Feng Lianzhu began his internship as a physical education teacher.
Major General Laurie, due to the excessive bounty on him by the Alliance, deemed it inappropriate to appear in person. Thus, he guided from behind the scenes, entrusting the matter to his trusted prosecutor undercover within the Alliance. Following this event, the prosecutor’s identity was likely exposed, but it mattered not. With the entire society’s eyes on this case, the prosecutor wouldn’t be harmed at this critical juncture. Otherwise, the Alliance would completely lose the support of the people, allowing the Empire’s forces to rise opportunistically.
After the event, the prosecutor was to be safely extracted, fortunately, the Empire gained much from this case, making it worth revealing an undercover operative hidden for many years.
By this time, there were already expressions of nostalgia for the old Imperial system on the Star Network, citing widespread corruption among the Alliance’s higher echelons. They argued that so-called parliamentary democracy was nothing but empty talk, inferior to the Imperial system where the Emperor’s actions were monitored by the people. Monitoring one individual was deemed easier than overseeing a group of parliamentary members.
Despite being fallacious, some people believed in these arguments.
“Against this backdrop, to quell public anger, the Alliance will opt for a drastic measure, regardless of the voting outcome. They will choose to reinstate the death penalty,” Feng Lianzhu stated during a meeting in the hotel conference room to the people of the Atavist movement. “The verdict of the first trial will surely be the death penalty for the principal offender and the more culpable accomplices, with the rest sentenced to life imprisonment, their bodily organs to be donated posthumously.”
Hearing Feng Lianzhu’s analysis, the Atavists sighed in relief. Some of them grimaced, feeling that this was letting the scum off too easily, but they restrained themselves.
After a moment of thought, Lizard spoke on behalf of the Atavists, “If possible, I wish to send those guys to the labs, to have them undergo what we experienced, then have them cut into thousands of pieces, making them die in agony.”
Lizard’s words filled some of the Atavists’s eyes with blood, and the Snake Woman even extended her long tongue, hissing.
“But,” Lizard swept his gaze over the crowd and said calmly, “by doing so, do we really have a future?”
“Up to this point, our identity is still that of victims. Even if we have done some cruel things in the arena, we can say we were forced, by the twisted rules of the underground arena, by the coins thrown by the audience, and by the threats of the arena. We are perpetrators, true, but these can be forgiven under current laws. Once we actually follow through with what I just mentioned out of our own volition, then we become the criminals, the principal offenders.”
After finishing his speech, Lizard glanced at Feng Lianzhu. These were words Feng Lianzhu had written for him to recite, otherwise, with Lizard’s level of education, he wouldn’t have been able to articulate such a reasoned argument.
“Who will forgive us?” Unicorn asked.
“You yourselves,” Feng Lianzhu said. “Only when you forgive yourselves can you truly face your flawed selves and have the courage to face the future.”
A Kirates dragon, to be able to utter such profound words, Unicorn said with self-deprecating laughter, “As a child, the fairy tales I read always portrayed the Kirates dragon as a cosmic-level boss. He would plunder the treasures of a planet and its most beautiful women. Then, a poor boy would obtain the world’s most advanced mech, pilot it to kill the evil dragon, rescue the beauty, and become a hero.”
“Now, the one who saved us is Kirates.”
In fact, the real Kirates could probably do the things described in fairy tales, except for abducting a beauty. Feng Lianzhu felt he would be angry if the Fat Dragon actually kidnapped a beauty.
However, it seemed the Fat Dragon had no interest in beauties. Even with Phoenix Arrival having so many beautiful female accounts, the Fat Dragon never showed any interest, still a minor dragon at heart.
Thinking this, Feng Lianzhu couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile.
The Atavists looked at each other, puzzled. Kirates laughed; why did he laugh? Was it because he liked to hear praises? What to do? Should they praise him?
Fortunately, at this time, Feng Lianzhu timely said, “Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will make the first verdict. The defendants will certainly not take it lying down; they will definitely appeal for a second trial. There must be at least 15 days between the first and second trials, giving the defendants time to gather evidence for their defense. These 15 days will be hard on you.”
“Hard in what way?”
“I will strive to secure you the freedom to move around in Eimiral freely. You will appear in front of media cameras, use these days to show yourselves well.”
“How should we show ourselves?” Lizard asked, puzzled.
Seeing that the Atavists genuinely didn’t understand, Feng Lianzhu sighed deeply, holding up two fingers. “First, play up your tragedy to win public sympathy. You have a natural advantage. Tell the reporters about your life in the orphanage, the pain in the lab, the unwillingness in the arena, and your longing for redemption. Second, showcase your kindness. Let the people of the Alliance see that, despite being persecuted to this extent, you still yearn for and cherish goodness. You are willing to smile at the Alliance people who treat you kindly. In the face of aggressive reporters, show your pain and lack of control, speak honestly about your hatred for the underground arena and illegal modifications, and express your gratitude to the Alliance people who spoke up for you and punished the main culprits.”
Including Lizard, the faces of the Atavists cracked open; they began to doubt whether the being before them was truly a Kirates dragon. Such a powerful cosmic species, so adept at strategy?
Feng Lianzhu didn’t mind the doubts of the Atavists. Previously, pretending to be the Fat Dragon was due to a lack of confidence, but now he was more willing to possess a sense of self.
“We have to play up our tragedy?!” Bison growled lowly. “I hate those Alliance people who live like delicate flowers, and now I have to ask for their help? Disgusting!”
His words resonated among the Atavists.
Feng Lianzhu was unconcerned about everyone’s attitude. “You may not like it, and it doesn’t matter what you think inside, as long as you show it through your actions. For the sake of your future life, to change the ‘Atavist Protection Act,’ you must do this. If you don’t know what to say, write some essays tonight, give them to me, and I’ll revise them. Then, you just have to memorize them.”
“Write… write essays?” the Snake Woman shrieked.
“Yes, any problem with that? You all can read, right?” Feng Lianzhu scanned the crowd.
“We can read, but…”
“Then there’s no problem,” Feng Lianzhu said, imitating the tone of a Teacher Green Dragon, pressing a hand on the table and speaking firmly.
Indeed, when he got serious, the Atavists had no more objections, all obediently bowing their heads, indicating they would diligently do their homework.
Before the first verdict, Feng Lianzhu stayed up all night to revise over a hundred essays, individually commenting on them, and teaching the Atavists how to respond to different questions. They didn’t sleep all night, continuously reciting the homework Feng Lianzhu had assigned.
The next morning, the Atavists still felt as if they were in a dream. A Kirates dragon was revising their essays? Perhaps they were already dead, having died the moment they were delivered to the primitive star by the underground arena’s people, and this was just a pre-death hallucination?
The 100 Atavists walked into the courtroom as if sleepwalking, their minds echoing with the homework Feng Lianzhu had given everyone.
To defend their clients, the defense lawyers had to attack the prosecution’s evidence. One lawyer even brought up footage of Lizard and other witnesses during their matches, scenes bloodied yet pixelated causing discomfort to those watching the live broadcast. The lawyer directly stated, “Every witness for the prosecution is blood-stained, each one a murderer. Their souls are deeply twisted; they harbor intense hatred for my clients. Your Honor, members of the jury, are these testimonies really unbiased? Is there no vendetta? Are these truly the pitiable Atavists as claimed by the Alliance public? I believe their psychological state is unfit for providing testimony.”
Faced with the lawyer’s interrogation, the Atavists, had it been before, would likely have reacted with anger, annoyance, and aggression. But at this moment, dreamlike, their minds were filled with the essays, and they had rehearsed for this question!
Lizard lifted a pair of sorrowful eyes, looking at the defense lawyer, and spoke with a heavy tone, “I never deny what I have done. But before you accuse us, please do not overlook two things. First, did you hear the cheers in the video? Did you see the marks on the necks of the participants? Those are the marks of the underground arena and the performance for entertainment, as long as there is that mark on our necks, we had to perform in front of our clients to the sound of their cheers. If we did not act according to the rules, after coming off stage, we would be the ones mistreated. Second, the 100 Atavists you see standing before you now are all survivors from the videos, victims of abuse. The reason we became perpetrators is not because we are cruel but because we were fortunate. Before dying, rescue came.”
Lizard’s calm yet desperate eyes made even the hard-hearted lawyer’s fingers tremble. Seizing the moment, the prosecutor presented a stack of documents saying, “The videos presented by the defense lawyer, I have thousands of them here. Only, the victims in these videos are all our witnesses.”
He narrated the experiences of Lizard and others in the competitions, stating, “Regardless of whether they were victims or perpetrators, the ones forcing them to act in order to survive were the defendants!”
The camera panned over the faces of the Atavists, showing confusion, sadness, contemplation, and calmness, yet no aggression. This further convinced viewers that they were once good children, victims.
What were the Atavists thinking? Damn, Lizard memorized it so well? I haven’t finished memorizing it yet! What if that dragon beats me up when I get back? Can my little body withstand his punch?
The first verdict of the underground arena case sentenced all organizers of the underground arena, including high-ranking members of the Alliance found among the audience, to death. The remaining accomplices were sentenced to be exiled to the harshest mining stars, to labor for life.
After the first verdict, the defendants appealed for a second trial. As they left the courtroom, countless reporters surged forward, interviewing the parties and witnesses involved.
With the guidance provided by Feng Lianzhu, the Atavists performed exceptionally well, fully demonstrating their bewilderment and longing for a new life, moving the audience in front of the screen to tears.
Since they did not show any aggression in court, the Atavists were free to move around on Eimiral during the period between the first and second trials, under the protection of the Alliance police to prevent assassination attempts. All expenses incurred by the Atavists on Eimiral were covered by the Supreme Court.
During this time, what was Feng Lianzhu, the orchestrator of it all, doing?
To graduate from college as soon as possible, with the mindset of making every day count, he started his internship as a physical education teacher at a middle school, with the help of the prosecutor under Laurie.
Author’s Note:
Feng Lianzhu: There’s nothing that can’t be solved with an essay. If it can’t, then write two.
Atavists: …
The Fat Dragon, secretly delighted in the gaming world: A-Zhu never makes me write essays. He even helps me with college and writes essays for me. Blissful.
–
Promoting my good buddy Zhong Xiaosheng’s ancient slash novel “Delusional Agate,” a super exhilarating tale of underdogs contending for supremacy in the world, which is super, super, super beefy. Highly recommended.
P.S.: The title’s pinyin is wang ren zhu nao, yes, that’s pig brain as in pig brain. If it’s too hard to spell, just search for the author Zhong Xiaosheng _(:ะทใโ )_