Zhan Long

Chapter 132 - Darling Duck Joins

In 90 seconds, the battle ended. 10 opponents now lay on the ground. Several parties backed up once I showed my Ba Huang City top ten ranking. They watched from afar, not daring to act rashly.

I turned around and continued to attack the Sand Python with Baby Bobo.

With a “hissing” sound, the Sand Python’s body slumped. Its body disintegrated into a pile of fine sand. A staff sat shining through the pile of sand. With excitement, Rippling Pond immediately flew down and picked up the staff. Her face was full of happiness: “WOW, a Lv 40 Gold Tier staff. Great, it even adds a lot of Ability Power!”

Darling Duck’s wings disappeared as she landed on the ground. With a smile she said, “Dummy Rippling Pond, quickly thank Xiao Yao. Without him, you wouldn’t have been able to finish this quest!”

Rippling Pond lifted her head and responded with a smile, “Thank you!”

I shook my head and replied, “You’re welcome. It was a piece of cake!”

……

The teams that had surrounded us left once the boss was defeated. While I protected them, the two Wind Elves could fly around in the air. With the ability to heal myself, it wasn’t an easy task to kill me. The 10 player parties didn’t stand a chance.

Sheathing the Frost Rain Sword, I sat on a green rock off to the side. Darling Duck adjusted her skirt and sat down in front of me. She looked at me with a smile.

Rippling Pond, full of love and adoration, gently caressed her new staff.

“What, haven’t you seen enough?” I asked.

Darling Duck’s face reddened as she jokingly asked, “Xiao Yao, there is something that has been bothering me for a while now. Instead of leveling, you spent your valuable time and energy helping a complete stranger, and you gave it your all when helping the Generals. Yet you went from being friends with [Vanguard] to becoming enemies for a single Purple Tier weapon.”

I pursed my lips and looked deeply into her eyes, “Darling Duck, Jian Feng Han holds a really important spot in your heart, am I right?”

“Yes, he has been my idol for 3 years now!”

“Alright then, pretend that I didn’t say anything…… ”

“Why?”

“A brainwashed fan will not understand what I’m saying…”

“No way…” Darling Duck chuckled. Holding onto her staff, she replied, “I only feel respect towards Jian Feng Han. He’s very skilled in combat, plus he’s very handsome. A large portion of why I joined [Vanguard] was for those reasons, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost my rationality. Xiao Yao, do you think that I am one of those dumb fan girls?”

I opened my hand, “Let me show you a video clip.”

“Okay…”

With a wave of my hand, the conversation between Jian Feng Han and I that happened in the Pear Blossom Forest appeared in front of Darling Duck. This video was certified by Destiny, so there was no possibility of fraud. In the video, Jian Feng Han said with conviction that as long as it’s something that I could use, he would give it to me. No need for a roll and nothing about the weapons being Gold Tier rank or lower was never mentioned.

After watching this, Darling Duck knitted her eyebrows. She murmured, “Could there be some sort of misunderstanding?”

I leaned on the mountain rock behind me, casually smiled and said, “What is there to be misunderstood? The Purple Tier weapon, Heavenly Plan Sword, is a treasure in every Swordsman’s eyes. Jian Feng Han was willing to kill me for it. Maybe in his eyes, my value is less than the Heavenly Plan Sword…”

I grabbed a loose rock and using my strength, I crushed it into fine powder while the dust slipped through my fingers. I looked at Darling Duck and said, “Jian Feng Han is your idol. I will not force you to accept my opinion but I can’t tolerate that kind of injustice. Defeating Jian Feng Han has already become one of my goals!”

Darling Duck’s shoulders shook slightly. She gave me an entranced sort-of look, and then for some reason lowered her head.

Rippling Pond stood off to the side: “This is…getting out of hand?”

After 2 minutes passed, Darling Duck lifted her head and with eyes full of confidence said, “Xiao Yao, I believe your words. Videos with official certification can’t be fake. Boss Jian Feng Han swindled you out of a Purple Tier sword. Sorry, at that time I……at that time I revived him and he killed you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have had to suffer such an injustice …… ”

I smiled slightly, “Not a problem. Life is a dangerous thing. Besides, I’m used to this kind of thing. I was only swindled out of a piece of equipment, but what worries me is that no one will know the truth. The main reason why everyone is willing to believe Jian Feng Han is because of his strength. Therefore, I wish to become strong. By becoming stronger and stronger, I could solve the injustices of this world with a sword!”

Darling Duck gently nodded her head, “Okay. I understand…… Xiao Yao, you caused me to decide on something.”

“Oh, what kind of decision?”

“I will leave the [Vanguard] guild. From now on, Jian Feng Han is no longer my boss……”

Off to the side, Rippling Pond was slightly shocked. “Darling Duck, are you joking? You promised sister Simple that you will try hard to raise your level to 45. Then you would rejoin [Vanguard]…… ”

Darling Duck shook her head. “Nope, I changed my mind. I made that promise because I trusted them. But this video showed me that, like many others, I was lied to. I have no way to change others, however I can change myself. I will not lend my strength to such a person. Otherwise I won’t be able to live with myself……”

Rippling Pond knitted her eyebrows: “Then what about me?”

Darling Duck laughed lightly, “You could follow me and leave [Vanguard]. Dummy……”

“But our promise……”

Off to the side I responded, “Your promise was too naive. Since you are still young, it was easy to believe others. Why keep a promise given to an untrustworthy person?”

Rippling Pond pouted, “But I……”

Darling Duck laughed, “Whatever. Rippling Pond, you can continue to stay in [Vanguard], but I will definitely leave. I will message sister Simple that I want to leave [Vanguard]. Afterward…”

“What happens afterwards?” I lowered my head and looked at her.

Darling Duck laughed gently. “Xiao Yao, do you have a group? If you do, does the group need a Lv 42 noob Healer?”

My heart was bursting with joy as I clapped my hands together: “Yes! Why wouldn’t I want a Healer like you? Hehee, Lv 42 is no longer a noob. In my group, you will be the highest level!”

“Oh?” With a big smile Darling Duck replied. “My Lv 42 is considered the highest? What kind of group…oh…why do I feel like I was cheated?”

“No way, they have a very strong drive!” Raising my fist, “Zhan Long Studio is comprised of 4 people in total. Aside from me, there is an Assassin, a Berserker, and a Musketeer. We were sorely missing a Healer. Darling Duck, do you know that you joining my team is like a coal delivery during a snowstorm?”

Note: Chinese saying = a great gift

“What are their current levels? Don’t lie to me…” Darling Duck chuckled.

I let out a loud sigh, “Don’t worry. Within 24 hours, they will all be Lv 40. Once they reach your level, you guys can level together. These brothers of mine might not have any skills, but they are hot-blooded and have a passion for leveling. They won’t disappoint you!”

“Okay then……”

Holding her healing staff, Darling Duck stood up. Bowing to me, she asked with a smile, “Then this little girl will be officially joining Zhan Long Studio today. Do I call you brother Xiao Yao or Boss from now on?”

Without thinking, I answered, “Boss, the same as them.”

“Hm hmmm, Boss, you are so handsome!”

“You just realized that now…”

“That was a joke, don’t take it so seriously…”

To the side, Rippling Pond could no longer keep watching. Lifting her staff she said, “I’m going back to the Pear Blossom Forest. Darling Duck, are you really going to leave [Vanguard]?”

Darling Duck nodded seriously, “Yes. I will join Boss Xiao Yao’s group. [Vanguard] and I will no longer have any relationship!”

“Okay, I will return first…”

“Rippling Pond, if you are bullied by [Vanguard] then come to Zhan Long…” I added quickly. “Honestly, we really need a high level DPS Mage as well…”

Rippling Pond laughed: “Ah, I knew that handsome Xiao Yao was a good person. If I was really bullied, I would join you without any hesitation but at that time please don’t abandon me……”

“How could I? Don’t you have somewhere you need to be? Go ahead!”

“Okay……”

……

With her magic boots, Rippling Pond pushed off the ground. Her wings started to flutter, and she flew away, leaving the two of us behind, sitting in the valley.

“Boss, what are we going to do now?” Darling Duck looked at me.

“How about we meet up with the 3 other members of the Zhan Long Studio, become good friends, level together and slowly expand our group? We can’t compete with [Vanguard] in terms of numbers and levels. Don’t hold it against Zhan Long for not being extraordinary……”

“Hm hmm, no way, I joined for Boss Xiao Yao. I believe that with Big Brother Xiao Yao as the boss, this group will not disappoint me!”

“Hm, let’s go!”

“Okay!”

……

I sent Little Wolf a message—

“Little Wolf, where are you guys leveling right now? Still at Frost Maple Heights?”

“Yes, Brother Xiao Yao, do you need something?”

“Yup. Something big: I will introduce the Healer that will join our Zhan Long!”

“Oh, cool! Who? What level? What is the healing output?”

“Darling Duck, a Lv 42 Healer. Her Lv 5 [Heal] recovers more than 900 health; I’m estimating that her equipment boosts her healing by at least 20%!”

“Good good! Oh yeah, that name sounds really familiar……isn’t she……a former [Vanguard] Healer? Not to mention, she is pretty well known. Adding her to the operation would make everything so much easier……”

“Yeah, that’s her. What about it?”

“That’s really great. Are you going to bring her here, or do you want us to head over to you?”

“We will head over to Frost Maple Heights now!”

“Okay, we will wait for you guys!”

……

I brought Darling Duck through the dense forest and 20 minutes later, we arrived at Frost Maple Heights. This zone was really big and wasn’t meant for people to run through. Good thing the game doesn’t have a stamina stat, otherwise it would have been tiring to run continuously for 20 minutes.

One by one, I invited Old K, Fox, and Little Wolf into the party. 3 small orange dots appeared on the Frost Maple Heights map. After walking a couple more steps, the 3 bodies appeared in front of us: Lv 38 Assassin, Lv 37 Berserker, and Lv 37 Musketeer. Their leveling speeds were really, really quick.

“Let’s introduce ourselves!”

I walked forward with my sword. Laughing I said, “This is Darling Duck, these 3 are the noobs of Zhan Long Studio……”

Old K clapped: “I welcome the beautiful Darling Duck to our group!”

Fox squinted: “A high quality girl……”

Darling Duck’s face reddened. “Everyone, please don’t tease me. Are you guys leveling here? This is for both gold farming and leveling right?”

“Yup!” Little Wolf lifted his dagger, in a deep voice. “But now that Brother Xiao Yao has come, we could go attempt the A-rank quest that Old K received……”

“Oh? An A-rank quest?” This sparked my interest. Perfect timing. Darling Duck just joined us, so doing a quest together would be good for the group’s teamwork.

Done by Zdog and Based Jessica!