Chapter 045: Brother Tian Makes His Entrance, Aura Unleashed!

Seven days ago, atop the highest floor of the Star-Suppressing Tower in Blue Moon Prison, the platform hung over the void on three sides, and icy winds howled. Zhang Hao twisted the neck of the ringleader of the tower’s criminals, and as he tossed the body down to the base, he laughed loudly, “I’ll release every last one of you. But if any of you dare not obey me, you’ll end up just like him.”

Layer upon layer, the prisoners roared in excitement, “Brother Hao is invincible! Brother Hao is invincible!”

At 7 a.m., the First Flying Squadron of Fama arrived. Twenty fighter jets pierced the sky at 3,000 meters, using gravity to execute a most devastating vertical bombardment. Yet, as they dropped their bombs on the Eighty-Eight Pearl-Step Terraces below, twenty beams of light shot straight into the heavens. The superweapon, the Electronic Resonance Cannon, instantly turned the squadron into blazing wreckage, scattering their ashes across the sky.

Six days ago, with the gathering of military stars and the top dark stars from every city in Fama, Zhang Hao’s side was brimming with talent. The Royalist carrier battle group had scarcely appeared before it was obliterated, as Zhang Hao unleashed the war instrument, the Crystal Violin.

Five days ago, the Empress executed over three thousand political parasites and, with the names on her list, successfully exchanged them for three thousand hostages.

Four days ago, the Royalist army that rushed to the scene was reduced to ashes, as Zhang Hao once again wielded his war instrument.

Three days ago, both sides reached an agreement on issues of food and water.

Two days ago, Zhang Hao’s side rooted out the spies and agents attempting to infiltrate the tower, executing them one by one.

A day ago, both sides agreed to a ceasefire on weapons of mass destruction, leaving brute force to decide the outcome.

After that, Fama’s elite forces assembled, each advancing up the great terraces, preparing to storm the tower. The Eighty-Eight Pearl-Step Terraces stretched in four directions, each leading to the 300-meter-tall central Star-Suppressing Tower. Each terrace had eighty-eight circular platforms, with eighty-eight stone steps between each pair; viewed from above, the terraces resembled strings of pearls, hence the name.

At first, the forces attacking from all four directions made good progress, each seizing five platforms. But this was Win Denbo’s favored tactic: true despair is not the absence of hope, but the granting of a little hope. From the sixth platform onward, Win Denbo and Zhang Hao’s villainous stars began their onslaught from above, slaughtering downward.

A bloody battle ensued. The Royalists were routed, corpses littered the ground, rivers of blood flowed. With the ceasefire on heavy weapons, Blue Moon Island was now crowded with Fama’s media: Capital Television, Big Blue TV, Wuchuan TV, Yunluo TV, and more. War correspondents bustled everywhere.

In comparison, although the Blue Moon Island incident continued to escalate, public interest was in sharp decline. Seven days was simply too long for Fama’s people; the news had grown stale. What began as a nationwide live broadcast, watched with novelty and tension, had now faded. People returned to their routines—school, work, performances, labor, meals, flirting, making love, reading novels, watching movies, playing games. After all, the North Sea crisis was far away; not even a supersonic directional string cannon could reach their homes. Surely, the whole country couldn’t be paralyzed by the North Sea affair.

Even the residents of North Sea City carried on as usual. Of course, this plummeting attention was measured by the drop in live news viewership across the country. Yet, the Star-Suppressing Tower incident remained a hot topic. On one hand, the public could watch the Empress execute political parasites daily; on the other, it was as thrilling as a blockbuster film.

Now, on the sandy beaches before the Eighty-Eight Pearl-Step Terraces, members of every special ops team, SWAT squad, commando unit, and battle team wore expressions of utter defeat. The day before, they had suffered a crushing loss, with over two thousand casualties. Now, each terrace was guarded—no one could ascend a single platform’s eighty-eight steps. Their foes were simply too powerful.

Meanwhile, to the north of Blue Moon Island, a small yacht passed inspection and landed on the island. Once preparations were complete, Huang Qiang began his live broadcast: “Hello, viewers! I’m Huang Qiang of Lotus TV. Many thanks to our host Le Xiaotian for this opportunity. And as it happens, he’s right ahead of us.”

When the close-up revealed Le Xiaotian, right shoulder bearing a speaker, the audience erupted.

“What? After days of absence, Le Xiaotian is back?!”

“Is his right leg lame? Did something happen these past days?”

“Turn up the volume, he’s pressing play!”

“The divine melody is coming—he’s pressing play!”

“He’s pressing play!”

“Headphones on!”

“Headphones on!”

“Headphones on! *1234567!”

Once it was confirmed to be Le Xiaotian, over a million news viewers excitedly donned their headphones. Based on past experience, his releases were mostly pure instrumental pieces, music that demanded careful listening.

At that moment, Le Xiaotian pressed play and began to broadcast “Proudly Facing the Waves (Finale),” a grand instrumental adaptation of the ancient march “The General’s Order” by Master Hu Weili.

Boom! Clang, clang, clang!

As the majestic timpani and bass drums thundered, a cascade of bright, rippling pipa notes opened the piece, sending listeners and viewers into a frenzy.

“Sommadaya! That’s the five-string pipa, king of plucked instruments!”

“With six modes and twenty-five frets, it spans a broad range in equal temperament. In this open space, its sound is not only crisp and bright, but loud and penetrating as an arrow. How does Le Xiaotian play so well? I need to download this—I want to tip him!”

“What’s this melody? Even the pipa’s most distinctive harmonics are on display: sharp, resonant, loose, crisp, explosive—what’s he using? Oh, I should have studied harder!”

As the pipa’s rapid-fire notes fell like pearls on a jade plate, a soaring erhu joined in the melody. Just as the crowd’s discussion was at its peak, the flute entered. A prelude rich in subtle mood slowly unfurled, followed by the triumphant blare of trumpets, the grandeur and might unmistakable.

As everyone waited for the climax, the pounding of the taiko drums suddenly accelerated, heightening the anticipation. Then, at one minute and eight seconds, amid the tight drumbeats and the pipa’s nine-note barrage, a wildly charismatic suona burst forth!

“Doo doo doo!” (in the motif of “Proudly Facing the Waves”)

The suona’s tone was both bright and rough, its piercing volume cutting through the clouds, simple yet direct.

“Look, look at Le Xiaotian’s swagger—what a stride!”

“So full of presence!”

“His aura is overwhelming!”

“Aura at max!”

“Aura maxed out! *87653421!”

Within two minutes of Lotus TV’s broadcast going live, the viewership soared by seven million. Such was the magnetism of Le Xiaotian!