The Last Sentinel

Outside Honnoji Temple, the scenery is beautiful.

The abbot of Honnoji Temple hurriedly returned to the main hall and closed the door.

Above the main hall, Buddha sat with a flower in hand, flanked by Arhats and Bodhisattvas. The candles flickered, and the Tyndall effect projected onto the central prayer mat. A burly samurai sat upright on the mat, a ghost mask covering his face, his deep pupils impossible to look directly at.

"My lord!" the abbot said respectfully. "This old monk has repeatedly tried to persuade His Highness Charles Darwin to take action, but he refuses. He even uses the excuse of preventing Sentinel Ye Feng from attacking Honnoji Temple and insists on guarding the temple! In this old monk's humble opinion, Charles is ultimately not of our Homo sapiens race. It is impossible to get him to serve our Japan! Rather than that, we should report to our superiors and find a new, customized-level expert."

Beneath the ghostly mask, the samurai's voice was chilling: "During the Battle of Perfect City, Ye Feng appeared in the Neanderthals' rear, the Ancient Library of Sages, and directly emptied all of the Neanderthals' defensive layout. Although the Neanderthals didn't have any specific defenses, Ye Feng's move created a huge psychological impact on Charlie. This made him wary for ten years after being bitten by a snake once, and it's understandable that he's now timid and hesitant."

"As for your suggestion to hire another custom-made expert, I advise you to abandon this unrealistic idea!"

"The fact that our superiors were able to send us a customized expert this time is not because we needed one and they just gave it to us."

"Rather, the higher-ups need a strong person like that to do things for them."

The abbot listened thoughtfully to the samurai's words. "Does Your Excellency mean that Charlie has come here on another mission?"

"Yes." The samurai suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze a mixture of blood and gold. "I have some inside information. Some time ago, the higher-ups set up an ambush on the Fourth Wall on Sentinel Ye Feng's way back to the carbon-based universe, and tried to assassinate him."

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The abbot asked, "Then, was the ambush successful?"

"The search is dead!" said the shogunate samurai. "This ambush was very successful. They had already obtained a hair from Sentinel Ye Feng. According to their plan, they should have left immediately, sealed the Sentinel's cultivation level, and then caused him to lose his cultivation, ultimately turning him into an ordinary person."

"What no one expected was that Sentinel Ye Feng was a ruthless and decisive person. After being discovered to have been ambushed, he immediately found an indescribable and peerless virus and infected himself with it. The Sentinel's hair became the nightmare of countless people. Anyone who had seen that hair was tainted with an ominous sign, their bodies covered in red hair, their cultivation regressed, their lifespan dissipated, and they suffered a fate worse than death."

At this point, the abbot stroked his beard and laughed, "As you say, it seems that those guys at the top have tried to steal a chicken but lost their rice instead. Now they're infected with ominous signs and are about to die. They had no choice but to send Prince Charlie out to find a way to lift the curse for them."

"That's right." The samurai paced through the main hall. "There's an old saying in the East: 'The one who tied the knot must untie it.' Ye Feng has been infected with this virus. If anyone's going to die, it will be Ye Feng first. Therefore, Ye Feng must have a way to stop the spread of this virus!"

The abbot followed behind, saying, "But this is just a desperate measure by the higher-ups; maybe Ye Feng just wants to take them all to their deaths!"

The samurai stopped and said, "Speaking of which, I actually quite like this guy, Ye Feng."

The abbot was taken aback, looking at the adult in front of him, speechless.

What do you mean I kind of like Ye Feng?

My lord, Ye Feng is our enemy!

The samurai arrived before the statue of Shakyamuni, gazing up at the golden Buddha's face and compassionate eyes. "Ye Feng is a man of great courage, just like a true warrior of Bushido—willing to perish together with his enemies!"

"Ye Feng is a very farsighted man. He knows very well that killing us guys won't change the situation. Only a frenzied massacre targeting the leaders of all the heavens and myriad realms can make them feel the pain!"

"And I saw an opportunity for the Yamato people to rise amidst this chaos at the top."

"This opportunity, like a spark, trembled in the cold wind, yet burned tenaciously!"

The abbot looked at the samurai and asked, "Sir, what exactly are you trying to say?"

The samurai whirled around, his white cloak rustling behind him. His two-meter-tall figure exuded an imposing aura. "Don't you know what I'm trying to say?"

"The Shogun, my uncle, is nothing but a useless coward who holds a position without doing any work and still clings to the foolish idea of ​​loyalty to the Emperor."

"As for me, because I was born into a collateral branch of the family, I have always been unwelcome in the shogunate, and even ostracized!"

"Look at this massive battle!"

The shogunate samurai roared menacingly, his armored hands pressing firmly against the golden Buddha statue. He gritted his teeth and spoke each word with venom, "It was I, Tokugawa Mitsunori, who defeated Zhuge Mengde on the front lines! And captured his chief strategist, Sima Kongqun!"

"But my uncle, the Shogun, not only refused to let me into the Shogunate's command tent to receive my reward, but also blamed me for letting Zhuge Mengde go!"

"Sima Kongqun has now been taken away by his concubine, that damned shrine vixen!"

"My troops have also been reduced to the bare minimum."

"I see no possibility of any change."

"I can't stand idly by! I can't wait for him to kill me!"

"I need to change!"

"My uncle or my superiors, in the end they are just enemies like Ye Feng. My knife can kill enemies like Ye Feng, and it can kill them just as easily..."

Upon hearing this, the abbot hurriedly retreated, his face ashen, filled with fear and trepidation.

These blasphemous words deserve to be struck by lightning!

Is this a betrayal of the Shogunate, a decisive battle against the allied forces behind the myriad realms?

Tokugawa Mitsunori slowly raised his head, and beneath the demon mask, his pupils suddenly focused with blood-red light, almost piercing through the abbot's face. "In the entire headquarters, only Honnoji Temple is immune to being cleansed by the superiors' faith and evading their loyalty tests. I'm here simply to say some things from my heart, and I don't want anyone to take these words out."

The abbot clapped his hands fourteen times with utmost respect, bowed his head, and performed a grand ceremony rarely seen in Japan, declaring, "This old monk swears by my cultivation and spiritual attainment that I will never reveal the intentions of Shogun Tokugawa Mitsunori!"

"Very good." Tokugawa Mitsunori regained his composure, his eyes no longer filled with excitement. "The most urgent task now is to stabilize three aspects. First, make my uncle, the Shogun, suffer a setback and cause some trouble recently. Only in this way can I stabilize my position and prevent myself from being kicked out."

"Second, tell Charlie to keep quiet. Even if you find out where Ye Feng is, don't tell him. Let him stay at Honnoji Temple."

"Third, we need some helpers, some truly capable and ruthless people to do things for us. These people must be absolutely insane; whether it's killing the Shogunate, killing Ye Feng, or killing our superiors, they must dare to draw their swords!"

The old abbot said, "Of these three things, the first and second are relatively easy to handle, but the third..."

"You don't need to worry about that!" Tokugawa Mitsunobu said confidently. "When Sima Kongqun fell into my hands, he gave me a list to save his own life. The list is full of super war criminals from the Great Xia civilization, exactly the kind of talent I need. Once I get the people on the list out, I can overthrow the emperor and purge the court of corrupt officials!"

"This is Honno-ji Temple, which holds the memory of Oda Nobunaga."

"The glorious moment for Tokugawa Mitsunobu will finally arrive!"