The continent is in shock!
The news of the explosion in Mingdu was made public, and everyone, from common civilians to nobles, were all blaming Tang Sect. They demanded that Tang Sect step forward and provide an explanation.
In an instant, Tang Sect's reputation became worse than that of the Holy Spirit Church.
The Blood God Legion's Ruthless Douluo, Cao Dezhi, was the first to release a video, vehemently denying that Xiao Ri from Tangmen would do such a heinous act.
"Tang Sect has a 20,000-year legacy and has always placed the teachings of the Sea God and the God of Emotions as our highest principles. The establishment of the underground weapon factories was to prevent the world from being destroyed and to protect peace, embodying love and justice. In short, Tang Sect is the successor of the Sea God and the God of Emotions, and we would never commit such a cruel and inhumane act!"
"According to the descriptions from the police and the military, at the time, the War God Temple's Haori Douluo Ao Rui also entered the underground weapon factory of Tang Sect. It is well known that Ao Rui is the first War God of the War God Temple, only a step away from the Extreme Douluo level. With his strength, even if Xiao Ri wanted to detonate the underground factory, Ao Rui would have the ability to stop it. Tang Sect has every reason to believe that the person who detonated the underground weapon factory was not Xiao Ri, but War God Temple's first War God, Ao Rui! As soon as he entered, the explosion occurred. He is the biggest suspect!"
"Just think about it—if Tangmen's Xiao Ri really wanted to detonate the underground weapon factory, why didn't he do it earlier or later? Why wait until Ao Rui entered the factory before detonating it?"
In short, Ruthless Douluo Cao Dezhi firmly insisted that this incident was not Xiao Ri's doing but Ao Rui's fault.
Xiao Ri had thought ahead very carefully. He knew that detonating Tang Sect's underground arms depot would indeed shock the Sun Moon Federation. However, it would also ensure Tang Sect's complete downfall.
Therefore, he thought of one person—Ao Rui.
Both of them possessed the Sun Martial Soul and had a very good relationship. Ao Rui had even guided him in his cultivation of the Sun Martial Soul, and they were both teacher and friend.
Xiao Ri knew that if something happened to him, Ao Rui would definitely come to his rescue. That was his trump card.
Once Ao Rui entered the underground arms depot, the explosion happened. At that time, the Gentle and Ruthless Douluo could use this to make a big case and fight for Tang Sect's survival.
After all, both he and Ao Rui would be dead, and no one would know what really happened inside the arms depot.
Whether others believed it or not, as long as Tang Sect stuck to the story that it was Ao Rui's fault, then both Tang Sect and Ao Rui would become suspects. Unless the Sun Moon Federation thoroughly investigated the matter, it would be hard to pin this disaster on Tang Sect.
Ruthless Douluo Cao Dezhi knew that once he posted this video, it would inevitably lead to a flood of curses, so after posting it, he immediately disabled the comment section.
Then he tossed the communication device aside. He knew that no matter how much he said now, it wouldn't matter. He couldn't control how others thought, so silence was his only option.
"Shameless, absolutely shameless!" Chen Xinjie of the Sea God Legion was truly furious. This huge black pot was being placed on the War God Temple's head, which was essentially a death sentence for them!
Even as a peak quasi-deity, he couldn't bear such a heavy burden.
"What is Guan Yue doing? He and Cao Dezhi are both in the Blood God Legion. Why doesn't he stop Cao Dezhi from slandering the War God Temple?" Chen Xinjie clenched his fists, and after Cao Dezhi's video was released, Tangmen fell silent.
No matter how much he rebutted, it felt like punching cotton—his words had no impact.
"General, the Federation has summoned all the members of parliament and military and political officials for an emergency meeting. They want you to return to Mingdu immediately," a personal attendant reported.
"Got it! I'll head there now!" Chen Xinjie nodded.
The explosion of the Tang Sect underground arms depot had such a huge impact that it seemed the Federation's entire focus would be on this issue for the foreseeable future. After all, there were still many other Tang Sect underground arms factories in other cities, including secondary and primary level factories.
These issues had to be resolved, or the Sun Moon Federation would never find peace.
However, no matter how high someone's rank was, they wouldn't dare to handle such a massive issue alone.
When Chen Xinjie arrived in Mingdu, he realized that the explosion's impact was far worse than described in the reports.
Although only the Cangshan district was destroyed, many surrounding areas were also heavily affected.
The number of deaths had not yet been counted, and the number of injured was incalculable. Even with all the hospitals in Mingdu operating at full capacity, it was still nowhere near enough.
Moreover, the dust raised by the explosion had darkened the sky, and the entire city had plunged into a gray, foggy state. Visibility was less than half a meter.
All transportation was paralyzed.
Residents had to seal their windows and doors, and even go outside wearing oxygen masks.
What was worse, the dust was spreading to the nearby cities around Mingdu.
Experts predicted that if the dust wasn't dealt with in time, at least 40% of Mingdu's population would develop respiratory diseases.
The special meeting was quickly convened, with all Federation legislators and high-ranking officials attending. Even the Royal Family, who had been out of the spotlight, sent representatives.
Strong sects and associations, aside from Tang Sect, were also required to attend.
The Spirit Pagoda, Shrek Academy, and other powerful groups sent their representatives.
The Spirit Pagoda's Qiangu Dongfeng and Qiangu Dieting were personally present, and from Shrek Academy, Yun Ming and Yali were also there.
Even the retired Qiangu Dieting had to stand up for such a major event. Even the Blood God Legion's Legion Commander Mingjing Douluo Zhang Huanyun had arrived.
At the meeting, the Speaker of the Federation's parliament recounted the events and then spoke solemnly: "This incident is a disaster for the Federation, and a disaster for all of humanity. Everyone present, including myself, bears some responsibility. At the very least, we failed to notice the establishment of such a large underground arms factory in Mingdu. However, this is not the time to assign blame. What's most important now is to resolve the issue. I want to ask, does anyone have a solution to solve the current problem and prevent similar incidents from happening again?"
There was a complete silence in the room. Even the Spirit Pagoda, which had always wanted to target Tang Sect and Shrek, fell silent.
How could they solve the current problem?
They had no solution!
And how could they prevent similar issues from happening again?
The only solution was to fill in all of Tang Sect's underground arms factories.
But would Tang Sect hand them over?
Obviously, they wouldn't!
At this point, provoking Tang Sect again might result in another catastrophic response.
Who would take responsibility for the consequences?
Even the Qiangu Dieting dared not speak.
Seeing that everyone remained silent, the Speaker of the Federation's parliament helplessly turned to Yunming and Yali, gritting his teeth and saying, "Sea God Pavillion Master, Tang Sect and Shrek Academy have a close relationship. I wonder if you can persuade Tang Sect to hand over all their underground arms factories?"
"I promise that if Tang Sect is willing to hand over all their underground arms factories, the Federation will not pursue the prior actions of Shrek Academy and Tang Sect. We will lift the charges of treason against Tang Sect, release the Ruthless and Light-Dark Douluos, and even allow Tang Sect to move all the equipment from the underground factories, as long as the empty factories are handed over to the Federation to be filled in."
When the Speaker of the Federation made this statement, everyone was shocked. The Sun Moon Federation was actually making such a huge concession?
According to the Speaker's words, they wouldn't even pursue the explosion!
This was a disaster that had resulted in millions of deaths and tens of millions of people affected!
And yet, they were simply letting it go.
Not to mention others, even Yunming and Yali were stunned, unable to speak for a while.
"I… I will try my best to persuade Tang Sect's leader," Yunming said after swallowing hard.
The Sun Moon Federation had made the biggest concession possible. If they didn't speak up now, they would have no excuse.
The Sun Moon Federation had no choice but to compromise.
After all, if Tang Sect decided to pull another stunt like this, what would happen?
If a primary-level underground arms factory exploded, an entire city could be wiped out in an instant!
Such a loss was unbearable for the Sun Moon Federation.
They had no choice but to give in.
Even their own weapons factories were located in uninhabited zones.
Tang Sect, on the other hand, had established weapon factories right beneath the cities, taking the Federation's lifeblood into their hands.
The Federation also knew that once the news of their concession spread, it would provoke public outrage and severely damage their government's credibility and authority.
For the Federation, the blow could be even worse than the explosion itself.
But there was no way around it; they had to take responsibility for the citizens of so many cities.
To prevent this from happening again, they had no choice but to give in.
"Now, make the soul guide communication and persuade him. The sooner this matter is resolved, the better," the president of the Sun Moon Federation said in a deep voice.
"Alright!" Yun Ming did not hesitate and immediately dialed Cao Dezhi's soul guide communication. In fact, he was a bit worried that the Sun Moon Federation might regret their decision.
As Yun Ming connected the soul guide communication with Cao Dezhi, everyone's hearts instantly tightened. They originally thought that with such a concession from the Sun Moon Federation, Cao Dezhi would have no reason to reject it.
However, to their surprise, after Yun Ming relayed the president's words, Cao Dezhi rejected it without a second thought.
"I've said it before, the Tang Sect carries the will of the Sea God and the God of Emotions, and would never do such a monstrous thing. This was not the work of the Tang Sect. This time, it was just that Tang Sect's Xiao Ri trusted the first God of War from the War God Hall, Ao Rui, too much. I guarantee this won't happen again," Cao Dezhi said, before immediately hanging up the soul guide communication. As for the issue of handing over the underground weapons factory to the Sun Moon Federation for backfilling, he didn't mention it at all.
Everyone was left dumbfounded. They hadn't expected Cao Dezhi to be so "stubborn."
"Damn it!" At this point, Ya Li finally couldn't hold it in. She hadn't expected Tang Sect to be so ungrateful.
Before anyone else could speak, at that moment, the soul guide communications of Leng Yaozhu and Zhang Huanyun suddenly rang.
In an instant, everyone's expressions changed once again.
When these two soul guide communications rang simultaneously, it meant that something had happened with the Blood God Legion.
If the Abyss were to invade at this time, the Federation would truly be in a dire situation.
Zhang Huanyun and Leng Yaozhu's faces also changed, and they immediately answered the soul guide communications.
"What! The ruthless Douluo Cao Dezhi and all the Tang Sect disciples secretly left the Blood God Legion?" Leng Yaozhu and Zhang Huanyun's faces instantly turned ugly, unable to believe that Cao Dezhi would make such a choice.
"What is Yue Tian Douluo doing? How could he let Cao Dezhi do this?" Zhang Huanyun shouted angrily.
Guan Yue, being a quasi-god, would have definitely noticed if Cao Dezhi left.