Ultragenic Warlord

Chapter 305: The Embarrassed Wang Po

"What should we do? I bet those guys are coming after us!" Xia Na murmured.

The band of hunters had all consumed quite a fair bit of alcohol, so despite the fact that they had cleaned up, it was obvious that they were slightly tipsy.

"We won't be able to hide it, but I can't imagine they'll care very much. It's hardly a problem!"

"It'll put a damper on Deputy Leader Zhang's first day here! Don't you consider that a problem?"

"Well, we're special forces troops, aren't we? I'm sure we can fend them off."

Zhang Lie didn't know about these members of the Tianji Council, not having encountered them in his past life. "What's going on?"

"Put simply, the Tianji Council's in charge of law and order within Qi, and anyone who violates the law is within their purview. As you know, we—the special forces—aren't supposed to be drinking while on official business, so..." Zhou Ming spoke up.

"Is that it? I said I'd be responsible, didn't I? Let me handle it." Zhang Lie wasn't at all nervous; this didn't seem like a serious offense to him. They were in a relatively safe region of the city, and none of them had consumed enough liquor to get drunk. Furthermore, their campfire was far from the usual hunting trails, and they certainly hadn't caused anyone else any problems.

Zhang Lie didn't think that this was an issue at all. Furthermore, even if it really were one, surely Governor Xiao would protect him, and even if not, Zhang Lie, who had just capped his basic and mutated gene fragments, had nothing to fear.

Once he digested the strength of the limit fragments that he had just acquired, he would have the strength to venture out into the wilderness of the second realm on his own, without the protection afforded by a city. If it came down to it, he believed he could even take down one of the more powerful races in the second realm.

Zhang Lie's words shook the special forces troops, but almost immediately afterwards, Xia Na urged him against the idea.

"Please don't, Deputy Leader Zhang! You're a newcomer, so you might not know just how annoying the Tianji Council is to face. Please, let us handle it. It's only a minor issue, but none of them know who you are. If you try to step in, it might complicate things further," Xia Na explained.

"If that's the case, I'll leave it to you, then." Indeed, there was quite a bit Zhang Lie didn't know about Qi, and Xia Na would be far better equipped to deal with the issue.

As the troops walked out of the forest, they immediately found themselves facing the Tianji Council, a party of 32 hunters led by a man in his thirties. He was smiling cheerfully, and it hardly seemed like he was there to cause trouble.

As Zhang Lie scrutinized the hunters, the fourth captain of the Tianji Council, Wang Po, was likewise scrutinizing the special forces troops. He frowned. There had been some mistake in his intel—there were at least sixty or seventy hunters in their ranks.

Hadn't his men told him that there were only two teams of special forces troops in the forest? It looked more like all the forces had been dispatched on some mission or another. Furthermore, what confused Wang Po even more was the hunter standing in the middle of the crowd, Zhang Lie.

He was sure he had never met Zhang Lie before, but his face seemed oddly familiar.

"Isn't that... Zhang Lie?!" one of Wang Po's men shouted from behind him, causing Wang Po to rear back in shock. Right, that fellow, simultaneously familiar and not, had to be Zhang Lie, champion of the Void Cup, dragonlord of China, the pride of mankind!

What was he doing here? When had he advanced to the second realm? Had he joined the special forces of Qi?

After a momentary shock, Wang Po's excitement turned into sullenness. The encounter that he had planned for Xia Na would be entirely disrupted by Zhang Lie's presence. Compared to someone like Zhang Lie, his name and title meant nothing, so Wang Po was naturally quite annoyed.

"Captain Wang?" In the end, Xia Na stepped up after recognizing the other party. She stood in front of Zhang Lie, as though she were protecting him, causing Wang Po's frown to deepen. Nevertheless, as he turned to face Xia Na, he replied jovially, "That's right, Troop Leader Xia Na!"

"What might you be doing here? Does the Tianji Council have official business by the northern gates? Ah, no—how do you know my name? I don't believe I introduced myself when we first met."

Glancing at Xia Na's pretty face, Wang Po found his negative emotions dissipating. "Regarding the first question, that's a secret for the moment. As for the second, well—as a captain of the Tianji Council, it's easy enough for me to find out who you are!"

Xia Na's charm and grace drew her fair share of admirers, and Wang Po was clearly one such. There were countless hunters who were besotted with the two female team leaders of the special forces troops, but this was the first time a captain of the Tianji Council had ever tried to make a move on them.

In that case, could the hunters have been mistaken? Perhaps the reason members of the Tianji Council had gathered by the northern gate wasn't to cause them trouble for their drunkenness, but because their leader wanted to arrange a meeting with Xia Na!