CHAPTER 874: CHAPTER 662: ZONG GE VS. ICE CALAMITY—PUBLIC OR NOT

Wah-woo, wah-woo.

Inside the cabin, the big guy was burying his head in food, occasionally opening his mouth wide, taking a whole ham in one bite.

He ate with relish, his mouth glistening with oil.

"Have some more dessert, you three," the empire spy chief smiled, bringing many small cakes.

Sitting beside the big guy were Da Dou and Hong Zhu.

Seeing these small cakes, the expressions of both were gloomy.

Da Dou snorted coldly, while Hong Zhu said, "Again with the Deep Sigh of Blue Sea, don’t you great empire spies have anything new?"

The chief smiled faintly: "We are more practical."

"Especially for you three, we don’t intend to use force."

"These desserts are just right, aren’t they?"

Da Dou and Hong Zhu were helpless.

Earlier, in the battle the empire spies had against the Pirate Group, not only did they experience it, but they were also invited to watch the relevant magic images.

Therefore, the three knew that these three ships looked ordinary but were luxuriously equipped and had two Golden Level escorts.

Even if their restraints were removed, they might not be able to escape. Let alone the current situation, where even simply walking was difficult.

The chief squinted his eyes: "Hurry up, you three, don’t make me wait too long."

He began to urge them.

"Now, if escape is possible, only he has a chance," Da Dou thought to himself, glancing almost imperceptibly at the big guy.

Hong Zhu shared the same thoughts.

To hide this trump card, Big Guy, they concealed a lot about what happened in the Earth Element Body’s tribal nest.

Therefore, the empire spies were still unaware that the big guy had once been subject to Divine Descent.

If they knew, their custody of the big guy wouldn’t be the most lax among the three.

However, the big guy’s reaction was to have his eyes light up with excitement as he spread his large hands and grabbed a lot of small cakes, stuffing them directly into his mouth.

"Good."

"Delicious!"

His cheeks puffed up, and he mumbled a review.

To be fair, these small cakes were magic delicacies; though they had negative effects, the taste was really quite good.

Da Dou and Hong Zhu both sighed inwardly, and then, with feelings of helplessness, picked up the small cakes and ate them.

The empire spy chief watched all this with a smile.

He was very cautious, personally supervising this stage every day. Although he had defeated the Pirate Group, he became even more cautious, fearing to make mistakes again.

Even though the death of Tu Ji wasn’t his fault.

Da Dou and Hong Zhu both ate a whole piece of cake, and their negative conditions were renewed and reinforced once more.

In contrast, the big guy had finished all the remaining cakes.

He lay down and slept, his belly bulging like a small hill.

His body instinctively started operating the fighting energy technique, but in the next moment, it triggered the effect of the Deep Sigh of Blue Sea, causing the big guy to let out a deep sigh and completely collapse.

However, this didn’t affect his sleep; instead, it made him sleep more soundly and sweetly.

"This Big Fool has a pretty good mindset," the empire spy chief clicked his tongue in wonder at this sight.

Da Dou and Hong Zhu were speechless.

The days the big guy spent on the Pig Kiss were much worse than now. The big guy could adapt and survive tenaciously on the Mysterious Monster Island. Now, although he was being escorted, the empire spies were treating him with good food and drink every day.

The big guy wasn’t worried at heart.

Because he had long been informed by his dad that they would meet along the way.

The big guy had the deepest trust in the Dragon-man youth, a trust that had even grown into faith.

So, the big guy felt good, happily awaiting his dad’s arrival.

Meanwhile, Dad was still in the midst of stealing divinity, and the day of the duel between Zong Ge and Ice Calamity arrived first.

In one of the large dueling fields of the Ice Sculpture Royal Capital.

More than 5000 audience seats were already full.

The noise was loud, with some people debating "Ice Calamity or Long Fu, who is stronger?" while others discussed how much they had bet on this gamble.

Among the audience, the scale of gamblers was relatively large.

Covered with a headscarf to conceal his identity, he was seated among the ordinary audience.

He listened intently for a moment and showed a look of satisfaction.

The large number of gamblers indicated that his work was quite adequate.

To raise his gamble, on one hand, he actively promoted the significance of this duel, boasting it as the strongest Silver Level contest in this edition of the grand duel; on the other hand, he fueled ethnic emotions. He made great use of the fact that "Long Fu is a Dragon-man, Ice Calamity is a Snow Elf."

"The biggest regret is, although Long Fu held a public duel, it was not entirely public."

"This duel prohibits filming magic images, nor will it be publicly announced, and the magic images of this battle will not be sold in the future."

"Damn it, not making money even when there’s a chance!"

Every time He Gaitou thought of this, he felt upset.

He managed the betting pool and knew that many gamblers had placed heavy bets on the duelists. Could these gamblers be short of ticket money?

But unfortunately, Long Fu was only public to this extent. The dueling field he chose wasn’t a super-dueling field. The number of audience seats was considered low among large dueling fields.

The strict limitation on the number of people who could watch live significantly reduced the gamblers’ enthusiasm for betting, curbing the expansion of He Gaitou’s betting pool this time.

This severely hit his revenue.

Every time he thought of this, he cursed inwardly.

Zi Di, as a Yao Ma Mage, sat early in the friends and family section.

Her seat was extremely close to the dueling field, providing an excellent view.

Zi Di scanned the full venue, sighed quietly, "After much selection, such a dueling field was chosen. Controlling the audience numbers means the consumption of Pearl Bubbles will decrease significantly."

They only opened it up partly, not because they wanted to, but because they had no choice.

Their Pearl Bubbles were running low!

The fewer people watched, the less was consumed in deception, and the more Pearl Bubbles would remain.

The ban on filming Magic Images was also for this reason.

"So for Zong Ge, the requirements for this battle are even higher."

"Not only must he win big, but he must win quickly!"

"The longer it drags, the more Pearl Bubbles are consumed."

As discussed between the two, after this public duel, Zong Ge, playing as Long Fu, would temporarily announce a pause in dueling.

On the surface, they would claim: the Silver Level lacks challenge and no longer interests them in dueling.

In reality, they were too short of Pearl Bubbles and had to conserve them.

Zong Ge would try to avoid public appearances later on, saving what little Pearl Bubbles remained for Zi Di to use.

The Warm Snow Cup must continue to participate.

As long as Zi Di achieves good results in the Warm Snow Cup and showcases her alchemy skills, she can gain broad recognition from the alchemy industry.

In the future, when she becomes independent and starts an alchemy business, it wouldn’t lead to rejection or suppression from other Alchemy Mages.

Breaking away from the Lijian family was also necessary to allow the survivors to truly grow and thrive.

Of course, future cooperation with the Lijian family is not ruled out. After all, they have a foundational collaboration, achieving mutual benefits at least twice, and the cooperation was very pleasant.

However, the contract proposed by the Lijian family at present definitely cannot be signed. Such cooperation would be akin to the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps being attached to the Lijian family, strictly protected by them.

In this case, their dependence on the Lijian family would be too strong, very insecure, and without a future.

If the Lijian family encountered problems, the survivors would be implicated. If nothing happened, they would be controlled by the Lijian family.

Because of the lack of Pearl Bubbles, it precisely struck one of their enemies, He Gaitou, which Zi Di and Zong Ge hadn’t thought of at all and counted as an accidental hit.

Besides He Gaitou, Mifang from the duelists also came.

Since the last time he successfully poisoned Zong Ge, his attention to the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps increased.

With the recent release of the new ride magic potions [Soul Strolling] and [Run Smoothly], which sold like hotcakes, Mifang’s desire to eliminate the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps became even stronger and more urgent.

Yijiu didn’t come. In his last battle with Shuanglian, he suffered a significant loss, losing a lot of equipment. After all, he had passed through the space vortex in person. Currently, he has been in the Thief Guild, constantly taking on tasks to earn money with all his strength.

He personally had no interest in the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps and even looked down on most of the mercenary group members.

After all, he once personally launched an assault on the mercenary group’s Snowbird Port branch, easily subduing the "Zong Ge" (Alchemy Puppet) there. Although later he received news that the vice captain of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps was gravely injured but not dead, which surprised him slightly. But overall, that was about it.

After subduing Bu Quan, Yijiu suffered a loss at Shuanglian’s hands.

Other than Long Fu, no one else could make him take them seriously.

Bao Ligen also didn’t come. He mainly looked down on He Gaitou, who had a criminal origin, and thought the hopes of Ice Calamity’s victory were minimal. After all, Long Fu once easily defeated Jia Bing, Lin, and the Gang Leader of the Axe Gang in a one-on-three fight.

Qing Hongyan was even less likely to come. Since being transformed by alchemy, he had become eccentric, favored solitude, and disliked making public appearances.

Hua Tang did come, though.

He disguised himself as an ordinary person, bought a ticket, and came to watch. Most duelists didn’t know this.

He would secretly film a Magic Image and then give it to Mei Lin for analysis.

Mei Lin wanted to come, but she couldn’t.

She was a naval officer responsible for the coastal defense line, which required all her efforts.

Although the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps banned the filming of Magic Images, this rule would certainly not be able to stop Hua Tang.

The arrangement of a large dueling field couldn’t restrict someone like Hua Tang.

Similarly, although Kong Pan and others from the Lijian family didn’t attend in person, they were watching attentively in secret.

After all, the victory or defeat of Long Fu would, to a large extent, affect the sales of the ride magic potions.

For the Lijian family, they didn’t even need to secretly film anything. They had already established good relationships, and this large dueling field would secretly provide them with a Magic Image of the battle with excellent shooting angles after the event.

The Lijian family was a local tyrant, and at such a level of power, the rules were merely something they designed to regulate others. These rules were their tools, not hindrances.

Whether or not the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps went public made no difference to them.