Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

Jack looked up, his face showing no fear, but rather an expression of almost pity.

"Chairman, we have not been bribed by anyone, nor have we betrayed the Illuminati..." He paused, continuing just before Victor King was about to explode!

"...At least, not at the moment your initial command was executed."

"What do you mean?" Victor King frowned, his doubts growing stronger.

“We followed your orders and kept tracking that group of refugees. We did find their trail and carried out the blockade and misleading information as planned, trying to drive them into your pre-set ambush area.”

Jack spoke slowly, as if he were recalling a story that had already happened and whose ending was predetermined!

"At first everything went smoothly. They seemed to be really fooled by us, moving along the 'gap' we left behind. We thought victory was in our grasp and kept sending you messages saying that the encirclement was about to be completed."

Viktor King's heart sank, sensing that a radical turn of events was about to unfold.

“Until…we discovered that we were the prey.” Jack’s voice carried a hint of bitterness.

"Their commander, Morgana, is extremely cunning! She saw through our intentions long ago; she even knew our plans inside and out. She deceived our scouts according to our plan, causing us to pass on false intelligence."

We thought we were driving them away, but in reality, we were falling into her trap step by step. So, we passed on some false information to you, and she used the intelligence we sent back to predict your every move and deployment.

When we thought we had them cornered, it was actually ourselves who had dispersed our most elite forces to the most vulnerable positions. He tricked us, then captured us all... but he didn't wipe us out completely..."

The tent was deathly silent, with only the heavy breathing of the people inside.

The staff members turned pale. They finally understood why the scout squadron had disappeared and why the refugees had vanished into thin air.

They thought they had set a trap, but little did they know, the trap was actually woven for them...

Viktor King said with an incredulous look, "They know our whereabouts very well... How did you know?"

After hearing what Victor King said, Jack said with a firm gaze, "President Victor, when they captured me, of course I wouldn't submit... I was already prepared to die... But then Morgana came looking for me..."

"I thought he would use extremely ruthless methods to deal with us... to torture us, but he didn't..."

After saying this, Jack paused, and his words only deepened everyone's confusion...

Because they were very curious, they didn't interrupt Jack.

Jack continued, "He just told us to stay there and not run away. After two days, she would come back to talk to us..."

"Of course, she only had one request... that we not run away..."

After hearing this, Viktor King was even more bewildered: "Live for two days? What for?"

"She's just...let us watch."

“Looking?” Victor King’s voice sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth…

He leaned forward, his sharp eyes fixed intently on...

The invisible pressure almost froze the air!

"What are you looking at? Watching how you have become a group of disgraceful prisoners of vagrants?!"

"No, Vice President."

Jack shook his head, his eyes filled with complex emotions, and continued, "It's about watching them. Watching those vagrants who are wanted by the Illuminati and whom you see as prey."

He paused, as if lost in some memory, his tone carrying a barely perceptible shock: "After we were captured, we weren't bound or tortured, just disarmed and placed on the outskirts of the camp, but we could clearly see everything that happened inside. Chairman, they weren't a bunch of rabble fleeing in panic. They were a... a family that maintained order and humanity even in dire straits."

"Home?" One of Viktor King's aides couldn't help but scoff, his voice filled with disbelief!

"A home made up of a group of defectors and outcasts?"

Jack turned sharply to the aide, his eyes becoming piercing: "Yes, home! They share every piece of black bread as hard as a rock, and even when they are starving, they will give the only gruel mixed with grass roots to the thin children and the injured old people first!"

I saw a man with a missing arm clumsily wiping the forehead of a woman who was unconscious with a high fever with his remaining hand, while a child of no more than ten years old stayed by his side, his eyes bloodshot but unwilling to leave his side for even a moment! I saw…”

His voice trembled slightly, carrying an emotion that Victor King had never seen in this loyal and valiant scout captain!

Meanwhile, the staff members standing by found it unlikely, even unbelievable...

However, they knew Jack very well; Jack didn't like people who boasted...

Jack paused for a moment, then continued.

"As night fell, they sat around the dim campfire, without complaining about their unfair fate or cursing the army that was pursuing them."

They whispered stories of their hometown and sang lullabies to frightened children... When someone was injured and began to groan, several people immediately surrounded them to comfort them and try to get them clean strips of cloth and herbs.

They relied on each other for warmth, not abandoning anyone who slacked off. Vice President, did you know that they even... even shared some hot water and a little food with us prisoners, even though we were just trying to drive them to their deaths!

"I used to think that their talk of freedom, democracy, civility, justice, integrity, and friendliness were just slogans... But after living here for a few days, these things happened right before my eyes; I witnessed them all..."

A deeper silence fell inside the tent.

The previous snickers and gossip vanished, and the staff looked at each other in disbelief.

Viktor King's brow furrowed, his rage seemingly replaced by a deeper confusion and unease.

He was used to the obedience of soldiers, the cunning of nobles, and the cold laws of the Illuminati, but he had never really imagined the scene described by Jack!

What kind of unity, mutual assistance, and even a trace of pity for the enemy did a group of "traitors" show when they were on the verge of death?

He had previously been the Western leader of the Illuminati, so he had naturally heard of their self-proclaimed biblical doctrines...

He initially thought it was somewhat unlikely...

However, when he was chasing these refugees, he also felt their strong sense of unity.

Under normal circumstances, such a displaced group of refugees would have long since fallen apart under such intense pressure...

However, they did not...

Victor King said to Jack, "Isn't it possible that it's all an act?"

Jack shook his head: "I can tell whether it's true or false. Besides, acting always has its flaws, and you can usually tell at a glance whether someone is sincere or not... Most of them try to reason with you and appeal to your emotions..."

“Reason with him…appeal to his emotions…” Victor King murmured, seemingly pondering Jack’s earlier words.

"Yes, General."

Jack nodded: "Ms. Morgana spoke with us for a long time. She did not glorify the defection, but recounted the injustice, despair, and fear they experienced under the rule of the Illuminati, under those orders and oppressions that you took for granted."

She said they weren't born rebels; they just wanted to live, to live like human beings, not like sustenance or livestock to be slaughtered.

She asked us, "Are we scouts born to be knives in the dark, indifferent to right and wrong, only to carry out orders?"

What do we gain after our bloodshed and sacrifice? A cold commendation from the Illuminati? Or... some empty promises? If they could even survive, who would want this? He said the Illuminati is controlled by a minority, people who always consider their own interests and ignore the largest group in the West...the common people..."

"They treat ordinary people like pigs and dogs, so they are destined to be devoured! Ms. Morgana said that now the people of East Asia are in charge... They are living free and dignified lives... And the one who drove all of this is Mr. Xiao Ce... And the corrupt system of the Illuminati will be overthrown sooner or later!"

These words were like cold awls, piercing the hearts of Viktor King and his staff.