Chapter 332: A Resolved Misunderstanding
"Capture them alive!" The captain of the guards transformed into a fiery lion as he rushed out at the six members of Team Zenith, and his men followed suit. The lion raised his head and roared, causing waves of genetic energy to spread out from him.
"Set up a formation, quick!" Fang Yi, Sun Mengmeng, and the others quickly got into position to defend against the guards' onslaught.
As a dark moon rose into the air, petals of moonlight flowered around the six hunters, establishing a well-defined boundary. The lion rushed forward, but the moment his attack touched the black light, it vanished like a popped bubble. If the captain of the guards hadn't been fast enough to react, he might have been devoured whole by the formation as well.
A tsunami of genetic energy from the Qi guards swamped the moonlight flower, which suddenly began to revolve, then explode, forming a black hole in midair. The six members of Team Zenith continued standing upright, unaffected by the burst of attacks from the Qi guards.
On the other hand, the moonlight flower's explosion felled the first row of guards, stripping them of their genetic energy as the force of the explosion pushed them aside—and this even after the members of Team Zenith had deliberately reduced the potency of their formation so as not to kill anyone.
After all, this was merely a misunderstanding.
The remaining forces present were shocked by the sight. Could these hunters really be the members of Team Zenith? Zhang Lie had managed to beat every member of the special forces without any gene fragments from the second realm. Wasn't it plausible that his teammates would be similarly strong?
As for the members of Team Zenith, while their formation had sufficed to block one wave of attacks, the genetic energy it had required to do so was immense, and they wouldn't be able to keep the formation running for long.
Before the guards could strike again, a voice rang out from the middle of the crowd,
"Halt! They're not our enemies!"
The Qi guards turned to the voice, and their captain shouted, "Xiao Feng, what's going on? On what grounds do you claim that these aren't enemies?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtXiao Feng, one of the governor's men, only smiled. "Because they held back, of course. If they really were sura in disguise, wouldn't they have dropped their illusions after the first wave of attacks? I'm more inclined to believe that they aren't lying!"
Xiao Feng spoke what many in the crowd had been thinking since the result of the confrontation, but none of them could be entirely certain.
"In that case, do you claim that the members of Team Zenith are this strong immediately upon ascending to the second realm? Xiao Feng, are you crazy?"
Xiao Feng began to laugh. "Haven't you heard the news?"
"You mean—they're really hunters from Team Zenith?"
"Who else would be able to cultivate such a team of hunters?"
The captain of the guards sniffed, then motioned for his men to depart, causing the members of Team Zenith to sigh in relief. The captain of the guards, along with Xiao Feng and the second captain of the Tianji Council, Feng Lin, walked toward Fang Yi and the others, then hung his head and said, "I apologize, I didn't expect all of you would just fall out of the skies. I acted too rashly."
"I'm the captain of the guards, Ning Yu."
"And I'm Xiao Feng, serving at the governor's manor."
"I'm Feng Ling, from the Tianji Council!" The three of them reported their names and identities in a friendly manner. The sudden shift from enmity to amity left the hunters of Team Zenith somewhat overwhelmed. In fact, they were quite impressed by how Ning Yu was willing to treat them pleasantly despite how they had defeated him and his guards in just one blow.
Sun Mengmeng smiled. "It's not a problem. I'm Sun Mengmeng from Team Zenith, and these are my teammates Fang Yi, Li Feng, Zhou Ying, Sun Xiaowu, and Yang Ze."
"We'll happily accept all of you in Qi, of course, but there's something I'd like to ask about, if you don't mind." Xiao Feng's inquisitive expression caused the members of Team Zenith to become somewhat wary.
Sun Mengmeng replied calmly, "I can't promise I'll be able to answer you, but we'll at least hear you out."
"How did you all manage to appear above Qi together? If I recall correctly, ?you should have been transferred to a random location in Qi upon first arriving in the second realm, and the teleportation array in Qi for such newcomers surely isn't located in the sky—it's in the Tianfeng Valley!
How did you skip over that valley and appear above Qi, then? This is an important question for securing the defenses around Qi, so please answer me truthfully," Xiao Feng pressed, startling the other two hunters by his side.
Indeed, Xiao Feng was right! That was an important point that neither of them had thought to consider. The fact that they had managed to appear directly above the skies of Qi meant that there was a hole in Qi's defenses!
"I apologize, but we're unable to answer that question—we're flummoxed about the entire affair as well," Sun Mengmeng replied diplomatically.
The three hunters frowned. For some reason, though Sun Mengmeng exhibited no sign of duplicity, they didn't think she was telling the truth. However, under such circumstances, it didn't seem like a good idea to press her further, because as they were speaking, Zhang Lie's three new team members, Xia Na, Zhuo Yihong, and Qin Tian, had arrived.
"Ah, I apologize, Mr. Fang, Ms. Sun—we were slightly delayed! Please, let us handle the rest." The three new hunters respectfully greeted the members of Team Zenith, then turned to interrogate the three others that were already present.
"Ning Yu, Xiao Feng, Feng Ling, what's going on?"
Xia Na and Zhuo Yihong, who used to be team leaders of the special forces, were well-respected and well-regarded among the authorities of Qi.
Xiao Feng replied, "It was nothing more than a misunderstanding, Team Leader Zhuo, Team Leader Xia! We've just about resolved it by now."
The three of them were smiling, but internally rather shocked. Why were Zhuo Yihong and Xia Na sucking up to the members of Team Zenith? Just how amazing did Zhang Lie have to be for both Xia Na and Zhuo Yihong to behave in this manner?
Zhuo Yihong retorted, "Don't call us team leaders anymore—we're just regular team members now! Furthermore, how could a simple misunderstanding cause you to sound the invaders' alert? And what was with that massive fluctuation of genetic energy just now? You weren't ganging up on the hunters of Team Zenith, were you?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmGanging up?! Who was ganging up on whom?! Ning Yu and his guards had charged forward at the six members, only to be defeated in one blow!
He would have liked to bully the members of Team Zenith, but that would require a level of strength that he didn't have, and now he was even being interrogated about it!
"It really was a misunderstanding," Xiao Feng reiterated. "The members of Team Zenith appeared in so unusual a fashion that we thought they were invaders, but we've already resolved the issue."
"Please forgive us for what we did—your arrival in Qi was just too unusual for us to ignore."
"We apologize," Feng Ling and Ning Yu added once again.
Zhuo Yihong turned back toward Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng, as if asking them whether they were satisfied.
.
"It was nothing more than a misunderstanding—after all, we did arrive in Qi in a particularly unexpected fashion. I'm sorry to have caused such a big commotion." Fang Yi apologized to the three officials as well, ending the altercation decisively.
The city guards quickly departed, while Fang Yi, Sun Mengmeng and the others followed Zhuo Yihong, Xia Na, and Qin Tian toward the underground barracks of the special forces.
"Mr. Fang, Ms. Sun, please let me apologize once again for what happened during your arrival," Xia Na repeated.
"Right, who would have expected those guards to have massed up against you so quickly?" Zhuo Yihong muttered. Qin Tian didn't speak, but he also seemed quite angry.
The disturbance that Zhang Lie had caused when going up against Tianji Council had had significant repercussions, and the three of them thought that this was some sort of oblique payback, but Fang Yi and the others thought that this was rather commonplace instead.
"No, it's likely not that. We didn't expect to arrive in such a location, let alone them. I can understand why they wouldn't believe that we were members of Team Zenith, and it's only natural that they would want to be vigilant given that something like this has happened in the past.
"Furthermore, that guard captain Ning Yu never tried to take our lives; he was only trying to capture us alive. If someone really were trying to scheme against our captain, I don't think they would give such an order or act so blatantly. After all, we descended from the skies of Qi, and there would surely be countless witnesses for the entire fight between us and the city guards.
"Given how strong our captain is, and the strength he's already revealed, I don't believe anyone would go against him for the moment. It's likely just a misunderstanding, so don't feel bad."