Chapter 271 - Challenge accepted (I)
Chapter 271: Challenge accepted (I)
Long Haochen was kind-hearted, but not inflexible. Since the other party wanted to bully their side, how could they leave it at that?
“I don’t have an absolute confidence because many variables have to be taken into account. Although the opponent is at the fifth step, he should be at the peak of the fifth step right now, and his combat experience won’t be inferior to ours.” Long Haochen stated calmly.
Wang Yuanyuan asked, “Captain, how much confidence do you have to win?”
When Long Haochen smiled, his sunlit smiling face caused Wang Yuanyuan to become blank, “I’d say 90%”
“90%?” Luc Xi stared at Long Haochen with wide eyes, “Haochen if I may ask, at which rank of the fifth step are you now?” The trust he originally had in Long Haochen actually stemmed from his powerful mount Haoyue as well as the Light Elemental Fairy.
Long Haochen looked at this fifth brother from afar, “Should be about the same as him.”
“The peak of the fifth step?” Luc Xi took a deep breath. Let alone him, everyone from the 21st general grade Demon Hunt Squad gave Long Haochen startled looks. At the time they took on the mission of Exploring the Desolate Hissing Cavern, Long Haochen’s spiritual energy was still only a little more than 3,000, so there was quite a gap before reaching the ninth rank of the fifth step. But after such a short time, he had already reached the peak of the fifth step? What sort of magic was that?
Sima Xian fiddled with his fingers, lowering his head towards Long Haochen’s ears, “Then what are you waiting for, boss? Since someone came to give us a gift, you should accept it. They cannot possibly have 1,000,000 contribution points, but since they managed to reach the level of a general grade Demon Hunt Squad, I estimate that they should have no less than 100,000 contribution points in store. We will just have to take out 10,000 contribution points, this way even if we lose it will be no big deal.”
“Losing what? Do you think our boss could lose? Since he came to swindle us, we will teach him a lesson.” Lin Xin said with a very fierce smile.
He was currently very excited, and his narcissistic side seemed to have gone rampant.
Long Haochen winked an eye, “Isn’t ten times a bit too much… How about it, Lin Xin, I’ll hand all my contribution points to you, and only keep 10,000 for now.”
As the one responsible for the whole team’s finances, the handling of contribution points was naturally under Lin Xin’s control as well. This guy was not only a money grubber, but a real miser, having a very good ability at haggling over prices. No one else was more suited than him to be called the team’s god of wealth.
Chen Ying’er revealed a little smile, “Captain, so you are following bad examples now…”
It was for the sake of the bet that Long Haochen wanted to keep only 10,000 contribution points.
Lin Xin winked at him, and after receiving thousands of contribution points, he had an excited and crafty look.
With large strides, Long Haochen headed towards the Transaction Center, immediately confronting this fifth brother.
He didn’t wear any special attire, and showed a puerile smile that would have a strong persuasiveness, which gave great self-confidence to the worried third brother and sixth sister who came up with such a bad idea. How high could the cultivation level of such young Demon Hunters probably be? Even if they were especially remarkable, they would at most have just broken through to the fifth step. And after having spent five years as a Demon Hunter, this fifth brother had already gone through the baptism of fire and water on countless occasions.
“Mister fifth brother, I am willing to accept this mission. Please tell me, how much contribution points do you think I should stake on it?” Long Haochen asked respectfully.
The fifth brother smiled, “Bet as many as you wish. It will depend on how many contribution points you have gathered.”
Long Haochen looked hesitant, “With the mission our team has just completed plus the contribution points we gained during the period of test, we should have about 10,000 contribution points. Can I stake all of them?” As he said this, he lowered his head with some embarrassment.
It was fortunate that the others didn’t follow Long Haochen over, otherwise, they would have had to greatly re-evaluate their opinion on Long Haochen. In contrast to his kindhearted character, he was clearly being dishonest now.
The fifth brother’s eyes lit up, but he looked a bit hesitant, glancing at his sixth sister standing next to him.
She nodded to him, with a little gesture.
The fifth brother immediately made up his resolve, declaring indignantly, “Okay, then let’s gamble for 10,000 contribution points. If you win, we will pay you ten times this amount. Please wait for me at the side of the Great Stadium. We will do this at the Warrior Stadium.”
Long Haochen shook his head, “I am uncomfortable with doing this at the Warrior Stadium. I’m more used to the Knight Stadium.”
The fifth brother started to laugh in spite of himself, “What? Are you afraid of me swindling you or what? Okay, we can do this at the Knight Stadium too.”
“Many thanks, senior.” Long Haochen saluted him once again, but at the time he turned around, his lips were involuntarily forming a smile.
Seeing his leaving figure, the third brother couldn’t help but say, “Fifth brother, I’m afraid this kid isn’t so simple. 10,000 contribution points is a huge amount for a newly formed Demon Hunt Squad. At this time, only losing 5,000 contribution points almost caused our whole team to fall apart. Since he dared to take out 10,000 contribution points, he surely has confidence in himself. Shouldn’t we first investigate which team he belongs to?”
His fifth brother proudly replied, “Third brother, you are really gutless. Don’t tell me his age could be faked? Sixth sister, come on.” Saying this, he extended his hand towards his sixth sister.
The girl raised her hand, from which appeared an exquisite sculpture releasing rich fluctuations of magical power. Without hesitation she handed it to him.
The fifth brother was more straightforward than the third, “With this thing, do you think I can still lose? Let’s go, third brother. We shall borrow some contribution points. Let’s gather those 100,000 contribution points and then go to the Knight Stadium.”
Long Haochen told his comrades about the arrangement, “Let’s go then. We should head there first and wait for them to arrive.”
Lin Xin chuckled in joy, “Boss, you go first. I am heading with Captain Luc to the Transaction Center to take a look.”
Thinking that he wanted to buy a gift for Li Xin, Long Haochen agreed, leading the others to the Knight Stadium.
Lin Xin and Luc Xi looked at each other, and the two of them rapidly headed towards the Transaction Center. In few short moments, a rumor was spread on the first and the second floor of the center that someone from a newly formed Demon Hunt Squad challenged the fifth brother from the 8th general grade Demon Hunt Squad.
The origin of those news was quite obscure, but the Demon Hunters present on the first and the second floor quickly heard the news. And reportedly, they were intentionally spread by some people.
When Long Haochen arrived at the Knight Stadium, after explaining the situation to Cai’er on the way, the staff members looked at his arrival with bewildered glances. Still, the staff members naturally wouldn’t say anything since this was a matter between Demon Hunt Squads, which they couldn’t get involved with.
Han Yu said in a low voice, “Master, be very careful! The combat experience of those people is very high as they completed many missions as Demon Hunters. They surely aren’t weak in battle.”
Long Haochen nodded, “I know.”
Sima Xian leisurely remarked, “Hehe, old friend, don’t be nervous. Waiting for the contribution points to be handed to us is all we have to do is. After the profit we made this time, we will not have to take more missions for the time being, and can calmly wait for our vice-captain to recover.”
Sima Xian and Han Yu were the same on this regard, they were both delighted and sincerely willing to follow Long Haochen, regarding him as their boss. More than anything else, this was because of the the beneficial increase of their internal spiritual energy, which naturally accelerated their personal cultivation. This was something for which Sima Xian was extremely grateful to Long Haochen. In fact, to take him as his third retainer knight, Long Haochen took a great risk.
Sitting in the resting area, Long Haochen calmly waited. However, for a while, the fifth brother didn’t come, but many people unrelated to the duel filled the stands. They were mostly youths, and at most middle-aged people. After entering the stadium, they looked for a seat, as if waiting for a show to begin. Among them, Long Haochen saw a few familiar faces, like the members of Yang Wenzhao’s second soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, or Duan Yi’s third soldier grade Demon Hunt Squad, all of whom were present.
Those two captains directly went to sit beside Long Haochen.
“Brother Long, I see that you made quite some noise this time.” Yang Wenzhao glanced at the nearby Chen Ying’er, revealing a helpless expression as he spoke in a low voice.
Long Haochen naturally knew what he was referring to, straightening his shoulders he said, “Such a mistake from the Mission Tower doesn’t only involve our team.”
Yang Wenzhao took a long breath before nodding, “The Alliance still handled this matter promptly. Otherwise, it would certainly have caused dissatisfaction among all the Demon Hunt Squads. Tell me, why did you go after this 8th general grade Demon Hunt Squad? This is clearly a trap from experienced people aiming to swindle newcomers like us out of our contribution points. We have previously run into the same kind of seniors, but I refused their proposition. Do you feel confident?”
Long Haochen smiled at him, “I am not absolutely confident, but we newcomers aren’t so easy to bully. Even if we don’t win, it’s no problem since this is a rate of one to ten. It was a low amount of contribution points that I betted.”
Yang Wenzhao confidently replied, “Then it’s good. Just treat it as a sparring match. Still, it’s really good to have you as fellow soldiers. I am supporting you, at the betting stands. I have already placed a bet of a hundred contribution points on you.”
“Betting stands? What do you mean by betting stands?” Long Haochen hesitantly asked.
Yang Wenzhao had a surprised reaction, “Isn’t this stand opened by you guys? It’s Lin Xin! And he was with the captain of the 4th Demon Hunt Squad, Luc Xi. That’s right, how is it that Lin Xin was together with Luc Xi? The betting stands they opened were really large, but if you lose, I’m afraid it will cost you a considerable amount of contribution points.”
Long Haochen didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry when hearing that, “What a money grubber! And I had been wondering why he ran off to the Transaction Center… Was he the one who notified you? ”
Yang Wenzhao chuckled, “Not only did he notify us, but he also told us to spread the news that those veterans were bullying newcomers. And that after this, even if we don’t file a complaint to the Alliance, the other teams of our generation should receive the information to prevent anyone else from being duped again. Rest at ease, Lin Xin is very crafty and opened the stakes at one against thirty. That’s to say, if you lose, it’s just a thirtieth part. Thus, you shouldn’t have too much to compensate.”