true face or my name. I hope Captain Guan and you all can keep my identity a secret."

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"Why is that?" Old General Li asked, perplexed. "I believe no one here knows you and wouldn't have any grudges against you. Please give me a sufficient reason; otherwise, I cannot accept your words."

"The reason is simple: I am the one who attempted to assassinate Prince Suwen a few days ago!"

As soon as he said this, the previously noisy stone chamber fell silent, and people looked at the masked man as if they were petrified. About ten seconds later, they finally reacted and began to discuss even more heatedly than before.

Suddenly, the bald scarred man, with a face full of anger, pointed at Rulu and shouted, "So it was you who went to assassinate Governor Suwen! Damn it! If it weren't for you and your mess, those bastards in the Sanctuary wouldn't have sent so many troops to hunt us down. The current situation is all your fault, and you must take responsibility for it!"

"Yes, if it weren't for this guy, we wouldn't have lost so many people!"

"He is the one that Governor Suwen is looking for. We should capture him and hand him over to Governor Suwen, and then all of us who have been captured will be saved."

"Close the door; we can't let him escape!"

The others in the stone chamber glared at Rulu with hostile looks, and a few people slowly approached him, seemingly wanting to apprehend him.

Seeing that the situation was not looking good for Rulu, Captain Guan quickly said loudly, "Everyone calm down! We cannot yet determine if he is the assassin who attempted to kill Governor Suwen. Even if he is, we cannot capture him and hand him over to Governor Suwen. If we do that, we will all fall into Governor Suwen's trap."

Kallen also spoke up: "When he attempted to assassinate Governor Suwen, he probably didn't anticipate the consequences would be so severe. We cannot place all the blame on him; if we're going to blame someone, let’s blame Governor Suwen."

The bald scarred man angrily retorted, "Captain Guan, you shouldn't meddle in this! Even if he is your friend, we cannot let him off the hook. So many of us have died and suffered huge losses these days; this matter cannot be left unresolved. We cannot let him go today, no matter what!"

"Right, we can't let him go! Take him to exchange for our captured brothers!" others chimed in.

Facing the accusations and anger from the crowd, Rulu remained calm. He said in a deep voice, "You call yourselves the rebels against the Sanctuary, yet that Governor Suwen has killed so many of you. Not only do you not blame him, but you also want to act as his dogs and do his bidding. Think about it with your brains; is this the right thing to do?"

"What? You dare to call us dogs? I think you really are tired of living."

"It doesn't matter what you say; even if the Emperor himself came today, he couldn't save you!"

The crowd in the stone chamber became even angrier. Many people stood up from their seats, drawing their weapons, ready to attack Rulu at any moment.

Just then, an old but authoritative voice echoed in the room: "Everyone, quiet down! Put away your weapons and sit down to listen to me, or else you will be disrespecting me, Li!"

Everyone turned to look at Old General Li, who still held considerable weight in their hearts. The crowd suppressed their anger, put away their weapons, and sat back down, waiting to hear what Old General Li had to say.