CRA Chapter 44 – part 2

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“I have proof.”

Facing the dangerous eyes not far away, Ogie said this sentence under immense psychological pressure.

He had evidence, but it had not been obtained by him. He did not have the ability to do so. The evidence at hand was all attributed to the people from the army’s investigation department who had found and caught him.

When they had pursued him, they had actually discovered that the Houdie family’s personnel flow of recent years was recorded on their connector. The investigation team had then naturally preceded to get their hands on that information.

The evidence was presented and its authenticity confirmed. To think that valid proof for this would actually be presented… Everyone at the scene, including the grand judge, all showed a dumb expression one after another.

That man had really not made any irresponsible remarks regarding his connection to the Houdie family and the latter had still been so anxious to deny this fact just now, the amount of information feedback from this seemed a bit large.

A big family who had unexpectedly deliberately abandoned their cub, now all of a sudden wanted to recognize and take him back? The judges who touched the truth at this time had a kind of absurd feeling.

Ogie did not bring up the reason why the Houdie family had abandoned the cub. This was because Xie Luan had told him to not mention it. The fact that the mermaid cub could not speak was now a thing of the past. Needless to day, Xie Luan hoped that this matter would be buried.

Cubs with speech impairment were bound to be despised in the mermaid race, even if he wanted to, Xie Luan could not change this. By burying this matter, he could at least ensure that the cub would not be discriminated against when he grew up.

“If the judges still have doubts about my statement, I can also submit a lie detection report. I hope it can serve as a reference.”

Standing at the witness stand, Ogie knew there was no way back. Hence he once again clenched his teeth and said this.

In the interstellar court, the presentation of a lie detection report was a very commonly used method. The lie detection report could not be used as solid evidence on its own, but it could be used as a reference to increase the credibility of the statement in the jury’s eyes.

The lie detection report was at last presented with a high score marked on it. The judges had already begun to weigh the situation in their hearts.

Who would have thought that the other party would still be able to provide evidence?! That worm had even seemed indifferent to their hint at revenge. The Houdie family’s old master squeezed the cane in his hand to the point that the top almost broke off.

The first witness appearing in the court had already thrown the Houdie family into a state of chaos, but this first round of attacks was not over yet. Soon, the second witness was summoned to the courtroom.

The one who emerged from behind the door was from the sevilla race. No one in the Houdie family knew who this second witness was.

But their nerves were already stretched taut. Now facing the seemingly unrelated witness they did not dare to take this lightly.

“I was the one who brought the cub to Yunbao Branch and the one who found the cub at the abandoned field on Gaia. For one thing, I can prove that the cub was abandoned with malicious intentions.”

The sevilla man standing on the hovering platform did not show any signs of hesitation and when he opened his mouth to testify, he spoke in a steady voice. “When I found him on that field, the mermaid cub was very severely dehydrated. I immediately put the cub back in water and took him to the cub hospital. The hospital’s medical records can serve as evidence to confirm the truth of this statement.”

When the witness finished his testimony, Xie Luan pressed a button and presented two pieces of evidence.

One was the identity record of the person who brought the cub to Yunbao Branch. The other was the medical record mentioned just now. It was one of the most important pieces of evidence and Xie Luan had personality run to that cub hospital in order to get it on the other’s behalf.

Proving the cub had been deliberately abandoned and that the circumstances were so serious that it almost led to the cub‘s death, Xie Luan did not intend to give the Houdie family even the slightest chance to justify their actions in the Supreme Court.

After they read the medical records presented, most of the judges’ expressions immediately became grave.

According to the medical records, the severely dehydrated mermaid cub had almost been on the verge of life and death at that time. It was only thanks to the fact that the person who found him had quickly placed the cub in water that he was able to survive.

For a cub to have to go through that… it was just too cruel. Even merely thinking about it sent chills down one’s back.

“I have a video, it may not be solid evidence, but it can be used as an additional reference.”

With the permission of the jury, Xie Luan put the chip he had brought into the opening in the table and the video appeared on the virtual screen.

The scene shown was from the Yunbao Branch.

A mermaid cub swam up to the edge of the pool. The human youth standing by the pool squatted down and touched the cub’s hair, he then slowly lifted the cub out of the water with both of his hands and held the cub in his arms.

The video was very short, it took less than 20 seconds before it reached the end. Xie Luan rewound and paused the video only a few seconds in, he then said. “Because the cub almost died from dehydration, he became very afraid of leaving the water. The situation has improved a lot, but from the cub’s reaction in the video, I believe it can clearly be seen that the cub still suffers from the trauma he experienced.”

The cub’s instinctive response would not deceive. Although the mermaid cub in the video no longer struggled as desperately when he was picked up, his fear and slight stiffness at the moment he left the water were not completely gone.

One thing was very intuitive. After leaving the water, the mermaid cub instinctively sought security from the youth and then slowly relaxed after spending a long time in the youth’s arms.

“The prosecuting party’s deliberate abandonment of the cub has had irreparable consequences. I do not think such a family has any right to claim the cub again. They have done nothing to fulfill their responsibilities of caring for and protecting the cub, they have only done harm.”

Xie Luan also had a temper, but he restrained the emotional impulse and ended his statement.

Being ruthlessly criticized directly in front of one’s face, coupled with the sufficient evidence provided by the other, every member of the Houdie family present felt as though they had been stripped and thrown on the ground.

There was still time for another round of debate between the two sides, but after seeing the youth’s witnesses as well as the evidence they presented, the people on the Houdie family’s side were now completely speechless. This made the whole jury able to see the outcome of the trial.

The judgment of the interstellar court was decided by a vote among the judges and the grand judge, after a final discussion with the jury.

The judges each held one vote, the grand judge had two. The side with the most votes would win the court case.

The number of votes was directly displayed on the virtual screen. After the judges submitted their votes one after another, the numbers on the virtual screen began to change.

1, 2, 3 —— The numbers on the screen blinked very fast and it only took a few seconds for the final outcome to be determined.

13:0, it was indeed a trial without any suspense. It was only that the outcome was completely reversed from what the Houdie family had imagined, they had become the losers.

Truly seeing this result, the Houdie family’s master who had tightly been squeezing the cane for so long that the veins on his hand were now protruding, seemed to suddenly lose all his strength. The hand resting on the black cane let go and the cane fell to the floor.

Following the sharp and clear sound of it hitting the ground, the cane rolled several times in a circle, just like the Houdie family’s current state.

After the trial at the Supreme Court of the Star Alliance, the Yunbao branch got custody of Gale, this was already a satisfactory result for Xie Luan.

As for what punishments awaited the conspirators and accomplices who intentionally abandoned the cub, Xie Luan was not very concerned about this.

Instead of finding a place to temporarily stay on this planet, Xie Luan returned directly to Gaia on a starship.

But even though Xie Luan did not care about what would happen to the Houdie family, due to the latter’s previous“preparation”, some people on the Starnet had been paying attention to the Houdie family’s movement at the Supreme Court of the Star Alliance.

There were no impenetrable walls in the world. The fact that the Houdie family had gone to the Supreme Court and lost, as well as the specific reasons as to why the Houdie family lost, gradually spread during the days Xie Luan spent on the commercial starship.

It was especially big on Xingyou, it was one of the most participatory discussions among the members of the mermaid race.

No matter if it was forwarding or commenting, no one excused their actions, there was no exception, not one sentence. Deliberately abandoning a cub was extremely vile. The other party was a big and wealthy family, this made it even more impossible for the public to understand their actions.

Originally, the Houdie family had already been in terrible shape. The old master faced the risk of having to stay in the Star Alliance’s prison for several years.

Now that their family’s affairs had made it onto Xingyou, the reputation of the Houdie family had dropped a thousand zhang in one fall.[1] For the Houdie family to try to save and build up their reputation again would be very difficult.

Not to mention fixing their reputation, they feared the people in their family would, for the unforeseeable future, have to hold their tails in shame and behave.

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Translator’s note:

The Houdie family finally got what they deserved! 🎉

So satisfying… (о´∀`о)

The only thing missing from this chapter is some fluff! I can’t wait for Xie Luan to return to the club, he has been away from Gale and the cubs for all too long.

Well in the meantime, to fill up your cuteness quota, take a look at this adorable fanart made by Rahzel! ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

Rahzel is currently working on something even more awesome for the next chapter so we all have something to look forward to~~

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[1] – 一落千丈  (yī luò qiān zhàng), “to drop a thousand zhang in one fall”  is an idiom and means to suffer a sudden devastating decline. 

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