I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The first time was the night when Qing Deng, as "Fox Boy," assisted Kinoshita Mai for the first time.

After successfully dealing with those scum who had done nothing but killing filth, they unfortunately ran into Nishino, the "ace investigator" of the North Division, as well as Mizushima and his Fourth Division.

Qingdeng still vividly remembers what happened back then.

He and Kinoshita Mai went to great lengths, even escaping into the spacious Western settlement where they could hide, before finally managing to get rid of Mizushima and Nishino.

As for the second meeting, it was not long ago—when Qing Deng and the Extermination Group were engaged in a decisive battle in the Westerners' settlement, the first reinforcements to arrive were Mizushima and his Fourth Division.

Despite having met Mizushima twice, Aoto was not familiar with him and had never spoken to him.

Qing Deng's understanding of Mizushima was limited to the various rumors he had heard in his daily life. He only knew that Mizushima was a very capable person.

Speaking of Mizushima... this reminds Qing Deng of a recent incident.

About a month ago, one morning, when Qing Deng was practicing swordsmanship in the dojo of Shiwei Hall, he heard this anecdote from a pair of juniors who were chatting: the current fire-fighting thief has a dragon, a tiger and a dog!

Dragon—the "genius detective" who has solved countless major, important, and unsolved cases, and the captain of the First Division, Tadaro Abiko.

Tiger – a righteous and incorruptible man who never shows mercy to criminals, skilled in swordsmanship and leading troops, and a daring and aggressive captain of the Fourth Division, Mizushima Ninzaburo.

Dog—with a kind and benevolent nature, he is very popular with the people because he is very humane when investigating cases. Although he is not as good as my grandson in literature and not as good as Mizushima Ninzaburo in martial arts, he is the captain of the Second Division, Kanazawa Tadatsugu, who has no obvious weaknesses.

Although the word "dog" carries a derogatory connotation in many contexts, the nickname Kanazawa Tadatsugu possessed, meaning "meritorious dog," was a truly complimentary title.

In short, among the current Fire Thieves, these three are the most capable and have the demeanor of "armed forces commanders".

Good morning everyone!

My grandson smiled broadly and shifted half a step to the side so that everyone in the hall could see Qingdeng's face more clearly.

"Although most of you have probably already guessed who's behind me, a proper introduction is still necessary."

"Allow me to formally introduce you all—this is none other than the new captain of the Third Division, who will be sailing alongside us from now on: Tachibana Aoto~~"

As soon as my grandson finished speaking, Qingdeng stepped forward half a step, head held high and chest puffed out:

"Nice to meet you! My name is Tachibana Aoto. I look forward to working with you in the future!"

After shouting, Qingdeng bent down and gave a respectful bow to the group of people in front of him.

As soon as Aoto began his self-introduction, everyone in the council chamber... including Kimura and Hisaka, who were hostile to Aoto, couldn't help but turn to look at him.

The reason for this is simple—Qing Deng's voice is very attractive.

Clear, loud, and magnetic.

It's a beautiful voice that even men can't help but be attracted to.

At this moment, my grandson belatedly turned his head and cast a questioning glance at Qingdeng.

"Hmm? Tachibana-kun, I just noticed... your voice has become clearer, hasn't it? I remember your voice used to be a bit deeper."

"Hahaha." Qingdeng laughed and shrugged. "Maybe you misheard. My voice has always been like this."

"Yeah……?"

My grandson's eyes gleamed with suspicion.

Fortunately, he did not delve into this issue.

After scanning Qingdeng once more, he looked away.

Seeing this, Qing Deng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

—Phew…good…successfully fooled them…

In fact, my grandson wasn't mistaken—Qingdeng's voice had indeed become clearer and more pleasant to hear.

Qingdeng's timbre and voice are now influenced by four talents.

The "Strong Tongue" treatment, which enhances the strength and dexterity of the tongue, makes Qing Deng's speech clearer.

The "Golden Voice" enhances the durability of the vocal cords, making Qingdeng's vocal cords less prone to strain.

The "Cloud Piercing and Rock Splitting" technique, which produces a much louder sound than the average person, makes Qingdeng's voice even louder.

Finally... Qing Deng recently copied a new talent from "Challenger": "Nightingale's Song," which makes Qing Deng's voice more magnetic and clearer.

[The warbling of the nightingale: its voice is even more beautiful and captivating]

He spent his time repeatedly training in five places: the Shieikan, the Senjiya, the Kochiba Kenkan, the Westerners' Settlement, and the Tsukimiya Shrine. But this was not all that Qingdeng had been doing for the past two months!

Since September, Qingdeng's "personal talent list" has added new terms!

Qingdeng successfully copied a new talent from a guy who looked a bit effeminate—namely, "nightingale's song".

At the same time, three talent fusions were successfully performed!

Qingdeng's "Eagle Eye", "Bear Waist", and "Fitness" have now all been changed to "Eagle Eye +1", "Bear Waist +1", and "Fitness +1"!

*******

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Regarding the uniforms of Captains Aoto and his comrades, you can refer to the image on the right. This image is from the anime "Onihei," which features the legendary Fire Thief Regiment Commander-in-Chief Hasegawa Heizo. (For details, please click on the comments section on the right) →→

Yesterday was another day of sleeping for over ten hours, and I still feel unwell and tired... I wonder when I'll recover. I really want to go for a walk! (Leopard crying.jpg)

In the previous chapter, some readers questioned: Did I use so many words to describe these seemingly minor characters to pad the word count?

To this, all I can say is: the author spent so much time and effort writing about them, even laying the groundwork long beforehand; these characters simply can't be mere extras! (Reversal of the verdict.jpg)

Chapter 275 Establishing Authority with a Single Sword! Deterring the Scoundrels! [6500]

There's a saying that goes: "People fear becoming famous, just as pigs fear growing fat."

Ever since Qing Deng was no longer the unknown "Dumb Deng," he inevitably encountered what almost every famous martial artist faces these days: being harassed by challengers who come to his door.

Traveling the world and challenging masters from all over the world to improve one's strength and reputation—this trend was most popular during the Warring States period three hundred years ago.

However, with the establishment of the Edo Shogunate, Japan ushered in a long-awaited and rare period of peace.

Although the Tokugawa family's governing philosophy of "not letting the people below live too poorly, but not letting them live too well" made the lives of most samurai very difficult, they were not so poor that they could not even afford a bowl of thin porridge, nor were they so desperate that they had to risk their lives to fight for fame and fortune.

In addition, social attitudes have changed.

With the rise of capitalism and other reasons, more and more people, whether samurai or commoners, no longer respected the so-called noble virtues and samurai spirit.

Everyone turned to pursuing money and enjoyment.

Compared to the generally impoverished samurai, wealthy and well-fed merchants were increasingly favored by the public.

Long ago, many people criticized the "money-worshiping trend for corrupting the spirit and fighting will of the samurai," and some people tried to reverse this bad trend, but all of them failed.

In conclusion, under the influence of all these reasons, the trend of "traveling around and fighting everywhere" has declined.

However—times have changed.

Land annexation, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, and the surge in the number of samurai made it increasingly difficult for the Edo shogunate and local feudal domains to support such a large number of samurai... These social problems intensified over time.

Ultimately, the "Black Ships Incident" seven years ago, in which American warships visited Edo Bay, became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The "small-scale peasant economy" upon which the samurai class depended for survival was severely impacted.

The number of ronin is increasing day by day.

In order to earn a living, more and more samurai who were confident in their skills chose to seek fortune in danger.

If I could defeat that currently famous person and make my fame explode... then in the future, whether I want to use my martial arts skills to get a position in the shogunate or the feudal lord's government, or open a martial arts school to teach and enlighten people, I could achieve twice the result with half the effort!

As a result, the "Warring States period style" has been revived in recent years.

More and more people are dreaming of "defeating a famous martial artist and gaining fame and fortune overnight."

Whenever a martial artist in a certain place makes a name for himself and gains fame through his martial arts skills, a large number of people, whether they are overconfident or actually have some skills, will flock to that martial artist like cats smelling fish or insects seeing a light source.

Logically speaking, not many people would dare to mess with Qing Deng, a "god of slaughter" who has never suffered a defeat in the confrontation with the Extermination Group and has personally killed countless powerful enemies.

However, there are always some people who harbor a sense of wishful thinking, "What if?"

What if?

What if I could defeat "Nioh"?

If I were to defeat "Nioh"... then I would rise to great heights!

Of course, there are also some people who genuinely believe they can defeat Qingdeng.

Compared to Tachibana Seido, I was just lacking a bit of luck and an opportunity to rise to prominence!

In terms of skill and martial arts prowess, I am by no means inferior to Tachibana Seiden!

If I were to switch places with Tachibana Aoto, my record would definitely be even more illustrious than Tachibana Aoto's!

Of course, there is also a small group of martial arts fanatics who decided to challenge Qingdeng not for fame or fortune, but simply to witness the skills of "Renwang", broaden their horizons, and improve their own martial arts level.

Since September, people with various ideas and desires have been coming to Shieikan, wanting to have a match with Aoto.

Many people, out of a desire to protect their reputation or simply because they don't want to let those who want to climb over others to get ahead have their way, will not only refuse to accept challenges, but will not even meet with these challengers.

But it's clear that Qing Deng isn't that kind of person.

With such a great opportunity to replicate one's talent, why would one want to turn it down?

Although there is a risk of losing to challengers and tarnishing the title of "Nioh", the ethereal fame seems less important compared to gaining real talent skills.

Therefore, Qing Deng welcomed all the challengers who came to him.

In the past two months, a total of 6 people have come to challenge Qingdeng after hearing about the great name and deeds of "Niou".

The swordsmanship skills of these six challengers... to put it nicely, are somewhat uneven.

Five of them were easily defeated, and Qingdeng took them down with a single sword strike. Qingdeng had copied the new talent "Oriole's Cry" from one of these five young men, who had a somewhat effeminate appearance and mannerisms.

Qingdeng was both happy and worried about this new talent he had acquired.

Previously, Qing Deng's voice was just a very ordinary baritone.

While it's not unpleasant to listen to, it lacks any distinctive features that can truly captivate the listener.

After hearing this "nightingale's song," Qingdeng's voice instantly became much clearer.

When interacting with others, a pleasant voice is often a plus.

For Aoto, who is currently striving to "marry Sanako and Kinoshita Mai" as his future goal, it is of course a pleasure to see his charm value increase.