Chapter 972 Accident!
The 14 mechas and the pieces of equipment caused the other five mercenary teams to become vigilant of the Little Four Mercenary Team. However, when the members of this team came down from the c.o.c.kpit of their mechas, this vigilance died down.
The members of the Little Four Mercenary Team were mostly young men around 20 years old. There were even three women, a teenager that was still underage, and two young children. Obviously, this was a team made up of ambitious young people. Their family background must be good too since they were able to get such good mechas and pieces of equipment. The only two middle-aged men must be their bodyguards.
Plus, they might be doing it for fun, all of them wore a metal mask that covered half their faces just like their leader.
Soon, it was 8 am. The merchant team finally finished their preparations. They were ready to leave.
It had to be said that the merchant team was really stingy, as the three meals they provided were very simple.
Besides Shadow Cat, the other mercenary teams didn't lack money. They took out their own food and started eating. Ling Lan and her team members didn't like to torture themselves too. Lin Zhong-qing had thought about this possibility so he had prepared a lot of good food while they were getting ready all their equipment for the mission. After some time, all the team members from the Little Four Mercenary Team had oily lips from their delicious meal. This just further confirmed to everyone that this was a bunch of young masters having fun.
The members of Shadow Cat swallowed their saliva as they watched the members of Little Four eating their hearty meal happily while they had already finished their simple meal. They rolled themselves up to hide the sound from their growling stomach. Little Tao was still growing so the simple meal provided by the merchant team couldn't satisfy him.
However, he still controlled his hunger and didn't reveal any signs of it. He knew that the old men in his team needed more nutrients because their bodies were exhausted from the continuous fighting. If they knew that he was still hungry, they would definitely give him some of their food and he didn't want them to do that.
Little Tao thought that he hid his hunger well but a few people managed to hear it. Ma Yizhe looked at him with disdain. If they had a hard time filling up their stomachs, it meant that the Shadow Cat Mercenary Team was useless.
The other leaders didn't portray their thoughts so directly but they also looked down on Shadow Cat. No one wanted to work with useless people.
As for the Little Four Mercenary Team, besides the old man, the two children, and Aunt Liu, everyone heard it.
But, Ling Lan didn't look down on Shadow Cat because of this. Although Shadow Cat's situation was bad, Little Tao's actions showed that the relations.h.i.+p between the team members was strong. Plus, she saw Little Tao rejecting the food from his comrades when they offered it to him.
Compared to strength, Ling Lan felt that true friends.h.i.+p was more important. Without a doubt, Shadow Cat was much better than the other mercenary teams in this area.
Ling Lan had a good impression of Shadow Cat but she wasn't planning to help them. From the start, she didn't plan to have any interactions with the other mercenary teams.
However, sometimes accidents happen.
For instance, Liu Aihua.
The two children didn't hear the growl from the stomach, but the two children referred to w.a.n.g Qi and Liu Aijun. Liu Aihua, on the other hand, had her innate talent awakened so she heard the growl. She gave him a look of pity, as she was familiar with this sound. She used to have similar experiences too. She knew that the feeling of hunger wasn't good.
Liu Aihua was an obedient child but she was too kind sometimes. She knew that Little Tao was hungry and she had good food in her hands too. Hence, she ran over without much thinking and pa.s.sed the drumstick in her hand to Little Tao. "Big brother, this is for you."
Little Tao was stunned. He didn't expect a little girl who was a stranger to him to give him her drumstick. He was touched but he shook his head. "Thank you, little sister. I'm not hungry." He was very hungry but he didn't wish to owe people favors. Plus, she was just a small little girl, she needed the food more than him.
Ma Yizhe laughed when he heard Little Tao's reply. "Little brat, stop pretending. Since someone is offering you food, eat it. If not, your stomach will continue growling. It's not good if you disturb our rest."
The leader of Shadow Cat and the other members instantly understood what was happening. At first, they were puzzled at Little Aihua's actions. "Little Tao, since you're still hungry, why didn't you tell us? Old people like us can't finish all those food anyway."
It looks like he was really old. He should have noticed that Little Tao was still hungry. Even old men like them weren't full after the meal. How could Little Tao be full?
"Speaking of which, your team is really terrible. You can't even feed your team members properly. I wonder how a useless mercenary team like yours manage to survive till now. Tsk tsk tsk…" Ma Yizhe shook his head and sighed. He appeared to be pitying them but his words were sarcastic.
Yuan Mulin was furious and his face turned red in anger. A lot of people had laughed at them before but they all did it behind their backs. This was the first time someone mocked them directly. Yet, he had to bear with it. Among the six mercenary teams, they had the fewest number of people and most of his team members were old and weak. If they really had a conflict with another mercenary team, they would be at a disadvantage.
Yuan Mulin was able to control his emotions but Little Tao couldn't, as he was young and hot-blooded. He replied coldly, "What does that have to do with you? Why are you being such a busybody?"
A muscular man sitting beside Ma Yizhe suddenly jumped up and rushed towards Little Tao. Little Tao's words had angered him. Liu Aihua was in his way so he reached out and wanted to throw Liu Aihua aside.
Aunt Liu and w.a.n.g Qi shouted in astonishment when they saw this.
The gazes of the members of the Little Four mercenary team turned cold. Liu Furong was prepared to get up but Little Tao acted before him. He hugged Liu Aihua and rolled to the side, managing to evade the attack.
Everyone from Little Four mercenary team relaxed a little. Liu Furong calmed down and sat down. He decided to observe the situation first.