Pretending To Be A Boss

Li Xiaoyu was especially enthusiastic towards Qiao Shanshan, taking her around without giving her any chance to stay with Tang Xian.

Qiao Shanshan, oblivious to some of the undercurrents, never expected to meet such a wealthy lady in the thirty-ninth fortress.

Each fortress has its own unique characteristics, and due to the considerable difficulty of moving them, many local specialties can only be bought on site.

Therefore, Qiao Shanshan was in the midst of a shopping frenzy.

As for Dong Ran, she was dragged along by Qiao Shanshan, after all, she was in unfamiliar territory.

Add to that, as members of the Shengtang team, they were specially treated by the Li family, so they all had the qualifications to participate in the banquet.

This was the top-tier ball of the entire world, and the girls naturally found it hard to refuse.

Tang Xian did not go.

The cabin had been remodeled by Dong Ran and Qiao Shanshan beforehand to include a swing set.

Tang Xian lay in a rocking chair, listening to ancient texts under the cooling moonlight.

Next to him was Tang Xiaojiu swinging, from whom the sound of childlike laughter came from time to time.

Tang Bingxiang and Tang Gazi were having a 'meow-meow-meow' squabble nearby, which he found quite comfortable.

The moment was peaceful and pleasant.

Far away, the situation was tense with battle.

Tang Xian's gaze stayed fixed on the southern sky.

...

...

The mining area, the Red Clay Forest. The first night of the hunting event.

As the largest blue zone north of the Amara Continent, although there were two hundred human hunter teams, they entered at different starting points and actually were quite far from one another.

Especially under the cover of these red-tailed trees and soil-adhering trees, the area felt very expansive. Even a narrow space might hide endless possibilities.

Without any tools to discern direction, what the hunters had to do was to go as deep into the heartland as possible in search of prey.

Li Zheng's team was still at the edge of the Red Clay Forest at that time.

Akasi, leading the way, knew about the abilities of the Shengtang team members due to that handshake incident between Tang Xian and Xie An.

Though they did not recognize this silver-haired person as Akasi, Akasi's displayed speed made each of them feel inferior.

"About three miles ahead, there are some creatures, but they are all enhanced level, and the points for hunting them are very low. Whether we act or not, you decide," Akasi suddenly appeared and said to Li Zheng.

"Let's not bother. Let others handle them. Although the Red Clay Forest is vast and full of beasts, with so many people hunting, it's best for us to only target elite creatures," Li Zheng said with much more steadiness once he was in the battlefield.

Akasi nodded.

His brow was furrowed, for while his scouting had not uncovered any dangerous information,

the beast blood coursing within him perhaps provided a sense of imminent danger far beyond that of humans. Akasi felt that something was off but couldn't put his finger on it.

"This is a signal flare Tang Xian gave me. Keep it," Akasi handed the signal flare to Li Zheng.

Li Zheng took the thing resembling a burning stick and asked,

"What's this for? What do I do with it?"

"If you find yourself in danger and neither I nor anyone else can protect you, use this. He will see it," Akasi said softly.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't make me sound like some useless commander. I have seven gifts too," Li Zheng didn't reject the kind gesture, hiding the signal flare in the closest position to his body.

Akasi did not say much more, his figure flickering as he left for other places to continue searching for intelligence about the surroundings.

The long night was drawn out and everyone knew the nights in the mining area were dangerous. What would happen this evening was still unknown, but first, they had to find a place to set up camp.

...

...

Song Que's team, without any break, had already approached the shallow areas of the Red Clay Forest, and the vast woodland of soil-adhering trees was not far ahead, resembling the entrance of something ghostly and secretive.

Lin Jue's baseball bat was stained with blood, while Song Que was holding a crystal in his hand.

At his side lay a wild bull, turned into mincemeat by the baseball bat.

"Strange. Even though wild bulls are elite creatures, why did we encounter them here? Aren't they supposed to live further north? Xiao Shi, you've been to the north, right? Do you know what's going on?" The one asking was Lin Jue.

Xiao Shi was a young girl, not particularly cute, and with a rather fierce look about her, she shook her head silently and expressionlessly.

Ever since they entered the hunting area, she had maintained this expression.

And no matter how fast the team moved, Xiao Shi always stayed exactly a yard behind Song Que. Discover hidden content at empire

No more, no less.

Lao Lei dressed in a kung fu robe coughed twice and said,

"It is true that wild bulls are in the north. Let's move deeper and see if we'll encounter any more."

Song Que looked at the dead bull and said,

"Creatures do migrate, but the timing of this one is somewhat eerie. Everyone must stay alert."

"With you as our eyes, I'm not worried," the one-eyed king said.

Lin Jue nodded in agreement too.

Song Que felt an uneasy sensation in his heart.

The first creature they killed on the hunt was an elite-level creature, which was naturally an excellent start.

But it happened to be a creature that didn't belong here.

Song Que cared somewhat but couldn't figure out the reason.

As one of the rare ten-talented individuals in human history, Song Que's awakened ability was known as the Scales of Fate.

When activated, short-lived visions of the future involving the scenes in his sight would appear in his sea of knowledge.

The eldest son of the Song family naturally could enter the mining area at a very young age, and his ability was awakened early too.

As a child, he could see one-seventh of a second into the future.

When he grew older, he could see two-fifths of a second into the future.

Even older, at just twelve years old, he could see three-quarters of a second into the future.

After that, he never measured it again, and only Song Que and Song Gengzhao knew the limit of his data.

Even teammates like Lin Jue did not know.

With this ability, Song Que's prediction of people's behavior around him was extremely accurate, which was also the most suitable ability for being the eyes and commander.

After the future battle of the Yuepela Plains broke out, Song Gengzhao believed that no one could be more suitable to be the commander of all humanity than his son.

In terms of strategy, he should be second to none.

Song Que looked around, convinced that they were currently safe, but that lingering sense of crisis would not go away.

...

...

The entry point to Lincoln Fortress was at the seven o'clock direction on the outer edge of the red soil forest.

The clown walked in the middle of the team, with his mouth twisted and his eyes carrying a certain longing.

The chainsaw and the monkey were on the sides, vigilantly watching their surroundings.

The wizard was not in the line-up, and the bald s-004 was also not there.

But no one cared.

The doctor's name was Lilith, and Lilith followed closely behind the clown. After ensuring there were no outsiders nearby, she said,

"Master... 004 and Black Snake have gone, why didn't we go with them?"

Lilith didn't understand, after all, 004 and Black Snake's strength were much stronger than that of the chainsaw and monkey.

And her master had no combat capability at all.

The clown's face, pale as if made up, became rather terrifying when he frowned.

"They are going to kill, we are going to save, of course we can't be together. You are far worse than my last assistant."

Lilith did not understand.

This mission was supposedly not just to hunt those creatures but also to beat down the hunters from Huaxia as much as possible,

what did it have to do with saving people?

The clown pointed at the bulky man nearby.

"The chainsaw used to be a cardboard factory worker, huge in size but very timid. He was always bullied. He might be physically healthy, but his soul was sick."

Lilith didn't quite understand, the nickname chainsaw came because this big man's hand had turned into a chainsaw.

In the hunters' world of Lincoln Fortress, the chainsaw was infamously brutal.

She couldn't associate him with timidity.

The clown didn't explain further but just emitted a creepy laugh.

"In this forest, there are many people whose souls are sick. Killing them is a very disappointing thing. 004 and Black Snake are just two dogs that don't understand fun. Turning a hero into a demon lord is the most interesting game."

The sinister and terrifying laughter was not loud, much like a curse that belonged to the clown only.

Yet it rhythmically echoed in Lilith's mind.

She glanced at the chainsaw nearby, only to notice he had squeezed out a chilling smile on his lips.

She didn't realize that her own lips were also unconsciously curling into the same smile.