Amidst the salutes of the crowd, the illusory figure coalesced into a silver-haired youth standing with his hands behind his back. He appeared to be as young as Shen Qian and Qu Feng, and was none other than Ling Tianhou, whose real name was Qiao Tianliang, whom Shen Qian had met once in the city at the center of the earth.
In fact, Ling Tianhou is also very young, only in his thirties, making him the youngest living marquis... if we don't count his pre-sinking clone.
Of course, Shen Qian was well aware that Ling Tianhou's strength was far beyond that of his clone.
However, upon suddenly realizing that Qu Feng and Ling Tianhou both had silver hair, Shen Qian thought to himself, "These two seem to be working together..."
This is just a random thought and a rant. Qu Feng is almost two hundred years old, five times the age of Ling Tianhou, and Ling Tianhou was an orphan. It's highly unlikely that the two are related.
Seeing Qu Feng's obedient appearance with his head down instantly, and the "Stone King" who had just regained his senses under the pressure of the king and fell into fear again, Shen Qian couldn't help but shake his head. Clearly, Ling Tianhou was also the "little brat" in their mouths, but these two were completely different when facing him.
"Greetings, Marquis Lingtian!"
He bowed respectfully before Shen Qian, but then realized that perhaps due to Lao Liu's influence, he lacked respect for this renowned top-ranking nobleman, and thus his mind was filled with many thoughts.
At this moment, seeing Ling Tianhou's indifferent gaze fixed on them and Qu Feng, the two realized that he was waiting for an explanation of the previous question.
"Reporting to Marquis Lingtian..."
Qu Feng was about to speak subconsciously, but a louder voice rang out before he could.
“‘Stone King’ Shi Changhai refused to accept my reprimand. Not only did he talk back to me, but he also fought with me along with Zhu Wenxian and nine others. Moreover, they joined the Silver Serpent Squad without my permission. I could no longer tolerate it, so I decided to expel them. Qu Feng wanted to stand up for them, and then you came.”
Shen Qian spoke rapidly, like a machine gun, finishing his sentence before Qu Feng could even react.
What he said was basically true, but it all fell under the guise of "reason," and he firmly framed the matter as Shi Changhai and others making mistakes first. After all, as the captain of the patrol team, he naturally had the basic right to discipline his team members.
"You..." Qu Feng, who had been holding back for a moment, and Shi Changhai behind him, were both stunned for a brief moment before they both wanted to speak up and explain.
"What do you mean, 'what ...!"
Shen Qian sneered, not giving them a chance to speak at all. "Where did I say something wrong? You didn't insult me, or you didn't join the Silver Serpent Squad without permission. And you, Qu Feng, dare to say you weren't trying to attack me just now?"
"But it was clearly you..." Shi Changhai was so angry that he felt dizzy. With Wang Hou present, he was no longer afraid to step forward, and his voice became louder.
However, he was interrupted by Ling Tianhou, who had already frowned, as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Enough!"
Ling Tianhou said coldly, "What do you think this is, a vegetable market?"
Seeing that Ling Tianhou was angry, neither Qu Feng nor Shi Changhai dared to say anything more and could only lower their heads in frustration.
Shen Qian pursed his lips, secretly amused but not surprised by the result.
If there's anything wrong with Shen Qian's actions in this whole affair, it's that he actually struck first, and he did it extremely ruthlessly. If 'Stone King' hadn't been so resilient, he would have been completely crippled long ago. But Shen Qian was certain that Ling Tianhou wouldn't bother with such trivial details as 'who struck first'.
"Have you joined Squad 07?"
Ling Tianhou, who had stunned everyone, turned his gaze and swept over Shi Changhai, Zhu Wenxian, and the others.
"Yes." Shi Changhai and the others dared not lie and quickly nodded.
"Go and report to the quartermaster." Ling Tianhou then turned his gaze to Qu Feng. "You are responsible for settling them in, but there will be no extra rooms. The team's resource allocation will remain fixed, and how it is distributed is up to you... If you want more, use your merits to earn it."
"...Yes." Qu Feng opened his mouth, but in the end he could only nod.
Finally, Ling Tianhou looked at Chen Qian and said, "Chen Qian, you can recruit team members on your own and report them in a timely manner, or wait for the next round of assignments."
“I want to recruit myself,” Shen Qian quickly replied.
"Then let's all disperse."
After Ling Tianhou finished speaking indifferently, his figure was about to disappear.
Seeing that Ling Tianhou had clarified everything in just a few words, Shen Qian was a little puzzled, because Ling Tianhou did not take the opportunity to make things difficult for him. On the contrary, he even seemed to handle the matter with ease and was biased towards Shen Qian.
Even if Shen Qian's words were reasonable, the miserable state of Shi Changhai, Zhu Wenxian, and others was not fake. Moreover, the base explicitly prohibited internal strife. By extension, even if Ling Tianhou gave Shen Qian a warning, no one could say anything against him.
But Ling Tianhou made no comment and even gave Shen Qian the authority to recruit team members independently.
This is completely different from what we expected before the sinking...
Qu Feng's face was gloomy. After glancing at Shen Qian, he was about to leave with Shi Changhai and the others.
Shen Qian narrowed his eyes and suddenly said, "Wait."
"how?"
Qu Feng frowned, turned around and looked at Shen Qian impatiently.
Ling Tianhou's figure, which was about to dissipate, paused for a moment.
"You've forgotten one thing."
He smiled faintly before sinking in.
"What?" Qu Feng frowned even more deeply.
"Clean this place up," Shen Qian said, pointing to the mess on the ground made up of bloodstains and dust.
Qu Feng was taken aback, then wondered if he had misheard, and asked with an absurd expression, "You want me... to sweep the floor for you?"
"Otherwise what?" Shen Qian snorted coldly and said righteously, "There are no cleaners here. You made my doorway dirty. If you don't sweep it, do you expect me to do it myself?"
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