The villains are redeemed, and the heroines cry and beg for forgiveness.

"Then, can you two explain why you didn't arrive on time? Are you looking down on me?"

Gu Ran's words immediately chilled Lin Kezhi and Lie Fen to the bone.

The two were somewhat at a loss and quickly tried to excuse themselves.

"No, we wouldn't dare! How could we possibly disrespect the ruler?!"

"Absolutely not! Lord Gu Ran is the person I admire most! I have always felt that it would be an honor for Canglong City to have Lord Gu Ran in charge of its administration!"

Gu Ran didn't answer, but just watched their "performance" with indifference in her eyes.

He didn't care whether these two people were killed or not.

If they can demonstrate some value that makes him spare their lives, then he'll spare their lives and take them in as his dogs.

If they were just worthless idiots and good-for-nothings, then killing them wouldn't bother Gu Ran at all.

Lin Kezhi gritted his teeth. He knew that the other party clearly had the ability to kill them easily, but had not made a move yet, obviously waiting for something.

In this situation... aside from superficial loyalty, he must be made to demonstrate his corresponding value. Otherwise, if he is only the "chicken" used as a warning to others, he will surely die.

“Your Excellency… I…” Lin Kezhi desperately tried to think of a “reason” for her to live.

"Your Excellency, I have fifty cubic meters of pure star stones!" Lin Kezhi said with a fawning smile. "I am willing to offer you fifty cubic meters of pure star stones!"

Hearing this, Lie Fen, who was standing nearby, became extremely anxious. He didn't have fifty pure star stones, and he couldn't help but curse inwardly for being so greedy.

Pure Star Stones are essential items for many non-talented superhumans and martial artists when attempting to break through to S-rank superhumans and martial arts Golden Core. A few cubic meters of Pure Star Stones can make a decent mercenary squad risk their lives for them.

The mercenary group that Gu Ran encountered when he rescued Little Conch's mother had risked their lives for a few cubic meters of Pure Star Stone.

Lin Kezhi is only an A-level ability user, yet he possesses fifty cubic meters of pure star stone. It's hard to say that this isn't related to his position as Minister of Commerce.

However, despite possessing so many pure star stones, Lin Kezhi has remained stuck at the A-level ability user level, which suggests that his talent is indeed quite low.

Gu Ran remained noncommittal in the face of Lin Kezhi's "gift".

He wasn't particularly interested in the pure star stone.

Lie Fen was so anxious he was practically spitting fire. He didn't have that much wealth, and if he highlighted his strength, he would look ridiculous in front of the exceptionally powerful Gu Ran.

"Your Excellency, I am very familiar with all the martial arts forces in Canglong City. As long as you give the order, I will charge into battle for you and completely eliminate all those who oppose you!"

Lie Fen finally remembered his "advantages".

Lin Kezhi is so rich because he is the Minister of Commerce, while I am the Minister of Martial Arts. What special personal strengths do I have?

He had thought of that.

That is, having served for many years, he is very familiar with many martial arts forces in Canglong City. As a ruler who is bound to be "controversial," Gu Ran should need someone like him who is familiar with the various martial arts forces in Canglong City.

This was the only "lifeline" he could think of. He looked at Gu Ran with pleading eyes, hoping that Gu Ran would accept his reason for living.

At this moment, he deeply regretted underestimating Gu Ran. If he had known that Gu Ran possessed such great strength, why would he have bothered with any collusion? He should have immediately tried every means to curry favor with her.

"Oh? Do you know anything about Junsheng Martial Arts Academy?" Gu Ran finally showed some interest.

Lie Fen's eyes lit up. He was glad that he could pique Gu Ran's interest; he was just afraid that Gu Ran would be completely uninterested in the "knowledge" in his mind.

He quickly replied, "I understand, I understand very well. Junsheng Martial Arts Academy is a martial arts academy with two martial arts grandmasters and a relatively long history. In recent times... its overall strength has not only not decreased, but has actually increased quite a bit."

Lie Fen didn't mention the great turmoil in Canglong City and the large-scale arrival of demons, because he felt it was related to Gu Ran, and saying so might upset Gu Ran.

"They're trafficking people, do you know that?" Gu Ran asked.

"Huh?" Lie Fen was slightly taken aback. He hesitated, unsure of where to begin. "Well... I think so. I've heard about it, but... but there's never been any evidence..."

"I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. If you can find out all the evidence and details of Jun Sheng Martial Arts Academy's human trafficking, this matter will be over. Otherwise, this is what will happen to you!"

As he spoke, Lin Kezhi, who was originally very confident that he could survive, was surprised to find that his perspective began to rotate, and then with a thud, his head seemed to hit the ground.

Then he saw that his body had no head, and a blood-red gash appeared on his chest. The superpower crystal core was pulled out and handed to someone.

On his deathbed, he couldn't understand why there were people in this world who weren't interested in the Pure Star Stone.

Seeing Lin Kezhi being easily defeated by Gu Ran, Lie Fen was startled.

Just now, after Lin Kezhi said he would give Gu Ran fifty cubic meters of pure star stone, even he thought that Lin Kezhi should be able to escape this crisis. But he didn't expect that Gu Ran would be completely unmoved and directly kill the "chicken" to show him.

Lie Fen was indeed shocked. He couldn't understand Gu Ran's thinking, and Gu Ran controlled his life and death. He felt that his fate was really too bad.

He said tremblingly, "Yes...yes, Your Excellency, I will certainly carry out your orders!"

"I'm only giving you seven days. If you can't complete this task..."

Gu Ran glanced at him indifferently.

Lie Fen's body trembled, suppressing his fear. He glanced at the headless corpse beside him and the unseeing head next to it, and swore, "If I cannot complete your task, Your Excellency, within seven days, I... I will bring my head to you!"

"Alright, then Minister Lie Fen, please return to your seat."

Gu Ran used his telekinetic powers to remove Lin Kezhi's body.

There's too much blood; it'll look unsightly if left untreated.

Lie Fen almost burst into tears of joy. He had thought he was doomed this time, and that even if Gu Ran was going to kill someone, he would most likely kill him. But unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better.

Lie Fen stood up with a trembling body. He wasn't afraid of Lin Kezhi's corpse, but rather he was extremely afraid of Gu Ran.

He always felt a strong sense of oppression emanating from Gu Ran. This sense of oppression, combined with Gu Ran's strength, made him feel as if he was facing not a person, but... a god of martial arts—a kind of suppression based on primordial status.

Lie Fen was somewhat dazed. How could he have such a misconception?

Gu Ran, no matter how strong, is still just a human being. How could he possibly...?

However, when he thought about the methods Gu Ran used to capture him, he couldn't help but fall silent. Those methods were indeed quite formidable.

"Now that everyone is here, I can begin announcing the start of the meeting."

"There is only one theme to this meeting—war!"

8 out of 355. A powerful ascension to the ruling position! A wild dream of Lungmen City! 4k%

war?

The ministers in the meeting room looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Your Excellency...may I ask you, with whom shall we wage war? New Testament City?"

A minister asked hesitantly.

They now tend to refer to Gu Ran as "the one in charge".

Although I had anticipated that Gu Ran would make a big splash as soon as he took office, I knew he would definitely make some big moves, as evidenced by his actions against Jun Sheng Martial Arts Academy.

However, they did not expect Gu Ran's actions to be so drastic, that he actually wanted to start a war.

If it were any other matter, it would be fine, but if a war were to actually break out, it would require mobilizing a large amount of manpower and material resources. Moreover, judging from Gu Ran's expression, it was clearly not a small-scale war; it was very likely that the entire Canglong City would need to be mobilized.

The Azure Dragon City had just experienced a major upheaval, and its strength was greatly depleted. The New Covenant City saw this as an opportunity and cut off the previous war reparations.

Furthermore, the great turmoil in Canglong City is deeply connected with their "new ruling party." They haven't even had a chance to recover, yet they're already starting another war. It's easy to imagine that this will provoke countless people to oppose them.

This is why they wanted to try to persuade Gu Ran even though they knew it might anger him—it's simply because starting a war now is not the right time.

Gu Ran glanced at them indifferently: "Not New Covenant City, but the other seventeen main cities of the entire Human Alliance."

???

!!!

As soon as Gu Ran spoke, everyone wondered if they had misheard.

But when they looked at each other and realized that what they had just heard was true, they were stunned and even a little at a loss.

To wage war against the other seventeen major cities of the entire Human Alliance?

They already felt immense resistance when they started the war against New Testament City, and the war against the other seventeen major cities of the entire Human Alliance was beyond their imagination.

That would destroy Azure Dragon City...

Because what Gu Ran said was so shocking, they froze for a moment, their words stuck in their throats.

......

Outside the giant light screen.

Gu Ran's words aroused the indignation of countless people.

"Damn it, how arrogant! They completely disregard the other major cities!"

"Tyrant! For his own ambition, he has dragged innocent civilians from other major cities into the war!"

"Although I'm furious, the tyrant did it, and he won completely... Thinking about it now still makes me feel hopeless."

Many people can even recount Gu Ran's path to victory in its entirety; it was a war they would never forget.

However, a few people also noticed the information about Jun Sheng Martial Arts Hall.

"Jun Sheng Martial Arts Academy is involved in human trafficking? Come to think of it, there have indeed been rumors about it before."

"However, since the missing persons were all from the slums, it didn't attract much attention. In addition, the Jun Sheng Martial Arts Academy had two martial arts grandmasters whose strength should not be underestimated, so the matter was left unresolved."

"I never imagined that Gu Ran destroyed the Jun Sheng Martial Arts Academy back then for this reason?"

The person who spoke found it somewhat unbelievable.