CHAPTER 374: CHAPTER 228: NO. 1001, SON OF BAI TANLANG, TAVERN CONFLICT

Gu Wenyu booked a car near the port using his phone, and sat on a public wooden bench, playing Spider Solitaire on his phone while waiting.

After getting off the car and returning to the doorstep of his home, the night was already deep.

The cicada chirps grew faint, the streets and alleys dim, with only the overhead billboard flickering on and off. The supermarket owner closed the shutter at the entrance, turned his head to greet him, saying, "Why did you come back so late, kid?"

Gu Wenyu turned back and said, "Went for a night run, my idol is Blue Arc, so I like running."

The owner nodded, saying young people are indeed full of energy, then donned his helmet and rode away on his electric bike.

Gu Wenyu inserted the key into the lock to open the door, and after returning to his room, sprawled out on the bed.

He stared at the ceiling in a daze.

Right now, in front of Gu Wenyu’s eyes was a dim and dark ceiling. The surroundings were so quiet that it seemed the whole city was dead, with only the faint sound of cicadas reminding him it was deep into the night.

But the world in the eyes of the other two bodies was different, full of noise and colorful hues.

At this moment, Xia Pingzhou was staying in a private underground bar in Bergen.

The group leader knew the owner here, and thus booked the entire place a few days ahead of the end of the mission. So now, apart from the group leader, all other nine members of the White Crow Travel Brigade had gathered here, having a celebration feast while discussing the Whale Court war.

At the beginning, they collectively criticized Robert.

After all, this robotic brain didn’t accomplish anything throughout the battle, opened a door, left the Box Garden, and then sat leisurely on a public bench at the port drinking alcohol.

While others fought fiercely in the Box Garden World, he was outside marveling at the beauty of the night.

Everyone chatted among themselves, with Tong Zizhu and others being particularly curious about how Bernardo died — this unlucky soul quietly passed out of everyone’s sight, almost as if he never existed.

The only reminder of his existence was the Black Death fragment he left behind, which killed a member of the Royal Court Team.

Fortunately, Bernardo was a new member of the brigade, having been with them for just about a week, and everyone didn’t have much impression or emotional attachment towards him, so even his sudden death didn’t move them.

So, they quickly shifted topics, starting to anticipate what kind of demon or monster the next new member would be.

The group leader now significantly raised the membership threshold; unless one possessed special functional skills, they would at least need Quasi-Calamity level strength to join the brigade and fill that one remaining gap.

With this arrangement, Xia Pingzhou would naturally have more to handle on the day of betrayal. However, he was confident that he could use a series of information to persuade members, successfully getting them on his side to head towards the Salvation Society base.

It’s just... he couldn’t imagine how Ayase Origami would regard him on that day.

Just as Xia Pingzhou was thinking this, the kimono-clad girl beside him suddenly manipulated a piece of paper to lightly scratch his cheek.

"Spacing out again." She said.

"I don’t drink, what’s the point of accompanying them and going crazy here?" Xia Pingzhou asked blandly.

"I don’t drink either. Who’d enjoy accompanying drunken fools going mad, let the smokers sit with the drinkers at the same table." The hacker grumbled.

He leaned against the wall, eyes cast downward, silently playing with his phone.

Xia Pingzhou criticized him blankly, "You’re just a kid; not smoking or drinking is expected. I’m an adult, not drinking or smoking is a virtue, don’t compare yourself to me."

"What about me?"

Ayase Origami looked up at him.

"You’re also a kid, not drinking is expected... I’m three years older than you and I haven’t drunk." Xia Pingzhou said, silently pouring a glass of orange juice for Ayase Origami using the wine glass on the table, leading by example, "Given the circumstances, let’s drink orange juice."

"Oh."

The kimono girl accepted the cup and clinked glasses with him.

The hacker wanted to join in, raising his cup yet being ignored, and the three silently drank celebratory orange juice.

"When are we going to ride the cable car?" she asked while drinking orange juice, writing on paper in front of Xia Pingzhou.

Xia Pingzhou looked at the words on the paper then set down his cup, "It’s already late today, let’s talk about it tomorrow, we’re going back to the hotel to rest tonight."

"Don’t forget."

"I definitely won’t."

Xia Pingzhou looked up, watching Bloodline, Jack the Ripper, Andrew, and Anluns drink and laugh while playing cards.

Tong Zizhu stood next to Anluns, arms crossed, frowning, focused on observing the gambling skills of the United Kingdom’s top gambler, mainly to find out whether he was cheating.

Bai Tanlang and Robert sat on the ground, leaning against the wall, drinking while gravely chatting.

The gloomy middle-aged man vibe nearly made the nearby orange juice trio dizzy, silently distancing themselves a bit.

Bai Tanlang was silent for a while and suddenly said, "I might have to return to China in a few days."

Robert turned his head to look at him, "China?"

He didn’t take off the robot box while drinking, instead, he opened a slit in the philtrum of the robot head.

Bai Tanlang nodded, "There’s trouble with the demons in China, and since the brigade will be disbanded for a while, I can’t sit back and do nothing; they might be going to war with the Exorcist Association."

"It wouldn’t be Lake Hunting, would it?" Robert scratched his robot head, emitting a mechanically magnetic sound.