Florida was far more domineering than Han Shuo had thought. He could feel a dangerous pulse of magic the moment he closed the door. Han Shuo immediately jumped backwards.
The door exploded with a tumultuous bang as the room was enveloped in white light. Large pieces of wooden slats flew across the room as Florida's handsome face reappeared in front of Han Shuo.
He was still clutching the bouquet of fresh flowers, and in his right hand was a strongly pulsating magic staff embedded with a red, blue and yellow crystal.
"I said I want to see Phoebe. Didn't you hear me?!" Florida looked harshly at Han Shuo as he bit off his words.
At around 25 or 26, Florida's age was similar to that of the late Clark. The two of them had a lot in common, both having the same high level of strength and charming appearance.
But while Clark was devious, he wouldn't flaunt it. At least he understood his identity as a noble; aware that he had to hide his emotions, he made his moves in the dark. Florida, on the other hand, looked like a completely lawless person, with an even more brash style, seemingly with no reservations at all.
"And I said don't disturb our rest!" Han Shuo snorted coldly and flashed to Florida's side like lightning. He raised a fist filled with magical yuan and smashed it into Florida's face.
Han Shuo's sudden move was beyond the other's expectations as panic suddenly appeared on his face. He tossed the bouquet in his hands and quickly backed away.
Han Shuo's punch whistled through the air as it shattered the bouquet. Flower petals flew everywhere as a floral scent wafted through the air.
As the punch shattered the bouquet and was about to land on Florida's face, a powerful magical pulse suddenly erupted from his body. A rainbow-coloured, glass-like magical shield suddenly enveloped him like a giant bubble of light.
Bam. Han Shuo's fist collided with the shield. He felt like he was punching cotton candy as the shield distorted at the point of contact. The impression left by the fist deepened until Han Shuo's punch stopped just above Florida's well defined nose, unable to go any further.
Completely flustered, Florida was forced back a few steps, taking the force field with him and widening the gap between him and Han Shuo. Confused, he looked at Han Shuo with an even more unfriendly glint, as if Han Shuo had become his mortal enemy.
"You dared to attack first!" Florida's voice was as distorted as his expression as he roared angrily at Han Shuo.
Han Shuo shook his hand and withdrew his fist, pointing at the shattered room door. He said coldly, "You trespassed the moment you broke through the door. I'm just defending myself!"
Florida nodded his head with a frosty smile and cast a dark glance at Han Shuo. "Very good, you've got some guts. But you won't get a chance to come near me again, now that our distance has increased. Let me see what you're made of now!"
Florida stepped back again after speaking and raised the staff in his right hand, planning to face Han Shuo. In response to Florida's move, Han Shuo solemnly drew the Demonslayer Edge from his space ring and prepared to counter Florida's attack.
As a light archmage, his strength was certainly unusual. Han Shuo had just tested him and noticed that his reaction was fast and his movements agile. It was obvious that he'd survived hundreds of battles. Han Shuo hadn't even been able to hurt him with that blow just now, despite their proximity. Now that they were separated, Florida would be able to use his advantage as a mage and would be difficult to deal with.
Hurried footsteps sounded at that moment and seemed to be approaching the room. Just as Han Shuo and Florida were about to get down to business, Assistant Chief Harris of the Cairo Mercenary Band suddenly appeared with a few soldiers.
"Isn't that Chief Florida? What are you doing here, making a mess in an area that's under the protection of the Cairo Mercenary Band instead of staying in your own?" Harris' voice was filled with obvious sarcasm as he maintained the same distant expression from earlier in the day.
The splashing from the bathroom suddenly stopped. It seemed that Phoebe had finally discovered that something was going on outside after all the noise, her hearing having been affected by the shower.
The wildly posturing Florida looked back at Harris when he heard his voice. He put down the staff in his hand and said with an aloof expression, "I came to visit Miss Phoebe and didn't expect to be blocked by a blind child.
"If you're here as a guest, then I welcome you on behalf of the owner. However, I hope you won't try to start a fight, or our Cairo mercenaries will definitely get involved. Surely you know the rules after being in the Valley of Sunshine for so long!" Harris snorted coldly as he saw Florida pull back the staff in his hands.
"Humph! Today was your lucky day!" Florida said coldly to Han Shuo and turned to leave. He stopped as he passed Harris and said with his back to Han Shuo, "In the near future, I will definitely regain control of the valley. Then I won't be as polite to you as I am now!"
Florida laughed heartily after saying these words and walked out with great strides, not waiting for Phoebe to come out.
Harris had an ugly expression on his face and a vein began to throb in his forehead. He looked like he was about to go berserk. In fact, Han Shuo knew that he was a berserker, it was said that a berserker's strength was quite astonishing. They could use a mysterious method to provoke themselves into a mad state, increasing their strength exponentially and giving them incredible destructive power.
Han Shuo wished Harris would go berserk as he looked at him. If Harris couldn't control the anger in his heart, he would immediately attack Florida until one of them died.
It was a pity that Harris quickly returned to normal and Han Shuo's daydreams didn't come true. Harris cast a distant glance at Han Shuo and said, "You still have to pay for the door. Florida's group has great power in the Valley of Sunshine, so you must be careful after insulting him. You can come to us if there's anything you need from the Cairo Mercenary Band.
Although his expression was still distant, Harris seemed to have changed his attitude towards Han Shuo because of their newly acquired common enemy. There were even traces of concern in his words.
Han Shuo hadn't planned to pay for the door since it was Florida who had broken it, but his thoughts changed completely after seeing Harris' change in attitude. He still needed the Cairo mercenary gang to get the shop with the place of extreme water, so he laughed resolutely and said, "No problem!"
Nodding, Harris said nothing more and waved off with his guards.
The door to the bathroom creaked open after Harris left and Phoebe came out in a bathrobe, like a flower emerging from the water. Her wet hair was plastered all over, and a small patch of flushed, pale skin was exposed on her chest. Her red lips were full and wet as she flicked her eyes towards the door. "They're all gone?"
"All gone. What's wrong with Florida?" Han Shuo looked at Phoebe and asked unhappily.
With a low chuckle, Phoebe pulled her robe up a bit and wrapped her legs tightly. She walked over to Han Shuo and batted her wet eyelashes, looking at him with interest. She teased, "What, are you jealous?"
"Yes, I'm jealous! That boy isn't bad looking and he came looking for you with a huge bouquet of flowers! He even told me, the boyfriend, to get out of the way. I'm really pissed off right now!" Han Shuo was quite direct as he looked irritated at Phoebe.
Her body softening, Phoebe sat on Han Shuo's legs and chuckled softly. "I used to come to the valley often and do business with the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band. But he was always after me, I never had anything to do with him."
"All right, all right, don't be angry. I'll explain things to him next time, so he won't bother me in the future. How's that?"
"There's no point in explaining, I don't think that brat is the type to accept such things. I didn't like him when I first met him, but I think he feels the same way about me. I think our grudge is well and truly formed!" Han Shuo shook his head.
"Then what do we do? The Rainbow Sickle Mercenary Band is very powerful in the valley, second only to the Cairo Mercenary Band. It's said that they've been recruiting lately, even hiring a group of experts from the Church of Light. It seems that they want to replace the Cairo Mercenaries. It will be very difficult to stay in the valley if we've offended them! Phoebe was startled and spoke with some concern.
"We'll deal with things as they come. He is not the sole ruler of the valley, he won't be able to do anything to me!" Han Shuo snorted coldly and spoke without fear.