From the Soul Motion Machine onwards, the Mechanized Douluo

Chapter 177 The Surge of Faith in Soto City! [Please Subscribe! Please Vote!]

"Now you can ask him questions to prove whether I have wronged your son."

"You! Luo'er! Tell me, did you harm anyone from their merchant guild?! Don't be afraid! Father will avenge you!" Xue Sen glared angrily at Chen Hong, then grabbed his son's arm and asked anxiously.

Faced with Xue Sen's anxious questioning, Xue Luo, who was in a state of mental collapse, stared blankly. His remaining rationality was suppressed to the extreme, causing him to lose his self-awareness and thus lose the ability to weigh the pros and cons.

"Someone told me there's a way to make a lot of money." In the darkness, witnessed by countless people, Sherlock began to recount in fits and starts how he earned death benefits from the Technology Chamber of Commerce.

By having civilians join the infrastructure team of the Technology Chamber of Commerce, and then secretly driving away some soul beasts to attack the infrastructure team, a large number of civilian casualties would be caused. Then, Xue Luo would be able to use her connections in the city lord's mansion to carry out the rest of the operation.

For example, they continuously worsened the living conditions of the victims' families, and even led the city lord's mansion to distribute free food mixed with a little slow-acting poison to the refugees, causing the victims' families to die silently in pain, thus preventing them from continuing to make their voices heard in Soto City.

Because Soto City was crowded and noisy, Sherrod did not dare to kill the families of the victims directly. Therefore, he could only resort to this inferior strategy, letting the families of the victims die slowly in a reasonable way.

"..." Xue Luo, who had fallen into a state of mental breakdown, told his son about all the gray businesses he had in Soto City without missing a single word. Amidst the silence, Xue Sen looked at his son with a pale face.

"An unexpected bonus. The turbulence of faith above Soto City has increased by nearly one level overnight, and it is expected to continue to increase in the next few days. I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse."

At the headquarters of the Technology Chamber of Commerce, Chen Hong led his team to expand the pool in the backyard. During this time, he looked up at the "transparent colorful clouds" in the night sky and was slightly amazed.

The matter concerning Xue Sen and his son had come to an end. Finally, Bishop Soto arrived with the Spirit Hall. Although he was puzzled by the Technology Chamber of Commerce's large-scale efforts to protect the rights of civilians, some things could not be discussed openly. You can do things secretly, but once they are brought into the open, for the sake of civilian stability, an explanation will eventually be given.

Under the witness of Bishop Soto, all the officials who had advised Xue Luo were executed, while Xue Luo and his son were escorted out of the city overnight by the Spirit Hall to await the judgment of Emperor Xue Ye of the Heaven Dou City.

However, given the nature of the nobility in this world, the final punishment for Xue Luo and his son might only be symbolic, since nobles cannot be treated the same as commoners. Chen Hong doesn't have a better solution for the time being. Ultimately, it comes down to one reason: Chen Hong's strength, and the strength of the Technology Chamber of Commerce, are still not strong enough.

If the Technology Chamber of Commerce were strong enough, someone like Xue Luo, a nobleman's son, who dared to scheme against the Technology Chamber of Commerce like this, would definitely have all of its related personnel beheaded and displayed to the public.

The only positive development is that, with the downfall of Xue Sen and his son, the jurisdiction of Soto City has been temporarily handed over to the Technology Chamber of Commerce by the Soto Bishop, pending further arrangements from the Heavenly Dou Empire.

Meanwhile, another discovery for Chen Hong was that the turbulent flow of faith above Soto City seemed to be consciously increasing rapidly.

"Commander The Hague, your resting place has been arranged. Please go and rest first. We can have a more in-depth discussion tomorrow."

After the Sea Soul Mercenary Group and the Technology Chamber of Commerce finished digging the pool and then sank the iron cage imprisoning the mermaids into the water, Chen Hong spoke to Hague.

The Hague nodded to Chen Hong, "Okay, it's getting late. We'll come back tomorrow to formally discuss things with the Technology Chamber of Commerce."

After saying that, The Hague led his dozen or so team members, guided by the receptionist from the Science and Technology Chamber of Commerce, and walked away into the distance.

After what had happened, Hague understood that the Tech Chamber of Commerce was not to be offended, even if he was a Soul Saint, his final fate would most likely be that he would not be able to leave Soto City.

Whether it's Chen Hong's terrifying spiritual power comparable to a Soul Saint, or Ning Quan's sharp blade comparable to a Soul Saint, these are things that make Hague dare not act rashly.

Meanwhile, after what had happened before, Hague had a general understanding of Chen Hong's personality and the Tech Chamber of Commerce's modus operandi, so she didn't need to worry about the Tech Chamber of Commerce sabotaging her. As for the mermaid soul beast, Hague had originally planned to sell it for money and then order a large soul-guided machine from the Tech Chamber of Commerce. Now, it was simply a matter of eliminating one step in the money-making process; she could negotiate directly with Chen Hong.

Chen Hong has already made a promise to The Hague, and The Hague only needs to go to Chen Hong for negotiations the next day.

After everyone left, only Chen Hong and Ning Quan, who was meditating and cultivating under the moonlight in the distance, remained.

"You can communicate now, right? Everyone's gone, so you can talk now."

Under the cover of night, Chen Hong sat on a chair by the pool, looking at the semi-enclosed iron cage in the center of the pool, and whispered in the ear of the mermaid Tis Kelly using his mental power.

Kelly, trapped in the iron cage, felt the telepathic message in her ear. Her beautiful brows furrowed slightly, and after a moment's thought, she finally responded with her mental power: "Human! What do you want?"

Kelly's mental energy gives people a very cool feeling, and the voice simulated by her mental energy is also very soft and ethereal.

"I just want to let you go, that's all," Chen Hong replied calmly.

"Do you think I'm easy to fool?" Kelly asked, sounding annoyed.

"Isn't that right?" To Kelly's surprise, Chen Hong didn't agree with her. Instead, he asked, "Although I don't know the status of mermaids among ocean spirit beasts, they are still an extremely precious species with considerable strength. Yet you were still captured, and captured unharmed. I can't think of any other reason besides questioning your intelligence."

"You?!" Kelly was furious at Chen Hong's retort, but she couldn't refute it, because she was indeed too stupid to be captured. She had fallen into the Soul Master's trap and walked right into his snare.

"Alright, my name is Chen Hong, what's yours?" Chen Hong changed the subject.

Kelly snorted before replying, "Tess Kelly!"

"Didn't you say you were going to let me go? Then what do you mean by keeping me locked in that iron cage? You're just saying one thing and meaning another!"

"So, you're saying there's something wrong with your head."

(End of this chapter)