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Chapter 288: 287: Choice of Captain!
Chapter 288: 287: Choice of Captain!
Chapter 288: 287: Choice of Captain!
Translator: 549690339
“Entering only after so long, this one must have experienced quite a few small worlds!”
Lan Zhize was looking seriously at the newcomer fairy lady, his face etched with tension.
Not only him, but the indifferent man dressed in black was also in a similar state.
On the other hand, Du Gang didn’t have much of a reaction; instead, he was admiring her.
Calling her a fairy lady is truly no exaggeration!
Du Gang sighed. This wasn’t because he was a lecher, but because this newcomer lady indeed had an ethereal beauty, regardless of her body shape or appearance, she was the best among all the women he had ever seen.
Even when standing next to a woman like Yu Shuiyao, she would seem ordinary in comparison.
This was not to say that Yu Shuiyao was less beautiful, but the newcomer’s elegant and serene demeanor alone had already surpassed countless women.
The moment she landed, she took a quick glance around, counted the number of people, and her lips moved softly, emanating a melodious voice that was extremely pleasing to the ear.
“So this time, four people are participating in the mission, right?”
Her simple words seemed like a statement to everyone present, and also like she was talking to herself.
*Gulp*
Even though Lan Zhize was born in a prestigious family and had seen countless beauties, he couldn’t hide his true colors at the moment. His composure was compromised.
However, he wasn’t an ordinary person either. After realizing his mistake, he apologized and hurriedly started to adjust his demeanor.
In a while, his eyes had returned to their usual clarity, without any other distractions.
Under his influence, Du Gang and the other man in black, who also showed signs of losing their demeanor, quickly regained their composure as well and returned to their normal selves.
One should not lose one’s composure in front of a beauty…
No, wait!
Just as Du Gang finished lamenting in his heart, he quickly retreated a step in alert.
What the hell? What’s this about not losing one’s composure in front of a beauty?
He realized that for a moment he had been enchanted, as if bewitched.
This woman is strange, ever since she made her appearance, there’s been a strange aura permeating the surroundings.
On the other side, the man in black was not out of this state yet, on the contrary, he seemed to be in a drunken state, babbling nonsense.
“Fairy, I, Jia Xiangming, greet you…”
As he spoke, he removed his face-covering black cloth, slightly smiling, “before the fairy, how dare I hide my face…”
The lady in white slightly bowed in response, “Tao Xuanzhu, experienced four small worlds…”
“Tao Xuanzhu, what a good name…”
Lan Zhize murmured to himself. Suddenly, his brow twitched, a ray of blue light flashed across his forehead, and then his eyes returned to their clear state.
This…
He was shocked to his core.
He initially thought he had escaped from the influence of the power field, but unknowingly, he fell into it again.
Moreover, he could feel that Tao Xuanzhu did not intentionally release this power field. This was simply the result of her special physical constitution unintentionally emitting influence.
Scary!
Lan Zhize took a deep breath and began to devote more than half of his attention to controlling himself.
In the meantime, he glanced at the man in black next to him.
The man in black’s face mask was gone, revealing an ordinary look, even slightly rugged.
But on his face, there were no signs of ruggedness but rather a peculiar image of a scholar.
This guy is still dazed!
Afraid to show your face? It’s not like you are handsome or something. Moreover, just the appearance of a woman was enough to reveal your true face, tsk!
Lan Zhize scoffed, then shifted his gaze towards Du Gang.
When he looked over, he was taken aback.
He saw Du Gang standing there indifferently, neither showing lewd expressions due to Tao Xuanzhu’s charm nor manifesting any abnormal behavior influenced by the invisible field.
Moreover, he did not notice any resistance emanating from Du Gang.
Just like himself, being able to remain clear-headed now relied entirely on the Lan Family’s mind-controlling method. Only with this was he able to stabilize himself, and moreover, he had to be vigilant at all times.
But looking at Du Gang again, he showed no sign of defense, yet, he was also not influenced at all!
How is that possible?!
Lan Zhize furrowed his brows, staring at Du Gang’s face, falling into deep confusion.
On the other side, Tao Xuanzhu also gasped slightly as her gaze fell curiously on Du Gang.
She was acutely aware of her constitution. Almost no one had been perfectly immune to her charm, like Du Gang.
Could it be due to some special physical trait?
“Are you not planning on introducing yourself to us, friend?”
Tao Xuanzhu smiled again, her voice sounding as lovely as an oriole singing, reaching deep into the hearts of listeners.
“Within the small world, we, the people of the Heavenly Court are the ones who can trust and cooperate with each other…”
As if worried that Du Gang might offend her, she added another sentence.
Upon hearing this, the man in black was utterly smitten, as if immersed in a jar of honey, unable to free himself for a long time.
At the same moment, Lan Zhize’s body shivered and he shuddered, again intensifying the use of the Lan Family’s mind-controlling method.
Can’t afford to mess with her!
Where did this fairy lady come from, she is simply invincible!
He was in absolute awe. With such a field of power in place, who could utilize their full strength?
On the other hand, when looking back at Du Gang, he couldn’t help but admire, as he showed no violent reaction and was conversing as if they were simply two normal people having a conversation.
“My name is Ye Bufan. Nice to meet you, Miss Tao!”
Hearing this title, Tao Xuanzhu was taken aback. It was the first time someone had addressed her as ‘miss’.
In the past, those who didn’t have enough composure addressed her as a fairy, and those with a certain level of composure addressed her by her full name.
“Miss…”
Tao Xuanzhu whispered the word, a complex emotion flickering in her beautiful eyes.
However, this emotion only lasted for a split second, disappearing rapidly.
She nodded slightly and turned to Lan Zhize.
This time, without further explanation, Lan Zhize promptly introduced himself.
“As per custom, the last one to enter, who experienced the most small worlds and gained the most experience, is entitled to be the temporary team leader…”
Tao Xuanzhu didn’t waste words and directly addressed the main point: “I’m the last one to enter, so I will serve as the temporary team leader for this mission…”
As she spoke, she glanced at the progress of the purplish energy in the Heavenly Court below.
The small world’s protective barrier was already more than half penetrated by the purple energy, and a little more would lead to a complete breakthrough. By then, it would also mean they could enter.
“It’s my honor to have the fairy as the team leader…”
“As it should be…”
“Understood!”
Three different voices echoed, one still like a lech, one like a subordinate responding to a superior, and the other was a plain reply.
Seeing everyone’s agreement, Tao Xuanzhu’s lips turned up slightly, revealing two cute little canine teeth. Just as she was about to say something, a white light suddenly flashed in the transparent space.
“There’s another person coming in!”
She was taken by surprise and somewhat doubtful, with frowning eyebrows, as if pondering something.
As for the other three, their reaction wasn’t as strong.
Both Lan Zhize and the man in black might be thinking about something, while Du Gang didn’t react much, because it was his first time there. Everything here was new to him, so he didn’t understand what this meant.
“Four people?”
The newcomer was a robust middle-aged man. As he landed, he looked around at the situation.
But when he saw Tao Xuanzhu, he involuntarily furrowed his brows.
“This kind of power…”
He muttered to himself while raising a hand and making a fist in the air.
“Boom!”
An invisible force resonated in the void, followed by a series of crackling sounds.
“Bang!”
Tao Xuanzhu, who had been standing still, retreated a step back. Before her, a purple longsword was added.
As soon as the purple sword appeared, it slashed into the void, and immediately, the invisible fist mark in the air was torn down.
“Boom, boom, boom!!!”
Accompanying this swift attack, an aura spread out causing the other three to be affected, reflexively stepping back.
Everyone retreated several meters, spreading out and staring at the two from a distance.
Under this influence, the black-clothed man who had been trapped in a certain state finally came to his senses.
“Dammit!”
He cursed under his breath, recalling his own appearance. He felt deeply embarrassed.
Shortly after, he reached out, summoning the black mask he had discarded back into his hands and once again put it on his face.
“Hehe!”
Du Gang gave a faint laugh.
This guy… his face had been seen already, what use was the mask he was still wearing?
Lan Zhize wasn’t paying much attention to their actions, all his attention was in the center of the field.
“This kind of intimidating aura, these two, they’re both powerful!”
Although he could judge from their appearance that they had experienced many worlds and their strength might be stronger than his.
But after really discovering this fact, he still found it a bit hard to accept.
“What are you up to?!”
In the field, you could hear the cold voice of Tao Xuanzhu slowly coming out. The temperature contained within it could freeze the ground, solidifying the air.
Hearing this questioning voice, the middle-aged man shrugged casually, saying indifferently, “You better put away this aura of yours…”
Obviously, he had not been unaffected, but rather suppressed this influence. This was related to his strength!
Tao Xuanzhu exhaled slowly, calmed down, and said, “This is not the aura I released intentionally, this is what I was born with…”
As she spoke, she coldly glanced at the middle-aged man, saying, “If I released it intentionally, are you sure you could endure it?”
“Passively released?”
The middle-aged man nodded and laughed, “In that case, it was just a misunderstanding!”
With his laughter, the previously tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed.
Seeing this, Tao Xuanzhu didn’t say anything more. From her previous central position, she slowly moved to the side, standing near Du Gang.
Clearly, she voluntarily gave up her position as team leader!
The middle-aged man nodded in satisfaction, smiling, “Since I’m the last one to enter, I will be the team leader this time…”
“Let me introduce myself, my name is Kou Yingwu, and I’m a Ninth Tribulation God Spirit. I have experienced eight small worlds…”
Eight!
Everyone in the room was surprised to see him, they didn’t think he had experienced so many rounds.
“Captain, have the eight small worlds you experienced all been different?”
Lan Zhize shed all pretenses and directly asked whatever came to his mind.
Kou Yingwu revealed a bright smile, “Yes, they were all different!”
Before he could continue, Tao Xuanzhu on the side said, “Tao Xuanzhu, Seventh Tribulation God Spirit, and I’ve experienced four small worlds!”
Then came the other two.
“Lan Zhize, Sixth Tribulation God Spirit, experienced one small world…”
“Jia Xiangming, Sixth Tribulation God Spirit, experienced two small worlds…”
Soon, the other four were done introducing themselves, all their gazes rested on Du Gang.
“Uh, my name is Ye Bufan, and I’m a Third Tribulation God Spirit. This is my first time coming here…”
“Ye Bufan?”
As soon as Du Gang finished speaking, an incongruent voice rang out from the side.
It was Kou Yingwu’s voice.
Everyone looked at him in confusion, not sure what he was questioning.
Inside, however, Du Gang felt a jolt.
Could it be that this guy knew him?
Just as he thought this, Kou Yingwu revealed his real name.
“Aren’t you Du Gang?”
“Du Gang?!”
Nearby, Lan Zhize’s mouth twitched a bit, and he looked at Du Gang with shock, his mouth agape. It was as if he was saying, ‘So you’ve been fooling even me?’
Although they only met for the first time, he felt that they got along well. He didn’t expect…
Du Gang studied Kou Yingwu closely for a moment, and once he was sure he didn’t know him, he frowned and asked, “Who are you?”
Kou Yingwu shrugged, “Never mind me. You’re Du Gang of the Ancient City, right?!”
“Yes, the Southern Wilderness Ancient City, the only Ancient God, Du Gang!”
Upon hearing this, Du Gang realized that this man truly did know him.
He was unlucky to have met someone from the Southern Wilderness that recognized him!
Seeing that Du Gang didn’t refute him, Lan Zhize on the side made a racket.
“Good chap, Ye Bufan, so you even fooled me?”
“No, you’re not Ye Bufan, you are Du Gang!”
Du Gang gave a smile, revealing a hint of an apologetic look. However, quite quickly, his eyebrows raised, saying, “Didn’t you say that we should be cautious when we came out?”
Although he was responding to Lan Zhize, his gaze remained on Kou Yingwu, his demeanor icy cold. There seemed to be a tendency to start a war if they disagreed.
He suspected this Kou Yingwu hailed from the demon domain…
“Don’t be agitated!”
Kou Yingwu gestured with his hand, “I’m not your enemy!”
Seeing that Du Gang was still staring at him coldly, he had no choice but to explain, “I’m from the Eighteen Riders of the Drifting Clouds…”
Du Gang still had no response.
Kou Yingwu was speechless and added, “We are also a semi-underground organization akin to the demon domain…”
“The difference is, the demon domain is all about assassinations, while we are all about protection…”
Lan Zhize on the side also picked up something from their conversation, put away his joking demeanor, and nodded at Du Gang, saying, “The Eighteen Riders, once rose from a humble escort family. Now they are a second-tier force only second to the forty-five major forces, dominating the Cloud Drifting State!”
Du Gang nodded and asked again, “Then how did you know me?”
The others were all surprised. They didn’t understand, when he was clearly a Third Tribulation God Spirit, why would he dare to question Kou Yingwu, a Ninth Tribulation God Spirit?
While Kou Yingwu didn’t show the same domineering attitude as he had against Tao Xuanzhu before. Instead, he patiently explained, “Don’t get me wrong, we are also kind of a part of the underground. We can get a lot of information. The bounty the demon domain placed on you just so happens to be something I know. But rest assured, I have absolutely no interest in killing you!”
“Demon domain?!”
The other three looked at Du Gang in surprise.
Who was this guy, even the demon domain put a bounty on him?
You should know, the demon domain is one of the forty-five major forces that specialize in assassinations.
Such a force actually wanted to hand Du Gang’s bounty over to other underground organizations?
So, who exactly was this Du Gang?!