There was nothing special about the gathering. It was just a gathering for good friends to get to know each other. This was a rule that Sharmie made after returning from the previous mission. In her words, relationships still needed to be maintained. Some people would break up after walking for a while, and as time passed, they would become less and less close. It was better to cherish the friendship in front of them and live as long as they could.
She sounded very heroic at that time, but in fact, everyone knew that it was because the Lava Monster Leader had left a deep impression on the newcomers. Frankly speaking, if they could encounter such danger in a B-rank secret realm, what would happen if they encountered A-rank and S-rank secret realms in the future? Cultivation was originally going against the heavens. It was to strengthen oneself and forcefully change the rules of nature to pursue immortality and power that ordinary people couldn't imagine. It was to fight against heaven and earth. No matter how powerful a cultivator was, he could die at any time, let alone a group of small Heroic Souls who were still at the beginning of cultivation. They wanted to gather a few more times while they were still alive so that they wouldn't have any regrets when someone suddenly died one day.
When these six people were on Earth, they basically stayed in different places. Even when they entered the CHF, they were only each other's opponents. They didn't expect that after coming to the Holy City, they would come together for various reasons. After witnessing the ruthlessness of the Holy City, everyone especially cherished the hard-earned friendship between them. Recently, their friendship with each other had skyrocketed.
There was nothing else in the Queen's Bar, but there was definitely a variety of drinks. It was just past noon, and the bar had just opened not long ago, so there wasn't much business. There was no loud music on the dance floor either. There was only the sound of the bartender yawning and a few people bragging.
Wang Zhong actually enjoyed such an atmosphere. It was a leisurely afternoon, and he got together with a few friends to talk about things that had nothing to do with cultivation. This was probably the best way he could think of to relax.
"In the end, I'm still the last one." Sharmie held a glass of wine and placed one foot on the table. When she said this, her tone didn't sound like she was the last one at all. She was full of confidence. "But at least I made it. As the last one to reach the Middle Phase of the Heroic Soul Stage among the six of us, I think you should all express your gratitude by giving me a red packet or something?"
"Of course!" Napier was rather generous. "As the future firepower of our exploration team, we must focus on nurturing them. I suggest that we give each of them at least 1,000 red packets!"
Sharmie kicked him. She had more or less figured out Napier's style. It would be reasonable if he said that he would give them one Holy Coin each, but one thousand each? He was definitely talking about federal credits.
Everyone laughed. Grai, who was at the side, said, "Speaking of cultivation, I suggest that everyone reach the peak before the Holy Disciple assessment."
"That's a matter for Wang Zhong, you, and Napier. Everyone is definitely eyeing your status as a second-class apprentice." Sharmie wasn't worried about this. "People like us who don't have any rank or status will just be spectators during the Holy Disciple examination."
Grai shook his head. "When I was in contact with Great Teacher Elvis, I heard him talk about the Holy Disciple Assessment. This is a new assessment that the Holy City has only released this year. The content might be slightly different from what was previously rumored. Anyway, there's no harm in being prepared. Furthermore, the sooner he reached the Peak Heroic Soul Stage, the sooner he could come into contact with the real world of cultivation. Don't always think about settling and accumulating. After all, there is an essential difference between the Heroic Soul Stage and the Casted Soul Stage.
"In addition, I think that everyone shouldn't keep urging our team leader to start a team. Earning money is important for us newcomers, but we still have to know when to stop. It's more important to lay a good foundation and reach the Peak Heroic Soul Stage first. Sharpening one's axe won't delay the work of cutting firewood. The stronger you are, the higher the level of the missions you receive. Relatively speaking, it will be safer and more efficient to complete the missions."
Everyone understood this logic, but they didn't understand it as thoroughly as Grai. Even Wang Zhong only got a deep understanding from Lan Daier yesterday, not to mention the others. If they had to choose between cultivation and following a team on a mission, Sharmie and the others would definitely choose to follow a team on a mission. They might even delay a certain amount of cultivation time for this. However, that was obviously a wrong choice.
They were all in the Sparta Clan, listened to the same lessons, learned the same things, and interacted with the same people, but Grai was able to experience more than Sharmie and Mario and choose a more correct direction. This was probably one of the reasons why he was frequently chosen by Great Teachers.
The party lasted until the evening. They went to a roadside stall to grab some barbecue skewers, and everyone left happily. Seeing that the sky was not dark yet, Wang Zhong went to the lake. Since it was a holiday today, he wanted to see if Uncle Zhang was around and brag to him while he was drinking. Secondly, he wanted to see if there was any news from Gong Yi. Originally, he had agreed to contact Gong Yi once a week, but he had been busy with cultivation recently and had forgotten about it.
Sure enough, when he arrived at the lake, Uncle Zhang didn't see him. However, as soon as the Holy City's signal shield disappeared, his Skylink rang.
Flipping it open, he saw two messages from Gong Yi. The first message was from many days ago, while the other was from yesterday. There weren't many words in the message, but every single one of them made Wang Zhong feel a heavy weight on his heart.
"Wang Zhong, we're being watched. Several Tutankhamun lords want to annex our Katchirda Town. I'm trying my best to balance things out, but I feel that we still have to rely on force in the end. Mu Zi has disappeared for a while after he went to the secret realm with you. Can you contact him? We may need his help. We can only rely on the defense forces trained by Sister Hong and Reynolds, as well as a few mercenaries to guard the town's businesses, but it will be difficult for us to fight against those lords. "
This was the first message from more than a week ago.
After experiencing life and death together, Wang Zhong actually knew Gong Yi quite well. Even if a huge problem was placed in front of him, it would be difficult for him to show any signs of lack of confidence. As a qualified gambler, whether in front of others or behind others, or even when looking at themselves in the mirror, they would be absolutely calm, as if everything was under their control. Then, they would face the problem in their most confident state, even if they already knew that the probability of winning was very low.
However, every word in Gong Yi's message revealed his deep worry. Wang Zhong could imagine that the situation must be very bad for him to be in such a difficult situation.
In fact, such a situation had been envisioned by everyone when the Katchirda Village was first established. Once the huge sum of money was injected into Katchirda Village, and Sister Hong and Gong Yi's business acumen was heard in the desolate and backward desert, it was expected that the village would quickly prosper and attract a pack of hungry wolves.
It was just that neither Gong Yi nor Wang Zhong expected such a challenge to come so soon. Now, it had only been four or five months since Wang Zhong left the desert and the establishment of the Katchirda Village. According to Gong Yi's original estimation, the timid Tutankhamun nobles would take into account Gong Yi's identity as a Federation citizen, which would at least give the Katchirda Village about a year to develop. On the other hand, it was also because Mu Zi was in charge at that time. Gong Yi's powerful personal strength made him overly optimistic about the Katchirda Village's ability to face challenges. He didn't expect Mu Zi to disappear just like that. Although he had a Skylink, he didn't use it all year round. Other than Mu Zi using it when he needed to find someone, others would probably have to wait until the end of time to contact him.
Wang Zhong's face had already turned slightly gloomy at this time, and he quickly opened the second message from yesterday.
Unlike the detailed explanation in the first message, this message only had nine words.
"Emergency! Help quickly! Katchirda … "
It was obvious that this message wasn't finished, but the urgent tone between the lines was enough to make Wang Zhong feel as if his eyebrows were on fire even though there were only nine words.
In the faraway Tutankhamun, Gong Yi tried to mediate in many ways and spread a lot of fake news. He managed to delay a lot of time, but in the end, he couldn't delay it any longer. Neither Mu Zi nor Wang Zhong could be found. It seemed like they had to face this obstacle themselves.
Katchirda suddenly became jittery. People from various forces were waiting for news in the surrounding oases. At this time, no one wanted to be implicated.
For Gong Yi and Sister Hong, they didn't give up during this period of time. They worked hard to find allies, and it wasn't that no one was willing to help them. However, they either had more malicious intentions than Caslort, or they were small forces that wanted to fish in troubled waters and take the opportunity to make a fortune. They were extremely unreliable.
Without battle, there would be no dignity. Without death, there would be no foothold. This was the way of survival for the people of Tutankhamun, and it was also the cornerstone for them to compete for living space with the magical beasts in the desert.
All that was left was to wait.
As an army surrounded Katchirda, it was time for Caslort to give his ultimatum.
Before this, the spies sent by the other aristocrats disappeared like bubbles that had been popped. However, everyone knew that they were hiding in the vast sand dunes.
The mercenary corps that they hired publicly announced their neutrality. They could deal with all the dangers for their employer, but that didn't include going against the feudal lords of the Empire on the land of the Empire.
Compensation was non-existent!
The people of the Empire were barbarians. Frankly speaking, Gong Yi and the others were able to develop so smoothly because they were from the Federation. However, the problem was that no big shots from the Federation spoke up when they were under attack.
Although ten days seemed to be an opportunity, it was actually a buffer for Caslort. He wasn't an idiot. If no big shots spoke up, it meant that Gong Yi and the others were just speculators from the Federation. Such people were indeed like fish in water in the early years, but they shouldn't treat the people of the Empire as fools now.
"What a high-sounding reason." Reynolds was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged. If it wasn't for the protection of his Soul Power, his brain would have been filled with so much blood that it could explode.
"This is the Empire. We were too naive in the past." Gong Yi didn't say anything. The mercenary corps was just a deterrent. They wouldn't send themselves to death, especially in such a situation. Frankly speaking, it was already good that they didn't make a false accusation.
Before this, Sister Hong had already arranged a path of retreat for her sisters. Those who wanted to leave could leave, and they would also receive a sum of money for settling down. Unexpectedly, no one was willing to leave. These girls were all slaves that Gong Yi and Sister Hong had bought. When they were slaves, they didn't think of themselves as humans. However, in a short period of time, they had learned about the dignity of humans from the Federation's Saints.
Apart from here, they couldn't get rid of their slave status anywhere else. With this experience and skills, they would become even more miserable playthings.
It was a fate worse than death.
They chose to live and die together with the oasis. One shouldn't underestimate the determination of women, even if they didn't have much combat power.
The residents of Katchirda didn't leave as they had nowhere else to go. Dozens of men stepped forward, holding the weapons passed down from their ancestors, and joined Gong Yi and the others, as well as the young men trained by Reynolds. This was the character of the people of the Tutankhamun Oasis. It was an honor to fight to protect their homeland.
The young men were eager to try, while the middle-aged men had already made arrangements for their deaths and accepted their fate calmly.
In the evening, the wind stopped, and the sun retracted its scorching heat. Dusk was the most beautiful time of the day in the desert, and it was also the most suitable time for killing. The army that surrounded Caslort began their advance under the golden sunset.
Gong Yi sighed. "It's my fault. I thought that these people could be negotiated with. I blindly developed, but I didn't have the strength to protect myself."
Caslort gave them the option of surrendering. It seemed like they had a chance, but according to Gong Yi's understanding, even if they agreed, the other party would slowly think of ways to kill them. Caslort's greedy personality was also well-known in the desert.
"Lao Gong, actually, we should have died a few times already. It's a blessing that we're still alive now."
"That's true. I'm always thinking about winning. There are always times in life when I can't get a good hand."
"Haha, let's f * ck them up. If they want to kill the three of us, they'll need a good set of teeth!" Reynolds wasn't afraid at all. After experiencing the cursed lands, the three of them had made great progress. The destructive power of a crazy Peak Heroic Soul expert couldn't be underestimated!
Gong Yi explained the situation on the Skylink, but he didn't repeat it. Unless Wang Zhong found Mu Zi, he wouldn't be able to help. If there was no other way, he would rather not come. Gong Yi had already made preparations to deal with the aftermath. If all of them died in battle, someone would pass the letter to Mu Zi. It was fate that they met, and Wang Zhong had a bright future ahead of him. There was no need for him to die with them.
The three of them released their Soul Power completely, suppressing the desert. It was as if three gods were displaying their divine might in the void. The advancing feudal lord army suddenly became a little chaotic. Many people's footsteps started to tremble, and the orderly formation became disorderly.
"Hmph!"
Boom!
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