After over 20 hours, the airplane that Chen Xiaolian and his group was on, which departed from London finally landed within an airport in China.
On their way, Chen Xiaolian, Lun Tai and Bei Tai recounted what happened in the London instance dungeon to Roddy.
With some reservation, Chen Xiaolian also recounted the contents of his discussion with Mr San. Naturally, he only told select parts of those discussion to them.
There was no way around it.
He was not deliberately trying to hide it from Lun Tai and Bei Tai.
The fact was that the discussion he had with Mr San mostly revolved around their identity and secret as ‘Irregularities’.
Although Lun Tai and Bei Tai were fellow guild members who had fought by their side, they were still Awakened ones.
Thus, Chen Xiaolian felt hesitant in telling them the truth and chose not to talk about those matters.
After moving out from the airport, they got on an airport bus. Chen Xiaolian and his group of four sat in the last row. Chen Xiaolian looked outside the window and sighed. “The problem with Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo is still unsolved. Originally, the reason we went to London was to find them. And yet…”
“We still have time,” said Lun Tai. He continued, “This time’s London instance dungeon has quite a lot in it. According to the rules, the interval until the next instance dungeon arrives should not be too short. I believe we should have at least a month or so.”
“We must find Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo,” Chen Xiaolian said in a resolute tone of voice. “We could consider ourselves lucky that this time’s London instance dungeon has a small requirement for the number of participating members. But if the requirement is higher in the next instance dungeon, and Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo is still not here…”
“I think we may have made a mistake.” Roddy, who had been silent suddenly spoke out.
“Mm?”
“What I mean to say is that perhaps our search for Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo may be even harder that what we had anticipated. After all, consider how influential Old Father Qiao is. If he wishes to, he would have plenty of ways to hide them.”
“True.” Chen Xiaolian sighed and said, “This world is big. If he wants to, he can simply find a remote corner of this world and hide them there. Then, there would be nothing that we can do. Furthermore… I don’t know how Old Father Qiao’s guild did it, but they’ve somehow blocked off Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo’s guild channel as well.”
“What I mean is… since we cannot find Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo, then we should just go find Old Father Qiao,” Roddy abruptly interjected. He continued, “He is an infamous man of status. I think it won’t be that difficult to find him.”
Chen Xiaolian’s eyes flickered lightly.
…
After returning home, the four of them went to the training centre.
The four of them walked into the rundown training room on the second floor and saw Xia Xiaolei furiously punching a sandbag.
The little fellow was still as thin. However, his punches and kicks appeared to have improved. He was drenched from head to toe in sweat. When he heard the sound of them coming in, he turned around. Seeing that they had returned, he happily ran over to greet them.
“You fellows finally came back,” said Xia Xiaolei with a wry smile. He asked, “How was the instance dungeon?”
“Fairly all right.” Chen Xiaolian gave a faint smile.
Xia Xiaolei quickly noticed that Bei Tai was missing an arm. Shock was instantly etched on his face, and his eyes turned red. He ran over and hugged Bei Tai. “What happened to your arm? Who did this?”
Xia Xiaolei was somewhat incapable of keeping a grip on his emotions.
Most of the time, the ones in charge of Xia Xiaolei’s training were none other than Lun Tai and Bei Tai. That was especially true of Bei Tai. This military fanatic spent a considerable amount of time and effort training Xia Xiaolei. He taught Xia Xiaolei various combat techniques and a teacher-student bond was subconsciously formed within Xia Xiaolei. Seeing Bei Tai return with an arm missing made him feel on edge.
“Enough, it’s no big deal. Once I save up on enough points, I will be able to get a new arm,” said Bei Tai with a faint smile.
“That’s right.” Lun Tai comforted Xia Xiaolei. “Besides, with your help, the humanoid discount card, we might be able to get a much cheaper deal when purchasing a new arm.”
Chen Xiaolian sighed. Next, his eyes turned sharp and he said, “Very well, since everyone is here, we’ll start a discussion about future matters!”
There was a trace of power within his voice.
He had after all struggled through life and death within four instance dungeons. Not to mention, he also gained some experience leading soldiers in the battlefield during the War for the Throne in the London instance dungeon. Through it all, he had subconsciously developed certain dispositions of a leader.
He turned to Xia Xiaolei and asked, “Are you the only one here? Where is Da Gang?”
Xia Xiaolei casually replied, “Da Gang said that he had a private matter that required him to return to Hangzhou. He will be back in about two days.”
Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and he did not inquire further about the matter.
…
Half an hour later, they congregated in a small room where Chen Xiaolian, Lun Tai and Bei Tai once again recounted what happened within the London instance dungeon. They recounted it in detail and managed to cover even the things they missed the first time around.
After they listened to it all, Roddy and Xia Xiaolei participated in the discussion.
“Our first problem is that we have encountered our first real enemy in this instance dungeon. I’m referring to that fellow who is a dead ringer for Qiu Yun.”
Chen Xiaolian had both his hands on the table and he said, “We confronted them twice. In both fights, neither of us were able to come out on top and were wounded in the process. However, he did get away… most importantly, our fight was not due to us being in opposing camps set by the instance dungeon! We were in a non-competitive quest, but they ambushed us!
“This is different compared to when we were opposing Phoenix’s team.
“The hostility between us and Phoenix’s team happened because we were designated into opposing camps by the system.
“This fellow on the other hand… is our personal enemy!”
After saying that, Chen Xiaolian pointed at his nose and said, “I can feel that there is something peculiar about this fellow. He seemed to know me… no, that is probably not the case. Rather, he knows about me!
“Additionally, he must certainly know Qiu Yun!
“Most importantly, I am certain that this grudge between us will not end along with the end of this instance dungeon!
“It would not be a lie to say that this is the first real enemy that we have encountered since the establishment of our guild!”
Roddy asked, “Did you encounter them during the War for the Throne?”
“No.”
Chen Xiaolian shook his head and continued, “Their goal was also to seize the Norman treasures. Perhaps, they were also after the Sword in the Stone. However, they failed. So, I think they were unable to enter the War for the Throne.
“We can interpret it as such… perhaps, the War for the Throne is the last phase for the London instance dungeon. In order to enter that phase, one must complete the preceding quests and acquire the important prop like the Sword in the Stone.
“Their side failed. Thus… perhaps they were unable to enter the final phase.”
“Then, what about Phoenix’s team? Since they appeared, they should also have acquired some props,” Lun Tai asked.
“Perhaps that is the case,” said Chen Xiaolian with a wry smile. “However, we have no way of knowing the details.”
“If so, we’ll put this fellow who looks like Qiu Yun as our guild’s first enemy! In the future, if we are to encounter them in any instance dungeon, which camp we are assigned to won’t matter. We’ll fight them as enemies! An encounter with them means a fight to the death!”
Xia Xiaolei said loudly.
Chen Xiaolian glanced at Xia Xiaolei and chuckled. “It seems this little fellow had grown up. There is force behind your words now.”
Xia Xiaolei said in a depressed manner, “Guild Leader Xiaolian, you can’t keep thinking of me as a little kid. I cannot continue to just play the role of fetching soya sauce at the back. [1]”
“Very well, then its decided. If we are to encounter those fellows in instance dungeons in the future, it’ll mean a fight to the death!” Chen Xiaolian said firmly.
Lun Tai was not opposed to the decision and Bei Tai nodded his head. Roddy added, “If we can find them in this world, we can also make a move against them.”
Chen Xiaolian smiled and continued, “Now, the next matter.”
Slowly, he pulled out the Sword in the Stone from the system and placed in on the table before everyone.
“This is… the Sword in the Stone?” Roddy suddenly laughed out and said, “You don’t look like Arturia Pendragon at all.”
“Shut up, you chuunibyou patient,” Chen Xiaolian snappily glared at Roddy.
Roddy smiled as he reached out to grab the Sword in the Stone. He said, “It looks quite resplendent! There are even patterns of the blade?”
Chen Xiaolian was silent and he did not stop Roddy.
Roddy’s hand held onto the hilt of the sword and he tugged it. Then, his face flickered and he uttered, “Eh?”
He frowned and exerted even more strength to pull it up. However, Roddy found that no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to raise the sword up from the table.
“The Hell?”
Roddy was shocked.
Chen Xiaolian’s heart palpitated. But, he remained silent.
Lun Tai who was beside him became curious and asked, “What is it?”
He patted Roddy and reached out to grab the Sword in the Stone.
Soon, it was Lun Tai’s turn to be surprised.
His strength was far superior to Roddy’s. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to lift up the sword!
The sword simply rested on the table without budging a single inch!
“What is going on here?”
Lun Tai was surprised.
Back in the instance dungeon, he had also picked up the Sword in the Stone to examine it before. Of course, that was before the War of the Throne began.
Chen Xiaolian sighed inwardly.
As expected… it was as Mr San had said.
In the War for the Throne, after the Sword in the Stone was activated by King William, it became a special prop.
A restriction had been placed upon it so that normal Awakend ones and Players cannot wield it.
They cannot even lift it!
Thus, following the normal storyline, after the participants with the Sword in the Stone handed over the sword to King William, they can forget about getting it back.
When you can’t even get it up, what do you want to argue about?
Lun Tai looked at Chen Xiaolian with a look of surprise and asked, “What is going on? Why is it that both me and Roddy cannot lift it even though you can?”
Chen Xiaolian gave a casual laugh and said, “It’s probably some kind of binding effect done by the system. This is a special equipment. So, except for its owner, no one else can use it.”
“Special equipment!” Lun Tai laughed. “If so, its class must be very high!”
“It’s like Thor’s hammer from Marvel?” Roddy the chuunibyou spoke out once more. “Other than Thor himself, not even the Hulk can lift the hammer?”
“That does sound like a fitting comparison. Although it might not necessarily be exactly that,” Chen Xiaolian replied with a smile.
He then handily grabbed the Sword in the Stone and swung it twice.
Roddy was quick to reveal an expression of envy and he said, “Good stuff! An exclusive type of special equipment! You don’t have to worry about it being stolen or getting lost! Oh, right! How is the power of the sword?”
Chen Xiaolian slowly said, “The system states that it is temporarily at [A+] class. At present, it is 90 % activated. I feel that if it is 100 % activated, it would likely become [S] class.”