Chapter 47. With Captain Hai Chao and his deputy...
Xu Yilang wore a light blue shirt and brown-rimmed glasses. His smile was very gentle as he stared at Lin Xiaoxiao, who was being protected in Xiao Weizhi's arms.
Xu Yilang's purpose in coming to this gambling market was none other than Lin Xiaoxiao, who was in Xiao Weizhi's arms.
Xiao Weizhi noticed Xu Yilang's gaze and subconsciously changed his position, shielding Lin Xiaoxiao behind him: "Mr. Xu, what would you like to talk about?"
Xu Yilang replied calmly and softly, "Let's talk about the cooperation between the two teams."
When it comes to teamwork, the only real-world example is running dungeons or secret realms.
Xiao Weizhi frowned and met Xu Yilang's smiling gaze, politely declining, "We can reschedule for another day."
After he finished speaking, he took Lin Xiaoxiao's hand and planned to walk past Xu Yilang.
Xu Yilang reached out to stop the two, and suggested with a smile, "How about I give Miss Lin and Mr. Xiao a chance to have dinner together, and then we can talk about cooperation?"
For a moment, Xiao Weizhi and Xu Yilang were locked in a stalemate, neither willing to back down.
Lin Xiaoxiao's stomach rumbled, breaking the stalemate between the two.
Xiao Weizhi turned to look at Lin Xiaoxiao, who was eagerly waiting for him, and after thinking for a moment, said to Xu Yilang, "I'll book a place to eat, and we can chat while we eat."
Xu Yilang withdrew his hand from the interception and nodded in agreement to the proposal.
After arranging a meeting place and informing Xu Yilang, Xiao Weizhi led Lin Xiaoxiao toward the parking lot of the gambling market, where the flying car remained parked.
After getting in the car, Xiao Weizhi sat on the left, looking at the messages on his communicator. He casually asked Lin Xiaoxiao, who was intently looking at the electronic menu next to him, "If Xu Yilang invites us to run a dungeon together, would you like to go?"
Lin Xiaoxiao held Hongwei in her arms, carefully studying the menu sent by Xiao Weizhi, and was thinking about what dishes to order when they arrived at the destination.
Upon hearing his question, she instinctively replied, "Anything is fine with me, it's up to you."
Upon hearing this answer, Xiao Weizhi's gaze remained fixed on the communicator, but he couldn't help but smile, and the vexation he felt instantly vanished.
Forty minutes later, the flying car stopped in front of a quaint courtyard gate adorned with a pair of large red lanterns.
Not long after Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi entered the treasure chest, Xu Yilang, their captain Zhou Jie, and boxer Liu Yusong followed closely behind.
Zhou Jie has a buzz cut, small eyes, dark skin, and a angular face. He rarely shows any expression and is dressed in a black casual suit.
He appeared very low-key and reserved, looking like an ordinary worker on the street. If Zhou Jie hadn't revealed himself that he was the captain of an S-class team, probably no one would have been able to tell.
As Zhou Jie approached the dining table, he immediately reached out to Xiao Weizhi: "Zhou Jie, Captain of S-Class Squad - Hai Chao, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Xiao Weizhi reached out and shook Zhou Jie's hand: "Xiao Weizhi, captain of the A-level team - Dragon Fang, it's nice to meet you, Captain Zhou."
Liu Yusong, standing behind Zhou Jie, crossed his arms and snorted coldly, turning his face to the left as if he didn't want to pay any attention to Xiao Weizhi.
Xiao Weizhi ignored Liu Yusong's reaction and invited Zhou Jie and Xu Yilang to sit down. He then picked up the menu from the table beside him and handed it to them, saying, "We've ordered a few dishes so far. We don't know about Captain Zhou, Deputy Captain Xu, or Mr. Liu's dietary restrictions. Please take a look at the menu and order a few more dishes."
Zhou Jie took the menu, casually added a few dishes, and then handed the menu to Xu Yilang, who was standing next to him. Seeing Xu Yilang shake his head slightly, he handed it to Liu Yudong, who was looking on expectantly.
While Zhou Jie and the others were ordering food, Xiao Weizhi refilled Lin Xiaoxiao's glass with half a glass of mixed fruit juice.
Lin Xiaoxiao was quite helpless about Xiao Weizhi's stingy behavior of only pouring half a cup of juice. Seeing that he was about to take back the large juice pitcher, she quickly reached out to try to grab the handle.
Xiao Weizhi gently stopped her movement, put the juice pitcher in his hand aside, and whispered, "The food hasn't been served yet, drink less juice."
Lin Xiaoxiao leaned closer and whispered, "Who only pours half a juice? Captain of Dragon Fang, so stingy! Do your friends know?"
Xiao Weizhi reached out his left hand and grasped her right hand, nodded, and replied in a low voice, "Yes, they all know I'm a miser."
Lin Xiaoxiao felt helpless about Xiao Weizhi's supposedly stingy behavior. Half a glass of juice, was it really necessary?
Zhou Jie sat to the side, waiting for Xiao Weizhi and Lin Xiaoxiao to finish their conversation before speaking: "I have come here today to disturb you because I want to reach a cooperation agreement with Longya."
Xiao Weizhi looked directly at Zhou Jie, who was sitting not far away: "What kind of collaboration?"
The collaboration Zhou Jie mentioned concerns the [A-level Secret Realm: Ice and Snow Mountains] that appeared in Tianjin City six months ago.
Hai Chao, as one of the first teams to enter the land reclamation area, had already reaped considerable rewards. Recently, Tianjin City has launched a second land reclamation mission.
Zhou Jie happened to have two pioneering invitations. After his serendipitous encounter with Longya in the S-level secret realm, he felt that they could cooperate.
Lin Xiaoxiao looked at Zhou Jie, who was almost expressionless, not far away, with some curiosity. She wondered why Hai Chao, an S-level team, would invite Long Ya, a team that had only recently been promoted to A-level.
After all, a team that can reach S-rank must know many S-rank teams around them. Since it's about pioneering, it's better to find a team of the same level and with strong strength.
Xiao Weizhi put down his teacup and said with a half-smile, "Team Leader Zhou, the pioneering tokens for A-level secret realms are too precious. You suddenly appeared and said you wanted to cooperate with our Dragon Fang team. It's hard for me not to suspect that your team has ulterior motives."
The words "with ulterior motives" were deliberately emphasized, giving them a subtly sarcastic tone.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yusong, who was standing to the side, couldn't sit still any longer. He slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and pointed at Xiao Weizhi, angrily cursing, "Damn it! Our captain kindly invited your team to join this pioneering effort, and what do you mean by that?"
Zhou Jie gave Liu Yusong a cold glance, and Liu Yusong immediately shut up, sat back down and pretended to be a quail, picked up a towel and mechanically wiped the table that was soaked by the tea from the spilled teacup.
Xu Yilang smiled and smoothed things over: "Captain Xiao, please forgive me. Old Liu in our team is just a simple-minded, rough guy who often acts without thinking."
Xu Yilang then changed the subject and said with a smile, "In the previous S-level secret realm, I heard Miss Lin say that she thought the forbidden spells I recited were very chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), and that she wanted to cooperate with Longya because Miss Lin could understand Elvish."
Lin Xiaoxiao never expected that the reason Hai Chao came to her door was because of the cringeworthy comment she made in the secret realm.
She turned to look at Xiao Weizhi, somewhat at a loss.
Xiao Weizhi gently patted Lin Xiaoxiao's hand that was tugging at his sleeve, then held it in his palm, indicating that she shouldn't be afraid and that he would find a way to handle it.
He coldly retorted to Xu Yilang, "Oh, what does Xiaoxiao's ability to understand Elvish have to do with this A-level secret realm?"
Zhou Jie and Xu Yilang seemed to have been prepared for Xiao Weizhi's question, showing no surprise whatsoever.
Zhou Jie answered Xiao Weizhi's question: "We hope that Miss Lin can help us decipher a piece of Elvish language in the secret realm, and this pioneering order is the reward for the decipherment."
Xiao Weizhi scoffed: "Sorry, I can't agree to this cooperation request. A-level secret realms are still too much of a challenge for Longya. Our strength is not yet at the level to explore them at will."
If he follows Hai Chao into this A-level secret realm, Long Ya will probably become cannon fodder. Does Xiao Weizhi look that stupid?
Seeing that he couldn't reason with Xiao Weizhi, Xu Yilang immediately turned to Lin Xiaoxiao: "Miss Lin, you're the one who can understand Elvish, won't you reconsider?"
Lin Xiaoxiao listened attentively, not expecting to be called on suddenly. She immediately straightened her back and answered firmly, "I will listen to Weizhi. If he says I will go, I will go; if he says I won't go, I won't go."
Xu Yilang's smile froze instantly. He never expected that things would eventually come back to Xiao Weizhi.
In the end, Lin Xiaoxiao, Red Tail, Treasure-hunting Mouse, and Liu Yusong were the only ones who thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
Xiao Weizhi, Zhou Jie, and Xu Yilang engaged in a fierce verbal battle during the meal. They would dig a hole after every two bites, bury it back, and then dig a new one, repeating this process until the meal was finished.
No suitable result was found.
Before parting, Zhou Jie and Xiao Weizhi arranged another time to discuss the matter of this A-level secret realm in detail.
Xiao Weizhi smiled and agreed, adding that she needed to discuss the A-level secret realm with her teammates before making a decision.
On the way back in the car, Xiao Wei asked Lin Xiaoxiao, "How was dinner tonight?"
Thinking of the delicious dishes on the table, even though her stomach was already full, Lin Xiaoxiao couldn't help but swallow hard: "Delicious, especially the Treasure Wine, the flavor is rich yet refreshing, I want to eat more..."
Xiao Weizhi crossed his legs, his leather shoes slightly upturned, his body slightly tilted to the side, his hand supporting his cheek, and he smiled as he tilted his head, looking tenderly through his glasses at Lin Xiaoxiao, who was happily dancing with joy because she had eaten her favorite food.
After arriving home, Lin Xiaoxiao remembered that she had acquired a skill that day. She explained the situation of the skill to Xiao Weizhi.
Xiao Weizhi told her to wash up and rest first, and then try out the newly acquired skill after she woke up.
The next morning at 10:00 AM, in the skill training ground on the first basement floor of the Xiao family's residence.
The large and spacious training ground is made of a silvery-blue metal called "Twisted Metal" on all six sides. There are more than a dozen targets in front of it, and two heavy machines, each three meters tall, on both sides to display skill damage data.
Lin Xiaoxiao was dressed in sportswear, her hair was tied up, and there were several baskets next to her, containing copper coins, silver coins, gold coins, and purple gold coins respectively.
She stood in front of a target, turned to Xiao Weizhi, who was also dressed in sportswear and holding a folder, and asked, "Shall I begin?"
Xiao Weizhi held the folder in his left hand and tapped the paper in his right hand with a marker: "Hmm, let's start with copper coins."
Lin Xiaoxiao's expression turned serious. She activated her skill and threw out a copper coin. The coin fell to a height of five meters and exploded in a circle about 20 centimeters in diameter.
The coin fell five meters from the target.
She turned to look at Xiao Weizhi with an embarrassed expression.
Xiao Weizhi's pen, which was supposed to be writing, hung in mid-air, unable to continue. She gently comforted him, "It's okay, this is only the first time. Try again."
I tried a few more times, but the furthest distance I could throw was still only eight meters.
Lin Xiaoxiao stared down at her hands with a look of existential doubt, silently criticizing herself: "I'm useless at everything, and I can't even finish eating anything."
Xiao Weizhi placed the marker in his hand on the folder, took out a Y-shaped slingshot from his spatial storage, and handed it to her: "You're too weak, try this."
With the slingshot, Lin Xiaoxiao was able to hit the target, but her accuracy wasn't very good; she could only hit it once or twice out of ten times.
But at least we managed to get some data on the [Money Critical Strike] skill:
As the lowest denomination of currency, the copper coin also has the smallest explosion range, only 20 centimeters, and each explosion deals only 20 points of damage.
Silver coins are better than copper coins; their explosion radius is 50 centimeters, and they can deal 60 points of damage.
The explosion radius of the gold coin is approximately 110 centimeters, and the damage is around 130.
The Purple Gold Coin is undoubtedly the most damaging, with an explosion radius of about four meters and a damage output of 600 points.
As for group attacks, there is currently no suitable environment for testing. Xiao Weizhi will wait until later to find an opportunity to test them in the wild.
This experiment cost approximately 100,000 gold coins.
Following Xiao Weizhi's advice, it's best to use gold coins for attacks in the future: compared to the low damage of copper and silver coins, the high face value of gold coins makes them the most cost-effective in terms of both value and damage.
Lin Xiaoxiao had a bitter face as she counted on her fingers how many gold coins she would need to bring to the secret realm in order to deal damage.
In the end, she realized that if she encountered a monster siege like before, with the more than 10 million gold coins in her pocket (including the team's share), even if she used a group attack, she might only be able to last for seven hours.
Either become a mascot or become a debtor. How much money will I need to earn in the future to make ends meet?
The more she thought about it, the more upset she became. Her mouth curled into the shape of an upside-down boat, and she became very depressed.
Xiao Weizhi took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead: "Why the expression?"
Lin Xiaoxiao's voice was a little hoarse and tight: "I'm calculating how long the money in my pocket right now can last if I use it to attack."
Upon hearing this answer, Xiao Weizhi was first stunned, then burst into laughter, reaching out to pat her head: "Money is not a problem! I think the problem you should consider is how many times you can pull the slingshot with your physical abilities."
Lin Xiaoxiao then realized that the physical strength required to pull the slingshot was also a tricky issue.
During the one-hour experiment, she pulled the slingshot hundreds of times, and now her hands are so sore she can't lift them. If she encounters a group of monsters in the secret realm in the future, won't she have to attack for three minutes and then be silenced for two hours?
Xiao Weizhi put the skill record he had written into his space, put his arm around her shoulder and walked out: "I'll have someone order a few weapons for you, weapons that use gold coins as bullets. You just need to pull the trigger, but you'll need to practice your aim."
In the previous test, Lin Xiaoxiao's shooting accuracy gave Xiao Weizhi a headache.
Lin Xiaoxiao said somewhat awkwardly, "I will definitely practice hard in the future."
Through the experiment just now, she fully realized that her aiming skills were really the kind that 'didn't have' (or lack) talent. Since her talent was only average, she could only rely on more practice.
After going upstairs, the two split up. Lin Xiaoxiao went back to her room to wash up, while Xiao Weizhi went back to his study to attend a video conference.
When it was time for dinner, Xiao Wei invited the entire Dragon Fang team to have a meal together.
The questions being discussed are: whether to participate in this A-level secret realm; the possibility that Dragon Fang might fall into a difficult situation if he joins this secret realm; and the reason why Tide approached Dragon Fang is because Lin Xiaoxiao can understand Elvish and needs Lin Xiaoxiao's help to decipher a piece of Elvish in the secret realm...
After three hours of 'friendly' (chaotic, disruptive) negotiations.
The entire team unanimously agreed to immediately end their vacation, agree to Hai Chao's conditions, and enter this A-level secret realm together.
Even Wang Hao, who had been clamoring to rest all day, said that he didn't need to rest when he heard that he could explore an A-level secret realm. He said that the dungeon (secret realm) was more important.
After all, holidays are common, but the pioneering tokens for A-level secret realms are truly rare and special resources.
Having gained the approval of the entire team, Xiao Weizhi immediately contacted Zhou Jie, the captain of the Hai Chao team, and after several hours of 'harmonious and peaceful' negotiations.
In addition to the reclamation order, Hai Chao also had to pay Long Ya a batch of resources worth three million gold coins, and two million gold coins as payment for hiring Lin Xiaoxiao as a translator.
The two captains and vice-captains of Hai Chao were so angry at Xiao Weizhi's outrageous demands that they could only grit their teeth and agree.
They agreed to travel together to Tianjin nine days later to visit this secret place.
Therefore, the entire Dragon Fang squad began to take various actions, such as buying supplies, ordering equipment, and brewing potions...
This is because this A-level secret realm is a snowy and icy environment, and all the logistical supplies prepared for the previous S-level secret realm need to be replaced with various warm equipment and clothing...
Xiao Weizhi once again used his financial power to 'negotiate' with the custom-made (Grandmaster-level) weapon master to shorten the production time of the gold coin weapon gun, which originally required a month, so that he could obtain it before setting off for the secret realm.
The weapons master was already used to Xiao Weizhi's 'unreasonable' demands.
For the sake of money, the weapon master had no choice but to ask his fellow disciple for help again to complete this order together. During the forging process, he cursed Xiao Weizhi many times, saying that if he ever took another order from Xiao Weizhi, he would be a dog!
Meanwhile, Lin Xiaoxiao had been in the skill training ground on the basement level, learning, practicing, and working hard to improve her shooting accuracy.
Eight days passed in a flurry of activity.
The night before departure, a custom-made silver-grade weapon using gold coins as bullets was delivered to the Xiao family on time after two rounds of simple testing.
The prop master's assistant handed the folder of records and the receipt to Xiao Weizhi with great familiarity: "Young Master Xiao, time is too tight, and there is no time to test a lot of data. Please take some time to record during the battle, and return the records and receipts according to the previous procedure when you come back. The master will then make adjustments based on the records."
After signing the acceptance form, Xiao Weizhi skillfully put the folder into his space: "No problem, please give my regards to the master."
The assistant replied with a smile, "No problem."
While Xiao Weizhi was exchanging pleasantries with the master's assistant, the team members were all gathered around the several large and small, glittering golden weapons [(Silver Grade) Golden Falcon], sharing their thoughts.
Wang Hao muttered to himself, "That old man always comes up with such tacky names."
Jiang Tao, unusually, didn't argue and nodded in agreement: "That's right, that old man just can't name things. We told him before, but he wouldn't admit it."
Liu Huihui's gaze fell on his assistant not far away, and he interrupted the two of them with annoyance: "Hey, hey, hey, he's a Grandmaster-level weapon master, is it appropriate for you to criticize him like this?"
...
Lin Xiaoxiao's face flushed slightly, her heart raced, and her eyes were fixed on the three gleaming, exaggeratedly designed silver-grade weapons in front of her, resembling toy guns. Her breathing became a little rapid.
With these three silver-grade weapons, she can now join the battle and will no longer be a mascot with no combat power in the team.
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