GOR Chapter 382 Part 1 Fall

Qiao Qiao noticed Nicole who was seated not far away from her.

Rather, it was impossible for her not to notice Nicole. This was more or less the off-season for Zero City so there would usually be very little people in this bar. As for today, there was a huge event in Zero City, the Board of Patriarchs’ meeting. Most of the core members of the resident guilds of Zero City would have gone to attend the meeting as side observers. Thus, there was barely anyone left on the streets.

In this huge bar, Nicole was the only one there drinking in the bar, other than Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo of course.

Nicole and Qiao Qiao’s eyes made contact. Nicole then raised her gla.s.s of wine, gestured to Qiao Qiao, and smiled in a friendly manner.

There was an indifferent look on Qiao Qiao’s face but she did raise her gla.s.s of wine in response.

Naturally, she was unable to see through Nicole’s disguise. After gulping down the contents of her gla.s.s, Nicole poured herself another gla.s.s before moving over.

“May I sit here?”

Qiao Qiao turned to look at this incoming woman. She felt that this young woman had a welcoming smile and thus, nodded her head. “Do as you please.”

“Are you two new here?” Nicole smiled as she sat down.

Qiao Qiao was silent.

“New members of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild?” Nicole pointed at the men standing outside the bar.

Qiao Qiao did not answer her. Instead, she asked, “What about you?”

“I’m here for business.”

“A broker?”

“Something like that,” answered Nicole. After pondering for a moment, she continued, “There is a Board of Patriarchs’ meeting today. Why aren’t you going?”

“Aren’t you doing the same thing?”

Nicole smiled as she looked at Qiao Qiao. “Don’t you know the rules? Only the formal members of resident guilds have the qualifications to attend the Board of Patriarchs’ meeting. Brokers and outsiders like me have no right to go there.”

Qiao Qiao straightened her body and stared at Nicole. She asked, “Are you really an outsider? A broker? Not a member of any guild?”

“No.” Nicole shook her head. “If I was, how would I miss such a huge affair? I would be sitting at the auditorium side of the Board of Patriarchs’ meeting room. This type of thing is not something that happens every day.”

“That’s right…” Qiao Qiao’s eyes darted around and she whispered, “How long will you be staying in Zero City?”

“Not long.”

“Are you interested in making a transaction?” Qiao Qiao looked into Nicole’s eyes.

Nicole’s heart jumped with joy.

“Speak your mind. If it’s appropriate, I won’t refuse a business transaction.”

Qiao Qiao was about to say something when Soo Soo who was beside her tugged her sleeve. She silently shook her head and said, “Unni…”

Qiao Qiao was surprised.

Soo Soo whispered, “We do not know her.”

Hearing that, a look of hesitation appeared on Qiao Qiao’s face. Soon however, it was replaced by a look of frustration. She said, “I know where to draw the line.”

She turned her gaze back to Nicole and said, “This transaction is very simple. After you leave Zero City, I need you to help me pa.s.s a message to someone outside. He is a friend of mine. It’s that simple.”

“As you know, Zero City has rules. Some sensitive information regarding Zero City is not allowed to spread outside. If that is the task, I cannot accept it.” Nicole deliberately said that. “Once found out, I will be punished. I will be blacklisted and barred from entering Zero City forever.”

“This message has nothing to do with Zero City’s matters. It’s a private message,” said Qiao Qiao as she shook her head. She purposely put on a casual look and continued, “I am temporarily unable to leave so I can only entrust someone to send a message to my friend outside.”

“And the contents of the message?”

“Tell him, I am in Zero City. Also, I will not give up, absolutely never.” Qiao Qiao clenched her teeth and continued in a whisper. “Tell him, do what he wants to do, do what he feels is the right thing to do. And I will never give up.”

“… just that?” Nicole was slightly taken aback.

“That’s all.” Qiao Qiao nodded her head. “My name is Qiao Qiao.”

“And the recipient of this message?”

Qiao Qiao thought about it and pulled out a piece of paper. She jotted down a phone number on the paper and said, “Call this number. His name is Chen Xiaolian.”

As expected.

Nicole held back her desire to smile. She nodded her head with a calm expression. Then, she glanced at the phone number before setting the piece of paper on fire. “I’ve remembered the number. I will help you do this… then, what about my reward?”

Qiao Qiao was stunned for a moment. “What kind of reward do you want?”

“This request is not that difficult, so I will make it cheaper for you.” Nicole deliberately put on an act of thinking. “200 points.”

Qiao Qiao’s face turned dark.

200 points… generally speaking, it was possible to acquire only a few hundred points by completing one instance dungeon…

“Is making a single phone call that expensive?”

“This is Zero City.” Nicole shook her head and continued, “This place cannot connect to the outside world. Since you’re requesting this from me, we should speak openly. You are surely unable to leave this place or contact him on your own, am I right?”

Qiao Qiao remained silent.

Soo Soo who was beside her suddenly spoke up. This girl blinked her eyes and looked at Nicole. “We… how can we know of you’ve sent the message to him? How can we be certain that you’ve completed this request?”

“That’s right!” Qiao Qiao was suddenly reminded of this. “What if you take the reward without completing the request? How do we determine that?”

“It’s simple.” Nicole felt that she had had enough teasing Qiao Qiao. She smiled and said, “Let’s do this. I can choose to not accept the reward first. I will send the message to the recipient. After the recipient has given me a reply, I will bring this reply back to you. After you’ve confirmed that the recipient has received the message, you can give me my reward. How about it?”

Qiao Qiao nodded her head and said, “That’s for the best! After you’ve obtained his reply, come find me. I will definitely give you your reward.”

“So, where should I go to find you?”

“I will be at this bar every afternoon at this time.”

“It’s a deal then.”

Qiao Qiao’s mood improved and she put down her gla.s.s of wine. She stood up and said, “It’s a deal.”

She turned around to look at Soo Soo and said, “Let’s go.”

Soo Soo jumped down from her chair and accepted Qiao Qiao’s hand. Then, the two of them walked out of the bar.

Nicole watched the back of the two females as they walked away and a smile appeared on her face.

The fellows from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild quickly followed the two females as they left. However, two of them stayed behind.

These two men looked at the bar and moved toward Nicole.

Nicole lifted her gla.s.s and took a sip of wine.

“Miss,” said a member of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild who was standing before Nicole. “I would like to inquire what the two ladies had said to you just now.”

Nicole ignored him and continued drinking.

The other man frowned and took a deep breath before speaking out, “Just now, we saw her writing something on a piece of paper and give it to you. You then burnt that piece of paper. We want to know what was written on that piece of paper.”

Pausing, he then said in a somewhat frosty tone, “We are members of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild.”

“Oh.” Nicole put down her gla.s.s of wine and moved to leave.

“Hold it!” The two men from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild moved to intercept her. There were grim looks on their faces. “You have yet to answer our questions.”

“Members of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild?” Nicole raised her eyebrows.

“That’s right.”

Nicole smiled. “I understand now…”

“If so, our question…”

“I don’t feel like answering you.” Nicole shrugged her shoulders before continuing; “Now I am going to continue drinking. Please move aside.”

The fellow on the left side became somewhat furious and he said, “Miss! I don’t want to say anything harsh. However, it is best that you don’t cause any trouble in Zero City – like what you are doing now!”

Nicole was unable to stop herself from bursting into a laughter.

Her laugh made them confused. “So? Because you are members of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, I must obediently answer your questions? Just because you think I cannot afford to provoke you?”

The two fellows regarded Nicole with stunned expressions.

“That makes sense, I guess.” Nicole smiled. “You probably recognize the members of the various resident guilds. Besides, the people who are not attending the Board of Patriarchs’ meeting are mostly brokers or outsiders, minor characters. So, you thought that I am one of them?”

The two fellows sneered. One of them said coldly, “You had better not cause any problems.”

Nicole inhaled deeply and replied, “Problems? Right now, you are the ones p.i.s.sing me off.”

There were odd looks on both their faces – did this girl had too much to drink?

It was at that moment that Nicole’s hand abruptly shot out to grab hold of her wine gla.s.s. Then, she viciously slammed it upon one of the fellows’ head!

Pa!

The gla.s.s shattered and both the wine and gla.s.s fragments descended upon the man’s face!

The man entered a state of rage and he swore. “b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” He brandished his fist!

However, when his fist was only less than 10 centimetres away from Nicole, his hand suddenly froze!

Both men’s expressions had turned strange as they stared at something!

Back when Nicole had smashed the gla.s.s of wine on the man’s head, she had pulled an item out and slammed it on the table.

It was a badge!

It was a very common looking badge. But, the surface of the badge depicted something with long wings… an angel!

The two men from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild stared intently at the badge. They appeared to have been hit by a paralysis spell. That was especially true of the one on the left. His fist remained hovering in the air and he dared not let it descend.

“If I recall correctly, no one is allowed to fight inside Zero City,” said Nicole who observed them coldly. “Unless under special circ.u.mstances, the only ones with the authority to use force is the Angel Corps. I am curious… since when did Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild get that authority?”

The faces of the two men turned red.

A few seconds later, the fellow who had his head smashed with the gla.s.s of wine said as he held back his fury. “You, you are the one who hit us first.”

“Oh? Then you are free to go to the Angel Corps and make a complaint about me.” Nicole shrugged her shoulders. “Now, may I leave?”

The two men were stunned.

A peculiar smile appeared on Nicole’s face and she said, “Are you not going to make way? Interesting… members of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild dares to use force to provoke and trouble an active member of the Angel Corps?”

Those words were like a bucket of cold water splas.h.i.+ng down their heads. The two men quickly recollected themselves.

The two men acted as though they had just been jolted. They quickly backed away and one of them even said, “So, sorry… we had offended you earlier.”

==

GOR Chapter 382 Part 2 Fall

“Wait!”

“Is there anything else?”

“Just now…” whispered one of the men from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild. “Just now, you and the two girls… your conversation…”

“Since when did the actions of the members of the Angel Corps require the interference from the people from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild?” Nicole smiled. However, a chilling atmosphere exuded out from her smile.

“No, that is not what I mean.” Sweat trickled down the forehead of the one who spoke out earlier.

Within Zero City, there may be disputes between the various resident guilds every now and again. However, every one of the guilds would maintain a show of absolute respect toward the Angel Corps.

That was the iron-clad rule of Zero City!

“That is not what I mean.” The man who said that desperately tried to calm himself down and he quickly minced his words. “It’s just that those two person you talked with just now are VIPs of our guild. The things they talked to you about… those are our guild’s private matters. Please, please don’t interfere.”

“You want to know what we were talking about just now?”

“If you don’t mind, we would be most grateful for it…”

“Oh,” said Nicole who shrugged her shoulders. Then, she shook her head. “Grateful? I have no interest in that. You fellows want to know, but I am not interested in telling.”

After saying that, Nicole ignored them and swaggered out of the bar.

The two men looked at Nicole’s back as she left. It seemed as though they wanted to give chase. However, they were unable to bring themselves to do so in the end.

Provoke a member of the Angel Corps while inside Zero City?

Let’s ignore the fact that Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild was now at the precipice.

Even the other great guilds that were in peak condition would not dare do something like that.

In Zero City, the Angel Corps was an inviolable existence!

“What should we do?” The two fellows stood there. The one on the left wiped off the wine and gla.s.s fragments off his face and asked.

“What else can be done… I didn’t think the young miss would end up attracting the attention of someone from the Angel Corps. Unexpectedly, this Angel Corps personnel is so unreasonable.” The one on the right had a twisted face and he said, “You need to leave this city immediately. Contact Mr Qiao and tell him about this.”

…

“Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild? What an interesting name.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “It gives a dangerous impression. But don’t you think this name is quite inauspicious? Mountain of blades and sea of flames…”

Qiao Yifeng turned to Chen Xiaolian and shook his head before speaking up. “Blade Mountain Flame Sea is the combined names of its founders.”

Names of its founders.

A thought struck Chen Xiaolian’s mind and he raised his head to look at Qiao Yifeng. He said, “Blade Mountain Flame Sea… mountain? I say, Old Man Qiao, could it be you…”

Qiao Yifeng nodded his head and said, “That is correct. I am the Mountain of Blade Mountain Flame Sea. The mountain word came from the ‘mountain peak’ (fēng) word in my name.

Chen Xiaolian straightened his body and he cast a solemn gaze at Qiao Yifeng.

All these while, Chen Xiaolian had known that Qiao Yifeng was the representative of that guild in the secular world. However, he never expected Father Qiao’s position to be this high.

He is actually one of the founders?

“Wait… you’re not that old, are you?” Chen Xiaolian frowned and cast a puzzled look at Qiao Yifeng. “If you are one of the founders… that means your Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild had not been established for too long now, has it? It had already become a resident guild of Zero City?

“30 years ago,” said Qiao Yifeng who put up three fingers. “30 years ago, we obtained the qualifications to become a resident guild of Zero City.”

Chen Xiaolian was unable to stop himself from whistling out.

For the resident guilds of Zero City, this would be considered a very new guild!

“Among all the resident guilds of Zero City, we have the least resources and experience. We are the youngest.”

As expected, Qiao Yifeng’s words verified Chen Xiaolian’s speculation.

“The earliest members of this guild include a group of veteran soldiers that I was a part of.” Qiao Yifeng gently pinched his fingers and said in a hushed tone. “We were veteran soldiers that had been baptized by the battlefields of war. We had partic.i.p.ated in the Vietnam War that occurred in the last century.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded and said, “I remember you telling me that you were a group of veteran soldiers.”

“That’s right,” replied Qiao Yifeng with a sigh. “Later on, we became Awakened ones and established our own guild… I won’t elaborate about those matters. It is a very long story. There is nothing much to talk about anyways. It’s basically a series of trials of life and death, a struggle filled with blood and tears. Almost all the high-ranking guilds would have gone through all those. I believe that this should not be a foreign concept to you.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.

He remembered the Qin s.h.i.+huang instance dungeon, the b.l.o.o.d.y battles in Tokyo, London…

“Our guild rose at an extremely fast rate. That was all thanks to the founding members of our guild. We were all veterans who had survived through many situations of life and death. We were originally the elites of the army to begin with. Compared to Awakened ones who were originally civilians, we had more combat abilities and knowledge. We understand war far more than them! How to protect ourselves, how to kill the enemy, how to… walk the thin line between life and death!

“We had all those advantages. Additionally, we also had fairly good luck. During the early days of our guild, we had some fortuitous encounters, which led to the explosive growth of our guild’s strength.

“30 years ago, we acquired the qualifications for permanent residence within Zero City. That was an extremely gruelling trial.

“The 30 years after that, we grew at an even greater rate and became an upstart within Zero City. The momentum behind our growth was able to put even the other resident guilds to pause.

“Our greatest accomplishment was to win this mine three times in a row! You have no way of knowing just how intense a battle it was for us in the first battle for this mine!”

Chen Xiaolian pondered silently before speaking up in a whisper, “I can imagine.”

It was not that difficult to imagine.

Just imagine… how difficult were the instance dungeons that Chen Xiaolian had to partic.i.p.ate in!

As for the compet.i.tion for the mine… the enemies that Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild had to face were even stronger!

The Awakened ones that Chen Xiaolian had encountered when he partic.i.p.ated in instance dungeons were simply those like Phoenix’s Coffeehouse Guild, Qiu Yun or Culkin.

But the enemies that Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild had to face?

Any of them would be a large resident guild from Zero City! The strongest and most powerful within the Awakened circle!

But they managed to emerge victorious again and again!

Three times in a row!

That was not something that can be attributed to mere luck.

“In all of Zero City’s history, we, Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild had the fastest rate of growth and momentum among all the new guilds! Our future, was unimaginable… this was something that every other guilds in Zero City had to acknowledge.”

A frown began to form on Chen Xiaolian’s face.

He then shook his head and said, “Time for you to say ‘but’.”

“What?”

“Given how you are telling me all these, there will surely be a ‘but’ at the end, right? Otherwise, what is the point in telling me all these? It couldn’t be simply for the sake of showing off how powerful your guild is, right? If I had to guess, you are not someone with so much time in your hands. Thus… you might as well say the ‘but’ now.”

There was an odd look in Qiao Yifeng’s face. He exhaled deeply and said, “But… we recently encountered a problem. A very big problem.”

“I’m listening with bated breath,” said Chen Xiaolian with a smile.

Next, Qiao Yifeng told him something.

…

Zero City’s Board of Patriarchs is a very peculiar existence.

There are 33 seats in the Board of Patriarchs in total – theoretically speaking.

Naturally, there are only seven seats at present.

Earlier, Qiao Yifeng had explained that resident guilds of Zero City would be granted with benefits. Those benefits are the allocations.

The first one is the essential quota. It would be automatically given to every resident guild. All basic necessities and some resources, such as minerals and others would be given. This essential quota is something that would be directly given to the resident guilds without going through the Board of Patriarchs.

However, the second allocation, the additional allocation such as the quest for the mine is not something that is automatically a.s.signed to the resident guilds.

Rather, it has to go through the Board of Patriarchs.

Every once in a while, Zero City’s system would produce some additional benefits. These benefits can be acquired through the completion of certain quests. Things like resources, mines etc.

Another way of putting it would be to equate those as Zero City’s instance dungeons.

It is more or less similar to the instance dungeon created by the main program of this world.

However, the allocation of these additional benefits has to go through the Board of Patriarchs.

This way of explaining it seems rather incomprehensible.

If so, let’s make it comprehensible. Within Zero City, there is a core area known as the Notification Centre.

Simply put, it is a big room.

In this room, there is a big screen.

Every once in a while, Zero City’s system would automatically issue out some quests, which would be displayed on the screen inside this room.

Time for the quest, coordinate, details… etc.

Only after reading the details would you be able to go do it.

If you do not know… that is the equivalent of having no chance.

Unless you were in the same situation as Chen Xiaolian, where you had been duped into going to your death only to end up accidentally striking the jackpot and completing the quest.

…

“That is a form of authority. The authority to know.” Qiao Yifeng gave a strained smile and said, “The Board of Patriarchs is not the owner of Zero City. However, it can use another method to do so. Monopolize the city, in other words… occupy the room known as the Notification Centre and make it so that no one else but those with the permission from the Board of Patriarchs can enter.

“If you cannot enter the room, you won’t be able to get the details of the quest that Zero City had issued out. If you do not know the quest, you would have no way to partic.i.p.ate in the quest.

“That is how the Board of Patriarchs monopolizes the resources given by Zero City. It pools it all into the hands of the resident guilds and allocates it among them.

“Simply put, only members of the Board of Patriarchs are allowed to enter the Notification Centre. The seven resident guilds and the Angel Corps. A total of eight spots.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and said, “Mm, and then? You have yet to tell me what kind of problem is Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild facing?”

“It’s very simple. We are about to be kicked out from the Board of Patriarchs,” said Qiao Yifeng with a very grim expression. “In other words… once we are kicked out of the Board of Patriarchs, we would have lost the additional allocation! In the future, we would no longer have any way to accept the quests given by Zero City. Those resources, those benefits… our guild will only continue to fall!

“Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild… is falling down!”

==

 GOR Chapter 383 Sun Wukong Disappeared

For a powerful force or group to come into existence, there are usually two possibilities.

The first possibility: a batch of outstanding individuals suddenly emerged from among the group. Like bamboo shoots sprouting upward after the rain, these outstanding individuals all appeared at the same moment in history. These individuals would then act as the backbone while dividing the work in a clear manner and show mutual cooperation as they help develop their group into a powerhouse. Generally speaking, those outstanding individuals would be given the t.i.tle the ‘golden generation’. Take the Meiji Restoration period of j.a.pan for example. A large number of famed officials and generals all happened to rise to prominence in that one period. But, if we are to take a look at the historical records for the few decades or years before that period, we would be unable to find a similar occurrence where so many talented individuals appeared at the same time.

This is what the term ‘golden generation’ signifies.

The second possibility: A group or force could suddenly become strong by depending on one particular individual, who emerged through his or her own abilities. This individual is exceptional, outstanding and dazzling; one who has far surpa.s.sed the level of his or her peers. This individual could easily trample on those of the same generation as him or her, one with absolute power.

The most typical example for this case would be Sun Wukong.

Don’t be mistaken, I am not talking about the one that can go Super Saiyan. I am talking about the monkey that protected Tang Xuanzang on his journey to the west. [1]

This pilgrimage for the sutra consists of four individuals. But the average strength of most of the group members are just second or third-rate.

Among the 81 tribulations they faced on their journey, how many of those demons were killed off by the Marshall of Heavenly Canopy (Zhu Bajie) and the Curtain Lifting General (Sha Wujing)? Their biggest role is to simply become background props for the Great Sage Equalling Heaven (Sun Wukong).

If not for the monkey fighting a way out for them, Tang Xuanzang would have been well-cooked eight hundred times over.

With such a first-rate master in the group, the rest of the members could just follow behind and paddle the back of the boat [2].

Of course, the same could be said about the 1986 World Cup with Argentina and Maradona.

…

“So, which type is Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild?” asked Chen Xiaolian as he cast a calm gaze at Qiao Yifeng.

“The latter.” Qiao Yifeng sighed with a seemingly helpless tone.

“You mean to say, your guild is like the four-man group that goes on a pilgrimage for the sutra?” As Chen Xiaolian spoke, he nodded his head and continued. “Not bad. Blade Mountain Flame Sea. As it so happens, there are also four people, right?” Then, Chen Xiaolian suddenly smiled. “If so, in your four-man group, which one is Sun Wukong? And which one is Zhu Bajie?”

Qiao Yifeng sighed and said, “So young, yet to spiteful.” He turned to look at Chen Xiaolian and replied, “I am just a waste now. Naturally, I am not Sun Wukong.”

“So, who is the Sun Wukong of your guild? Rather, let’s be more direct. Since you say your guild is in big trouble, does that mean your Sun Wukong is in trouble?”

“Yes.”

…

The hall was huge and the corridors cold.

Cold metallic l.u.s.tre shone off the surface of the wall while the hidden lamps cast a cold illumination upon the area. Thus, the corridors became filled with a tasteless and chilling atmosphere.

Nicole had her hands inside her pockets and she whistled as she continued walking forward.

At the end of the corridor was a small door.

The circular door appeared similar to the door of a Hobbit’s house. Naturally, the size was not that small. Additionally, it was also not made of wood.

Nicole stepped forward and pulled out her badge from her pocket. After the scanner beside the door scanned her badge, the door automatically opened up. Nicole then stepped inside.

Beyond the door was a very big room.

It was as big as a basketball court or rather, a round-shaped arena.

In the middle was a s.p.a.cious and flat floor. An oval-shaped table had been placed there and seven figures sat at the table.

More accurately, those were seven holographic projections.

The seating arrangement was very interesting. One of them, who appeared to be a forty to fifty-year-old man was seated at one end of the oval-shaped table while the other six were seated on the other end.

It seemed like a trial!

Nicole was presently at the observation stand. This observation stand was clearly placed at a much higher elevation compared to the oval-shaped table in the centre. It was just like the auditorium of a stadium.

Nicole turned her attention to the audience within the auditorium and saw that they were quite a number of people there. Although they were scattered, there were around several hundreds of them.

She saw many familiar faces. No small number of them was the familiar faces of her friends and enemies.

Nicole smiled coldly before finding a spot in the corner to sit. It was the highest spot in the corner of the auditorium that was also the closest to the door.

The place was originally very large to begin with. There were also hundreds of people inside the room. Thus, when Nicole made her way to the corner, not many people noticed Nicole’s arrival.

Although some of them did notice Nicole, they did not pay much attention to her.

There were quite a number of people within Zero City. Some liked to change their appearance. Some would even mess around with transformation techniques. There were many eccentrics within the various great guilds. Thus, Nicole’s appearance was not something conspicuous.

Additionally, this was the Board of Patriarchs’ conference hall. There was no way that an outsider could slip inside!

Everyone here had faith in Zero City’s system, even more so compared to their own eyes and ears!

After seating herself down, Nicole observed that the meeting had been in progress for quite some time.

The atmosphere was not pleasant at all!

“So, what else do you have to say? In accordance with the provisions, you have the right to appeal to the Board of Patriarchs.”

One of the six figures seated on one end of the oval-shaped table, the second from the left spoke up.

It was a woman in long black robes. However, there was a metal mask on her face. Her head was also covered and it became impossible to discern her age. Even her voice had a metallic tone.

The lone figure on the other end of the table seemed to be on a trial.

The forty-plus year-old man suddenly raised his head.

Wrinkles appeared on his forehead and the corners of his eyes as he did. Even so, it had to be said, if someone with his looks were to be put outside, he would be able to make young girls scream “Handsome uncle!”

Fine and elongated eyes, a seemingly wise and farsighted gaze; his eyes exuded profundity and calmness.

He softly pursed his lips before speaking up. His voice was pleasant and gentle.

An educated atmosphere exuded outward from between his eyebrows.

“Is there a meaning to making an appeal now?” His gaze swept past the six figures and he gently shook his head.

The right most figure spoke up.

This figure seemed like an old man, very thin; yet, his voice was full of vigour.

“I know that you will surely be unable to accept this decision. But the rules are the rules. The reason Zero City could remain standing up to this day is due to these rules and constraints. All of us here must adhere by these rules and constraints. Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild is not the only one, all of us here must abide by it.”

“Correct!” Another Patriarch spoke up. His voice was sharper and he spoke with a very frank tone, “You should be very clear that Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild had lost almost all of its chips.

“You have taken the last place for Zero City’s internal quests for three consecutive times. For one whole year, you have not been able to complete an [A] cla.s.s instance dungeon. The additional a.s.sessment score of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild had also fallen to the lowest score ever.

“In the internal compet.i.tive arena for the seven resident guilds, you took the last spot for six consecutive times!

“Lanhai, I think it’s time to give up!”

…

“So, what happened to your Sun Wukong?”

Elsewhere, in another room, Chen Xiaolian asked as he looked at Qiao Yifeng.

Qiao Yifeng’s face became ugly to behold as he said, “He’s gone.”

“He?”

“Our Guild Leader,” replied Qiao Yifeng with a strained smile. “You asked who is the Sun Wukong of our guild. It’s him!”

“The Guild Leader is gone? I don’t understand.”

“Gone means gone! A few years ago, he suddenly disappeared. Left. Gone. No one knows where he went. All we know is that before he left, he said he wanted to go find something.”

“Something? What kind of something?”

“He said he wanted to go find an umbrella (sǎn). [3]”

1 In Chinese, Son Goku from Dragonball is called Sun Wukong.

2 Paddle the back of the boat. Going to the back of the boat and beat the waters, pretending to be working hard to push the boat forward.

3 The Chinese word for umbrella is ‘傘’, pinyin: ‘sǎn’.