Who are you calling a stable boy?!

Even though no one has touched that entire dish to this day.

Compared to the dazzling array of dishes and the waiters always ready to serve their distinguished guests, the number of guests in the hall was pitifully small.

—Apart from Zheng Jing and his group who had just arrived, there were only three other people sitting at the same table.

"Ok?"

Zheng Jing's eyes lit up when he saw the three men.

Upon hearing Zheng Jing speak and seeing the three people, Lin immediately realized something.

But she didn't have time to pull Zheng Jing away. In the blink of an eye, she saw that Zheng Jing had already moved to that table.

He completely ignored everything she said on the way to the restaurant!

"Master Long, Master Ken, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Long, who had noticed Zheng Jing and his group long ago, stood up and nodded slightly to Zheng Jing when he saw Zheng Jing come to the table to greet them.

"Hmm? Uh, you, uh, hello?"

Ken swallowed the sweet and juicy roast beef in his mouth and stood up.

He looked at Zheng Jing, thought for a moment, and realized that he really didn't recognize the young face, but since Zheng Jing greeted him so warmly, he couldn't pretend he hadn't seen him.

Moreover, seeing that Long responded to Zheng Jing's greeting without saying a word, he assumed that this cheerful and outgoing young man was an acquaintance of Long.

"This must be Ms. Kasugano, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Not forgetting the last person at the table, Zheng Jing greeted the bewildered girl with a smile.

"Oh? Ah, yes! Hello!"

Unexpectedly, Kasugano Sakura was called by her name so directly, and she immediately stood at attention with a blush on her face.

"It's wonderful to have the opportunity to compete against all three of them this year!"

Zheng Jing rubbed his hands together.

"By the way, masters, I have a small question, may I ask you?"

"this......"

Ken glanced at Long, and seeing that Long had no objection, he nodded: "Tell me what you think."

"I've heard that Master Long's fists are those of the contemporary master of assassination boxing, and Master Ken's feet are those of the same master. Is that true?"

"Well, every martial artist has their own strengths and weaknesses, that's normal."

He scratched his head and answered.

"That--"

"Excuse me!"

Just as Zheng Jing was about to ask more questions, Lin, who had rushed over, grabbed one of Zheng Jing's hands.

"I failed to keep an eye on him and disturbed your meal. I'm so sorry!"

She bowed her head and apologized to Long and the others. Then, without waiting for a reply, Rin forcefully pulled Zheng Jing's hand and walked backward.

"Alright, come here! It's always like this! You disappear the moment I'm not looking!"

"I'm just excited. Oh, okay, don't rush. You're so small, you might fall and hurt yourself."

Bending over, Zheng Jing grinned as Rin pulled him away, waving to Long and the others with his other hand before leaving.

Ken and Sakura waved in response, then Ken turned to the side and lowered his voice to ask Ryu, who had been silent the whole time, "Who is this acquaintance of yours? I didn't see them at the last tournament."

"I don't know him."

Long shook his head: "This is the first time I've seen this."

"what?"

Ken turned his head blankly to look at Long, only to see Long with a serious expression and bright eyes staring intently at Zheng Jing as he walked away.

"However... this person is no ordinary individual!"

Chapter 217: Do you understand my MUGEN section?

"Didn't I just tell you that there are definitely other teams departing from Tokyo on the ship? If you encounter them, it's best not to make contact with them too early?"

Pulling Zheng Jing to a table that was a bit far from Long's table, Lin then lowered his voice and said.

Top martial artists often have very keen senses, and she was afraid that if she got too close, her words would be overheard by the two famous assassination fist masters.

"Little Lin, why are you so nervous? Master Long and the others are obviously good people. Isn't it good to make friends with them?"

"We should wait until we're certain we won't run into them before the finals before talking about making friends..."

While the two were talking, Xueqing returned with two trays filled with dishes of food.

"Hey, putting everything else aside, the food and treatment these contestants are getting looks really good."

Grabbing a grilled beef rib in one hand and a plump peach in the other, Zheng Jing had only one word for the delicious food Xue Qing had brought back: Eat!

Xueqing didn't use both hands like him, but her eating speed with chopsticks wasn't much slower than Zheng Jing's.

Rin looked at her two teammates, who were completely relaxed, and sighed, covering her forehead.

"In short, besides us and those three from earlier, there might be other contestants on this ship. Not all contestants are as easy to talk to as Long and Ken."

"Relax, relax, with me, Lao Zheng, around, how could I let you and Lao Qing suffer any injustice?"

Am I worried about being wronged?

I'm worried you'll get into a fight halfway there and the ship will sink!

—Rin pursed her lips and held back, not uttering her thoughts aloud.

"In short, we should focus on the team's internal affairs first, rather than on others."

As she spoke, Rin looked at Xueqing.

"Sister Xueqing, this is our first time working together, and we don't know much about each other's abilities. Although this tournament is a team arena competition and we don't need to work together directly, we still need to be careful about the order in which we fight."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Jing raised his index finger with his free right hand.

"Hey! I have one—"

"You are the commander."

Rin glared at Zheng Jing with narrowed eyes: "Every single one!"

"Alright, alright, whatever you say, ah, whatever you say."

Seeing that Zheng Jing was about to pinch her face with his hand, which was full of the aroma of beef ribs and seasonings after he had put them down, Lin shook her little head violently. Her twin ponytails tied with red ribbons whipped through the air, like a frightened kitten baring its teeth and claws.

Fortunately, before the greasy, fragrant monkey paws could scratch her fair face, Old Ancestor Xueqing intervened in time, suppressing Zheng Jing with a flick of her palm.

"What you said makes a lot of sense, Xiao Lin, but is there a suitable place on this ship?"

"Yes, I specifically asked after boarding the ship. The entire third floor is a training ground specially prepared for the contestants. It is open all day long. We can go there later and do some exercise after dinner."

"it is good."

-

Just as Rin said, the third floor of this luxury ship was specially built into a training ground, equipped with world-class training equipment and a fighting arena made of special materials.

Rin was preparing to use that arena.

However, when she led Zheng Jing and Xue Qing up to the third floor of the ship, the arena was already in use.

On a circular arena with a diameter of forty meters, a lithe figure was swinging powerful punches and kicks, each move accompanied by bursts of scorching crimson flames, as if offering a resounding dance of flames to the heavens.

The figure stopped moving when it noticed Zheng Jing and his group approaching.

This person was wearing a high school uniform that had been clearly modified by himself. The white short shirt underneath was pulled upwards by two round and firm breasts, revealing the hard, bulging abdominal muscles on both sides of his navel.

Upon seeing Zheng Jing and the others, the man's gaze briefly swept over Xue Qing and Lin before settling on Zheng Jing and immediately freezing.

She tossed her high ponytail, wiped the sweat from her chin with a black glove embroidered with a golden sun, straightened her well-trained body, stared at Zheng Jing, and asked, "You...you guys are one of the participating teams?"

"Yes! Nice to meet you!"

Lin quickly chimed in, afraid that Zheng Jing would speak before her.

Because she had already recognized who the person in front of her was.

"You must be Kyoko Kusanagi, the champion of the last tournament!"

As she spoke, Lin secretly glanced at Zheng Jing, wanting to give him a wink.

But in that glance, she noticed that Zheng Jing was staring at the previous champion of the World Martial Arts Tournament, Kusanagi Kyoko, with a strange expression.

If she had to describe it, Rin felt it was probably similar to the expression on her face when she first learned that Saber's youthful androgynous beauty wasn't due to the Holy Sword granting her immortality, but rather that King Arthur was indeed a woman.

Why would you make that expression?

"Yes."

Hearing Rin's words, Kyoko smiled confidently.

"You all look unfamiliar. Are you newcomers this year? I heard it's not easy to win an invitation to freedom."

"That's true."

Putting Zheng Jing's facial expression management issue aside for the moment, Rin looked at Kyoko and responded.

She paid a considerable price for this invitation to freedom.

However, thinking about the expression on Sakura's face when she received the gift, she felt it was all worth it.

"Are you going to use the arena?"

"We're not in a hurry. First come, first served. Please, Miss Kusanagi, have some food."

Upon hearing this, Kyoko chuckled softly.

"You don't look like you're even in middle school yet, do you? When I was your age, I wasn't this polite. Back then, my dad was always worried that I was so ill-mannered, how would I ever get married... cough, sorry, I'm getting off topic."

She coughed lightly and jumped off the stage.

"I've exercised enough and was planning to go back, take a shower, and rest. You guys can use it."

“This… thank you, Ms. Kusanagi.”

"Just call me Kyoko. You're so cute, it'd be even better if you called me Kyoko-neechan."

With a smile, Kyoko waved to Rin and walked over a few steps, her gaze returning to Zheng Jing.

"Handsome, interested in giving your name?"

"Zheng Jing".

"Zheng Jing, um..."

As Kyoko continued walking, she reached out and patted Zheng Jing's left arm as they passed each other.

"I hope we can meet in the ring."

Without stopping, she passed Zheng Jing, waved, and headed towards the training field exit.

Why are you staring at Ms. Kyoko with that expression?

Once Kyoko had walked a little further away, Rin lowered his voice and asked Zheng Jing.

Do you remember the first time you learned that King Arthur was a girl?

Zheng Jing, whose left arm was being vigorously rubbed by Xue Qing, asked Lin a question in return.

Rin blinked.

"......ah?"

Chapter 218: This is really embarrassing (

Rin didn't dwell on Kyoko's situation for long.

As a player, Rin also knows that some strange information flows occur in the multiverse, and this influence can sometimes trigger some strange reactions.

In fact, she herself can be said to be a beneficiary of this strange phenomenon.

In contrast, it's more important to take advantage of the absence of outsiders and quickly get to know each other's strengths.

The method to understand it is also very simple.