CHAPTER 182: KINDLY DONATE

Shortly after Wesley and Darius took their seats, the atmosphere gradually became silent.

Not many dared to utter too much of a sound in the presence of these two big powerhouses.

Upon noticing that the atmosphere was starting to dim, Leonard placed his wine cup down.

"The two of you can meet up with Sirena and start the opening." He instructed Shirley and Sophie.

"Yes, Master." The two of them nodded and excused themselves to prepare the opening.

Since it was a banquet, an opening show was required. Otherwise, wouldn’t that be an embarrassment for the Crown Prince?

In the blink of an eye, the lighting in the banquet dimmed, followed by a spotlight being shone on the center stage.

Soon, music began to spread across the room as three women arrived at the stage.

"Oh, aren’t these the Rosalia Troupe members?"

"When did they join the Crown Prince’s rank?"

"Could it be that Lord Wesley had already established contact with the Crown Prince beforehand?"

Those who were surprised by the Rosalia Troupe’s presence were mainly the nobles. They were unaware of the event that had happened in the Merchant Guild’s banquet.

Naturally, not all the nobles were clueless about the situation. Some of them had their own intel network and knew the Rosalia Troupe was gifted to a gold ranked merchant known as Vincent.

It was just that they didn’t understand how the members ended up being in the opening show on behalf of the Crown Prince.

"You sure know how to bootlick." Darius’s eyes shifted to Wesley.

"If you wanted to give up power, then you should have told me so. I wouldn’t have even bothered with you."

Wesley’s expression remained indifferent despite the taunt. But silently, he was regretful of his action. ’So that Vincent really has a connection with the Crown Prince.’

Standing behind Wesley was Ethan, who began sweating profusely.

Without a doubt, he was destined to be punished once the banquet was over for their incompetence in investigation ability.

They failed to discover and investigate the gold ranked merchant Vincent, who was connected with the Crown Prince.

Now, it was just great!

The majority of the crowd in the banquet now held a misconception of Wesley giving in to the Crown Prince.

His authority and prestige had been damaged.

While there were many thoughts brewing in the crowd, the dancing sequence from the Rosalia Troupe gradually came to an end.

Although not many had the mood to pay attention to the dance, they still stood up and clapped loudly.

What the Rosalia Troupe represented was no longer women kept by Wesley, but women kept by the Crown Prince.

To not give adequate respect to them was equivalent to slapping the Crown Prince’s face.

After the Rosalia Troupe exited the stage, the crowd thought Leonard would reveal himself. Unfortunately, they were severely mistaken.

A few seconds later, a group of guards appeared in the scene, their hands carrying corpses.

The sudden appearance of corpses alarmed them deeply.

"What is going on?"

"Why are corpses being carried out in a banquet?"

"Where did these corpses come from?"

In the blink of an eye, the rottenness and foul smell of corpses spread across.

The lingering smell nearly made those who drank quite a lot of wine become nauseous.

Those who were weak-willed couldn’t endure or resist much longer. They directly vomited on the spot and stained the luxury tiles.

Meanwhile, at the front, Wesley’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’Is the Crown Prince trying to settle a debt with me?’ He wondered silently.

Part of the corpses that were brought out were unconventionally placed close to him, almost as if they were trying to tell him to look carefully.

Granted that he never lent a hand during the crisis, Wesley had reason to believe the Crown Prince was trying to find trouble with him in this manner.

Sure enough, once the corpses were revealed, the spotlight focused on the back.

From there, Leonard emerged with his full gown and majestic aura.

"How did you like the gifts?" Leonard stepped to the center stage and asked.

The crowd lowered their heads in fear, unsure of what the gifts meant. They didn’t dare to answer hastily either, lest they might offend Leonard.

When Leonard saw their cowardly behavior, he truly wanted to laugh aloud.

’Hmph, when I was still disguised as Vincent, these people were still so haughty. But now that I’m in the Crown Prince’s status, they all turned to mute.’ This world was truly one realistic situation. To an inferior status, they were the controller, but to a higher status, they became the controlled.

Knowing that they weren’t going to respond, Leonard clasped his hands and explained.

"The corpses you see aren’t victims of the outbreak, so please don’t mistake me as being some heartless Crown Prince. Instead, those corpses are all the berserk slaves who caused the deaths of multiple people."

Despite the explanation, the crowd only grew fearful.

What did he mean by bringing the culprit corpses out?

Was he trying to cause trouble by pinning a crime on them?

They had nothing to do with the outbreak. The only thing they might be guilty of was the moral conduct for not rescuing anyone and keeping themselves safe in their protective buildings.

Seeing the crowd’s expression, Leonard chuckled and spread his arms wide.

"Now, I don’t blame you all for hiding and keeping yourself safe. Selfish humans always seek safety and protection for themselves first. So how can I blame you?" He said and held a wine cup.

"But I’m willing to clarify that the collective of you isn’t selfish. Sometimes, it’s not about being selfish but being helpless. These berserk slaves are simply too fierce and lethal, right?"

After raising the question and meeting zero response, Leonard eyed Curtis.

Curtis received the signal and hurriedly increased his volume. "The Crown Prince is asking you guys a question! Don’t you guys know how to answer?"

Almost immediately, the crowd lifted their heads and said Yes in concession.

"The Crown Prince is correct!"

"The berserk slaves are too lethal for the likes of us to confront!"

"We are also helpless in the unexpected outbreak!"

Once the reception was on point, Leonard nodded and declared. "I’m glad everyone’s on the same page. So let me be frank with you all. To clear the selfish status and declare yourself as simply being helpless, kindly donate half of your fortune to the tragic victims."