Baudouin was exposed. Exposed along with him were three other undercover operatives of the Cleansing Faction, all unfamiliar faces who did not belong to Yin Caixin's own squad.
Perhaps they came from the same branch of the Cleansing Faction and had infiltrated different squads.
None of that mattered for the moment, however.
Luca was currently being resuscitated.
Han Qingyu felt a bit frustrated. As a nineteen-year-old recruit, he was still not thorough enough in how he considered things.
By the time he arrived with He Tangtang, Wen Jifei, and Liu Shiheng, fully equipped with their apparatuses, the scene had already devolved into a standoff.
On one side was Shen Yixiu, fully armored.
On the other side stood Baudouin and the three unfamiliar Cleansing Faction operatives... Baudouin had a three-dimensional apparatus strapped to his back and held a blade against the neck of Yin Caixin, who was unarmored, using her to threaten Shen Yixiu and everyone else in the room.
They had retreated into the rudimentary lobby on the ground floor.
Nearly everyone in the hotel had rushed out to watch.
During the commotion, some people recognized the undercover Cleansing Faction operatives from their own squads and shouted agitatedly in French and English.
Members of the Alphonse family were also on the scene, shouting stern warnings and demanding that Baudouin and his cohort surrender.
Han Qingyu and his companions stood on the second-floor corridor.
Baudouin was speaking...
"What is he saying?" Han Qingyu asked.
"He's saying to let them leave, threatening to kill her otherwise," a stranger approached, keeping a polite distance. Introducing himself, he added, "I'm with the Huaxia Front as well, from the Third Army."
"Thank you." Han Qingyu gave him a brief nod.
"Need a hand?"
"Probably not."
With that, Han Qingyu vaulted down from the second-floor corridor with his group and came to a stop some distance away.
Seemingly realizing that the main party had arrived... after a moment's hesitation, the watching crowd automatically parted before him.
The standoff area opened up considerably in an instant.
Baudouin spotted him as well. A flicker of panic passed through his eyes as he told the three accomplices behind him that this man was formidable. Then, he suddenly let out a sinister chuckle, threw his head back, and barked a rapid stream of words at the surrounding crowd, seemingly in French.
Immediately after, another Cleansing Faction operative repeated his words in English.
International communication really was a pain.
Han Qingyu still didn't understand, but he vaguely caught the sound *Qing Yi*.
*Auntie your grandmother!*
"What did he say?" Han Qingyu yelled. Yes, he yelled it out.
To everyone's bewilderment, the person he addressed was Yin Caixin—the hostage held at knifepoint.
She was being held hostage, and she was expected to be his interpreter?!
Yin Caixin froze.
As did nearly everyone else.
Even Shen Yixiu looked blank for a second, glancing back at Han Qingyu.
"He..." Yin Caixin looked at Han Qingyu, opened her mouth, and then firmly clamped it shut, shaking her head with tense obstinacy.
"Jiliguluwa!" Baudouin barked, twitching the blade in his hand at the same time, seemingly coercing Yin Caixin to translate his words into Chinese.
Yin Caixin still shook her head stubbornly, lips pressed tight, staring at Han Qingyu.
By this point, many of the foreigners on the scene had turned their gaze toward Han Qingyu, chattering in various languages. They had understood what was said.
In the chaotic scene, Baudouin grew increasingly agitated, his gestures widening... Han Qingyu pressed his palm downward in a calming gesture, met Yin Caixin's eyes, and gently persuaded her in a calm voice:
"It's all right. Go ahead... tell me. Even if you don't say it, they'll all know sooner or later anyway."
"He..." Yin Caixin uttered a single syllable and paused again.
Baudouin brandished his blade once more, gesturing for her to speak louder.
"He said your name is Han Qingyu. They're telling everyone here... that your life is worth a lot."
Finally, under Han Qingyu's gaze, Yin Caixin spoke. That was why she had kept her mouth shut earlier; though keeping silent was ultimately pointless, she had stubbornly held out until Han Qingyu urged her himself.
"Han Qingyu?"
"It's really Han Qingyu?"
"How is he here too?"
Surprised murmurs arose in Chinese.
In truth, because of that Gold Azure Guard medal, Han Qingyu's name was already widely known across many circles—he just hadn't known it himself.
"He says you're worth six hundred and fifty thousand dollars plus twenty source energy blocks... no, it's twenty-five blocks now!" a foreigner shouted in clumsy Chinese, providing the exact figures, whether out of helpfulness or malice.
This was the bounty placed on Han Qingyu earlier in the City of Iniquity. Under ordinary circumstances, very few people knew about it. Even Han Qingyu himself didn't know that after taking down a Grade A+ with a single strike, his price had gone up over the past few days—rising from twenty source energy blocks to twenty-five.
Yet Baudouin actually knew, and blurted it out in a setting like this, both to retaliate against Han Qingyu for ruining his scheme and to stir up chaos.
Twenty-five source energy blocks, plus six hundred and fifty thousand dollars! In an instant, the entire hall erupted into an uproar of furious discussion. Almost every eye was fixed on Han Qingyu.
Among them were members of Azure, squads from the Self-Preservation Faction, and surely some Cleansing Faction operatives who had yet to be exposed.
Baudouin's purpose in revealing all this was obvious.
He wanted to turn Han Qingyu into prey.
It was easy to imagine that once this news was made public, the danger Han Qingyu would face out in the wilderness of the trial grounds would multiply tenfold, perhaps several dozen times over.
"Qingzi..." Wen Jifei panicked.
So did He Tangtang and Liu Shiheng.
Shen Yixiu turned her head to look at Han Qingyu.
"How about we forget it this time and head back, Qingzi?" Wen Jifei urged. There were so many people present, including crowds of young prodigies, and many whose allegiances were impossible to determine. Given how long different combatants had been wearing armor, even a pairing like Han Qingyu and Shen Yixiu couldn't be certain of overwhelming superiority.
Shen Yixiu looked at Han Qingyu and nodded, agreeing with Wen Jifei's opinion.
The room gradually fell quiet, waiting for Han Qingyu's answer.
Baudouin was looking at Han Qingyu with a smirk, seeming rather smug.
"It's fine," Han Qingyu first replied to Wen Jifei and the others. Then, sweeping his gaze across the room, he smiled and addressed the people all around and up on the balconies: "He's right. My life really is quite valuable... But don't worry, everyone. I won't pull out. I will still take part in the upcoming trial."
After finishing in Chinese, he looked back at Yin Caixin and smiled. "Please translate that for them."
Yin Caixin: "..."
In the end, under Han Qingyu's urging and Baudouin's threats, Yin Caixin repeated the message in both English and Chinese: Han Qingyu confirmed his identity, his bounty, and declared that he was staying.
Another uproar swept through the scene amid clamorous discussion, hundreds of eyes locked squarely onto Han Qingyu.
"Hahaha! As expected of the Erasers' strongest recruit in a decade! What guts!" someone suddenly shouted in Chinese from the upper floor. "Don't worry, brother! Huaxia still has two other squads here. Once we go in, we'll walk with you!"
Han Qingyu looked up.
Beside that speaker, another young man in the uniform of the Huaxia Front's Sole Witness Legion was already translating to everyone in English, his tone shifting into a ringing declaration:
"The Huaxia Front welcomes all comers!"
Chapter 123