Pretending To Be A Boss

All six members were present.

The leader had a gloomy face, his features serpent-like, and Tang Xian recalled the Snape he read about in Harry Potter from his childhood.

It was the kind of visage that at first glance, could terrify, and fittingly, he was also clothed in a black robe.

"This man, with his pale face as if frosted and snake-like gaze, must be a mage and his powers relate to frost."

Li Xiaoyu didn't bother to ask Tang Xian how he came to that conclusion, as he probably wouldn't tell even if she did.

She simply took note of it internally.

Tang Xian was certain his judgment was correct, after all, not many would have "freeze everything" as their current priority in a needs analysis.

He could even sense that this person was struggling to contain that desire.

It was evident in the fluctuating percentages of his needs.

"Make a note that this person is quick to anger, a potential weakness."

Tang Xian's gaze shifted to another person as he said:

"The bald guy next to him, the one in the dark suit, who not only has no hair but also no eyebrows, even has a barcode tattooed on the back of his neck, and it's marked S-004."

Li Xiaoyu realized how meticulous Tang Xian's observations were; it seemed like just a casual glance, yet he had captured every detail.

"This one is a firearms expert and the most mentally poised in this Hunter's Group. Pay special attention to him; we must try to gather all his information. The use of modern weaponry might just be a smokescreen; his true strength is not to be underestimated."

For the first time, Tang Xian looked truly cautious.

"That good?"

"This man is from the Evolution Zone," Tang Xian whispered.

Li Xiaoyu was taken aback.
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A hunter from Lincoln Fortress came from the Evolution Zone?

She pondered for several seconds before nodding slowly.

"It's fine if we can't find out anything. His pupils are a silver-gray color. Many creatures from the mines have this same eye color, similar to Tang Suoye. Perhaps he underwent similar experiments. Of all the people we observed today, in terms of combat ability from the mines, he is the most dangerous. Remember that."

This was the first time Li Xiaoyu had seen Tang Xian show such wariness towards someone.

It wasn't so much that Tang Xian was wary for himself, nor was he greatly concerned about Akasi. But it couldn't be said the same for others.

Tang Xian continued his observations and found the Lincoln Fortress team to be quite strange.

"My first impression of this team is a stark sense of disconnection; they don't seem like a united team at all, just temporarily assembled together."

Li Xiaoyu had also noticed this. Other teams had some eye contact or conversation, whereas this one had none.

They looked around as if they were predators searching for prey; even standing together, they seemed to each rule their own realm.

Behind the bald man was a clown with extremely poor makeup. Tang Xian easily associated him with a criminal mastermind who could have escaped from Arkham Asylum.

An emerald-green suit, unkempt hair as if soaked in strong liquor, the occasional rolling of the eyes, and an evil smile.

Even beneath the makeup, Tang Xian was certain that this man's true face was rather handsome, a stark contrast to some in the more honest Gotham City. Because of his youthful and handsome features, he exuded a different aura altogether.

The moment Tang Xian's gaze first swept over this person, he found his attribute panel to be very strange.

The value of good and evil was fluctuating.

The current luck value was also volatile.

Even the needs analysis kept changing.

It was impossible to predict what the clown would do next.

This was the first time Tang Xian had seen a panel that represented absolute chaos.

His likes were ever-changing, while his fears were listed as none.

As for his dislikes, that was the only attribute that remained constant.

Dislike of boredom.

Tang Xian was sure this wasn't a modified test subject from the Evolution Zone.

Yet, the sense of danger this person presented was rapidly approaching that of the bald man.

"Lincoln Fortress might play some dirty tricks this time," Tang Xian suddenly fretted.

The clown didn't seem particularly formidable on the surface.

At that moment, the clown also took notice of Tang Xian. Dangerous individuals always had a keen instinct for catching eyes that were fixed on them.

The moment Tang Xian locked eyes with him, his mouth twisted into an unfathomable smile.

Most normal people would find such a smile somewhat unsettling.

Tang Xian felt nothing of the sort, and he returned the smile politely.

Unexpectedly, this time he didn't say anything to Li Xiaoyu.

Some opponents are better off unknown.

Compared to clowns, men in black robes and bald ones, the Lincoln Fortress's doctor seemed much more benign.

Their expression was somewhat vacant, their gaze adoringly fixed on the clown.

And next to the clown stood a hulking figure carrying a chainsaw, his head encased in a leather mask.

A stark contrast to the hulk was a member of the team, thin as a monkey and short and frail. It looked as though they had been consuming illicit substances for years, their eye sockets heavily sunken.

Standing together, these two offered a strong contrast, but Tang Xian felt they were not as threatening as the bald one and the clown.

Tang Xian turned away, no longer looking in their direction.

"What about Sky Guardian Fortress?"

"They're up in the stands, look, section C of the stands, the few playing cards and leaning back in their chairs are them."

Tang Xian followed Li Xiaoyu's gaze and laughed,

"These guys really have a good attitude."

Dongying had twelve fortresses, thus many teams, but Sky Guardian Fortress's team was the best equipped.

Every country has its own industrial domain that others find hard to surpass.

For instance, Lincoln Fortress leads a whole era ahead of the other fortresses in terms of ranged weapons and firearms manufacturing.

And Huaxia's fortresses, with Fortress Fifty-One, had the strongest cold weapons.

Their forged swords and knives were praised by hunters around the world.

As for Sky Guardian Fortress, their armor was light yet durable, capable of withstanding immense damage, truly the epitome of defense.

And the Hunter's Group of Sky Guardian Fortress was clad in future-esque alloy armor.

If it weren't for the small katana at their waists and the recognizable Samurai braid, Tang Xian might have mistaken them for alloy-covered robots.

He couldn't make out the materials of the alloy armor.

"These people are very well-balanced, four Samurai, one Ninja, and one Monk. Their state of mind also signifies their power; they're playing cards at a time like this, completely ignoring their opponents, quite interesting. Be especially wary of that Ninja, I haven't encountered Ninjutsu before.

I've heard many advanced Ninjutsu techniques are feasible, but due to human limitations, they can't be used. But in the mining area, that's another story."

Li Xiaoyu silently took note.

Tang Xian felt it was about time; there were many excellent hunter teams from other federal fortresses, but compared to the teams from Sky Guardian and Lincoln Fortress, they seemed somewhat inferior.

Both intuitively and based on data, Tang Xian had not spotted anyone particularly worth attention.

After all, most teams were actually not as good as the Li family's own team.

Not to mention they had Akasi as an external reinforcement.

Tang Xian was ready to leave.

Just then, a commotion erupted in the northern side of the gymnasium.

All the fortress teams from the various counties of the federation looked towards the entrance, and so did the group of lunatics from Lincoln Fortress.

Even the card-playing hunters of Sky Guardian at the stands ceased their entertainment to look towards a certain area.

Tang Xian and Li Xiaoyu turned to look, and Tang Xian had an awkward smile on his face.

Li Xiaoyu's face was expressionless, but she gripped Tang Xian's arm even tighter.

"This... I specifically tried to avoid this, how did we run into them so soon?"

The Huaxia number one fortress, the Song Family's hunter team, was particularly conspicuous at the foreign fortress gathering.

Especially with the Li family's hunter team as hosts.

"Your brother is here too. Before they notice us, could you let go of my arm?"

"I won't."

"The Song Family's people are not the villains in your life," Tang Xian said lightly.

This remark gave Li Xiaoyu food for thought.

"Regardless of whether you like Song Que or who you want to marry in the future, you have now accepted the engagement. I don't want to be pointed at and cause trouble, and you shouldn't deliberately cause a strain on the relationship between the two families."

"This is so annoying," Li Xiaoyu finally let go of his hand.

It wasn't that she cared about the Song Family's attitude; she just didn't want to bring trouble to Tang Xian.

Soon after, Li Zheng saw Tang Xian and Li Xiaoyu, then his gaze shifted toward Song Que nearby, with a peculiar expression.

He wasn't sure whether to greet them or not.

(The next update should be in the afternoon. It will also be a 4,000-word chapter.)