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"And this is why we s- eh… Mrs. Feng?"
"..." With confusion clouding a pair of striking beautiful orange feral eyes, a woman of incredible beauty aimlessly stared at the horizon.
The man with tanned skin and donned in military clothes who called her closed his mouth seeing her not answering and looked at his subordinates.
"Is something the matter, Mrs. Huang?" A cold voice snapped the woman out of her daze and she smiled apologetically.
"My apologies, Mr. Chen. I just thought that I noticed a familiar aura, so I was briefly distracted. Let's please proceed with the meeting." She stated while flashing a charming smile that made all men in the room fall into a daze.
Even the ones who were tied to poles and had several lacerations open in their bodies, even in this pitiful state, they momentarily forgot about the hell they were in.
"Please keep your "charm" under control, woman." A cold womanly voice brought Feng Huang's attention toward a man sitting on a throne made of monsters' bones.
Standing beside the throne was a woman wearing formal attire and looking at Feng Huang as if she was a bother.
With her black air tied into a bun, green eyes filled with seriousness, and a hint of scorn, the woman, Ning Wan, turned back to the man conducting the meeting.
*COUGH*
With a loud cough, the people in the room snapped out of their daze.
Seeing that their boss' secretary was glaring at him, the man started to sweat before he hastily resumed the meeting.
Meanwhile, Feng Huang threw her long red hair back.
'Should I say that this woman is becoming more and more annoying with each passing day or just that she lacks enough situation awareness?' She mused for a few seconds while paying attention to the meeting but ultimately discarded the thought.
She wasn't here to be Ning Wan's friend.
Looking at the smiling beautiful woman, the man dressed in black-ops-like clothes sitting on the throne decided to ignore her.
As the meeting went on, the man, Ye Chen, simply closed his eyes and fell into his thoughts.
'He should be coming soon, right?' He pondered while his stoic façade on the outside remained unchanged despite the sudden burst of hatred from inside.
{Yes, child. He will be coming here.} A cryptic, cold, emotionless, and inhuman voice whispered in his mind.
Ye Chen's lips arced up and he decided to be patient for some more time.
Looking at the small smile on his lips from the corner of her eyes, Feng Huang held back the contempt from showing in her eyes.
'To make a contract with such being…' She decided to ignore him, or more specifically, the thing she was feeling somewhere around him.
'Doesn't matter, it's not my problem and it doesn't hinder my goal.' She looked outside the window of the building they are in.
A wasteland.
That was the closest definition of the place they are in.
With rubble of buildings now composing the floor, a completely hazarded to-the-ground city with a desert around composed the apocalyptic scenario.
As people, or what was left of the population of this slum, made their way around what was left of the city in search of whatever supply was buried under the debris, Feng Huang observed how people fought against each other for a loaf of spoiled bread; how some people's arms or legs opened and they sliced someone with the blades from their cybernetic limb, and how they would look toward the building she was in with hatred in their eyes from time to time.
'…' Looking away from there, Feng Huang focused on the hologram projected by the commander's arm showing the map of the region they are in.
"And with this, we should be able to…"
"How much time will it take?" Ye Chen suddenly interrupted the man and asked while apathetically gazing at him.
"If we follow the strategy given… I believe around a wee-"
*SWIISH*
*TING*
"…" With sweat dripping from his forehead and a single thread of blood flowing down his cheek, the leader slowly looked at the knife that barely missed him and dug into the wall.
*GULP*
Audibly gulping, he prevented himself from doing any abrupt move and looked at his boss.
"That is too long." Ye Chen commented and turned to look at his secretary.
"We can shorten it to 3 days if we take the shortest route and push the troops to make a simple path toward the goal instead of wiping the monsters out completely as we have been doing." Ning Wan spoke after feeling his gaze on her.
Ye Chen looked back at the man.
"You led the troops. I will take care of the southern and eastern objectives myself. You have 3 days." He uttered while getting up.
Raising from his makeshift throne, he turned around and kicked the thing down.
"Let's go." Ye Chen walked out of the room without looking back while Ning Wan quietly followed suit.
"…" Seeing him walking out, Feng Huang maintained a smile on her face before turning to the man, the actual commander of the paramilitary group they are cooperating with.
"Commander, I will also excuse myself for now. Please inform me of when we depart." She widened her smile and once again captivated all men present in the room.
Then, she turned to look at the people wearing beggar-like clothes tied to poles in the room.
"You may do whatever you see fit to them. Well then, have a pleasant day, gentlemen." Doing a small, courteous bow, Feng Huang walked out of the room.
And right after she walked out, it didn't take too long to hear some screams.
"Ah…. Ah!"
"Please spare me! I don't know an-"
*BANG*
*BANG*
'We should be finished soon…' A smile bloomed on Feng Huang's pretty face.
'Soon… Just you wait, mother. This time I will bring good results.'
With gunshots as background music, Feng Huang held her hands behind her back and walked unhurriedly to where Ye Chen had gone.
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[*DING*]
[You have successfully completed the first test: Will.]
[Your bloodline has been strengthened.]
[*DING*]
[You have successfully passed the test of Ai.]
[Ai has now acknowledged you as her master.]
Hazily staring at the notifications popping up before her eyes, Kryn scratched her head and started to look around.
She was currently laying on a comfortable bed while there were several holes, craters, and other burned areas around.
"Where?" The last thing she remembers was her circulating mana.
[Kryn, you are fine! o(TヘTo)]
Reading Laila's message, Kryn tilted her head while a sudden reinvigorating feeling started to bloom from deep within her.
"Laila?" She muttered, still confused about what happened.
"She is just glad about what happened, master." A sudden woman's voice startled Kryn and she turned to look at where it came from.
There, right beside her stood a small bird with a regal look composed of golden flames and a holy air around it.
"…" Silently staring at the bird, she started to put the pieces together.
[It's that damn bird's fault!] Laila suddenly sent a message with an angry tone, as noticed by the red window that contained the message.
"Wh- Bird!? Excuse me, I'm an honorable phoenix, servant o-" The bird, or rather, phoenix flew to Kryn's side and immediately retorted to Laila's claims.
"Wait. Laila. See?" Kryn just noticed the incongruency that was the bird retorting to Laila's message.
"You mean this disrespectful one? Yes, I can see her words." It responded.
"By the way, I'm Ai, a phoenix, or rather, an artificial one created to serve as your guide and guardian. It's a pleasure to finally meet you, my lady." Ai's attitude took a 180º swift and she respectfully bowed to Kryn.
The latter blankly stared at the bowing bird that was her arm in height at most.
"By the way, my lady. Is that man's presence really necessary?" Ai whispered while giving an ugly look in a certain direction.
Following Ai's gaze, Kryn noticed Hai sitting down on a metal chair and using his phone as if not bothered by the ongoing situation.
Feeling a gaze on him, Hai took his eyes off his phone and looked at the duo.
"Don't mind me, take your time." He spoke before looking back to the phone again.
Earlier he had already done a throughout examination on Kryn's state by using his magical vision and he concluded that apart from being tired, only her mana veins improved and her mana seemed to become tamer, hence, she just needed to rest.
Besides, he decided to let the little glowing bird talk with her as it seemed to know something concerning Kryn.
[Handsome Prick]: So, that is the gist of the situation.
[Nº1 Maid]: I understand, young master, we will wait for her to finish her business then.
[Narcissistic Gorgeous Lady]: You… Ah, forget it. Just do whatever you have to do quickly because we might have attracted some attention.
[Bunny]: The good(?) news is that whatever is approaching isn't using any devices, or at least, any hackable ones.
Looking at his phone, Hai closed his eyes and focused his mana sense to scan the area outside the dome.
As a wave of mana pulsed through the area, he sensed the girls and the traces of their dispelled protective measures.
Noticing this, a smile of gratitude bloomed on his face before he continued to scan the surroundings.
As he kept scanning, his senses went kilometers away and finally, he picked something coming their way.
Or rather, several things.
Noticing energy in their bodies, Hai counted at least a few hundred monsters coming to their location.
Opening his eyes, he got up and did some light stretching.
Then, he picked his phone and sent a message to the recently created group before tossing his phone inside the ring.
"Kryn, sorry about this, are you done talking with the shiny bird?" He started to change the dome and its shape.
Hearing his question, Kryn looked at Ai and nodded. They could talk more later.
"Yes." She got up and Ai flew to her shoulder.
Hai saw the phoenix on her shoulder and remembered something.
Using his mana sense, he started to search for a flying lizard.
"Good. We will be doing some training now, prepare yourself because this might be tiring." He commented before smiling and willing his mana.
Then, from afar, something moving at high speed moved toward where the girls outside the dome were.
While Stella and Bing Qing prepared themselves for battle, Chang Hua coated her eyes with aura.
"It's not an enemy." She affirmed and turned to see the previous dome now being molded into a small fortress made of ice.
From there, a big gate formed and opened.
Then, Hai wearing a simple plain white shirt, black pants, and no shoes walked out.
Raising his hand, he tied his long hair into a simple ponytail and went toward the girls while Kryn followed right after with a glowing bird on her shoulder.
"Thank you everyone for your help. I'm really grateful." He spoke before everyone could.
Chang Hua who opened her mouth to ask something, closed it right after and sighed.
"You're welcome." She said with a smile on her face.
Elena bowed slightly while happiness could be noticed in her expression.
Hong Li-Wei nodded while still using her device to enter the Nexus Net.
Bing Qing felt slightly embarrassed seeing his smile and hearing his words, but she swiftly recomposed herself and nodded.
Stella also limited herself to nod and then stared at him with a suspicious expression.
"What did you mean with your message?" She questioned and everyone turned to look at him.
Then, an ice platform suddenly landed near him.
There, Chilly rolled to the side, raised her body up, and then glared at Hai.
"Well, I meant what I meant." He said and looked at his aunt.
Chang Hua noticed and quickly used her senses enchanted with aura.
A few seconds later she looked at Hai with a disbelieving face.
"Seriously?" Before anyone could ask what she meant by it, they sensed the ground below them trembling.
"Alright, Jia, please take Hong Li-Wei and Kryn to the fortress, and stay with them for the time being." Hai casually spoke while doing some more stretching for what was to come.
Jia didn't even question and did as told.
As she took them away, Bing Qing and Stella entered into combat positions.
*RUMBLE*
*RUMBLE*
As the rumbling sounds started to get louder and louder, the girls' eyes went wide when they saw an army of beasts suddenly appearing all around them.
With hundreds upon hundreds of monsters circling their position, everyone could see monsters resembling polar bears, snow owls and foxes, even some seal-like creatures were present.
"Now, remember, the bet is still on, so count your kills." Hai spoke while materializing metal gloves on his hands.
Walking toward the rear of the fortress, he casually adjusted his gloves.
"I will take the rear."
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A/N: Sorry for the late chapter!
I will be posting another one later, so stay tuned.
So, what do you guys think about this chapter? I was originally going to give a more in-deep to Kryn's situation but I decided against it for now as I want to give a more proper background to her first and then dive into those things.
Comment what you thought about this chapter. If you liked it or not, I want to read your opinions and interact more with you guys.
Another thing: Please give your feedbacks. I want to know what you guys think, if there are things that could be better or if I could have done something in a simpler manner. If you could also leave a review, that would help me to understand what you think about the novel in general, so it would be really helpful.
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That is all for today, thank you all for reading! 🍷😎