With the precedent of Zhang Wen lying down without the slightest decorum, Murad and Ironface, who had stubbornly held out until now, exchanged bitter smiles and almost simultaneously plopped down onto the ground. Only Raimu remained upright, his chilling smile once again spreading across his face.
“Agh! That was brutal—really brutal! I’m definitely not taking such a life-shortening mission again next time!” Murad, panting heavily while sitting on the ground, grumbled to Raimu, “Still, although the process was perilous, at least the outcome wasn’t completely fruitless. What do you think, Smiling Tiger?”
“Hmm… fruitless might not be the word…” Raimu smiled, his gaze shifting suddenly as he addressed someone behind Zhang Wen, “Miss Lynora, the King has already moved far away. There’s no need for you to keep pretending.”
“Hehe! You saw through me, as expected.” Lynora also smiled faintly and rose gracefully to her feet. Seeing Lynora stand, Isai, who had been standing beside her all along, was instantly startled and hastily jumped aside.
With Zhang Wen setting the precedent by lying down without any regard for dignity, Mura and Iron Mask, who had been holding out until now, each let out a bitter smile and almost simultaneously plopped down to the ground. Only Lei Miao remained upright, his face once again adorned with that eerie smile.
“Ah! That was tough! Really tough! I’m never taking on such a life-shortening mission again!” Mura, sitting on the ground, gasped for breath while grumbling to Lei Miao, “But, well, although the process was perilous, the outcome wasn’t without gains. What do you say, Smiling Tiger?”
“Hmm… gains, you say…” Lei Miao smiled, his gaze shifting suddenly to Linoya behind Zhang Wen, “Miss Linoya, the King has already left. There’s no need for you to keep up the act.”
“Hehe! You saw through me after all.” Linoya also wore a faint smile as she calmly stood up. Seeing Linoya rise, Isaya, who had been standing beside her, was startled and hastily jumped aside.
“You flatter me, Soul Maiden. I didn’t sense your psychic energy. It’s just that I happened to see you inject yourself with that Zero—Ancient Potion earlier. That must be one of the two reagents the Assembly retrieved from Planet K for this mission, right?”
“Correct.” Linoya smiled charmingly, “However, I had already used the first reagent earlier. The one I just injected was the last one the Assembly had. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have waited until the last moment to use it.”
“What? You’ve used both Zero Reagents?!” Mura couldn’t help but grit his teeth and jump up in anger.
“Hmph! In a situation like that, if I hadn’t used the reagent, would I have just waited for the King to kill me and let you search my corpse for it?” Linoya shot Mura a cold, disdainful look.
“Cough… damn woman, your tongue is sharp.” Mura was left speechless by Linoya’s retort.
“Captain Lei Miao, after injecting the Zero Reagent, I suppose I’m now a super-tier psychic. Are you still interested in fighting me, to see if you can keep me here?” Having angered Mura, Linoya turned to Lei Miao with a faint smile.
“Hehe… you’re right. I don’t have the strength to fight a super-tier psychic now, so I have no intention of engaging with you.” Surprisingly, Lei Miao spread his hands with a smile, showing no intention of fighting Linoya.
“Captain Lei Miao!” Isaya shouted at Lei Miao, drawing the psychic steel from her waist, ready to confront Linoya.
“Let it go!” Mura, however, helped Lei Miao by stopping Isaya, “Let her go. Have you forgotten? Always act within your means. That’s the Chief’s mantra.”
“But…” Isaya clenched her fists, glaring at Linoya with unwilling anger.
“Hehe! Isaya, don’t be in a hurry. Even if we let her go today, we’ll meet again someday.” Lei Miao narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze filled with an elusive smile.
“Fine.” Isaya finally loosened her fists, lowering her head and stepping back behind Lei Miao.
“Well then, I’ll be off. Farewell, Captain Lei Miao.” Linoya waved with a smile, stepping lightly past Zhang Wen.
“Bastard, I was planning to block the King for you, to repay my debt, but fate didn’t give me the chance.” Linoya’s voice, as if talking to herself, clearly reached Zhang Wen’s ears.
As they passed each other, a folded piece of paper was silently slipped into Zhang Wen’s hand.
“Hey! Smiling Tiger, you’re not too weak to stop her, you just didn’t want to fight her, right?” Watching Linoya’s figure gradually disappear into the forest of Sandra, Mura suddenly looked up, casting a suspicious glance at Lei Miao.
“Hehe… who knows.” Lei Miao smiled as always, turning to Isaya and beckoning, “Isaya, let’s go!”
“Go? Captain, what about them?” Isaya frowned in response.
“They’re not related to our mission. Bringing back people unrelated to the Assembly won’t satisfy His Majesty.” Lei Miao shook his head with a smile.
“But… Zhang Wen is…”
“Alright, alright! Isaya. No ‘buts.’ We’re the Empire’s Eagle Guards. Let the police department deal with trivial matters like assassinating a governor. We shouldn’t meddle. Besides, that fool Temiso isn’t dead, right? Anyway, we’ve caught a big fish this time, so the Chief won’t nag endlessly.” Mura let out a long breath, standing up with a smile and hoisting the unconscious Agate onto his shoulder.
“Until we meet again, Teacher Zhang Wen.” With a strange smile at Zhang Wen, the trio from the Eagle Guards quickly disappeared into the forest.
“I should head back too. If you have time, come to the arena in Casares. There are some things I need to discuss with you.” Then, Iron Mask also bid farewell to Zhang Wen.
Soon, the massive crater artificially created by the King was left with only Zhang Wen. He glanced in the direction Linoya had left, then opened the note she had slipped into his hand.
The note bore Linoya’s elegant handwriting, and its content was a prophecy poem in a format familiar to Zhang Wen.
The proud princess,
Loves adventure and excitement.
Venturing into the devil’s jungle,
Surely she’ll encounter danger.
Hatred and love,
Always so entangled.
The destiny of a lifetime,
Arrives with the greatest crisis.
Step back, and it’s hell;
Step forward, and it’s heaven.
“The proud princess…” Zhang Wen smiled faintly, a flame-like blue energy rising from his hand, turning the small piece of paper into ashes.
Without further delay, Zhang Wen leaped out of the massive crater and swiftly returned to the temporary camp of Almisus Academy.
By the time Zhang Wen returned to the camp, Zack and his group, who had arrived earlier, had already settled into their tents. Zack and Cloud had taken Linoya’s tent, while Linoya and Xiao Xi naturally occupied Zhang Wen’s tent.
However, as soon as Zhang Wen opened the door to his tent, he saw the red-haired girl Xiao Xi jump up like an angry kitten, darting straight to him.
“Pervert! Lecher! What did you and that shameless woman do to me while I was unconscious?” Xiao Xi swung her pink fists, aiming straight for Zhang Wen’s face.
Zhang Wen hurriedly caught Xiao Xi’s fists, but to his surprise, the red-haired girl’s face, aside from anger, also bore a lingering blush.
“Did something to you? I did nothing.” Faced with Xiao Xi’s angry and shy accusation, Zhang Wen felt utterly baffled.
“You dare lie!” Xiao Xi glared at Zhang Wen with fiery eyes.
Judging by Xiao Xi’s expression, if her hands were free, she would have already thrown another punch at Zhang Wen. However, even with her hands firmly held by Zhang Wen, the furious Xiao Xi found a way to vent her anger. Taking advantage of Zhang Wen’s distraction, the wild little beauty suddenly opened her mouth and bit Zhang Wen’s arm in frustration.
“Ah! Are you a dog? You actually bit me!” Caught off guard, Zhang Wen, who had exhausted his energy, couldn’t dodge Xiao Xi’s “attack.” After hurriedly shaking off the red-haired girl’s head, Zhang Wen found, to his amusement, two clear bite marks on his arm.
“Hmph!” Xiao Xi lifted her head triumphantly, glaring at Zhang Wen, “Quick, tell me! What did you do to me?”
“I told you, I did nothing! With you like this, do I need to lie? If I wanted to do something to you, you wouldn’t have a chance to resist!” Zhang Wen glared back at the wild red-haired beauty.
“Ha! So you did have wicked thoughts about me! You perverted lecher!” Xiao Xi completely ignored the logic in Zhang Wen’s words, focusing only on the parts she wanted to hear, and started shouting at the top of her lungs.
Xiao Xi’s unreasonable attitude made Zhang Wen so angry that he wanted to grab the little girl and give her a good spanking. Unfortunately, Zhang Wen soon realized that Xiao Xi’s loud shouting had woken up Galatea in the tent.
In front of his student, Zhang Wen naturally couldn’t grab the wild red-haired girl and spank her. Otherwise, if Galatea misunderstood him as having some perverse tendencies, Zhang Wen would be wronged to death.
“Enough! If you keep shouting nonsense, I’ll strip you and throw you out of the tent! Hmph! There are plenty of monsters out there that love to eat fragrant little girls!” While Galatea was still rubbing her eyes in confusion, Zhang Wen leaned close to Xiao Xi’s ear and threatened her fiercely.
“You…” The wild red-haired girl was indeed frightened. She glared at Zhang Wen angrily but swallowed back the curse that was almost on her lips.
“Ah? Teacher Zhang, you’re back? Really! I was planning to wait for you, but I accidentally fell asleep.” Galatea rubbed her eyes, apologizing in a pitifully adorable manner, like a girl straight out of a fantasy world!
Seeing this, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but look up to the sky and sigh. If Galatea were to go to Earth and shoot a commercial, men seeing her like this would probably turn into “lolicon” uncles in an instant.
“Huh? Xiao Xi? Why are you sitting up? Are you healed?” After apologizing to Zhang Wen, Galatea suddenly stared at Xiao Xi in surprise, her beautiful eyes wide.
“Injury? What’s this about?” Zhang Wen was completely confused by the two chaotic beauties, Galatea and Xiao Xi.
“Fine! You explain!” Xiao Xi seemed to have some self-awareness, realizing she wasn’t good with words, so she pushed the task of explaining to Galatea.
“Alright. Here’s what happened…”
For Galatea, who had always been the student council president, explaining situations was her forte. So, without hesitation, she took a moment to gather her thoughts and began to narrate clearly.
It turned out that after Zhang Wen left Galatea and the others to find Linoya, Zack and Cloud, following Zhang Wen’s instructions, woke up Galatea and Xiao Xi.
However, after Xiao Xi woke up, the wild red-haired girl was shocked to find that her body was so weak she couldn’t muster any strength. Moreover, every time she tried to move even slightly, the part she wanted to move would feel sore and numb, so uncomfortable it made her want to cry.
After trying to move a few times, Xiao Xi, tormented by the unbearable sensation, didn’t dare to move anymore. Then, the naturally active red-haired girl naturally assumed she had suffered some irreparable injury and burst into tears.
Seeing Xiao Xi’s pitiful state, even Galatea, who had been teased by her for half the journey, couldn’t bear to retaliate. So, after discussing with Zack and Cloud, the three of them carefully carried Xiao Xi back to the camp. Then Galatea waited with Xiao Xi in Zhang Wen’s tent for him to return.
Not long after, the exhausted Galatea accidentally fell asleep.
“Alright. I’ve got the general picture. But what does this have to do with what you just said?” After understanding everything from Galatea, Zhang Wen turned to Xiao Xi again.
“You… how is it unrelated to you?” Xiao Xi glared at Zhang Wen angrily, “If you hadn’t done something to me, why was I so weak and in pain before you returned? But as soon as you came back, I immediately felt better?”
“Huh? How do you know it was because I returned that you got better?” Zhang Wen looked at Xiao Xi strangely.
“Well…” Xiao Xi paused, her face flushing uncontrollably, “I don’t know how, but I could just feel it! As soon as you approached the camp, I felt you returning, and my strength immediately came back!”
“Really?” Zhang Wen frowned in confusion, but a scene from his earlier battle with Linoya flashed through his mind.
At that time, Zhang Wen’s left hand was pierced by Linoya’s dagger, and Xiao Xi seemed to still be in his arms. Immediately after, Zhang Wen felt that “stream” that nearly caused his energy to explode rush into his body.
Could it be because of that situation? If I’m not mistaken, that “stream” that entered my body must have been the first Zero—Ancient Reagent Linoya injected earlier. Perhaps the Spring Water Technique and the Zero—Ancient Reagent had some strange interaction? Zhang Wen pondered, then suddenly stood up.
“Exactly.” Lynora smiled seductively, “But the first dose was already used by me long ago. The one I just injected was the last dose the Consortium had in hand. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have waited until the last moment to use it for a desperate fight.”
“What? You used both doses of the Zero Elixir?!” Murad couldn’t help but grit his teeth and jump up in anger.
“Hmph! In a situation like that, if I hadn’t used the elixir, would you prefer I waited for the King to kill me and then let you retrieve the vial from my corpse?” Lynora coldly swept Murad with a look of disdain, as if he were an idiot.
“Cough… damn woman, your tongue is sharper than a blade.” Murad was left speechless after being shut down by Lynora.
“Captain Raimu, now that I’ve taken the Zero Elixir, I technically qualify as an Over-ranked Psionicist. Surely you’re still interested in a fight to see if you can stop me?” Still fuming from her exchange with Murad, Lynora smiled faintly and turned her attention to Raimu.
“Hehe… you’re not wrong. I certainly don’t have the strength to fight an Over-ranked Psionicist right now, so I have no intention of fighting you.” Surprisingly, Raimu smiled, spreading his hands wide, showing no intention of confronting Lynora.
“Raimu, Captain!” Isai shouted at Raimu and drew her psionic steel from her waist, preparing to charge at Lynora.
“Forget it!” Murad unexpectedly stepped forward to block Isai, siding with Raimu, “Let her go. Have you forgotten? We must act according to our capabilities. That’s the commander-in-chief’s favorite saying.”
“But…” Isai clenched her fists, glaring angrily at Lynora.
“Hehe! Isai, don’t be in such a hurry. Even if we let her go today, we will surely meet again someday.” Raimu narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression unfathomable.
“Fine.” Isai finally loosened her fists, lowered her head, and stepped back behind Raimu.
“Then I’ll be on my way. Farewell, Captain Raimu.” Smiling, Lynora waved her hand and walked away with ease, passing by Zhang Wen.
“Damn it, I originally planned to help you block the King and repay my life debt to you, but fate just wouldn’t give me the chance.” Lynora’s voice, like a whisper to herself, clearly reached Zhang Wen’s ears.
As they passed each other, a small piece of folded paper was silently slipped into Zhang Wen’s hand.
“Hey! Smiling Tiger, you weren’t really out of strength to stop her, were you? You just weren’t interested in fighting her, right?” Watching Lynora’s figure gradually disappear into the depths of the Sandra Forest, Murad suddenly looked up, suspiciously glancing at Raimu.
“Hehe… Who knows?” Raimu smiled as always, turning to wave at Isai, “Isai, let’s go!”
“Go? Captain, what about them?” Isai frowned and asked.
“They’re not related to our mission. The Emperor won’t be satisfied even if we bring back people unrelated to the Consortium.” Raimu shook his head, smiling.
“But… Zhang Wen is…”
“Alright, alright! Isai, no more ‘buts’. We’re the Imperial Hawks. Let the useless bureaucrats deal with trivialities like assassinating a governor. We shouldn’t meddle. Besides, Temiso isn’t dead, right? Anyway, we managed to catch a big fish this time, so the commander-in-chief won’t nag us endlessly.” Murad exhaled deeply, stood up, and threw the unconscious Agart over his shoulder.
“Farewell, Teacher Zhang.” With a strange smile at Zhang Wen, the three members of the Hawks quickly vanished into the forest.
“I should be going too. If you have time, come to the arena in Casares after returning. There are some things I need to discuss with you.” Then, Ironface also bid farewell to Zhang Wen.
Soon, the massive crater “artificially” created by the King was left with only Zhang Wen. He glanced in the direction Lynora had left, then unfolded the note she had secretly handed him.
The note was clearly written in Lynora’s elegant handwriting. The content was a prophetic poem whose structure was very familiar to Zhang Wen:
The proud princess,
Loves adventure and excitement.
Venturing deep into the devil’s jungle,
Will surely encounter danger.
Hate and love,
Always so entangled.
A lifetime’s destiny,
Comes with the greatest crisis of fate.
One step back to hell,
One step forward to heaven.
“The proud princess…” Zhang Wen smiled faintly, a flame-like blue battle energy igniting in his hand, turning the small note into ashes.
Without further delay, Zhang Wen leapt out of the massive “crater” and returned to the temporary tent camp of the Almishius Academy at top speed.
When Zhang Wen returned to the camp, Zax and his group, who had returned earlier, had already distributed the tents and gone to sleep. Zax and Cloud occupied Lynora’s tent, while Lynora and Xiaoxi naturally moved into Zhang Wen’s tent.
However, as soon as Zhang Wen opened the tent flap, the red-haired girl Xiaoxi suddenly jumped up like an angry kitten and rushed to his front.
“Pervert! Big lecher! What did you and that shameless woman do to me while I was unconscious?” Xiaoxi swung her fists and aimed straight at Zhang Wen’s face.
Zhang Wen hastily raised his hands to catch Xiaoxi’s fists but was surprised to find that, besides anger, the girl’s pretty face also bore a hint of unshakable blush.
“Do something to you? I didn’t do anything at all!” Zhang Wen found himself puzzled by Xiaoxi’s furious and embarrassed accusation.
“You dare to lie to me!” Xiaoxi glared fiercely at Zhang Wen.
Looking at Xiaoxi’s expression, if her hands had been free, she would have punched him again by now. However, even with both fists tightly caught by Zhang Wen, the fiery little beauty still found a way to vent her anger. Taking Zhang Wen by surprise, she suddenly opened her mouth and angrily bit down hard on his arm.
“Ouch! Are you a dog? You bit me!” Caught off guard, Zhang Wen, already exhausted from battle energy consumption, couldn’t dodge Xiaoxi’s “attack.” After hastily shaking off the red-haired girl’s head, he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at the clear tooth marks left on his arm.
“Hmph!” Xiaoxi vindictively tossed her head up, fixed her gaze on Zhang Wen, and angrily asked, “Quick! Tell me! What did you do to me?”
“I told you, I did nothing! Look at me now, would I lie to you? If I wanted to do something to you, would you even have the chance to resist?” Zhang Wen glared back at the wild red-haired beauty.
“Haha! So you did have ulterior motives, you perverted lecher!” Xiaoxi completely ignored the logic in Zhang Wen’s words, grabbing only the few words she wanted to hear and yelling at the top of her voice.
Xiaoxi’s unreasonable attitude made Zhang Wen so furious that he almost wanted to grab the girl and give her a good spanking. Unfortunately, Zhang Wen soon found helplessly that Xiaoxi’s noisy shouting had awakened Garyt inside the tent.
In front of his student, Zhang Wen naturally couldn’t grab the red-haired wildcat and spank her bottom. Otherwise, if Garyt misunderstood him to have some bad habits, Zhang Wen would be truly wronged.
“Enough! If you keep shouting recklessly, I’ll strip your clothes and throw you outside the tent! Hmph! There are quite a few magical beasts out there who love to eat delicious little girls!” Taking advantage of Garyt still rubbing her eyes sleepily, Zhang Wen menacingly whispered into Xiaoxi’s ear.
“You…” The red-haired wildcat was indeed frightened. She angrily looked at Zhang Wen but, out of fear, swallowed the curse that was almost blurted out.
“Huh? Teacher Zhang, you’re back? I meant to wait for you but accidentally fell asleep.” Garyt rubbed her eyes, her pitifully apologetic look as she spoke was like a beautiful girl straight out of a fantasy world!
Seeing this scene, Zhang Wen couldn’t help but sigh to the sky. If Garyt went to Earth and did an advertisement, the men who saw her would instantly turn into so-called “Lolicon uncles.”
“Hmm? Xiaoxi? How come you’re sitting up? Are you healed already?” After apologizing to Zhang Wen, Garyt suddenly stared at Xiaoxi in surprise, her beautiful eyes widening.
“Healed? What happened here?” Zhang Wen was completely confused by the two chaotic beauties, Garyt and Xiaoxi.
“Fine! You explain it!” Xiaoxi seemed to have some self-awareness, realizing she wasn’t good with words, and simply pushed the explanation task to Garyt.
“Okay. The story goes like this…”
For Garyt, who had always served as student council president, explaining the situation was naturally her specialty. Therefore, without hesitation, Garyt slightly gathered her thoughts and began a clear and organized narration.
It turned out that after Zhang Wen left Garyt’s group to go find Lynora, Zax and Cloud followed Zhang Wen’s prior instructions and woke up both Garyt and Xiaoxi.
However, after Xiaoxi woke up, the wild red-haired beauty was shocked to find that her body was limp and completely devoid of strength. Each time she tried to move a little, the part she attempted to move would send a wave of unbearable soreness and numbness, making her want to cry.
After several attempts, Xiaoxi, tortured by the unbearable sensation, dared not move anymore. Then, the originally energetic red-haired beauty naturally assumed she had suffered some incurable strange injury and immediately cried bitterly.
Seeing Xiaoxi’s pitiful state, even Garyt, who had been teased by her for hours, couldn’t bear to retaliate anymore. Thus, after discussing with Zax and Cloud for a while, the three of them carefully carried Xiaoxi back to the camp. Then Garyt stayed with Xiaoxi in Zhang Wen’s tent, waiting for him to return.
Before long, the tired Garyt accidentally fell asleep.
“Alright, I roughly understand the situation. But how does this relate to what you mentioned earlier?” After learning the entire story from Garyt, Zhang Wen asked Xiaoxi.
“How come it has nothing to do with you?” Xiaoxi glared at Zhang Wen angrily, “If you didn’t do something to me, why was I so weak and felt unbearable discomfort every time I tried to move before you came back? But as soon as you returned, I recovered immediately!”
“Really? How do you know it was because I came back that you recovered?” Zhang Wen looked at Xiaoxi in confusion.
“Well…” Xiaoxi hesitated, her pretty face turning red involuntarily, “I don’t know why either, but I just felt it! When you approached the camp just now, I sensed your return, and my strength immediately came back!”
“Is that so?” Zhang Wen frowned in confusion, but a scene from his earlier battle with Lynora flashed through his mind.
At that time, Zhang Wen’s left hand had been pierced by Lynora’s dagger, and Xiaoxi seemed to still be in his arms. Then, Zhang Wen felt a “current” rushing into his body, nearly causing his battle energy to explode.
Could it be because of that? If my guess is correct, that “current” that rushed into my body should have been the first dose of Zero—Ancient Elixir that Lynora initially injected. Perhaps the Spring Water Technique interacted with the Zero—Ancient Elixir in some strange way? Zhang Wen pondered deeply, then suddenly stood up.
“Could it really be because of me? Let’s conduct an experiment.” Zhang Wen said to Xiaoxi and Garret, before turning and leaving the tent. He stepped out of the camp once again, advancing about a kilometer into the depths of the jungle before turning back toward the tent.
“Sure enough, it’s really you!” As soon as Zhang Wen opened the tent’s entrance, he saw the furious Xiaoxi pouncing at him with wild gestures.
Zhang Wen hastily dodged Xiaoxi’s flailing hands, only to notice that the wild red-haired girl’s eyes were actually glistening with tears.
“Waaah! You pervert! Xiaoxi’s body has been defiled by a perverted pervert! Now nobody will want Xiaoxi anymore!” Soon enough, the red-haired girl burst into loud, tearful sobs.
Hearing Xiaoxi’s heart-wrenching cries, even Garret couldn’t help but glance at Zhang Wen. Although Garret quickly averted her gaze, the hint of suspicion in her eyes still made Zhang Wen feel rather annoyed.
“Alright! I didn’t do anything to you! Besides, I have no interest in a little girl like you! The problem you’re experiencing now is because you’ve been poisoned by a certain drug! My battle energy just happens to be able to counteract or neutralize this toxin. So when I’m around you, you return to normal!”
“Hmm…” Surprisingly, the first one to react after Zhang Wen spoke wasn’t Xiaoxi, but Garret. The lovely angel-like girl covered her chest and let out a long sigh of relief. But soon, she couldn’t help glancing down at her own chest, which was far from being considered well-endowed, and sighed in frustration.
Needless to say, girls’ thoughts are indeed subtle and complex to the point of being incomprehensible. However, exceptions exist for every rule. For example, the thoughts of the other red-haired girl in the tent seemed…
“Really?” After listening to Zhang Wen, Xiaoxi also tearfully raised her head.
“Of course it’s true!” Zhang Wen nodded firmly.
“Waaah! Good thing! Xiaoxi won’t be unwanted anymore!” The red-haired girl burst into tears again. Unable to bear it any longer, Zhang Wen finally delivered a precise chop to Xiaoxi’s neck, knocking the poor girl unconscious.
“Oh! Right! Teacher Zhang…” The beautiful student council president, who had been depressed due to one of Zhang Wen’s statements, remained silent for quite some time. After Zhang Wen knocked out Xiaoxi, she suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly looked at Zhang Wen.
“Hmm?” Zhang Wen unceremoniously stuffed Xiaoxi into the depths of the tent and smiled as he turned around.
“Teacher Zhang, I heard from Professor Linoah earlier… are you… are you actually the Mithril Hunter Andrei·Stein?” Garret hesitated several times before finally gathering her courage to ask.
“Andrei Stein, the Mithril Hunter… Hehe!” Zhang Wen’s lips curled into an amused smile. “There’s quite a misunderstanding here. Anyway, that guy has nothing to do with me.”
“Ah! Really? That’s great!” Garret happily covered her chest.
“Oh? You don’t doubt me at all?”
“No!” Garret shook her head earnestly at Zhang Wen. “I believe Teacher Zhang; you wouldn’t deceive me.”
“Haha! Didn’t expect me to have such a good image in your mind.”
“It’s not just me thinking that way.” Garret playfully stuck her tongue out at Zhang Wen. “Everyone who really knows Teacher Zhang thinks you’re a very reliable person. Actually, even if Teacher Zhang really were Andrei Stein, I wouldn’t tell my dad. I know that whatever Teacher Zhang does, you definitely won’t intentionally hurt anyone.”
“Hehe!” Zhang Wen chuckled as he patted Garret’s head. “You’re really a simple girl. Alright, rest quickly. I estimate that before tomorrow morning, Governor Tymiso will learn of the major events in Sandra Forest and come looking for us with his guards.”
Indeed, just as Zhang Wen predicted, Governor Tymiso didn’t keep everyone waiting for long.
After hearing from Amelis and others who desperately fled back to the town that a large-scale beast attack had occurred in Sandra Forest and that his beloved daughter Garret had been abducted by two mysterious figures, Governor Tymiso immediately sprang up from the comfortable bed at Basaya Inn like he had been electrocuted.
Without even waiting for dawn, the teams participating in the survival competition received notice from the competition’s chief supervisor. Given the abnormal monster activity recently in Sandra Forest, this session’s survival competition would be postponed.
Although the stiff, old man on the badge merely said “postponed,” after the disaster of last night, the teachers and students from all the academies knew that this year’s survival competition would likely be canceled outright.
At the same time the competition supervisor announced the postponement, the mining district guards responsible for the safety of the survival competition were also swiftly deployed into Sandra Forest under Governor Tymiso’s strict orders to regain control of the situation.
The next morning, Governor Tymiso personally led his governor’s guards and appeared outside the camp of the third squad of the Almichus Academy.
Seeing Governor Tymiso’s grim expression upon his arrival, the delegation from Tymis Academy couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of schadenfreude.
During their visit to Almichus in these past few days, Governor Tymiso had made quite a spectacle of himself. First, his so-called “perfect” security in Kasares City was repeatedly breached by terrorist attacks, forcing the cancellation of the academies’ decade-old traditional competition. Then, even the survival competition, which Tymiso had meticulously arranged and even mobilized the mining district guards to protect, ended up suffering a large-scale beast attack.
At this point, the Tymis Academy delegation didn’t need to seek insider information from the two eagle guards to realize that Princess Sophia would no longer have any connection with Almichus Academy.
Perhaps unwilling to lose face in front of outsiders, Governor Tymiso didn’t lash out at the disheveled Zhang Wen and the others at the camp. He merely gave a grim order for his guards to “protect” all the contestants at the camp and hurriedly left.
“Hey, Cloud, with this survival competition completely ruined, do you think Tymiso might take it out on Teacher Zhang?” While following the governor’s guards heading north towards Dream River, Zack couldn’t help but uneasily whisper to Cloud.
“I don’t know. Maybe he will.” Cloud sighed lightly.
“What? That old man… how can he just randomly find a scapegoat? He’s the one who messed everything up! What did Teacher Zhang do wrong? If anything, before the competition was canceled, Teacher Zhang was leading the team that had collected the most badges!”
“Alright, keep your voice down.” Cloud raised his finger, making a shushing gesture.
After a half-hour of forced march, the group finally arrived at the Dream River. Then, Governor Tymiso, still expressionless, waved his hand, ordering everyone to board the two warships docked on the Dream River.
Among them, the students from Almichus Academy, including Garret, and the delegation from Tymis Academy were all assigned to the rear warship. Zhang Wen and Xiaoxi, however, were taken aboard Governor Tymiso’s flagship.
After boarding the ship, two female soldiers from the governor’s guard immediately appeared in front of Zhang Wen, grabbing Xiaoxi’s arms from either side.
“What are you doing?” Feeling that they were trying to forcibly separate her from Zhang Wen, Xiaoxi immediately bared her teeth like a little tiger, shouting as she pushed the two female soldiers away, assuming a stance ready to fight anyone who dared approach.
“Hey! Little girl, you’re a prisoner now. Look around you; if you act up here, you might end up in trouble.” Zhang Wen, however, smiled and patted Xiaoxi’s head.
“Waaah!” Xiaoxi tried to bite Zhang Wen’s hand in protest, but Zhang Wen was too quick, letting her bite at empty air.
“Hmph! I don’t need you to worry about me! You should take care of yourself first!” Xiaoxi, missing her bite, disdainfully glanced at Zhang Wen and whispered, “They didn’t put you with the Almichus Academy people but brought you onto the same ship as me, a prisoner. Your situation isn’t so great either, is it?”
“Oh! Didn’t expect you to be so perceptive sometimes!” Zhang Wen feigned surprise.
“Hmph! Of course! I am the woman bearing the surname of Odysseus, the wise one!” Xiaoxi proudly lifted her pretty face, but soon seemed to recall something, suddenly blushing and stammering, “But… but you better not misunderstand! I’m not… not concerned about you or anything! I’m just… just afraid that if you die, the poison inside me will act up again!”
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