Chapter 801
Two days had passed since the meteorite was snatched away.
During this time, the whole of Los Angeles had remained tranquil.
Meteor Rock Guild, Tian Lie and Nicole had found a hotel to stay. Then, aside from Tian Lie and Roddy, who checked the internet for news, the others had been constantly wandering the streets. They had pretty much looked through the entirety of Los Angeles.
However, there were no movements at all in the city. It was as though the meteorite had – after it was snatched away – completely disappeared.
And yet, the instance dungeon was still ongoing and there was no sign that the quest would be cancelled.
Evening…
Roddy was inside one of the hotel rooms, one of his hands tapping on the laptop to gather news from various local forums. He had not found anything.
The door rang.
Getting up, Roddy went to open the door and saw Qiao Qiao standing outside.
“Big Miss Qiao?”
Qiao Qiao was holding several bottles of Maotai liquor and she cast a smile at Roddy. Seeing that, the frightened Roddy took several steps back. “You… what do you want?”
“At any rate, we will not be able to find them for now. Let’s rest.” Qiao Qiao raised the liquor bottles in her hand. “What? Are you not going to invite me in?”
Roddy looked at Qiao Qiao and his face turned bitter. With his head hung down, he turned and walked back into the room before sitting down on the sofa.
Qiao Qiao casually picked up two glasses from the tea cabinet before going to sit on the opposite side of the sofa. Placing her pair of slender legs on top of the small table before her, she unscrewed one of the bottles of liquor and poured two full glasses. She then pushed one of the glasses towards Roddy. “Accompany me for a round of drinks.”
“Am I accompanying you, or are you accompanying me?” Roddy’s head was still hung down. He did not seem interested in drinking at all.
“Big Miss Qiao, Miss Qiao… I know what you want to say to me, but…”
Qiao Qiao’s face sank and she abruptly straightened herself. Next, her fist struck Roddy’s head.
“What is this? Are you terrified?”
“What does this have to do with being terrified?”
Qiao Qiao had not exerted much strength for the punch, so it did not hurt. Even so, Roddy stretched his hand out to rub his head. “I just feel it’s… unproductive.”
“Unproductive?” Qiao Qiao scoffed.
“It’s already been two days. Except for the discussion about the instance dungeon’s quest, I didn’t see you say anything else to her. I say, Roddy, do you want your relationship with her to develop or not?”
“I…”
“Drink! Right now!” Qiao Qiao picked up the glass she placed before her and forcefully clinked it against the other glass. Then, she gulped down half its contents. “If you really don’t have the guts, then tonight, I’ll get you drunk. After that, I’ll help bring you over and knock her door!”
“It’s not…” Roddy had only just opened his mouth when Qiao Qiao’s murderous gaze forced him to shrink back. Obediently, he picked up the glass of liquor. Drinking a big mouthful of the liquor, he grimaced and exhaled. “So strong!”
“You’ve already enhanced your physical attributes so much. If the liquor is not strong, how can you get drunk?” As if putting on a magic show, Qiao Qiao brought out a small lunch box from her storage gear and threw it onto the table.
Opening the lunch box revealed that it contained pig ears, fried peanuts, blanched edamame and other wine appetizers.
“You…” Roddy gaped at Qiao Qiao. “The Maotai is one thing, but where did you get these?”
“When I went strolling during daytime, I also went to Chinatown. Did you think that because we are in America, we can’t get these things?” Qiao Qiao picked up a fried peanut and munched it. Then, she gulped down another big mouthful of liquor before releasing a satisfied sigh. “How can there be no appetizers when drinking sorghum wine?”
Roddy stared at Qiao Qiao with widened eyes for some time before eventually shaking his head. Picking up the chopsticks, he picked up a piece of the pig ear.
Next up, Qiao Qiao did not say much. She simply kept quiet, eating and drinking. Occasionally, she would raise her glass and clinked it against Roddy’s glass. It did not take long before they finished the four bottles of wine.
“We should be about done. Right, Big Miss Qiao?” After gulping down the last drop of wine in his glass, he put it down.
“How many percent are you at?” Qiao Qiao looked at Roddy’s complexion. It was slightly flushed, but his eyes were still clear.
“About forty to fifty percent,” Roddy answered honestly.
“Then drink some more. We’ll chat as we drink.” Qiao Qiao raised her hand to take out another four bottles of Maotai wine from her storage gear.
Roddy stared at Qiao Qiao with bulging eyes. After a while, he gave a wry smile. Following that, he reached out to take a bottle and unscrewed it.
“I know what you are afraid of.” Qiao Qiao watched as Roddy filled his own glass with wine and suddenly said, “You are thinking, that Angel girl and that Tian Lie have been working together all this time. So, he may have already won her over, no?”
Roddy raised his glass. Without saying anything, he turned his neck upwards as he gulped down all of its contents.
“Do you remember how you were back when you first met Nicole?” Qiao Qiao gave Roddy a serious look. “Back then, looking at her back, you shouted to her that you would definitely court her. The you from back then, where has he run off to?”
“When Nicole died in battle, how sad were you?
“When you heard Xiaolian say that she has been revived, how happy did you become?
“During these past six months, knowing that she is still alive in some corner of the world, you have been – every now and again – telling us about her. Why is it now that you have met her, you instead became so terrified?
“Roddy, don’t tell me that you no longer like Nicole.”
“Of course not!” Roddy glared at Qiao Qiao. “Am I, Roddy, someone who would casually fall in and out of love for someone?”
“I know you are not, but I also know that you are not the kind of person who would easily give up.” Qiao Qiao smiled.
“Although this instance dungeon keeps dragging on, it will eventually end. If you cannot win her over before this instance dungeon ends, then once it ends, how do you plan on finding her?”
“See? We’ve reached the crux of the problem.” As Roddy was already somewhat intoxicated, he became more talkative. Chuckling, he said, “Let me ask you. How long has it been since Xiaolian informed us about Nicole’s revival?”
“Half a year.”
Roddy looked at Qiao Qiao. “That’s right. Did you ever consider it? During the past half year, why did she not appear before us? Although we have moved to the island, Nicole is someone who managed to find us once before. She should be able to find us a second time. She is still alive. She can still participate in instance dungeons. It means that… she just doesn’t want to meet us.”
…
Some other part of the hotel, inside Nicole’s room…
Tian Lie was seated before Nicole, his eyes firmly fixed upon her.
“What are you staring at me for?” Nicole frowned. There was a displeased look on her face as she looked at Tian Lie.
“You have something on your mind.” Tian Lie’s eyes could seemingly see through Nicole. “No need to put on an act. It’s useless. After all this time, we’ve become very familiar with each other. I can more or less figure out what is on your mind.”
“Really? Then, tell me. What am I thinking?” Nicole responded coldly.
“You are afraid,” Tian Lie said each word slowly. “The one who killed Gaza and took away the meteorite.”
“He’s just an [S] class. Although I do not know how they made such rapid progress during the past six months, the guys from Meteor Rock Guild have become very strong. Besides, you are also an [S] class. If we work together, there is no way we cannot defeat that guy. What is there for me to fear?” Nicole sounded very calm.
“Enough. Don’t play dumb with me. Do not forget, I was once one of the higher-ups in Thorned Flower Guild. Are there any high-level members of Zero City’s resident guilds that I am not familiar with?” Tian Lie glared furiously at Nicole.
Nicole turned to face Tian Lie, but said nothing.
“I had also checked the corpse. There were no external wounds. He was killed through the soul.” Tian Lie kept staring at Nicole. “Back then, Roddy had already rescued you, but I was still there. I clearly saw how Gaza was killed. Humph! A guy who uses that sword and attacks souls… if that guy isn’t Aderick, I’ll chop my head and gift it to you! If you don’t already know that he is Aderick, I’ll also chop my head and gift it to you!”
“Do you like chopping off your head so much? If so, just chop it off and play with it yourself. At any rate, it’s not as though you will die after chopping it off.” Nicole scoffed.
“Stop trying to avoid the problem!” Tian Lie heavily slapped the table in front of him.
“What’s the problem?” Nicole looked at Tian Lie coolly.
“It’s true. I did see that Gaza’s death indicates he suffered from a soul attack. Judging by the strength of the attack, it does seem like it is most probably Aderick. However, he is the Guild Leader of the Knights of Darkness Guild while I am from the Angel Corps. How is this connected?”
“Do you take me for an idiot?” Tian Lie rolled his eyes. “You’ve been working so hard all this time. Isn’t it for the sake of finding those fellows from Zero City? And now, one of them has appeared, only for him to be our enemy. Tell me, what do you plan on doing now?”
“What other plans can I have?!”
Nicole was finally incapable of holding back the rage in her heart and she shouted. “This instance dungeon wants us to become his enemy. What can I do about it? Am I supposed to tell him, I used to be a member of Zero City’s Angel Corps, so he should just give up and let me kill him? Better yet, before dying, tell me where the guys from Zero City are at.”
“Look at you. Once there’s a disagreement, you’ll get angry.” Tian Lie tutted. “You’ve got it the other way round. I am afraid that, when we eventually have to face him, you will become soft-hearted, unwilling to attack in order to find out where those guys from Zero City are.”
“Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I will not become a burden for you.” Nicole sneered. “Forget Aderick. Even if it’s Sir Angel Wu, since we are on opposing sides in this instance dungeon, I will not show mercy.”
“That’s what I want to hear.” Tian Lie snapped his fingers and laughed loudly.
“Remember what you said today. When the time comes, if you suddenly go easy on him or even defect to his side, I will personally kill you.”
The doorbell rang.
Without even looking at Tian Lie, Nicole stood up and strode towards the door before pulling open the door with force.
Standing outside the door was Roddy, who reeked of alcohol.
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