Chapter 481: Meat On A Chopping Block
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
"Hehe… Brother Dongyang, why are you so bitter? Come inside. We have wines and beers! There are other guests that I want to introduce to you."
Marcos announced as his eyes shifted in between Guan Dongyang and members of House Lie, discerning which way the wind was blowing in between. By studying just a few exchanges of looks between Guan Dongyang and his House Lie allies, Marcos had gathered that House Lie had volunteered their help without Guan Dongyang asking for it. In fact, Guan Dongyang refused House Lie's help many times and didn't accept their aid until the last minute. House Lie could have claimed the entire loot for Guan Dongyang if he had asked, but due to his reluctance, they only sent in a few warriors as backup.
In just a few glances, Marcos had learned about the power dynamic between Guan Dongyang and his allies. He reckoned that since House Lie was a force to be reckoned with, he would let Lie Xuan win her round of the match. As for the rest of the nine matches, he would not give Guan Dongyang any chance.
Wang Tong and other support staffs didn't have the same privilege as their band leaders, and therefore, they waited outside the inner camp. As Guan Dongyang walked into the inner camp, he found many familiar faces. Not only were the leaders of the Rock Buster there, but also leaders of many other factions, big and small. They all came to watch the tournament and see if they could benefit from any unexpected developments.
"Balls! When can we join those hotshots?" Tun Bu lamented. He cast a quick glance at Wang Tong and found that furface was not at all offended by the unfair treatment.
"Hey, you three, mind where you are going. This is the Thunder Fire's turf! Not your squalid little wolf den!" A Thunder Fire soldier shouted at them.
The words got under the Battle Wolf's skins. Although they were ordered to exercise restraint, some warriors still failed to suppress anger on their faces. However, the battle wolf warriors were disciplined soldiers, and therefore, no one rose to the rude comment. Seeing no one replying him, the Thunder Fire soldier sauntered away with a satisfied, smug look on his face.
"Jerk!"
"Is that how they treat people who used to fight side by side with them? "
"I can't stand it! If not for Boss' order, I would have squashed his face then and there!"
"Let's wait and see who will laugh in the end!"
After complaining about their ostentatious and contemptuous host, Tan Bu and Lun Duo joined Wang Tong at the dinner table. After wolfing down some meal, they started their cultivation.
Meanwhile, inside the inner camp, the dining table was set, full of delicacies that were hard to find nowadays. However, such a feast wasn't the focal point of the dining room; it was Lie Xuan and Lie Wushuang. Cups were raised in their names many times as faction leaders turned into an army of toadies that fought amongst themselves to lick House Lie's boots. After much drinking and obsequious toasts, the group didn't even touch upon the topic of the tournament within four hours. Finally, Marcos thought that enough was enough, so he cleared his throat and started to talk business,
"As you all know, Guan Dongyang, Randolph, and I had successfully intercepted a Zerg's provision fleet, and we have obtained a lot of loot. But, it was rather difficult to distribute the loot fairly amongst the three of us, and therefore, we decided to do it through a tournament. I have partitioned the spoil into ten piles, and each will be the prize for one round of a match. After ten matches, all the loot will be distributed. I have marked and listed every single piece of loot box, so you know that I didn't hide any for myself."
"That sounds fair to me. I will join the tournament." Guan Dongyang announced, and then he started out of the room with Lie Xuan in tow, although Lie Wushuang stayed. He was here representing House Lie, so he needed to remain neutral in this matter.
"Captain Marcos, you seem very confident about this tournament." Lie Wushuang asked with a faint smile.
"Not at all. Guan Dongyang is a well-known level eighteen mastery warrior, and none of his soldiers will be an easy nut to crack. Plus, I will have no chance of winning against him if you decide to help him, will I?"
The question piqued everyone's interest, and the room suddenly became silent.
"Hehe, this is between you three… It is none of my business. But, you know the relationship between Lie Xuan and Guan Dongyang, so I can't promise that she will stand and watch Guan Dongyang lose the battle."
"Haha, then let me be frank with you! I will make sure that Lei Xuan wins her round, so that you and House Lie can have a ladder to get down from your obligation." Marcos announced while he studied changes in Lie Wushuang's eyes. His proposal had hit the mark; he knew that Guan Dongyang was no more than a pawn in the House Lie's game. Without the support of House Lie, Guan Dongyang could be easily defeated.
"Ye Zi, can you tell furface to take a look at the loot? I need a report on it." Guan Dongyang asked.
"No problem."
"furface? What is his actual name?" Lie Xuan asked curiously.
Ye Zi paused for a second and then said, "Who knows? They just call him furface."
"Interesting...About tomorrow, do you think you can handle it?"
Guan Dongyang shrugged and then said, "I will have to, even if I can't. The Battle Wolf's reputation is at stake."
Xie Xuan cast a glance at Guan Dongyang and then nodded. "You can count on me tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"Yeah yeah, It's nothing."
Wang Tong eavesdropped on the two's conversation and shook his head; Guan Dongyang was too inexperienced in wooing a girl.
"Stop ogling at her!" Ye Zi scolded him. "I thought you are an innocent boy, but you turned into a pervert at the sight of hot pants and tank tops just like everyone else!"
Wang Tong didn't mind as he retorted with a jest, "Hehe, if you dress up like that, I might consider ogling at you too." Before Ye Zi could fire back, Wang Tong waved goodbye at her and ran away.
Ye Zi gritted her teeth and caught up with Wang Tong, but she said nothing.
Seeing that Ye Zi and Wang Tong had arrived to examine the loot, the two guards at the gate stepped aside to let them in. Marcos had shown them the sigils of all major factions, and they recognized the star of Divine Mastery on Ye Zi's shirt right away.
"Do we need to open these crates?"
Wang Tong shook his head and set his palm down on the box—soul scan!
After some time, Wang Tong finished scanning all ten boxes and found out that the contents of one box was worth more than all the other nine combined.
"That's it?" Ye Zi stared at Wang Tong, unsure what he had done.
"Yea, I have gone through all of them."
"So? Are you one hundred percent sure about your findings?" Ye Zi pressed Wang Tong for a confirmation. "This is no joke. Our group's reputation is at stake."
Wang Tong nodded. "I am very certain. The super METAL is hidden inside the third box. It is at least level twenty or above. The tenth box has the strangest contents. They are expensive but useless; wines, cigars and all that. There is also a little casket in box ten, and there are fifty space crystals inside that little casket."
Ye Zi was shocked; she realized that what was in the ten boxes was only a small fraction of the loot, and most of them were hidden inside the fifty space crystals in box number ten.
This was valuable information, and Wang Tong's ability to see through Thunder Fire's trick cast him under a different light in Ye Zi's eyes.
As a resourceful mastery user, Ye Zi knew thousands of applications of soul energy, but she had never heard of Soul Scan.