Chapter 205: Chapter 205 Shadow
“Look, now we have some good news and some bad news,”
“I really hate this phrase because no matter which piece of news you put first, under normal circumstances, the whole situation would be completely messed up by the bad news. At least, under the effect of my poor luck aura, I have never encountered any good news that could offset the bad news.”
Alright, enough complaining for now. Let’s listen to the good news – after all, even an ostrich can find a bit of comfort in the sand before it’s caught.
The good news is that our Salvation Army plan was really successful. Now all the racial leaders or faction leaders we’ve been in touch with have been roped in. No matter what means those hoards of beauties adopted, these forces have temporarily become a whole and have grudgingly agreed to coexist peacefully. If all goes well, representatives of the various races will gather in Serramo a few days from now – to be exact, on the “Holy Island” that Bubbles temporarily built near Serramo. Of course, this first meeting won’t make any substantial improvements to the relationships between the races. Due to their deep-seated hatred, the meeting is very likely to have many awkward scenes. However, under the pressure of “God,” the super top dog, those representatives should be able to make some wise decisions. After all, those chosen to represent their entire factions or races to talk with the Divine Envoys are unlikely to be fools, right?
After these powerful races joined the Salvation Army, many dependent races like the Fish Humans were as good as members of the Salvation Army. Honestly, at first, I didn’t pay much attention to them, considering how weak these races were. Take the Fish Humans – it probably takes thousands of them just to confront a Demon, let alone comparing their combat ability with that of a Fallen Apostle… I’m afraid even if the quantity is pushed to the limit, there would be no qualitative change…
But Miss Lin completely despised this idea of mine. Her exact words were: “What exactly do you have in that wooden head of yours, glue or a friendly handshake? Do you think armies are made up entirely of front line chargers from the Suicide Squad? You wouldn’t need logistical support, would you? What an! @%#￥…%￥&* %￥#@&% &*…*”
To tell you the truth, I’m beginning to wonder if this whole book would have been censored if Miss Lin’s description of me hadn’t come out garbled…
Anyway, the progress of the Salvation Army plan is smooth, which is certainly cause for celebration.
Now for the bad news… It’s worse than I expected.
“It seems our every move is completely in the enemy’s grasp.”
The above is Lin Xue’s conclusion.
Her conclusion isn’t just based on the situation that we were attacked at the same time; it’s also due to her premonition. Although she can’t clearly see who is watching us or by what means, Lin Xue was able to sense with certainty that our every action is known to the enemy.
I told you from the start, one piece of bad news can completely mess everything up.
This quite unfavorable possibility forced us to change our plan on the fly. According to the timetable we had agreed upon, we were to spend this time with those faction leaders and then go to Serramo with them to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Salvation Army. But now the enemy’s intention is likely to try and break us up when we’re spread out, so we probably have to return to base early to guard against a possible sneak attack. Don’t say we’re being too cautious; although we won this time, who knows if a group of Leader Level Abyss will come looking for trouble next time? Keep in mind that the enemy may have gotten hold of our movement plan. A little carelessness, and we could be ambushed at any time when we’re alone. I don’t believe they’ll underestimate our strength after this defeat.
And even this victory was fraught with peril. Take what Sylvanas and I encountered with the Nameless Abyss, for example. Although the enemy wasn’t very strong, their ability to transform themselves into a black mist was an incredible Undead Skill. If it weren’t for a bit of luck suddenly figuring out the Void Barrier Skill, even if we could eliminate the Abyss, Sylvanas and I could have been destroyed by our own attacks. Okay, I admit, a fusion explosion from the concentrated satellite rays was purely my fault…
Compared to me, Qianqian and the rest even faced more troublesome enemies. If it wasn’t for almost every group having a member with the hard-to-deal-with Superpower, and the combination of Sandora and Pandora being super powerful, they could have been in real danger.
Besides these visible threats, a sentence Lin Xue said during the communication made me very concerned: “I have a bad feeling that in future visions, a huge shadow is always looming over us.”
Years of exposure to various genres of novels, games, animations, TV series, I’ve already learned one piece of wisdom: It’s bad luck to ignore the Prophet.
Although our Prophet is even more unreliable than the most unreliable prophet in any untrustworthy novel…
Two Xyrin Commanders from Serramo took over the work of Anwina and me, staying in Dark City to negotiate with Sylvanas about how to coordinate warfare with the different races. Of course, they also had to take over the task of playing poker with our Queen on behalf of Anwina and me. Meanwhile, the two of us boarded a high-speed transport ship and returned to the Faith-class anchored near Serramo.
The speed of the transport ship equipped with the microdimensional Jump Propulsion Engine is unquestionable. In less than half an hour, we crossed the Endless Sea, traveling from Dark City to the Serramo sea area of the Kalimdor continent – even though in the game, it only took three seconds with good internet speed…
As soon as I stepped onto the Faith-class’s landing platform, before I could even take a breath of the long-missed natural sea breeze, a familiar and teeth-gritting voice reached me from far away: “Yo, how’s life in Dark City? Did anything exciting happen with Sylvanas, that gorgeous beauty?”
Now is the time for a no-prize guessing game. Who would greet me in such a chaotic tone in the presence of Qianqian and Sandora?
Option 1: Lin Xue. Option 2: Miss Lin. Option 3: Lin Banxian.
I enjoyed breathing in the fresh, slightly fishy sea breeze of Serramo and took a moment to sigh at the unique air quality of the sewers beneath Dark City. Then, following the sound, I saw a grinning Lin Xue standing with her warrior women.
Looks like there was also an Uncle Hei Chao standing next to the sisters and Alaya, being treated like part of the background, but since he’s just scenery, our gaze need not linger on him any longer.
Apparently unsatisfied with my intentional disregard, Lin Xue frowned and, as I approached, suddenly launched a Double Kick to Forced Floating Shovel followed by a Rising Dragon Strike (quite the lively welcoming ceremony…) at me. After my complete failure to dodge, she huffed and said to me, already lying on the ground in a critical state, “Hey, I’m talking to you, why aren’t you responding?”
“Respond to you—am I supposed to thank your elderly self for meticulously arranging a half-month cultural tour of Dark City for me?”
“Oh, you figured it out. I thought you’d never understand in this lifetime…”
Instantly, I smashed the imaginary coffee table in my mind to smithereens. “Can’t you stop using such a calm manner to say such rude things! What do you mean I’d never understand in this lifetime!”
Confused by mine and Lin Xue’s seemingly nonsensical dialogue, the simple-minded Qianqian asked, “Ah Jun, what’s wrong?”
Qianqian didn’t understand, but Miss and Sandora at her side showed a hint of knowing smiles, then Sandora patted Qianqian on the shoulder and explained, “It seems Ah Jun has been living in the sewers and crypts with those corpses for nearly half a month…”
“Uh…” Qianqian, imagining the true appearance of Dark City, immediately looked uncomfortable, “Thank goodness I didn’t go with you…”
At that moment, a childish voice suddenly came from beside me: “Daddy… Daddy… hug… yeah…”
Little Baobao’s words completely melted my heart.
I laughed and held Little Baobao in my arms, then the little one climbed up onto my neck and began looking around with a merry laugh.
“Truly a born Divine-level dad!” Lin Xue exclaimed with an embarrassed yet spirited expression.
Seeing my face starting to twist subtly, Lin Xue, in high spirits, knew when to quit, “Alright, alright, Chen Jun’s Dark City… pfft… Let’s put aside your Dark City adventures for now… pff… ahem, shall we talk business now?”
Stay calm, I must stay calm, I repeated to myself like a mantra, then I suddenly realized that Pandora seemed to be daydreaming.
This was quite rare. Normally, Pandora also appeared to be spacing out, but that was just the loli in energy-saving mode, used to being motionless. But now, she was clearly lost in thought! And from what I knew about the little one, although she seemed detached, after being separated from me for half a month, wouldn’t she come rub up against me after reuniting, even though she might not rush over for a hug as excitedly as Little Baobao is doing now?
“Pandora?” I walked over curiously and touched her little head, “What’s wrong?”
As if my sudden touch brought her back to reality, Pandora’s gray, cloudy eyes blinked quickly, and then she finally noticed me, opened her arms to gently hug my legs, and spoke in a soft voice, “Welcome back, brother…”
…Such a slow reaction. Didn’t she realize this earlier? Could it be that even a Leader-level Xyrin Apostle like Pandora could malfunction?