Chapter 772
Nagase Komi gave Naito a cold stare before turning around. She then turned and performed a deep bow towards Chen Xiaolian. “Please forgive his ignorant and offensive actions.”
“Actually… there is no need for this.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head, a wry smile on his face.
He really didn’t think this was necessary.
Although Naito’s attitude earlier was indeed very rude, he had no intentions of getting involved with someone like him at all.
Still, Sawakita Mitsuo, this old man… he sure was ruthless.
While Nagase Komi was the one who did it, it was obvious that Sawakita Mitsuo must have given her the order through the guild channel.
He was probably… afraid of infuriating me.
Naito was both shocked and terrified. Naturally, he dared not say anything else. Clutching his wrist, he slowly – with a face soaked in sweat – retreated to a corner of the hall.
He did not understand.
Why was the Great Teacher so respectful towards this young man? In fact, just for a few words, the Great Teacher had chosen to cut off one of his fingers as an act of apology.
This young man… just who was he?
On Sawakita Mitsuo’s side, he acted as though nothing had happened earlier, his face maintaining a smile. “Chen-san, if there are no issues, please confirm it.”
After saying that, he sent over the team invite.
It wasn’t just for Chen Xiaolian. Miao Yan was included as well.
He had never met Miao Yan before. He had also never seen Miao Yan’s skills before. But for this beautiful woman to move together with Chen Xiaolian, she was most likely not an ordinary person.
“Do you have any objections?” Chen Xiaolian did not immediately accept the invite. Instead, he turned to look at Miao Yan.
“If you don’t have any objections. Why would I object?” Miao Yan answered coolly. “Besides, we did not come here to clear this instance dungeon. Having less troubles is naturally a good thing.”
“Alright.” Chen Xiaolian nodded and accepted Sawakita Mitsuo’s invite.
[Prompt: You have joined the Fourth Shogunate Guild. Guild Leader: Sawakita Mitsuo.]
The Fourth Shogunate… no wonder Sawakita Mitsuo has the nickname Shogun within the Awakened circle.
Chen Xiaolian smiled to himself in secrecy.
Right after joining the guild, Sawakita Mitsuo forwarded Chen Xiaolian the system notification that he had just received through the guild channel.
[System: You have obtained 1/5 Gods of the Land’s mitama. Faction: Master of the Great Land. Entering the second phase of the quest.
[Every 4 hours, the location of the mitama will be displayed on the personal radar of all Players and teams participating in this dungeon, lasting for 24 hours. The other Players or teams can kill the owner or the owner themself could give up the mitama for the ownership of the mitama to change.
[The countdown period will not be recalculated due to the change in ownership of the mitama. After the 24-hour period is over, the Player or team with the mitama will enter the third phase of the quest.]
“Then, Chen-san. I’ll let you decide what we should do next.” After saying that, Sawakita Mitsuo brought out the Gods of the Land’s mitama that he had just obtained and offered it to Chen Xiaolian. “As for this mitama, I will temporarily leave it to you.”
“Teacher Sawakita… you trust me so much?” Chen Xiaolian raised his eyebrows and smiled.
“We have already cooperated twice. Is there anything about Chen-san’s character that I would not trust?” Sawakita Mitsuo laughed.
“Then, my thanks for Teacher Sawakita’s trust.” Chen Xiaolian extended his hand to take the red magatama. Realizing that he could not keep it in his storage gear, he then stuffed it into his pocket.
“Then… we’ll wait here for 24 hours.”
“Here?” Sawakita Mitsuo grew slightly shocked. “We… are not leaving?”
“Yep.” Chen Xiaolian nodded without a hint of hesitation. He walked towards one of the pillars there and sat down. Then, he brought out some fuel, a portable gas stove and a bunch of food ingredients and seasoning. Turning towards Sawakita Mitsuo, he then smiled and said, “Hotpot, you want?”
…
The red soup inside the pot was bubbling. Beef omasum, offal strips and meat rolls were rolling up and down the broth non-stop.
Sawakita Mitsuo slowly put down the bowl, his face normal. Beside him, however, Nagase Komi’s face had long since turned hot-red and snot flowed down her nose.
There was no helping it. Most Japanese can’t eat spicy food.
Miao Yan herself had put down her chopsticks after taking just a few mouthfuls. Naito did not touch it at all. Instead, he continued to stay in a corner of the hall with his head lowered. He clutched his bandaged left hand while hiding the baleful look in his eyes.
Naturally, he would not reveal his hatred. Nor did he have the courage to.
By relying on the mech, he had become the third strongest in the guild. Even so, Nagase Komi’s skill was the innate counter to his mech. As for Great Teacher Sawakita Mitsuo, he was far beyond Naito’s reach.
At present, however, the two of them were being courteous to this Chinese fellow. Rather, within their display of respect was a hint of… awe.
Naito had been trapped in the damaged mech back then. He did not witness how Chen Xiaolian had defeated Amago Kimihisa, who was possessed by Takemikazuchi. But Naito was no fool. Judging by Sawakita Mitsuo’s and Nagase Komi’s attitudes, he knew, compared to this big thigh known as Chen Xiaolian, he was not even worth a single piece of hair.
And yet, he still could not let go.
At present, he could only endure it for now.
If he could find an opportunity in the future…
Seeing Chen Xiaolian put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hands, Sawakita Mitsuo leaned forward slightly and asked, “Chen-san… do you really plan on waiting here for 24 hours?”
The Izumo-taisha was one of the quest locations. And now, its location was displayed on the radar. If the other teams wanted to snatch this Gods of the Land’s mitama, they would definitely come here first.
“The system will send our location to the other teams once every four hours anyways. What difference is there if we move or not?” Chen Xiaolian casually picked up the hotpot and poured the residual soup to the ground before keeping it back into his storage equipment.
“The third phase’s quest has yet to be issued. So, we do not know where we have to go right now. Isn’t it less troublesome to just stay here? Don’t worry, Great Teacher. If there are any issues, I will handle it.”
Sawakita Mitsuo smiled and said nothing else. He too, walked to a corner of the hall and sat down, assuming a cross-legged posture.
Since Chen Xiaolian had said that, there was no need for him to insist.
Given the might that Chen Xiaolian displayed earlier, where he stayed did not really matter.
Chen Xiaolian leaned against a pillar, partially lying back with his eyes closed. It looked as though he was asleep.
Likewise, Miao Yan also leaned on another pillar several metres away from Chen Xiaolian.
As for Nagase Komi, she walked towards Naito, who was still staying in the corner.
“Get up.”
Naito obediently got up, his head lowered.
Nagase Komi did not say anything else. She simply stared at Naito.
Her gaze was as cold as ice.
After but several seconds, Naito began feeling uncomfortable. “Nagase-senpai…”
Nagase Komi was several years younger than Naito, but she had joined the guild earlier. Moreover, she was also the second strongest in the guild, behind only Sawakita Mitsuo. Due to that, Naito had used honorifics when talking to her.
“Naito, earlier, I cut off your pinky finger. That was just a warning.” Nagase Komi continued to stare at Naito as she said in a hushed tone, “I hope that you can understand just what kind of power and status Sir Chen Xiaolian possesses. Should you show any attitude that might displease him, even just a little, there would be no need for Great Teacher to take action. I will personally lop off your head. Understand?”
Seeing the intense look of murder in Nagase Komi’s eyes, Naito could not stop himself from shuddering. “Un… understood!”
“Alright. From now on, be a good boy.” She then turned around coldly and walked towards Chen Xiaolian. The moment she turned around, the expression on her face immediately switched to that of a respectful smile.
“It’s only been a while since we last met, but you’ve become much fiercer.”
Seeing Nagase Komi arrive before him, Chen Xiaolian did not wait for her to speak. “Why act like the Yakuza? You even cut his pinky finger.”
Despite having a bald head with no hair, Nagase Komi scratched her head and revealed an embarrassed smile. “The junior in our guild is ignorant. I worry that you will think that our guild is a joke, Sir.”
“After Guild Leader, now Sir?” Chen Xiaolian waved his hand. “No need for such formalities. Just call me Xiaolian.”
“Xiaolian… senpai.” Nagase Komi hesitated for a moment. In the end, she added that word. “Senpai, right now, you probably did not come here just for points and rewards, right? Then, what is it you want to do in this instance dungeon?”
After saying that, Nagase Komi quickly added, “I’m not trying to pry into senpai’s secrets. I just wonder… if Teacher and I could help you do anything. Even something small would do.”
“No need for that.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “I’m just looking for someone, a Player who has entered this instance dungeon. But I do not know where they are. So, I can only slowly move according to the storyline of this instance dungeon and wait until I meet them. As long as I can meet them, I will be able to complete my objective in coming into this instance dungeon.”
Seeing a hint of worry on Nagase Komi’s face, Chen Xiaolian smiled and continued, “However, there is no need for you and Teacher Sawakita to feel worried. We are old acquaintances who have fought alongside one another, after all. Since we’ve met, I will not ignore you. I will accompany you fellows to finish this instance dungeon. As long as you fellows are beside me, I assure you that nothing will happen to you. Can you relax now?”
“If so… thank you, senpai.” Nagase Komi was aware that Chen Xiaolian did not want to go into the details. Thus, she did not ask any more questions. She had already received the answer to the question that really mattered to her. Nodding, she got up to leave.
“Hmm, some guests have come. They sure are fast.” Nagase Komi had only just gotten up when she saw Chen Xiaolian turning his gaze towards the entrance of the hall.
At the same time, tens of small missiles shot in through the entrance of the hall.
Several hundred bats promptly rushed in through the few holes on the ceiling that were created by the earlier lightning attacks. The bats then flew towards them.
The weather outside had been sunny, but it instantly turned into a snowstorm.
Nagase Komi saw a blur. Next, she noticed that Chen Xiaolian had disappeared.
Some info about the Fourth Shogunate Guild. A shogunate was a military government of Japan in the past and its head is called Shogun.
From what I can gather, there were only three Shogunates to date, the Kamakura Shogunate (1192 to 1333), the Ashikaga Shogunate (1338 to 1573) and the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603 to 1868). That’s why Sawakita Mitsuo’s guild is named the Fourth Shogunate Guild.
Extra note, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (same era as Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate) managed to unify Japan in 1591, but his rule was a dynasty – the Toyotomi Dynasty – and not a shogunate. The Toyotomi Dynasty’s power weakened in the end because Hideyoshi decided to attack both Korea and China at the same time. Unfortunately for him, Korea had Yi Sun-shin and 12 good ships. [Source: Wiki]