Chapter 164: An Invitation to Earth Village

In order to make things difficult for Lin Qiu, Zhong Teng, faced with a shortage of A-rank and above espers within Longteng, had no choice but to shamelessly seek outside help from Molan City.

He had already made up his mind: if he failed to win the position of city lord this time and Lin Qiu took over, he would lead Longteng to defect to Molan City.

Although it was humiliating to be a defeated loser, for the sake of the elderly and children in their base, he didn’t care about losing face. The most important thing was to ensure the safety of everyone in Longteng.

After all, given Lin Qiu’s temperament, if they stayed in Chaos City, he would definitely find a way to get rid of them as soon as possible.

So, in order not to leave the base and home they had lived in for so long, Zhong Teng had to fight with everything he had.

However, on their way back, they heard another piece of news: Lin Qiu had spent a fortune to post a mission in Chaos City, hiring S-rank and above espers to help Xue Shi compete, intending to form a thirty-person team, all S-rank or higher.

This made Zhong Teng, who had just brought back outside help, anxious again.

Even if the few S-rank espers in Longteng hadn’t been seriously injured in the last berserk beast horde battle, they still couldn’t scrape together thirty S-rank or above espers.

These days, although there were more awakened espers, and Exile Star—even though it was a small, broken planet—had a 20% higher awakening rate than the interstellar average, S-rank espers were still rare. You couldn’t just find them lying around.

Longteng could only field a few A-rank and five S-rank or above espers, and even with Molan City’s help, their lineup was nothing compared to Lin Qiu’s.

They were also worried that Lin Qiu, relying on his superior numbers and strength, might play dirty during the hunt, so they definitely couldn’t just send in a few A-ranks.

What’s more, this time it wasn’t just about Longteng—they had invited outside help from Molan City, and these guests absolutely couldn’t be put at risk.

So, after witnessing Pei Yu’s battle and recalling Mr. Kui Hai’s earlier speculation about Yun Qimu and her companions’ strength, Zhong Teng immediately had an idea.

After exchanging a few meaningful glances with Wu Xingyu, he tried to bond with him over shared ideals, wanting to become sworn brothers and rope them onto his “pirate ship.”

Ahem, no, he wanted to invite them to join the competition together.

Wu Xingyu, however, didn’t feel any kinship with another man and even found the idea disgusting, so he coldly and decisively rejected the brotherhood offer.

Zhong Teng had no choice but to settle for second best and invite them to join the competition.

Wu Xingyu still kept a straight face and ruthlessly refused.

Yun Qimu, on the other hand, seemed a bit interested, especially after hearing that the hunting ground was Senmu Marsh—a place with vast greenery and many rational, non-crazed mutant beasts deep inside.

But she didn’t give a definite answer, only saying she’d consider it. She even extended a counter-invitation to Zhong Teng: “We happen to be heading back to Earth Village to pick up some goods. I wonder if Mr. Kui Hai and Mr. Zhong would be interested in visiting our Earth Village? Our village’s specialty is fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Zhong Teng, Kui Hai, and the nearby Molan City group all perked up at once.

“Those are grown in your village?” someone asked.

Yun Qimu nodded generously. “That’s right.”

“Right here on Exile Star?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“How far is your village from Chaos City? Why have we never heard of it?” Zhong Teng and the others looked bewildered.

The Molan City group, however, seemed thoughtful. Their city lord had previously mentioned growing flowers in some ‘Earth Village,’ and now, seeing Pei Yu, they were even more certain that the Earth Village Yun Qimu spoke of was the same place.

In fact, this trip, they had planned to visit the Earth Village their city lord spoke so highly of—a place that could make him so reluctant to leave that he’d abandon the great Molan City itself.

Unfortunately, their city lord had only said it was on the northern border, without giving a specific location. Plus, the magnetic interference in the north made positioning unreliable, so they couldn’t find it directly.

Now that they’d met the real deal, they exchanged glances and immediately decided to tag along.

Representing the group, Huan Linyuan spoke up, “I wonder if we could come along for a visit? Our city lord has told us about Earth Village, and we’re very eager to see it for ourselves.”

Yun Qimu smiled at him. “Of course you can. With our transport, it only takes a day to get to Earth Village. There are still four days before your hunting tournament—you’ll make it in time.”

Huan Linyuan’s eyes lit up and he eagerly agreed, “That’s great, we’re coming!”

Zhong Teng shot him a suspicious look, wondering if he was a plant.

Kui Hai, however, had already made up his mind. He narrowed his eyes and smiled gently, “Longteng still needs someone to stay behind. Zhong Teng, you’ve just rushed back and must be tired. Why don’t you stay at the base? I’ll go on behalf of Longteng.”

Zhong Teng: …I don’t feel tired at all!

But, meeting Kui Hai’s gaze, he could only clutch his conscience and nod begrudgingly. “Mm, I’m tired. Let Mr. Kui Hai represent Longteng.”

Yun Qimu nodded. “That works. It’s less convenient for us to bring too many people, anyway.”

Ying Hua, bold and heroic, frowned. “Then I’ll go too.”

She really couldn’t rest easy letting her delicate little husband go out alone.

Yun Qimu didn’t object.

As for Molan City’s group, all nine insisted on going, even the sickly Ming Xiao, whom everyone tried to persuade to stay behind, stubbornly insisted on joining.

The reason he came this time was partly to visit old friends in Longteng, but mainly because of the Earth Village their city lord had mentioned.

There was hope for his recovery in Earth Village. The city lord had hinted at this and promised to get the medicine for him, but Ming Xiao couldn’t wait any longer, so he came himself.

He was lucky—he’d just arrived at Longteng’s base and ran into Village Chief Yun, so he absolutely wouldn’t miss this chance.

It meant fate wasn’t done with him yet—he was determined to survive.

Despite his pale face, Ming Xiao smiled resolutely, refusing to back down. Ming Mu, though deeply worried, gritted his teeth and supported his brother’s decision.

And so, the group that had just arrived was once again whisked away by Yun Qimu.

After Pei Yu and Kun Sang fought each other to a standstill, Ying Hua grabbed them both, not giving them any time to heal or ask questions, and simply hauled them off.

Unable to break free, the two could only be carried away, looking aggrieved.

Though the group wasn’t large, they were a striking sight as they headed out of the city.

As soon as they left, spies from various factions hurried back to report, while others secretly followed.

But they hadn’t gone far from the city gates when a powerful sense of oppression suddenly swept over them. One by one, they froze in place, unable to move.

Even those who were using stealth abilities were forced to reveal themselves, their bodies stiff and motionless in the sunlight, faces twisted in a mix of shock and fear."