Chapter 22 — Beyond the Milky Way: The Miner Who Became a God of War

The blade rushed forward. Lam Vũ turned around, not completely dodging — he learned that from previous battles: sometimes receiving a small wound to create a big opportunity is better than dodging perfectly and losing the position.

The blade sliced through his side. Painful. But he was right where he needed to be.

He grabbed Kỳ Hàn Ngự's wrist, turned it around, and used his own momentum to throw both of them towards the edge of the cliff. Kỳ Hàn Ngự lost his balance first. With one hand, he grabbed the remaining ring of the arena. Lam Vũ stood firmly, looking down at him hanging on the edge of the bottomless abyss.

"Save me," Kỳ Hàn Ngự said, his voice trembling for the first time, no longer cold.

Lam Vũ looked at him. Just one second. Then he bent down, grabbed his hand, and pulled him up.

"I don't kill people who put away their weapons," he said, panting. "Even if that person just tried to kill me."

Kỳ Hàn Ngự lay there for a long time, his chest heaving, his eyes looking up at the artificial sky above the arena as if he were seeing it for the first time in his life. During all his years of training to become a perfect killing machine, no one had ever given him any choice other than orders.

"Why?" He asked, his voice hoarse. "I tried to kill you twice."

"Because I don't want to become like those who ordered you," Lam Vũ replied. "Killing a fallen man proves nothing, other than that I am as cruel as they are."

Kỳ Hàn Ngự lay down on the ring, looking at Lam Vũ with eyes of disbelief. The audience, still watching the screen along with the document denouncing Kha Bạch Vân, witnessed that entire moment. Sporadic applause rang out, then spread into an unstoppable wave.

But Lam Vũ did not have time to enjoy the victory. The communication device in my pocket vibrated again. Message from Bốc Vấn Sơn: "It's now or never. Chử Doanh Phong's team has approached the detention area. I need you to make noise in the main arena to disperse the Saint Guard forces."

Lam Vũ understood immediately. This was the moment. He turned towards the stood, where Iron Eagle Palace was shouting orders, where dozens of Saint Guards were trying to regain control of the situation.

"Iron Eagle Palace!" He shouted, his voice echoing throughout the arena thanks to the speaker system that had not yet been completely cut off. "You tortured an innocent man just to protect a lie! Do you dare come down here to face me?"

That provocation, along with the rising anger of the crowd, forced Cung Thiết Ưng to take action. He ordered the majority of the Saint Guard forces on site to focus on suppressing the main arena, just as Bốc Vấn Sơn had planned.

On the other side of the Abyss Arena, the isolated detention area now had only a thin guard remaining. Chử Doanh Phong's commando team, which had been hiding for many days under the guise of traders, took immediate action.

They closed in without a sound, neutralizing each guard with precise close combat techniques. Chử Doanh Phong personally took the lead and broke down the cell door where Tinh Nhược was tied up.

"Commander," Tinh Nhược whispered, her eyes widening in surprise as she recognized her former commander. "You... you still remember me?"

"We never believed in your betrayal," Chử Doanh Phong said, cutting her ties with his own hands, his voice choked with years of pent-up emotion. "The day she 'died' in the explosion in the Cold Ash Belt, I personally searched every piece of debris, looking for her body for three days and three nights without believing that she was gone. When rumors of a traitor spread, I was the first to object, but at that time I had no evidence, only belief."

"Thank you," Tinh Nhược said, her voice shaking, "for not giving up that belief."

"The whole fleet has been waiting for this day for many years," Chử Doanh Phong said, standing up and signaling the commando team to prepare to retreat. "Let's go, we don't have much time. Lam Vũ needs you right now, and the whole plan will only succeed if we move fast enough before the Holy See's reinforcements can react."

Tinh Nhược stood up, her body was still weak from many days of imprisonment, but her will did not weaken. "Take me to the main arena. Lam Vũ needs me."

Meanwhile, in the main arena, Cung Thiết Ưng finally faced Lam Vũ directly, energy weapon in hand. "Do you think a few provocative words can save you, Cot blank?" He roared and rushed forward to attack.

Lam Vũ dodged and counterattacked. The battle between them did not last long — Lam Vũ's War God's strength, now tempered through six life-and-death rounds, far exceeded the ability of a prison guard accustomed to oppressing those weaker than him. Just a few minutes later, Cung Thiết Ưng knelt, his weapon flew away, and was no longer able to fight.

"I surrender!" He shouted, panicking when he realized the situation had completely reversed.

Lam Vũ stood and looked down at the person who once despised him as a "low-class Cot drum", who once ordered the entire mining team to be punished for just a small mistake of his, now kneeling and trembling in front of him. He didn't feel the pleasure of revenge like he had imagined, only a strange emptiness, as if defeating a henchman only made it more clear that the true mastermind was still in power.

"Tie him up," Lam Vũ said to one of the Saint Guards who had just surrendered, his voice no longer angry, only the fatigue of someone who had fought for too long. "He will have to answer to the law, not to my fists."

At that moment, a noise rang out from the entrance to the arena. Tinh Nhược appeared, side by side with Chử Doanh Phong and the Freedom Fleet commandos, all carrying familiar badges that many older people in the crowd still remembered from the years of war for freedom.

"Tinh Nhược!" Lam Vũ shouted and ran towards her, forgetting about the wound on his body.

They hugged each other in the arena, amidst millions of eyes watching through screens across the galaxy. It was not a moment for romance — it was a moment of wordless declaration that, in the end, truth and love stood together in the face of tyranny.

"Are you okay?" Lam Vũ asked, his trembling hand touching the bruises on her wrist, traces of the days of captivity.

"I'm fine," Tinh Nhược replied, squeezing his hand. "But not your mother. Bốc Vấn Sơn informed me as soon as the commandos approached. Vệ Thục Trinh said she had been in a critical state in the past few hours."

Lam Vũ's heart tightened. But he didn't have time to break down. "We'll deal with this first, then immediately bring the Aurora Crystal to Mom. I promise."

Bốc Vấn Sơn, who had just run from the control room after completing his mission of breaking the signal, gasped and joined the small group gathered in the middle of the arena. "I sent an urgent signal to Vệ Thục Trinh, telling her to hold out at all costs until we can send the full dose. But time is running out."

“Everything we need is here,” Tinh Nhược said, her gaze scanning the arena—evidence had been broadcast, allies were present, enemies were revealed. "There's just one last thing left to do."

But just when it seemed like everything was over, a voice rang out from the opposite entrance of the arena — a low, majestic voice, one that hadn't spoken directly to the public in decades.

"That's an interesting performance," Kha Bạch Vân said, stepping out from the darkness, wearing a gorgeous white robe with gold trim, cold eyes sweeping across the entire arena. "But you guys forgot one important thing. I have never needed Iron Eagle Palace or Kỳ Hàn Ngự to solve this problem."

His hand lifted up a small box that emitted a strange crimson light. Blood Seal of War God.

"It's time for me to end this myself," he said, his voice echoing throughout the eerily silent arena.

The crowd, which only minutes before had been cheering indignantly, now fell into a heavy silence. This is the first time in recorded history that Grand Patriarch Kha Bạch Vân appeared directly in front of the public without any screens or representatives. That appearance, instead of reassuring, made the atmosphere even more oppressive, as if the darkness itself was waiting with bated breath.

Lam Vũ stood straight, one hand still holding Tinh Nhược, looking straight at the person who ordered the massacre of his entire homeland. No more fear. There was only the cold calm of the person who had been waiting for this moment for weeks.

"Then come here," Lam Vũ said, his voice echoing throughout the arena. "Come here and answer for yourself in front of everyone listening, why you killed an entire village just to take an ancient artifact."