Chapter 121: Chapter 107 Joseph the Criminal
If it was for a fight, Long Yi would have enjoyed it and even thought the guy had some guts. But for now, Long Yi was honestly feeling a bit nauseated.
"Brother Long! Brother Long! I genuinely revere you! Can I follow you sincerely? As your follower, I promise not to embarrass or cause trouble for you! I even have a forty-person bodyguard team, who will listen to your every command! Just let me follow you, and you can do anything you like with me!"
Joseph seemed completely committed. He had thrown caution to the wind, and all he sought was to follow Long Yi, no matter what happens. He firmly believed that with his intelligence and charisma, he would find an opportunity to drive a wedge between Long Yi and Ai Lin.
In all modesty, Joseph couldn’t claim much, but when it came to winning over girls, he was confident that even eight hundred Long Yis wouldn’t be his match!
As long as Ai Lin lost interest in Long Yi, wouldn’t the Fairy Dragon in Long Yi’s hands be easy pickings? After all, who would care about an apprentice of a blacksmith in a foreign land?
This plan sounded quite reliable!
"Anything at all?" Long Yi seemed intrigued.
"Anything at all!" echoed Joseph, his eyes sparkling.
"Alright then, let’s have a fight. If you survive, you may follow me." With these words, Long Yi unexpectedly unleashed nineteen layers of Fighting Aura. Ai Lin had whispered to Long Yi earlier that Joseph had eighteen layers of Fighting Aura. He wasn’t as frivolous as he appeared, hidden underneath that hoodlum persona. How could a usual hooligan mix with women all the time and still have such high levels of Fighting Aura?
So, Long Yi unhesitatingly unleashed nineteen layers. Not one more, not one less, just enough to suppress Joseph and avoid unnecessary evolution of Bajie. Every time Long Yi gave full vent to his strength, Bajie would be forced to evolve, which was not actually a pleasant experience. As the contract knight of Bajie, Long Yi empathized with him.
Such a strong Fighting Aura!
Jospeh was startled. He now realized that this man called Long Yi was way more powerful than he seemed! The Fighting Aura exhibited by Long Yi was so domineering that he had no means of resisting it. Turns out, Long Yi didn’t just get lucky; he was truly powerful! It was good that he didn’t make a rash move earlier, lest Long Yi took him out. This was the man who almost killed the Emperor’s son!
With this realization, Joseph instantly began sweating cold beads of sweat.
While Joseph was still taken aback, Long Yi and his group had already left. When he saw Long Yi walking away, Joseph had an instinct to say something. But before he could utter a single syllable, he saw a giant shadow sweeping in front of him. Joseph was terrified. His Fighting Aura instantly circled his body as he withdrew hurriedly. However, the shadow halted right before him.
It was a colossal Dragon-slaying Sword, over three meters long with the width of a door panel, pointing directly at his forehead without having any sharp edges.
"You can really give it a try." Long Yi, holding the ludicrously large Dragon-slaying Sword in one hand showed a hint of a smile. Not a bit of Fighting Aura was leaking from his body.
Dammit! This bastard was actually holding the Dragon-slaying Sword with brute force. What immense power did that require!
Joseph managed to broach a grin, which appeared more like an awkward smile. He took two steps back and said nothing.
"Not bad." Long Yi put away the Dragon-slaying Sword and threw it to Bajie. Bajie moved not an inch. The Dragon-slaying Sword hit him and immediately vanished in a flash of light.
Joseph managed to take a breather only after Long Yi and his group had gone a fair distance. He watched as Long Yi walked away. He moved his lips but in the end, didn’t utter another word.
Inside the large tent ahead, the canteen was already full of seated people. However, there was a clear demarcation into two sides, with a row of empty tables in the middle and around twenty individuals on each side facing off against each other threateningly. Although the food was uneaten on the tables, there were no signs of joy from a victory or the dejection of defeat anywhere. Both parties had minor injuries, but they didn’t take them to heart and continued their standoff.
Long Yi guessed that these should be the two groups that had gone for a duel earlier. They had wagered with Crystal Cores but didn’t show signs of results. Both sides seemed furious and appeared to be at loggerheads.
Long Yi’s entrance grabbed the attention of many. Naturally, the people who caught everyone’s eyes were not Long Yi or the Fairy Dragon covered in clothes, but Ai Lin and Little Zi walking by Long Yi’s side.
With her pure yet sexy beauty, Ai Lin and the cute Little Zi injected a hint of vitality into the nearly frozen atmosphere. Especially amongst a crowd of men, normal men, there weren’t any who weren’t attracted by these two. Especially Ai Lin, who attracted most of the stares. Although Little Zi was cute, she was still too young in comparison to Ai Lin’s allure.
On top of that, Ai Lin was equipped with Crystal Core armaments.
A couple of fist-sized Crystal Cores were transformed into an armguard and boots. These large Crystal Cores must have belonged to eight-level demons. Does this signify that these two had killed at least two eight-level demons?
Once a Crystal Core is transformed into a Crystal Core armament, it is bound to its author and loses all other functionalities, naturally, it can no longer be submitted to the national treasury. Normal people, when they get their hands on it, would certainly cherish it as a treasure. Who would be willing to use it to make Crystal Core armaments!? This girl is far too extravagant! Could it be a preparatory gift from her family? However, such a valuable Crystal Core would surely be incredibly costly if used to manufacture other things, it would be much more valuable, wouldn’t it? To so simply transform it into a Crystal Core armament, it’s simply unfathomable!
The discussions of the crowd took a turn as their gazes turned onto Little Zi, and soon came the sounds of astonishment.
At this point, Little Zi slid past the table, helping Ai Lin pull at her chair. As a self-proclaimed little maid, Little Zi was completely into her role, flitting about around Long Yi and Ai Lin, helping them organize things and busily working with joy.
"Hey... Am I seeing this right? That cute little girl is a female demon?" A voice, hushed to a murmur, spoke up.
"Yeah, that little girl is indeed a female demon!" Another voice responded.
"Isn’t that incorrect? If my memory serves, female demons are supposed to look worn-out with a semi-transparent image. They are quite horrifying, aren’t they?" A third voice chimed in.
"What nonsense! Female demons continue to evolve as their power increases. Along with their evolution, their bodies become more and more developed. Look at this little one. Although she is young, her body is fully solidified, and her clothing is gorgeous. She must be a fully evolved female demon. Her strength is extraordinary!"
Following this evaluation, several gasps arose from the crowd.
A fully evolved female demon usually signifies that such a demon can easily contend with a Dragon Knight who possesses one Dragon Mark - of course, this only applies to Dragon Knights, not Dragons.
One must know, one Dragon Mark often signifies the difference between the regular army and the reserves. In the Dragon Knight Academy, whether one aspires to advance to the seventh grade, and enter the regular army, the first rigid standard is possessing a Dragon Mark’s strength. For many students in the Dragon Knight Academy, a Dragon Mark power signifies their first graduation.
Many of the people present are merely family bodyguards. Although their strength is sufficient enough, but who among them possesses a Dragon Mark? Most of the people present are Earth Dragon Knights, and Dragon Mark power is almost considered the peak of their strength.
A Dragon Mark, as the name suggests, is a trace of a Dragon. Without a Dragon, where would a Dragon Mark come from? Yet if one possesses a Dragon, who would still need to be a bodyguard?
"Female Demons are skilled at mental attacks, proficient in ice magic, immune to most physical attacks, and have pretty good resistance to Fighting Aura—they have weaker resistance to Mages, but are good at flying and flexible in use." Someone explained in a low voice.
Bastards, just say female demons have no weaknesses!
None of the numerous bodyguards in the field are Mages. Any promising Mage in this world would have gone for national service—who would become a bodyguard?
Long Yi didn’t have such sharp observational skills. He just earnestly watched Little Zi order their meals, and then earnestly waited for the taste-average yet substantial food to arrive. Little Zi scrutinized the meal for a bit, took out a few bottles of seasoning she had specially made along the way, and took a pinch of each to sprinkle over the food. Suddenly, the taste of the food was completely transformed.
Both Long Yi and Ai Lin praised the meal as they ate, and while Bajie and Xiaoyou couldn’t exactly communicate in words, they both gave a thumbs up. Little Zi’s handiwork, as always, can be trusted.
"Brother Long, have you noticed? The girl following behind Joseph shows no changes in expression from beginning to end." Little Zi, who had been observing the group’s meal, interjected.
"Could she be an unparalleled expert?" Long Yi asked with a smile, admitting that he hadn’t been paying attention to the girl.
"Hell no! That girl’s been cursed! She has no idea what’s happening!" Little Zi replied.
"Cursed? Are you suggesting that girl isn’t there of her own free will?" Ai Lin asked in surprise. She had long heard about Joseph being a playboy, often maintaining relationships with many girls simultaneously. Those girls, although heartbroken by his abandonment, do not harbor resentment towards him. Instead, they would often reminisce about the wonderful times they had spent with him.
However, if these relationships happened under a curse, that would change the narrative of the story entirely.
Empire law has stringent regulations for the protection of women. If this situation is discovered and proves true, it wouldn’t matter if you are merely the son of a businessman, or even the Legion commander.
Long Yi admired the enforcement of the Empire law, particularly when he read the laws and would often see examples where members of the nobility or the nobles themselves violated the law. The judicial officials treat everyone equally, allowing for no favoritism. These examples are written into law and shared openly for all to see, and the nobles have no choice but to face the consequences for their unlawful actions.
Now, with Joseph potentially altering from a scumbag to a criminal, Long Yi felt an immediate calling to his sense of duty.
