Ark Journey

"I've never seen that man."

"Then treat it as a casual remark."

The unclear conversation ended just like that, but W memorized the words "Lunicia" in her mind. She remembered that Her Highness Theresa once said that she should have a nice name, and she felt an inexplicable thrill when she heard these words.

After putting away the gun, W stood up and stretched. The strongest sunlight at noon shining on this healthy and plump body made Xue Zhi dazzled for a moment.

"I'm going to the Tower of Babel to report on my mission now. Do you want to come with me?"

Xue Zhi had no interest in those people and just threw some food to W: "Me? Forget it, it's not necessary. Take these and eat on the way."

Taking the bag of meat buns, W smiled and put them in his backpack: "That's a shame. I wanted to introduce you to Her Highness Theresa."

Then, she leaned over and said sincerely and seriously in front of Xue Zhi: "After I leave, if someone comes to provoke you, please spare their lives."

After saying that, he took the initiative to kiss her.

After the moist and soft lips parted, W ran away without looking back. From Xue Zhi's perspective, she could still see her blood-red little ears.

He lowered his head and smiled, then his eyes swept over the approaching Sarkaz.

"Is this considered a bribe... But it came so quickly, let me see how capable you are."

Chapter 24: Establishing Prestige

Standing tall, Xue Zhi moved her body to the sound of bones rubbing against each other.

Many mercenaries came over after seeing W leave. They were members of Team W and the most dangerous group in the entire Hedley Team.

Xue Zhi's appearance was not fierce, but rather gentle and refined. Perhaps this gave these mercenaries the confidence to move forward.

The leader was a big guy who was a head taller than Xue Zhi, who was 178cm tall. He crossed his arms and looked down at Xue Zhi, "Newcomer, come over and compete?"

Although it can be seen that he has a close relationship with W, mercenaries mostly speak with fists. Moreover, this man may directly become a cadre of the mercenary group in the future, which really makes these old people feel chilled.

Xue Zhi smiled indifferently: "Of course."

Then he followed the group of mercenaries who were laughing and watching the fun to a large flat ground specially used for sparring.

Seeing Xue Zhi being brought in, the mercenaries who were fighting on the field quickly ended the fight and made room for the upcoming battle with the mentality of watching for fun. They were also very interested in the man brought by W.

【-twenty four】

Standing in the center of everyone's attention, Xue Zhi straightened her back and drew out a one-handed sword that was flashing with a long blue light. This time, she didn't need to pay the price, otherwise it would be too bullying.

This is the drop from the elite monster module. Because of Endless Greed and the Age of Mystery, he has to constantly kill Pigmen and Endermen to obtain Nether Fragments and Ender Fragments to inject Magic Fluid to synthesize Endless Catalyst. Therefore, he has a lot of this kind of medium-quality (Sharpness II, Durability III) enchanted equipment at home that he is reluctant to throw away.

Holding the sword, Xue Zhi looked around and said in a very high-profile manner: "Who will go first?"

The big guy who was leading the group just now stood opposite Xue Zhi holding a metal spear and said, "I'll do it."

Seeing that both sides were in position, the atmosphere in the entire venue became lively, and someone even opened a handicap to bet on how many moves Xue Zhi could last.

With the tip of the sword forward, Xue Zhi gave up the right to attack first: "Go ahead."

The big guy clenched his spear tightly. The man opposite him was full of flaws. Even his standing posture could be found to have ten or eight mistakes, but he was so confident. He was either a master or a fool.

The confrontation began, and the mercenaries watching became excited, shouting vulgar words to make the battle more interesting.

"Go ahead, old Fatty!"

"'Sarkaz foul language'! Poke a hole in him!"

"End the battle with one move! I'll give you half of the winnings!"

The big guy, who was not affected by the sound, breathed steadily. He observed quietly, but didn't see anything, so he just took action.

He just roared and pounced towards Xue Zhi in front of him.

Xue Zhi was a veteran of the battlefield, and she looked calmly and coldly at the big guy's spear tip that was stabbing at her.

At this critical moment, a silver line came from the side and directly cut off the tip of the gun that was slowly enlarging in Xue Zhi's pupils.

Catching the fallen gun tip, Xue Zhi raised her foot and kicked at a very close distance, kicking the big guy who was still charging forward and sending him flying.

[I can use this to cut through steel with one sword? Is it because of my strength? Or does the sharpness enchantment actually have a great effect? ]

A dull sound was heard and the voices of the people around stopped abruptly. They didn't see clearly what happened. In the last second, Fatty was still rushing forward with a gun, and in the next second, he flew backwards more than ten meters away like a rolling object, and even the tip of the gun was cut off.

Xue Zhi was very satisfied with her control of strength. Although it flew a little far, at least it didn't break into seven or eight pieces, right?

In silence, Xue Zhi stuck the sword into the ground, then slowly walked towards the big guy who was lying on the ground and unable to get up.

A warm light shone on her hands. Xue Zhi squatted beside the big guy and asked, "How does it feel?"

He said truthfully: "'Sarkaz foul language', it feels like I'm dying."

Xue Zhi's kick made him feel like all his internal organs had shifted position, but fortunately he is recovering rapidly under Xue Zhi's treatment.

When the mercenaries saw Xue Zhi using healing Originium skills, they immediately began to regret their decision. As a doctor, it didn't matter even if he was mediocre in martial arts. It was not a good thing to offend a doctor, especially for these mercenaries who lived on the edge of a knife.

It didn't take long for the big guy to stand up again. He looked at the gun that was taken away by Xue Zhi and wanted to cry. "If you had told me you were so strong, we wouldn't have to fight. Now look what happened, I got kicked for nothing and my weapon is broken."

Returning to the field and picking up the fallen gun tip, Xue Zhi began to cast a spell with one component in each hand. The scorching heat was confined to a very small range, instantly baking the broken metal red and softening it. He then recombined the two and tried to input the element of order.

The big guy was lucky, the element of order successfully entered, the structure of the metal crystals that were fused together was reshaped, and it spontaneously became round and smooth. From now on, the place where it was once broken will be the toughest part of this gun.

Summoning a water ball, Xue Zhi looked around while quenching the fire and said, "Who else?"

The mercenaries who were swept by his sight immediately took a half step back. What a joke! The sword and the kick just now were so fast that no one could see them clearly. The magicians were surprised at the source stone skills he showed. The power and control were far beyond the reach of ordinary people. So this is not a pretty boy at all, this is definitely a master!

After the quenching was finished, Xue Zhi returned the repaired spear to the big guy. Seeing that no one came up, he put away the sword stuck in the ground. Before leaving, he turned around and said, "Is there really no one who wants to fight me again? No weapons are needed, fists, magic, or crossbow shooting, I will accompany you."

The mercenaries around waved their hands.

Seeing this, Xue Zhi, who had successfully established her authority, smiled and said, "Okay, let's do what we need to do. Also, members of Team W, come over tonight and I'll treat you well."

The mercenaries who were named shuddered all over, and they began to regret the decision they made earlier.

Not far away, Hedley and Inès, who had witnessed this childish fight, had frowns on their faces.

"Did you see clearly?"

"No, it was too fast."

"I really don't know where W encountered this monster, Hedley, you probably can't withstand that kick, right?"

"I can't resist."

"I hope he means no harm."

"Trust W's judgment."

Back to W's tent, Xue Zhi began to exchange things, including several large barbecue grills, ovens, several boxes of charcoal, and a lot of pots and pans. He certainly didn't intend to teach that group of people a lesson, but giving them a sweet reward after a beating was more like it. He would have to stay in this mercenary group for a long time, so it was important to build good relationships.

Chapter 25: Banquet

Xue Zhi was very glad that Hedley and his men had set up camp in an oasis, otherwise the endless wind in the wilderness would have greatly affected his preparations, and he might even have to use magic to stop the wind within a certain range to prevent the dust from blowing onto the sheep being pickled.

He just counted, including W and him, the whole team had 72 people. In order to entertain the mercenaries tonight, he exchanged 6 headless whole sheep, as well as a variety of vegetables and fruits, and some pickled meats such as sausages. Not far away was a large ice bucket made by his magic, filled with chilled beer.

This did cost some food points, but it didn't matter, as this was the thing they had the most. Xue Zhi also thought of a way to earn points in the future, which was to sell goods to these mercenaries. However, now was not the right time, and tonight's feast was to lay the foundation for future business.

The whole lamb that had been cut was now soaking in a sauce made from a mixture of a lot of spices and rich seasonings. Xue Zhi, who was an orphan on Earth, liked to cook a big table of dishes in his spare time and invite his friends to eat together, so his cooking skills were okay, but this was his first time to prepare something as big as a whole roasted lamb. However, as his whole body had been strengthened, he was confident that he could do it well, just like Itachi-san using his Sharingan to cook for his younger brother (happy).

The sun was setting. Xue Zhi took the lamb, which had been marinated for about three hours, out of the large basin and locked it on the grill. She then put the grill into the fully automatic oven. The charcoal inside had been heated, and the white skin occasionally flashed with smoldering light.

After the grill started to rotate automatically, Xue Zhi closed the oven door and turned to process the vegetables. Soon, several salads and cold dishes were prepared to relieve greasiness. In order to keep their taste, he made a few ice caps and covered them on the plates.

The dipping sauce and tableware are ready, everything is ready, just waiting for the power of time and entropy to turn the lamb in the oven into a delicacy.

The sun was setting, and the aroma of roasted whole lamb was wafting out. Many mercenaries from other teams were attracted over, but it would not look good to cut off a few pieces of the main course before the guests arrived, so Xue Zhi could only kindly give them some grilled sausages and ice-cold beer, and told them that they could come over later.

The mercenary was very happy to get the delicious food, and thanked Xue Zhi again and again before leaving.

[That's all. Once you get to know him, it will be easier for you to do anything in the future.]

However, there is still no sign of Team W. Perhaps the threat he left before was too great, causing these people to really think they will be punished that night.

It was not until the sun completely disappeared and the lights in the base came on that the mercenaries of Team W came over here under the leadership of their captain who had just reported back from the Tower of Babel.

"'Sarkaz foul language', how shameful! He went to challenge Xue Zhi, but even after being beaten, he still didn't dare to accept his request. The pride of the Sarkaz has been humiliated by you!"

Along with W's cursing not far away, a group of Sarkaz appeared in Xue Zhi's sight with their heads shrank.

Xue Zhi smiled at them with her arms crossed. Then, he smelled the fragrance and pointed at the oven while scanning the surrounding mercenaries. "Eat. This is indeed a treat for you tonight, and also to celebrate your captain's safe return."

The mercenaries couldn't believe it: "Really?"

Xue Zhi nodded in agreement and pointed to the ice buckets: "Of course, there are also iced beer and side dishes over there."

After getting his permission, the mercenary shook off his previous dejection, cheered, and quickly ran towards the ice bucket filled with beer.

One of the mercenaries who looked stupid said:

"Is there no poison in this?"

The veteran beside him knocked on his head decisively:

"What a poison! If the deputy captain wants to kill us, does he need to poison us?"

"That's right, but why not the captain? Captain W can't beat him, right?"

"You don't understand. This is called the pride of the Sarkaz."

"Huh? Oh."

The fat and golden lamb can be easily torn apart, the rich fat and the crispy roasted shell complement each other, and when dipped in the dipping sauce made from a mixture of various spices, it is an incomparable delicacy.

Twelve people gathered around an oven, busy cutting the roasted lamb. Everything was in good order, especially the team directly under W.

Xue Zhi put on gloves and rolled up the mutton and a small piece of onion with lettuce leaves, then handed it to W: "Try it."

W, who had never seen this way of eating, did not resist, because after spending a few days together she realized that Xue Zhi was much better than her in eating.

The refreshing, spicy, and rich aroma of oil and protein made W's eyes widen: "It's delicious."

When the mercenaries around heard her voice, they also started eating like Xue Zhi.

The sound of beer being opened continued to ring out, and these people would not miss a single bite of meat or drink.

"Don't we have a mission tomorrow?"

"What are you talking about? How come you're drunk without even drinking? Our mission is the day after tomorrow."

"Oh."

Hearing the interesting content, Xue Zhi turned her head and asked W: "What is the task for the day after tomorrow?"

W shook her head. She had been away for too long and had reported the mission right after returning. She hadn't had time to hand over the task to this side, so she called over the big guy, "Old Fatty, is there another mission assigned to you over there?"

He was the second in command of the team before, and he was in charge of various affairs when W was away. This was also one of the reasons why he came to find Xue Zhi today.

Old Fatty put down his plate and wiped his mouth. "Yes, Captain. Do you need to tell me now? I'll go get the map."

W waved his hand: "No, just give me the general idea, we can discuss the details tomorrow."

Old Fatty nodded. "Okay, Captain. Babel Tower is planning a large-scale offensive the day after tomorrow, and has asked us to protect their right flank for the entire day. The area assigned to our team is on the far right side of the defense line."

Xue Zhi, who was listening on the side, narrowed his eyes slightly. This news was different from what he saw at the Scar Mall. It seemed that a large-scale battle was about to start. However, in the setting, Yan Kingdom and Ursus both had fleets, which were mechanized main forces. Xue Zhi was not sure what the troops in Kazdel had. It couldn't be just a group of infantry equipped with some individual weapons, right? That would be too low.

The little episode brought about by the business soon ended, and the main business of the night was the feast of toasting and clinking glasses.

There were a few people in the crowd who had not drunk any alcohol. Xue Zhi originally planned to ask them why, but later found out that they had not touched the alcohol because they were taking over the shift from their teammates who were on guard.

Before leaving, Sarkaz, who took over, shouted to Xue Zhi, "Deputy Captain! Leave me two bottles of beer! I'll come back to drink after I finish my duty!"

Xue Zhi smiled and replied, "Yours is indispensable."

The dinner lasted until late, and the mercenaries dispersed after they had finished eating and cleaned up the stove. Xue Zhi helped the slightly drunk W back to the tent.

"Xue Zhi, do you know a story about Sarkaz?"

"what story?"

Sitting on the blanket, Xue Zhi let W sit diagonally on her legs while gently pressing her belly with her glowing hands.

Feeling very comfortable, W rubbed Xue Zhi's face. Drunk, she was less guarded than usual and more adorable, but it felt weird to rub the red horn against people.

"It's about a group of Sarkaz people who drank heavily before their final battle and all died in the end."

"...There's a mission the day after tomorrow, can't we say something nice?"

"Hey, no."