Chapter 358: Chapter 258: Level of Strength and Shamelessness
"What a load of rubbish! It’s just a rusty dinner knife!" a Dragon Knight retorted.
"Actually, he does have a Mithril dagger." Lin Qi whispered.
"Oh, dead men don’t talk!" Cain laughed, with Lin Qi’s face turning even gloomier.
"Really? I’d like to see for myself." Long Yi leaned in. With a simple gesture, he revealed a beautifully patterned small dagger. "I’ve got one too, is it the same as yours?"
Puzzled, Cain reached for an exquisite sheath hanging at his waist, but the dagger was gone.
"Well, your commander isn’t dead." Cain uttered, smirking.
"In that case, you have been executed for trying to assassinate our commander." Long Yi chuckled, then turned to Lin Qi. "Boss, it’s your turn to take command."
"No, I am already dead. This combat has nothing to do with me!"
Lin Qi was furious. Long Yi was simply out of line! Why were the tasks given to him so difficult? Why couldn’t he just let this drill proceed smoothly?
I quit!
"Fine! Honorable martyr! I won’t hold back then! I, Long Yi, declare myself as the successor battle area commander! All Dragon Knights, prepare to face the enemy head on."
"You, the successor commander? Who do you think you are?" With Lin Qi ’killed in action’, his underlings couldn’t stand it any longer, glaring at Long Yi. Long Yi just shrugged, "The enemy is overhead, maybe you guys could hold a meeting to decide the next leader. But I don’t have time to play along, I’m not planning on returning home a loser!"
"Ai Lin! Wesley! Chef Mosquito! Ascend with me!"
Watching Long Yi ascend.
The Dragon Knights turned back to check on Lin Qi, who had closed his eyes and said nothing more.
"Everyone, hold your ground! I want to see how this bloody bastard is going to win!"
This command was endorsed by all the Dragon Knights from the White Dragon Empire, all of whom sat down on spot and watched the skies. The sky began to light up with fiery red, followed by sparks of Fighting Aura. With the light from the Red Dragon’s breath, they could see that the battle was extremely intense.
The Red Dragon Knights that were originally surrounding the stronghold of the White Dragon Empire didn’t even notice the Dragon Knights on the ground, they just joined the besieging force against Long Yi.
Lin Qi, who had had his eyes closed in meditation, suddenly opened them and looked to the sky, sighing. "Bloody hell, we’ve been played by this kid!"
"I’ve noticed," Cain said, his face full of helplessness.
"This bastard, from start until now, just wanted to go solo. Provoking the enemy, provoking his own men. Everything he did was intentional."
Just like two old comrades, brothers, they said simultaneously.
In the sky, dragons were soaring and Fighting Aura was swirling.
"Wesley! Fly with me! Use Bajie as a cover! Look after Chef and Mosquito! Chef Mosquito, give brother your full firepower! Ai Lin, raid from the flanks! Little Zi, make sure to protect Wesley! Yes, and another Mental Impact!"
"Brother Long! Twelve o’clock behind! Four degrees to the left! Mosquito! Full jump to the back right! Ai Lin! Nevermind... he’s already taken down by you."
In the sky, this team was executing their second joint combat. Relying on Long Yi’s strong deterrence, everyone unleashed their full power.
And then.
The army of the Red Dragon Empire was fully routed.
If Cain was still ’alive’, the battle would not have been fought this way.
If Lin Qi was still ’alive’, the battle couldn’t have possibly taken this course.
But since both commanders were ’killed in action’, they could only watch helplessly as Red Dragon Knights fell one by one from the sky, declaring ’killed in action’.
And then, there was no then.
Victory is simply victory.
Although the conditions of victory were to occupy the opponents’ hamlet, when faced with a hamlet that had no Dragon Knights, wouldn’t occupying it just be a mere formality?
Refreshing!
This time, it was finally worth it!
Long Yi successfully provoked all the enemies and used these Red Dragon Knights to rehearse all the planned combat tactics. The drill helped to correct many mistakes. Without these infuriated Red Knights, who knows how long it would have taken to put these tactics to the test.
What excited them even more was Wesley, Chef and Mosquito. They repeatedly killed enemy Dragon Knights one by one through their harmonized teamwork. This was a great trial of the hard training they have been undertaking for so long.
Probably the most irritated group here were the Dragon Knights of the White Dragon Empire.
As Dragon Knights of the First Legion, they have always held themselves in high regard within the Dragon Knight Legion. One could say that except for the battle maniacs of the Third Legion, the First Legion does not yield to anyone else.
However, they never expected this exchange match to turn into Long Yi’s personal performance. How could they swallow that?
This time, the Dragon Knights of the Red Dragon Empire were completely convinced.
Both teams rested on the spot, ready to return. At this point, nobody was in the mood for a fight anymore.
Standing in front of the Dragon Knights of the Red Dragon Empire, ’killed-in-action’ Cain spoke to his brothers, "First of all, I want to apologize to all my brothers. I thought I could lead you all to victory. But in the end, not only was I ’killed-in-action’ first, we also lost this exchange match. I’m sorry, everyone!" As he spoke, he bowed deeply to all the Dragon Knights.
"Vice Captain Cain, you’re too modest! This time we lost due to underestimating Long Yi’s shamelessness!"
"Yes! It was Long Yi’s lacking shame that got us!"
The crowd seemed to have found their scapegoat as they started unleashing their complaints.
Cain laughed heartily, shouting to Long Yi on the other side: "Long Yi! Have you always been this shameless?"
At the other side, Long Yi, who was tidying up the stove, looked up and flashed his brilliant smile: "Yep!"
"Listen to that! That bastard shamelessly admits it!"
Cain couldn’t help but chuckle; this Long Yi really was amusing. But then he regained his seriousness:
"But let’s be honest, we, a group of thirty, ganged up on Long Yi’s five-person team and yet we were wiped out by them. What does this tell us?"
What does it tell us? The Dragon Knights looked at each other, puzzled. Usually, they, the proud Dragon Knights and nobles, look down upon others. Defeat and humiliation by someone else’s hands had never happened before. But today, they had been embarrassed without any excuse.
"We’re not strong enough!"
One of the Dragon Knights begrudgingly admitted the bitter truth.
"Yes! We are not strong enough! Neither you nor I! Maybe some don’t agree and believe they could come up with numerous reasons to prove they are stronger than Long Yi. But there is only one rebuttal the opponent needs!"
"You lost!"
For a moment, all the Dragon Knights from Red Dragon Empire lowered their heads in shame. Actually, almost everyone still felt a hint of resentment and thought about what they could’ve done differently to achieve victory...
Hearing Cain’s words, however, they snapped back to reality.
Only one thing determines strength.
Victory or defeat.
No matter how articulate you are, what use is it if you can’t secure a victory?
On one side, the Red Dragon Empire Dragon Knights were reflecting on their defeat. On the other side, the Dragon Knights from White Dragon Empire, were brooding over their frustration. They had initially assumed that their strike would force Long Yi to ask them for help, given that they were up against thirty furious Dragon Knights. But surprisingly, against all odds, Long Yi and his five-man team defeated the thirty knights!
It was absolute madness!
Having battled against them all day, they could affirm the opponents’ strength. But how could they have lost?
"Gentlemen, what are your thoughts?"
Lin Qi’s one-eyed gaze brushed across his knights as he asked.
"I can’t accept it," one soldier said.
"Long Yi is a bastard."
"Yes, Long Yi is a bastard."
"Yes, I am a bastard!" Long Yi admitted with an even brighter smile.
This admission only stoked their anger further.
"I understand that you all have discontent," Lin Qi said," Some of you might wonder, will someone like Long Yi who disregards orders and acts independently be tolerated?"
"The answer is of course, yes!" Lin Qi gave a surprisingly incomprehensible response.
"The reason is simple because he is strong! He’s so strong that he can disregard the impact of orders and change the entire course of the battle. So not only will we not penalize him, we will tolerate his actions until maybe one day he is stopped by an even stronger opponent. But until then, we need people like Long Yi, and we need more of them!"
"Chief, are you asking us to become a bastard like Long Yi?"
"Fool! I want you to become as strong as Long Yi! He’s powerful because he’s a bastard, not a bastard because he’s powerful!"
The Dragon Knight who asked the question awkwardly laughed at Lin Qi’s furious riposte.
"Remember this! Only when you become powerful will people overlook your faults! Your power can protect your friends, family, and country, everything else is secondary! The stronger you are! The more rights you gain! Got it?"
"Got it!"
"Once you get back, double your training!"
"Ah...."
"What?"
"Yes!"
The exchange tournament officially ended, and both sides gained something. But the biggest takeaway was they had a clear target now.
Long Yi, the one who consistently managed to beat opponents in various ways.
The next day was a rest day, and all the Dragon Knights got a day off. The frustrated Dragon Knights from White Dragon Empire vented out by going on a shopping spree. Though Dragon Knights aren’t particularly rich, most of them come from noble families, so they don’t lack money. The Imperial City of the Red Dragon Empire, unlike the business-focused White Dragon Empire, places a higher emphasis on royalty. Many of the best shops are run by royal and nobility houses.
The frenzied shopping of the White Dragon Dragon Knights made a significant contribution to the Red Dragon Empire’s economy. (To be continued. If you like our work, welcome to QiDian (qidian.com) to recommend or vote for us, your support would be our greatest motivation. Mobile users can go to m.qidian.com for reading.)
