Ye Xiujie was finally satisfied and leaned closer, "Commander Pa, I forgot to say congratulations. You've done a lot while I was away..."

"How could such a momentous event as promotion to a fourth-level regiment be complete without a congratulatory gift from me, Ye?"

Ye Xiujie walked over and handed Patimi a beautifully wrapped gift box, saying, "This is just a small gift; please don't find it offensive, Brother Patimi."

Patimi could only accept it, saying, "Thank you."

Ye Xiujie raised an eyebrow, a wicked glint in his eyes. "Aren't you going to open it and take a look?"

"Perhaps you think the gift is too small... and don't like it?"

Patimi shook his head. "No."

Then the box was opened, and a jet-black scorpion crawled out with incredible speed; its needle-like stinger aimed straight for Pattami's wrist.

Fortunately, Patimi reacted quickly, shook off the scorpion, and with a single slash, separated the scorpion and its stinger, leaving the scorpion writhing in agony on the ground.

Patimi raised his head, his hawk-like eyes fixed on Ye Xiujie, his tone filled with anger, "Ye Xiujie, what do you mean by this?"

Ye Xiujie, who had witnessed the entire process, shook his head with a click of his tongue, a flash of regret crossing his eyes before he smiled, as if the dangerous scene had not been caused by him.

“Brother Pa, Brother Pa, this is a five-star exotic beast! These things like to stay in crevices in rocks. It took me a lot of effort to catch it. Look at you, why are you reacting so strongly? It would be such a pity if it died…”

Patimi sneered. It was indeed a five-star beast, a five-star Black King Scorpion. Its venom was extremely potent. If someone were stung by it, even the most powerful person would be forced to walk away sideways.

Unwilling to get entangled with him, Patimi turned to leave with a cold face, but was stopped by Qin Li, who said, "Commander Pat, please wait."

Patimi looked over coldly, "What else do you want?"

Ye Xiujie's voice came from behind, neither warm nor cold, but extremely pleasant to the ear, "I don't want anything, I just want Brother Pa to hand over someone."

He finally revealed the purpose of his trip.

Patimi turned around. "I don't have the person you're looking for here."

"Oh."

Ye Xiujie suddenly appeared in front of Patimi and said a name slowly and deliberately, "Hua An Su".

Patimi's expression remained unchanged. "I don't know him."

Ye Xiujie curled his lips, "Don't you recognize me?"

He closed his fan. "Then please, Brother Pa, take her place in the fighting arena."

Patimi paused slightly, then agreed, "Okay."

He couldn't avoid this fight.

Take the stage.

This time, the referee was not Wu Jing, but a core member of the Mercenary Alliance. "The fifth match of the day is between Ye Xiujie of the Lengye Mercenary Group and Patimi of the Bawang Mercenary Group."

Bang the gong! "Begin!"

One person stood on one side, and both sides were regimental commanders, from the second and third regiments respectively. This was a much larger formation than the one between Hua Ansu, Qin Li, and Ren Danshan a few days ago!

The news spread like wildfire, and even mercenaries who weren't on missions rushed to watch, quickly filling the arena to capacity.

On the stage, neither of them moved, staring at each other for a long time. Ye Xiujie, who had come onto the stage with only a feather fan, waved the fan, his two strands of hair fluttering in the wind. He was clearly the one who had brought the fighting to the arena, yet he showed no trace of ferocity. He spoke to Patimi, advising him sincerely as if he were an old friend, "Brother Patimi, is a woman more important than your own life?"

The referee warned Ye Xiujie, "Stop spouting nonsense!"

The fight was a regular combat exercise, and neither side was allowed to risk their lives; even verbal warnings were not permitted.

Ye Xiujie gave the referee a wicked smile and continued to fan himself, "Referee, this commander knows what he's doing."