Don't provoke mentally ill people in the infinite flow genre!

[System Notification: The Captain's Tournament instance [Sandra's Castle] has finished loading.]

Enjoy Count Sandra's two-day, warm hospitality to the fullest, and take with you the gifts you find. Leave safely before dawn.

[Note: All player skills, weapons, and items will be automatically disabled in this round. Good luck!]

……

As Yan Zhao passed through the door to the living room, she opened her eyes and found herself in the courtyard of a manor filled with black tulips.

The courtyard was paved with light gray stone bricks, which had developed fine cracks over the years.

The manor's outer courtyard was surrounded by a tall wall, overgrown with sharp thorns. The heavy iron gate was locked, making it seem impossible to leave without passing through the checkpoint or meeting certain conditions.

Yan Zhao looked around, then looked up and saw a five-story European-style castle not far away.

The setting sun cast a golden glow on the castle's spires, dark green vines climbed the grey-white stone walls, and the Gothic stained-glass windows gleamed softly against the sky.

Having gained a basic understanding of the terrain, she walked toward the stone steps of the castle. Seeing that the wooden door was tightly closed, she raised her hand and knocked three times.

A short while later, a series of light, dragging footsteps came from inside, and the door opened to both sides, revealing the figure of a middle-aged woman behind it.

The woman was around forty or fifty years old, with a serious and dignified face. She wore her hair in a high bun and a dark green high-necked long dress with simple floral embroidery on the hem.

"Honorable guest," she said respectfully, standing with her hands at her sides. "I am Bertha, the housekeeper of this castle. I have been sent by Earl Sandra to invite you to the banquet hall for a meal. The other guests are already waiting."

Am I the last guest?

"Yes, please come with me."

The wooden door slowly closed behind them. Yan Zhao followed behind Butler Bertha, passing through the winding, dimly lit corridor on the first floor, and headed straight for the banquet hall.

Oil lamps were lit everywhere in the castle. She carefully observed her surroundings and noticed that many oil paintings were hanging on the walls.

The oil paintings mostly depict young girls, beautiful girls of all types, who come to life due to the exquisite painting skills.

For some reason, even though the girls were smiling, she still felt something was off.

"Distinguished guest," Bertha urged from ahead, "what are you waiting for? The banquet is about to begin."

"……Um."

The two finally arrived at the door at the end of the corridor. The door was ajar. Butler Bertha gently pushed it open and then gracefully gestured for Yan Zhao to enter.

As Yan Zhao entered the banquet hall, he was greeted by a much brighter light than outside, and he instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes.

Inside the hall, magnificent crystal chandeliers shimmered with light, soft cashmere carpets covered the floor, and a long rectangular dining table in the center was laden with a dazzling array of food and wine.

There are eight wooden dining chairs on either side of the long table, and six people are already seated.

The man with collarbone-length hair and a slightly effeminate appearance, and the woman with a princess-cut hairstyle, a sweet appearance, but a sharp temperament, are Disicheng and Luo Xiangjun from the Bad Species Team.

That strong woman with long arms, a slender waist, short hair, and sharp features was clearly Yue Feng, who was known as the Great General.

The man sitting next to Yue Feng, wearing glasses and with a gloomy demeanor, whose long bangs covered half of his eyes, was the captain of the Dawn team, named Zhan Fengchun.

The four of them sat on the left. It was obvious that even though Luo Xiangjun had some personal grudges with Zhan Fengchun, she was not willing to sit on the same side as Lang Taosha and the other two.

Yin Canglang was still dressed in his classic red hair and black clothes, with a cold and ruthless look that suggested he wanted to kill anyone he caught. He was drinking a glass of wine with a blank expression.

The team members she brought this time were handsome enough to be considered good-looking, but they had villainous faces, with a long scar on their left forehead and a smug, half-smiling expression.

Yan Zhao recognized this man; his name was Liang Tianci. His skill allowed him to ignore any armor. In the early stages of the two-player match, it was he who shattered Jiang Ling's Mirror Shield with a single punch.

Tsk, even with skills and weapons banned this round, the lineup is still quite tricky.

Yan Zhao quickly scanned the entire scene and got a general idea of ​​what was going on.

She walked forward and leisurely sat down in the rightmost chair, just one seat away from Yin Canglang.

The other six were clearly waiting for Black Wind Stronghold to arrive, but they only saw her, and they all looked surprised.

Just then, Butler Bertha smiled and said, "The guests have all arrived. Please enjoy your dinner. Count Sandra will arrive shortly."

"..."

Only seven people, and they're all here?

Yin Canglang turned his head, his gaze quickly sweeping behind Yan Zhao, and asked in a cold voice, "Where is she?"

"Who?"

"Your captain."

"I'm the captain." Yan Zhao casually picked up an apple, leaned back lazily in his chair, and answered while munching on it, "Our team operates on a rotation system, and I just happened to be the captain these past two days, so I joined."

"..."

Yue Feng had actually been waiting for Yi Zanglan to appear. In her mind, since she couldn't use her skills and weapons in this round, and everyone was on the same starting line, she could finally have a legitimate reason to compete with Yi Zanglan again.

To her dismay, she couldn't even see Yi Zanglan. She was disappointed and found it unbelievable.

"Can you stop talking nonsense? The team leader is appointed by the system. You can't just rotate him whenever you want. Even if you do rotate him, you still need to have a teammate. Where are your teammate?"

Yan Zhao shook his head: "I possess the strength to fight ten thousand men; I don't need any teammates."

"?"

Yue Feng has a short temper and almost threw a punch, but considering that it's not necessary to make enemies at the beginning and he hasn't figured out the opponent's situation yet, he forcibly held back.

She held back her laughter, but Luo Xiangjun across from her couldn't and suddenly burst out laughing.

Luo Xiangjun had suffered a loss in the reward competition before, and she knew all too well what kind of lunatics the Black Wind Stronghold were. How could they possibly say a single serious word?

But she immediately realized that her smile was inappropriate, so she retracted her teeth, continued to put on a serious expression, and casually berated Discheng.

"Look, look, what's so interesting about it!"

Discheng was speechless: "What did I do to you again?"

However, he was also puzzled as to where Yi Zanglan had gone. The competition format was fixed, and as the official captain, there was absolutely no way she could be absent.

The problem is that the banquet hall doors are all closed, and the NPC himself said that all the guests have arrived!

The atmosphere at the table became awkward and strange for a moment. It was clear that no one was thinking about anything else; everyone was trying to figure out where Yi Zanglan was.

As the last sip of wine was finished, Yin Canglang's patience finally reached its limit.

She threw the wine glass on the table, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Yan Zhao by the neck with lightning speed.

"I'll ask you one more time," she gritted her teeth and snapped, "Where's your captain?"

A sharp pain shot through Yan Zhao's neck, and he frowned, but quickly recovered and leaned back in his chair with composure.

She chuckled softly, "You really want to see her that much?"

"..."

"She's been here for a while; it's just that you weren't paying attention."

Yin Canglang froze, instinctively looking at the empty seat next to him, but there was clearly no one there.

Sometimes, after eliminating all other possibilities, the most outlandish guess turns out to be the only answer.

She seemed to realize something instantly, her gaze sweeping across the table before finally picking up the silver spoon.

Using a spoon as a mirror, she slowly adjusted the angle until it was aligned with the empty seat next to her.

The smooth surface of the spoon reflected her face, and...

Yi Zanglan wore a white shirt jacket and had her hair styled in a high ponytail.

They were so close, and the moment their eyes met, she clearly heard Yi Zanglan's voice, cold and distant.

"Captain Yin, please let go of my hand."