The meeting of the Origin Mages from Huai Shui Town here could also be likened to “encountering an old friend in a foreign land.”
When Xiao Tang saw Ah Xing and Ah Wang, her eyes lit up, excitedly saying, “Ah Xing, Ah Wang, you guys are here too. Did you come for this disaster?”
Ah Xing pointed to the message board, saying, “Of course!”
After that, he nudged Ah Wang, urging him to speak up and show some manliness, but Ah Wang couldn’t even let out a fart.
Xiao Tang exclaimed, “Then our two teams can team up and enter the strange disaster together!”
Ah Xing chuckled, “I think that’s feasible, right, Ah Wang?”
Ah Wang immediately nodded, “That’s right, let’s team up together, hehe!”
Ah Xing then pulled Su Hao over and introduced, “Xiao Tang, let me introduce you, this is our team’s new member, Ah Yang.”
Xiao Tang, upon seeing Su Hao, immediately recognized him and frowned, saying, “You coward, is it really you?”
“You still remember each other?”
Xiao Tang retorted, “Ah Xing, how could you let such a coward join the team?”
Ah Xing and Ah Wang looked at each other, puzzled. Ah Xing said, “Is there some misunderstanding?”
Xiao Tang snorted, “It’s not a misunderstanding! Over a year ago, during the attack of the Illusionary Beast on Huai Shui Town, he, as a Origin Mage, shamefully ran away. I don’t want to team up with you guys!”
Ah Xing was surprised, “Over a year and a half ago? Ah Yang has only become a Origin Mage for less than a month!”
Xiao Tang immediately said, “Impossible, over a year and a half ago, I saw him kill the ‘Illusion Beast’ with a fork with my own eyes. Don’t be deceived by him.”
At this point, Su Hao explained, “I’ve been exercising since I was young, so I’m relatively strong.”
This was explained on behalf of Ah Wang’s crush; otherwise, he wouldn’t bother explaining. He didn’t care much about how others saw him.
“Lies…”
…
After much persuasion from Ah Xing and Ah Wang, things were finally clarified. Xiao Tang was half-believing, half-doubting, “Really? He was really just an ordinary person before?”
Ah Xing said, “There’s no need to deceive you. When you go back, you can have your captain check the records, and you’ll know.”
Xiao Tang hesitated for a moment, then looked at Su Hao, “Sorry, I misunderstood you…”
Su Hao waved his hand with a smile. Many people had misunderstood him, so what’s one more?
At this moment, Ah Wang, with an expectant look, said, “Xiao Tang, are we still teaming up?”
Ah Xing thought to himself, ‘Ah Wang is so spineless!’
Xiao Tang was unsure how to respond when her two teammates approached.
Also, two young men in their early twenties, one tall and burly, wearing a metal headband with his hair flying wildly, emanating a fierce aura, while the other appeared slightly slender, with thin cheeks and a charming smile even better than a girl’s.
“Oh, isn’t this the Star Gazing Team? How come you’re joining in on the fun too? Your strength isn’t that great, but your courage seems quite impressive!”
The slender young man saw Ah Xing and the others and walked over with a smile, subtly positioning himself in front of Xiao Tang, provokingly staring at Ah Xing and Ah Wang. The burly young man, Bichi, stood with his hands on his hips, wearing a smile, waiting to see what would unfold.
Ah Xing glanced at Ah Wang, ignoring the teasing, and casually said, “Just like your Thunderstorm Team.”
Then he turned to Bichi and said, “Bichi, how about teaming up for this mission? Rewards split fifty-fifty!”
As the captain, Bichi hadn’t spoken yet when the slender young man immediately said, “Does our Thunderstorm Team need to team up with you? Don’t drag us down.”
Bichi chuckled, “Since Jiang Ji isn’t interested in teaming up, let’s forget about it. We’ll cooperate next time if there’s a chance.”
Both Ah Xing and Bichi knew that their two teams could never cooperate seamlessly. Both teams had members who liked Xiao Tang, causing jealousy and hindrances. Teaming up not only wouldn’t complement each other but would also trip each other up. It would be considered a success just to complete a normal mission, let alone in such a bizarre disaster.
It was very likely that both teams would fail because of this.
Ah Xing shrugged helplessly, “In that case, let’s forget about it. But can we share some information?”
Bichi agreed, “Sure.”
As Bichi and Ah Xing exchanged information, Ah Wang and Jiang Ji were at odds with each other, while Xiao Tang covertly glanced at Ah Xing from time to time, very discreetly.
However, Su Hao, who was exceptionally sensitive to his surroundings, noticed this and thought to himself, “Ah Wang, it seems difficult!”
These melodramatic situations could happen anywhere. He liked her, but she liked someone else, and that person didn’t like her…
It’s really complicated!
However, which man doesn’t experience such setbacks to grow?
Overall, it had little to do with Su Hao, and he couldn’t help much.
Could he just loudly expose everything in front of everyone? “Ah Wang, give up, Xiao Tang likes Ah Xing!”
…
The two teams dispersed, and after Ah Xing understood the specifics at the counter, he took the two and found a hotel to stay.
At night, Ah Wang put away various documents, then called Su Hao and Ah Xing over, and the three of them sat in a circle.
“Ah Wang, Ah Yang, based on the information I’ve collected, this bizarre disaster is rated as intermediate level!”
Ah Wang widened his eyes, “Intermediate?”
Disaster levels were categorized as primary, intermediate, advanced, and top-tier disasters, with primary disasters being the most common. Generally, teams with intermediate-level Origin Mages could independently resolve them after adequate preparation.
The two missions Su Hao participated in could be classified as relatively simple primary disasters.
The attack of the Illusionary Beast on Huai Shui Town over a year and a half ago could be considered an intermediate-level disaster.
In just that one disaster, over twenty Origin Mages from Huai Shui Town died, showing the terror of intermediate-level disasters, which cannot be completed by a single team alone.
Now, Ah Xing actually classified this event as an intermediate-level disaster, which greatly shocked Ah Wang.
Most importantly, this is the most troublesome and unsolvable bizarre disaster, called ‘Nowhere to Hide.’ Intermediate-level bizarre disasters, when converted to source beast disasters or natural disasters, can be classified as advanced disasters.
Ah Xing nodded and continued, “That’s right. According to the information I’ve collected, this bizarre disaster originally didn’t reach the intermediate level, but unfortunately, it was discovered too late and has not been resolved. Now, the affected radius has reached thirty thousand meters and is expanding every day. If it can’t be resolved soon, it might even escalate into an advanced disaster. By then, this area will only become a dead zone.”
Su Hao asked, “Will this kind of bizarre disaster continue to spread indefinitely if not stopped in time?”
Ah Xing shook his head, “I don’t know, at least I haven’t seen it. What I’ve heard is that every bizarre disaster has eventually been resolved.”
Ah Wang frowned, “Ah Xing, is it very dangerous? Shouldn’t we just forget about it?”
Ah Xing replied, “Of course it’s very dangerous. It’s said that up to today, more than twenty source teams have entered Willow Mountain, but so far, none have successfully come out. And the two source Origin Mages who managed to escape kept saying after they came out, ‘I escaped, but there’s nowhere to escape to,’ and shortly after, they died.”
Su Hao asked, “How did they die?”
Ah Xing took a deep breath and said, “The organs in their chests and abdomens disappeared. The key is…”
“There were no wounds on their bodies! It’s as if the organs disappeared on their own…”
Ah Wang took a sharp intake of breath, his hair standing on end.
Just thinking about it was terrifying enough.
Su Hao raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed internally. Actually, even if all his organs mysteriously disappeared, they would regenerate in less than a minute, right?
But such a thing on a normal person would be extremely terrifying.
So Su Hao chimed in, expressing fear of this bizarre disaster, “Wow, that’s terrifying!”
Ah Xing and Ah Wang: “…”
Why couldn’t they detect any fear in Su Hao’s tone? Was the bizarre disaster not strong enough, or did he not express himself clearly?
Ah Xing looked at Su Hao in amazement and asked, “Ah Yang, aren’t you afraid?”
Su Hao replied, “Of course I’m afraid! How could I not be? I’m extremely scared!”
Ah Xing tentatively asked, “I originally thought it was probably a primary-level bizarre disaster, but I didn’t expect it to be advanced. The disaster level this time has exceeded my expectations. Perhaps entering it is an unwise choice, so, let’s vote again to decide whether to participate in this bizarre disaster. The minority will obey the majority.”
After he made his decision, he firmly stated, “I choose to participate.”
Next, it depended on Su Hao and Ah Wang. If both of them chose not to go, then Ah Xing would just take the team around the area and return to Huai Shui Town after the situation cleared up.
Su Hao’s choice was obvious, he smiled and said, “I choose to participate.”
Ah Wang: “…”
What kind of teammates did he end up with?
Ah Xing showed a smile and laughed heartily, “Great! Tomorrow, after reporting, we’ll enter Willow Mountain and resolve the bizarre disaster.”
