Ji Xinghuo took Ren Mian’s hand, gave it a light shake, then let go, the soft touch sending a sway through his heart.
"If only I could hold on forever."
This thought popped into his head, startling Ji Xinghuo himself.
He glanced at Ren Mian sowhat guiltily, but found that she was oblivious and had already walked into the bar, so he quickly followed.
"Are we going to have a drink to celebrate joining the team?"
After entering, Ji Xinghuo realized he had thought too much.
This wasn’t a regular bar; it was a color club!
Olympia had no use for electronic devices, naturally lacking sound systems, speakers, and DJs, but this did not deter those in search of amusent. A band of about a dozen people, playing various acoustic instrunts, accompanied a singer with the Ability "Amplify" who was belting out lively tunes, drowning out the noise of the rowdy crowd.
Multi-colored crystals kept flashing, fully operated by hand, achieving the effect of rotating disco lights.
In the middle of the club was a T-shaped stage, with a line of seductive won standing on it, posturing for the n waving their bills below.
The air in the hall was rife with the scent of hormones and alcohol.
In a corner, so n and won were already tangled together, oblivious to the people around them.
Ren Mian made her way through the crowd to a booth.
Ji Xinghuo saw five people in the booth, four attractive won surrounding a man; he was cuddling them, chugging alcohol while making the won laugh with his wandering, ungentlemanly hands.
He seed quite content and hadn’t even noticed the two people approaching.
"Chi Zhonglin."
Ren Mian called out a na. Her voice was not loud, but the man engrossed in won seed to have been struck by Thunder Strike, looking up to see her.
His face was a picture of embarrassnt as he quickly pushed the won aside and stood up.
"Ren sister."
The man’s expression managent was spot on, the embarrassnt vanished in an instant, replaced by a serious deanor as he asked, "What brings you here?"
Ji Xinghuo studied him.
This man was several years older than himself, with a handso and imposing appearance, around 1.9 ters tall, and very muscular, but none of the cumberso feel typical of a Strength-type Mutant. His physique was well-proportioned and athletic, demonstrating that he had developed both strength and speed, specializing in Explosive Power.
His weapon was right beside him, leaning against the booth.
It was a long spear entirely made of tal, over two ters in length, with a triple-edged spearhead about thirty centiters long, sharp at the edges. Its arm-thick shaft was dark red with a faint red glow flowing on it, and the entire spear weighed at least sixty kilograms.
Well-proportioned and agile, wielding a long spear, and with thick calluses on his palms...
Ji Xinghuo surmised that this man was most likely a Martial Artist.
Martial Artists were the most nurous among Mutants.
In theory, Martial Artists could use any weapon: swords, spears, blades, halberds, hamrs, and daggers, but in reality, over eighty percent of Martial Artists chose the long spear.
Even if they initially chose swords or other weapons for personal preference, or to look cool...
...after being crushed by reality, they would obediently switch to the long spear.
The reason was simple.
The long spear was the strongest!
The long spear was the king of weapons; in a battle between people of the sa Martial Arts Rank, those who wielded spears generally held an absolute advantage without considering Abilities.
"A longer reach is a stronger reach" was not just an empty saying.
Especially in the first few Ranks of Mutants, where there were fewer alternative Abilities, most combat required close quarters, where the spear was incredibly effective.
Even non-Martial Artists were forced into choosing the long spear.
Spears and staffs were secondary choices.
As a result, Martial Artists were jokingly called "gunners." If they used spears, they were "spear bros," effectively resembling the disposable soldiers in movies and gas.
Ji Xinghuo these days in Olympia, had seen the long spear as the most common weapon.
No matter where he went, there were gunners and spear bros.
However, the man before him was the strongest gunner Ji Xinghuo had encountered so far. Only a few steps away, he felt a vague sense of danger.
"I was just passing by on my way to sothing," said Ren Mian indifferently, then introduced, "This is our new teammate, Ji Xinghuo. Xinghuo, this is Chi Zhonglin."
Chi Zhonglin had noticed Ji Xinghuo before Ren Mian introduced them.
"New teammate!"
His eyes lit up, he stepped forward quickly to shake Ji Xinghuo’s hand, smiling warmly, "Hello, hello, my na is Chi Zhonglin, derived from ’A golden scale reveals not a common birth,’ which I picked myself. Xinghuo, you must be younger than , right? Just call Chi brother then."
Ji Xinghuo was sowhat overwheld by his enthusiasm.
He also keenly realized that though Chi Zhonglin seed cordial on the surface, calling each other brothers, he likely harbored doubts about Ji Xing, treating him not as warmly as he appeared.
It was just for show, for Ren Mian’s sake.
Chi Zhonglin was sowhat afraid of Ren Mian.
Grabbing onto this detail, Ji Xinghuo nodded, "Alright, Chi brother."
But Ren Mian suddenly corrected, "Xinghuo, you can just call him Zhonglin." Chi Zhonglin gave a shifty smile, "Whatever works, Ren sister calls the shots."
Ji Xinghuo stayed silent.
"Let’s go back," said Ren Mian, with a touch of impatience in her eyes. Clearly, she did not enjoy the club’s atmosphere, even though she had covered her features; her beautiful figure still could not avoid the predatory gazes of the n around her, sending inquisitive looks her way.
Having said that, she headed outside.
Chi Zhonglin pulled out a stack of money to dismiss the won at the booth, picked up his long spear, shouldered it, and joined Ji Xinghuo in a buddy-buddy manner, following Ren Mian out of the club.
Reviews
All reviews (0)