Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Song Junlang subsequently asked many other questions of Lilith, such as what happened during their disappearance, but Lilith answered in a very concise manner. Song Junlang noticed that she was reluctant to speak in further detail, so he stopped asking and very politely sent her away.
In fact, Song Junlang really did consider bringing along someone and going directly into the regiment’s residence. After all, there were Epic-ranked people in Dawn Academy’s investigation team, but doing so was a blatant expression of hostility, and a tactic like that should only be used as a last resort.
Harry was unmoved by force or persuasion and was hell-bent on detaining Xiao Lin. The situation might continue to be quite tricky if someone on the level of a dean showed up there in person. As far as Song Junlang knew, the dean had probably gone to the Supreme Council. It would have cost even more time if the dean were to rush back there, and many more variables would be at play.
Song Junlang thought for a long time and stared oddly at the birdcage on the table. In it was the little dragon-eagle that he had quietly brought over. The beast had grown a lot in the past half month and would soon outgrow the cage.
After a long time, he sighed with regret. “Looks like this is the only way. Will the Americans hound us about this for years on end?”
The next morning, Song Junlang and Dawn Academy’s investigation team appeared outside the dragon-eagle knights’ residence. Although Harry gave the order to not allow any outsiders to enter, the guards had no choice but to allow them after seeing that their entourage were composed of officials from City Hall.
“Please do not fret. If Commander Harry really did detain your academy’s students, we’ll definitely support your request for his release.” The escort sent by Judge Academy was a middle-aged American with glasses. With a gentle and educated demeanor, he was considered a mayor-level figure in New Washington, which could be taken as a sign of respect for Dawn Academy.
Song Junlang huffed coldly. “Support? We wouldn’t be standing here if your orders were effective in the first place!”
There were five people in the investigation team. Any more and Judge Academy would certainly express some objection. The frontmost person was a short-haired woman and Song Junlang whispered to her, “I’ll go around. You guys help me stall Harry.”
After that, Song Junlang left the team, saying that he was going to the toilet.
Harry arrived soon too. He was going to give Xiao Lin a physical examination that day and the menacing crowd did not give him much pressure. He smiled faintly and said, “I believe there’s been a massive misunderstanding. Xiao Lin is with me, but he stayed voluntarily to help us locate the movement of Asabanor, the high priest.”
He remained stubborn, just as they expected. City Hall could not directly give orders to him, and their hands were tied until the High Council gave an order. Even if they took Harry by force, the chances that Dawn Academy would succeed were similarly slim, since they were on American soil.
They had also expected Harry to argue indifferently with everyone, enumerating various reasons to prevent them from taking Xiao Lin away, such as Xiao Lin admiring the culture of Judge Academy and showing a willingness to join Judge Academy.
The negotiation lasted from morning to afternoon, and there was no progress at all. It was a deadlock until Song Junlang reappeared in the negotiation room and flashed a sly smile at Harry. He pretended to be surprised and said, “I’m surprised you’re still in the mood to chat, Commander Harry. I just took a look at your barracks. Your dragon-eagles seem to be sick.”
“Sick?” Harry frowned and suddenly realized something. His gentle smile disappeared, and after whispering a few words in the ear of the beautiful vice-captain next to him, she immediately dashed out.
The temperature in the meeting room suddenly dropped a couple of degrees. No one knew what to feel and waited patiently for the vice-captain’s return. After a quarter of an hour, the vice-captain ran back in a panic, ignoring everyone and saying directly, “Things don’t look good! I don’t know why, but the dragon-eagles have all become sluggish. They seem to be having some trouble breathing.”
Harry’s face turned icy and a faint red light appeared all around him. A strong aura enveloped him and he pointed at Song Junlang, demanding coldly, “What did you do?”
“Hehe, Commander Harry, we’re a diplomatic group. I’m not mistaken, am I? Are your actions suggesting that you’d start a war against Dawn Academy?” The short-haired woman from Dawn Academy glanced at Song Junlang then asked curtly. She waved her hand to relieve the tension.
The few people from City Hall who accompanied them had a drastic change of expression. The combat effectiveness of the dragon-eagle knight regiment was of great significance to New Washington and all of Judge Academy. The bespectacled mayor immediately stood up in anger but pointed instead at Harry and asked, “Is security so lax in your regiment!”
“You brought them here!” Harry retorted angrily.
“Doesn’t matter what you say now! Can you figure out what poisons are in the dragon-eagles?”
“No. The healers have tried all the healing spells, but they have no effect,” the vice-captain added.
Harry regained his composure slightly, but frowned even deeper, “Dragon-eagles have sub-dragon bloodlines and are inherently very resistant to toxins. No one has ever tried poisoning them. Some local natives have attempted it when the regiment was just formed, but there was no effect whatsoever. Dragon-eagles can easily resist it by virtue of their immunity!”
“Want to know what happened?” Song Junlang asked slowly. Facing the angry eyes of a group of Americans, he sneezed and rubbed his nose before looking at them with a smirk.
“What’s your condition?” Harry was not an idiot. He knew that Song Junlang would not tell him so easily.
“You know the conditions well enough. All we ask is to bring Xiao Lin. We’re exchanging the dragon-eagle knight regiment with a mere freshman. Good deal, right?”
Harry fell silent. After some time, he asked coldly, “How can I trust you? What am I to do if I let Xiao Lin go and you end up not giving me the solution?”
“Chill!”
The short-haired woman coughed a few times and quickly interrupted Song Junlang. She said solemnly, “Commander Harry, we’re still allies after all. There’s no need to cause trouble to such an extent. Please trust our sincerity.”
Song Junlang was playing bad cop while the woman was playing good cop. In addition, the people from City Hall quickly took the opportunity to put more pressure on Harry, causing his expression to sour even more.
The decision no longer rested in his hands alone. The people from Dawn Academy could wait, but he could not take any risks. The importance of his regiment was self-evident, and it was absolutely impossible to lose them just for the sake of a guess.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Harry waved his hand to have someone bring Xiao Lin out.