...
Cui Feng Alliance, Navigation Member Office.
Six boys stood in a line, each with a bandage or gauze on his face, looking utterly pathetic.
The tall, dark-skinned boy was in the worst shape, wrapped up from head to toe like a rice dumpling. The stark white of the bandages against his dark skin was strangely reminiscent of a saucy meat bun after one bite...
Ke Yan, dressed in a light gray Alliance Member uniform, had a livid expression, veins bulging on his forehead.
These punks had successfully cured his hypertension.
"Useless! You’re all fucking useless!
"You couldn’t even win a six-on-two, and you even got beaten up by them! Are you here to be a fucking joke?
"Don’t you ever say you attended the Cui Feng Alliance summer camp! I’d support you transferring to the Huichun Alliance or the Boya Alliance!"
Ke Yan let loose a torrent of abuse, spit flying everywhere.
Ever since returning from the Land of Flash Gold, he’d noticed something was off about the injuries on these lackeys.
Under his repeated questioning, the six boys finally confessed about their failed attempt to rob Su Zhi, which ended with them being robbed by Su Zhi instead.
The boys silently lowered their heads and took the scolding. This was the fifth one they’d received since coming back from the Land of Flash Gold.
The dark-skinned boy timidly raised his head. "Boss, we..."
"Shut your mouth. You’re the most fucking useless one of all." Navigation Member Ke Yan shot him a vicious glare.
"At least the others knew to run when they couldn’t win, but you didn’t even know that much. You think it’s manly to stand your ground and get used as a stool? Who the hell are you trying to impress?"
The dark-skinned boy silently lowered his head again, wanting to cry.
BEEP BEEP BEEP—
Ke Yan’s phone rang. It was an unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar number.
Ke Yan sullenly answered, and a cool, slightly cocky female voice drifted from the phone:
"Well, well, well? Isn’t this Ke Yan? It’s only been a few hours. How’d you get so lame?
"My kids told me that the brave heroes of the Cui Feng Alliance sought them out for a ’friendly’ Pet Beast spar? Six-on-two, was it? Truly befitting of the Cui Feng Alliance, famed for its valor and combat prowess!
"So, how did it go? Who won in the end? Care to share the details?"
"..." The bald Alliance Member’s face darkened. With a grunt, he hung up.
Immediately after, the office’s landline rang.
Ke Yan picked up the phone, and the Cold and Refined Beauty’s cocky voice came through once again:
"Oh, right, right. I heard the brave heroes of Cui Feng were all in a terrible rush and left right after the spar! So I was thinking, you must not want your resources then?
"I had our kids collect them. Thank you for nature’s gift~~"
"THIS IS INFURIATING!"
Ke Yan couldn’t take it anymore, roaring a phrase in German as he slammed the phone back onto its cradle.
’That woman! She usually seems so quiet and reserved, but the moment she opens her mouth, she makes your blood pressure max out!’
’Dammit, I can’t take it! I want to go to the Flying Shadow Alliance and beat her up right now!’
Ke Yan’s chest heaved, his face flushed with anger. His hand rested on the office doorknob. He gritted his teeth several times but ultimately gave up on the idea.
’Mainly because... I can’t win against her...’
So, Ke Yan turned and glared at the good-for-nothings behind him again.
"Dammit, you bunch of wastes! You couldn’t even win a six-on-two!"
"But Su Zhi is really strong..."
"Fucking bullshit! Does he have three heads and six arms or something?! Stop making excuses for being trash!"
Just then, the office door opened, and Alliance Leader Shang Duantie, a man much more imposing than Ke Yan, walked in.
"What’s wrong, Keke? I could hear you yelling from a mile away."
Ke Yan sullenly sat down in his chair and told his Alliance Leader what had happened.
Unexpectedly, Shang Duantie just raised an eyebrow. "You mean Su Zhi from the Flying Shadow Alliance summer camp?"
Ke Yan was stunned. "You know him?"
Shang Duantie smiled and nodded. "If they lost to him, it’s not entirely incomprehensible. Have you heard about what happened with Old Qiao and the cross-dressing incident?"
"I heard about it. Something about him making a prediction for a spar and getting it wrong... Wait, don’t tell me?"
Ke Yan sullenly picked up his water cup, preparing to take a drink, but then froze as if remembering something.
Shang Duantie said nothing, simply showing him the replay of the spar between Yu Bao and Xue Ao, and took the water cup from his hand.
The spar was short, over in less than ten minutes. Ke Yan’s scalp tingled. He sat frozen in his seat, his brain refusing to process what he’d seen.
’I didn’t understand what I was seeing, but I was utterly blown away.’
...
「Fourth day of summer camp—a day off.」
After three days of intense and thrilling summer camp life, the members finally had a short time to rest.
On this day, there were no scheduled activities and no restrictions on their itinerary. As long as they showed up for assembly on time the next day, they could even take a trip to the Mars Development Zone.
On this day, all malls and restaurants offered a 20% discount to summer camp members, encouraging them to relax and spend.
On this day, they finally didn’t have to get up early and could sleep in until—
"WOOF!"
With a single Yellow Earth Wall, Yu Bao launched Su Zhi out of his bed and into the ceiling.
’Life is about exercise! Get up, get up, train with me!’
Su Zhi rubbed his painfully bumped nose with a look of utter despair and gave the overly energetic little guy a helpless smile.
’Give a Beast Tamer a break. Even a certain giant panda isn’t as much of a grinder as you.’
However, even without Yu Bao’s wake-up call, Su Zhi was already wide awake.
In the summer, the sun rose early. No alarm clock was needed; the morning light was enough to gently rouse one from sleep.
Su Zhi deftly got out of bed and dressed. The thought of that flash of brilliant white made his movements a little faster.
[Shao Ya]: I just left my dorm. Where are you?
[Su Zhi]: Still on the bus, I’ll be there in a bit.
After sending the message, the corners of Su Zhi’s mouth lifted slightly as he led Yu Bao off the bus.
The moment he stepped off, he saw the white-haired girl craning her neck, looking around the small plaza.
Today, she wore a loose blue and white sweatshirt with a white skirt. Her bright white hair was tied up in a high ponytail, making her look full of energy.
Her white high-top canvas shoes paired with white socks were youthful and cute. Bathed in the bright sunlight, her legs looked even fairer and longer.
As if by some sixth sense, they spotted each other at almost the same time and jogged toward one another.
"Didn’t a certain someone say they were still on the bus?" The girl asked, clasping her hands behind her back and raising an eyebrow.
Su Zhi smiled and blinked. "And didn’t a certain someone say they had just left their dorm?"
"Tsk, tsk. Su Baby is growing up, learning how to quip back!"
"Don’t call me Su Baby so loudly..."
"Then I’ll say it quietly: Su Baby, Su Baby, Su Baby~"
Su Zhi: "..."
Yu Bao excitedly nuzzled up to Xiaoyue, recounting his adventures in the Secret Realm.
’He hadn’t seen Big Bro Xiaoyue in so long, he missed him to death! He was sure Big Bro missed him too during this time!’
’No, I’ve been doing just fine...’ Xiaoyue gave Yu Bao a symbolic push with his paw, then stopped resisting, letting the other Pet Beast press in and snuggle.
’I’m going to get nuzzled sooner or later. Better to get the pain over with quickly.’
Xiaoyue went back to admiring the scenery, giving a perfunctory nod every now and then.
Upon hearing that Yu Bao was getting a new little sister, Xiaoyue sighed.
’Sigh, another Pet Beast is going to be assimilated by this dumb little dog...’
"Oh, right, this is for—"
Su Zhi and Shao Ya simultaneously pulled something out of their backpacks and offered it to each other—
In Su Zhi’s hand was the Tier Two Wood Element Resource: Birch Concentration, which he had traded with Xu Jianzhi in the Land of Flash Gold.
In Shao Ya’s hand was a Tier Two Fire Element Resource Earth Fire Element Crystal. Due to its unique formation conditions, the Earth Fire Crystal, compared to ordinary Fire Element resources, was better suited for absorption by Pet Beasts with the Earth Attribute.
The two of them looked at each other, then covered their mouths and chuckled lightly as they accepted the resources.
"Thanks, Su Baby."
"Thanks to you, too."
"Come on, let me show you around the Divine Strategy Alliance!" Shao Ya slung her backpack on and walked ahead of Su Zhi like a little adult.
"The Divine Strategy Alliance is the research division, so it has the smallest grounds of the Eight Great Alliances. But in reality, its underground space is the largest. A very ordinary-looking little house here might have ten floors underground!
"The most cutting-edge researchers on all of Blue Star are gathered here. The person sharing a table with you in the cafeteria could be some renowned academician, and some unremarkable passerby could be a leading figure in a specialized field..."
Shao Ya explained as she walked, without a single stutter, as smooth as a tour guide.
Su Zhi followed behind her, nodding repeatedly.
’So everyone here is basically a Liu Junpiao-plus. That’s easy enough to understand.’
In reality, there were no "very ordinary-looking little houses" in the Divine Strategy Alliance.
Compared to the simple, minimalist architectural style of the Flying Shadow Alliance, the Divine Strategy Alliance was the other extreme. All its buildings possessed a kind of complex beauty.
Multi-colored luminous glass, bricks and tiles etched with intricate patterns, and various post-modern architectural structures were everywhere in the Divine Strategy Alliance.
Yet this complexity didn’t seem flashy. Upon closer inspection, one would get a feeling that this was how it was always meant to be.
"Truly the most advanced research facility on all of Blue Star..." Su Zhi couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
The very act of witnessing such architecture was a baptism for the imagination.
"This is nothing. The Divine Strategy Alliance’s Alliance History Hall and library have tons of goodies!"
Shao Ya winked with a smile. "The document center has a massive collection of C+ Level and higher literature that you can browse anytime. There are tens of thousands of articles on Skills and evolution alone."
"They’re that loaded!" Su Zhi’s mouth watered.
The highest-level documents he could normally access on the Divine Strategy Alliance and various university websites were barely C Level, with the vast majority being around D Level.
Tens of thousands of B Level or even higher documents...
’This is more than just discovering a treasure; this is falling straight into a treasure trove.’
"So? Are you tempted?"
Shao Ya winked mischievously. "It’s not open to members of other summer camps, but you’re allowed in if you’re accompanied! Big Sis can take you inside!"
Su Zhi paused for a moment, then a smile spread across his face. "I’m guessing there’s no such thing as a free lunch."
"Good that you know~"
The girl hopped on the spot as if her little scheme had succeeded, tilting her head.
"The Alliance Headquarters is pretty big, and I haven’t even finished exploring it all. As payment, after you come out of the library, you have to wander around with me!"
’How is wandering around together considered payment...’ Seeing the "I got a great deal" expression on her face, the curve of Su Zhi’s lips grew more pronounced.
"Okay."
·
BEEP!
At the Divine Strategy Alliance library, the access gate automatically identified Shao Ya, and the barrier opened.
Su Zhi followed Shao Ya into the library, blinking in disbelief.
The Flying Shadow Alliance’s library wasn’t this high-tech. It had no access gate at all, just a Thunderbolt War Falcon acting as a moderator, supervising the visitors’ behavior.
But on the other hand, the Flying Shadow Alliance’s Battle Hall was very well-built, unlike the one in the Divine Strategy Alliance, which was more of a token gesture.
"The documents you’re looking for should be on the third to fifth basement floors. Just take the elevator down; there are no more access gates after this."
Shao Ya sat down in the lounge area near the entrance, picked a classic novel from a shelf, poured herself a cup of coffee, and gave Su Zhi a little wink.
"Go on, I’ll wait for you here!"
"Okay."
Su Zhi said goodbye to the girl and stepped into the elevator with a sense of anticipation.
·
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