Chapter 166: Joining Forces Against the Wrongdoers

Sila and Julia waited for Sebastian and his friends in front of his shop. A few minutes later, Sebastian exited the shop and announced the temporary closure of his shop. Obviously, there were voices of dissatisfaction, though they weren’t to the point of openly cursing at him. It seemed they were all fully aware that only regret awaited them if they got on Sebastian’s bad side. Many of them left, but there were still a few of them who decided to wait since it was only a temporary close.

Sebastian approached Sila, accompanied by two people unfamiliar to him. It took him no time to realize that the first person was Franz in human form. She had the same facial features with long white hair done up in a ponytail. She was wearing a silk Chinese dress, and gave off the vibe of a prideful lady. As for the other one, Asura, he was a bald dark-skinned man with his body being so thin to the point that his skeleton outline was visible. His eye sockets were quite large as if he didn’t get any sleep for years. He wore shabby metal armor that was patched with pieces of fabric, and had a ruby red short sword by his waist.

The trio joined Sila and Julia, and they began to walk along the street.

Sebastian was the first to talk. “Congratulations, Miss Head Maid, on gaining a physical body.”

“It’s thanks to Master’s kindness. I slept for a long time during the process. Once again, please grant me your hospitality.”

“The same applies to me.”

Sila already got used to being the center of attention. Even though he was wearing a mask, the fact that he was walking alongside a maid and a butler was undoubtedly striking to the eyes. The five of them continued walking and finally arrived at the best Chinese restaurant in Zhongsuyuan City, named Sunny Pine Tree Restaurant.

Burapha was waiting for their arrival in front of the restaurant. Upon seeing them, he led them upstairs to the reserved room. Once they entered the room, the first scene they saw was the sight of Bluebird enjoying various dishes in front of him. For the record, even though it was called a reserved room, it wasn’t that private. Only a thin partition was set up to separate them from the public area.

“Oh, everyone has come? Come in, come in. The food here is really delicious, comparable to Julia’s cooking,” Bluebird said.

All of them sat down around the table that was covered by various types of Chinese dishes. Julia began to constantly spoon food onto Sila’s plate, resulting in him having to put a stop to her action eventually. Meanwhile, Sebastian sat idly without touching any of the food. As for Franz, she slowly ate the food in a ladylike manner while taking a side glance at Sila from time to time. Asura didn’t seem to care about the food and only drank sake, while Burapha summoned Lala and they both ate the food at a normal pace. Bluebird, on the other hand, was eating very quickly and making quite a mess.

At some point, Sila broke the silence. “Is the food not suited to your tastes? Some of you don’t seem to enjoy it.”

Bluebird was the first to reply, even though his mouth was full of chicken meat. “Eh? No, it’s superb. Since Julia went to sleep, I haven’t gotten any chances to eat this grade of food. The guild only pays me enough to eat two bowls of cheap noodles per meal.”

Sila moved his glance to point his attention to someone else. Asura had already lowered his guard against Sila, so he began to answer.

“I can’t eat normal food. I can only consume liquids, and this sake is quite delicious. I won’t complain over a free meal anyway.”

“As for a delicate lady like me, this is already a lot. The food is very delicious. Thank you, young master, for your treat.”

Sebastian and Asura shared the same thought in their mind: You two-faced poisonous snake!

Sila somehow felt strange. From what he witnessed in Sebastian’s shop, he didn’t think that Franz had such a well-behaved personality.

“That’s good to hear. And here I was worried that you all didn’t like the food.”

Suddenly, Sebastian stood up and prepared to leave. “Mister Sila, I have a matter to take care of...”

Sila lifted his hand up to stop him. “If it’s about the group of people gathering downstairs, please don’t bother. We don’t know if they are here to pick a fight with us.”

Everyone in the room was surprised that Sila could sense the group as well. Sebastian, Asura, and Franz noticed the malice and killing intent of the people down below thanks to their monster instincts. It’s also natural for Bluebird to notice their arrivals from the tailorbirds spread throughout the city. As for Burapha, he possessed Psychic Eyes that surpassed normal vision. They all didn’t expect that Sila, who didn’t seem to expand his sphere of qi out, was able to sense the people below.

Though, in fact, Sila was constantly utilizing his power from inside. His energy didn’t leak out at all, so people would have a hard time sensing his power and instead thought that he was rather unprepared. Even Asura and Franz who had looked at him in slight contempt had to look at him again in a new light.

Soon, a man walked upstairs, following by a group of six players. Then, there was a commotion downstairs and the sound of footsteps running out of the restaurant.

The man and his team approached the partition in front of the room where Sila and his friends were eating.

“Please excuse my rudeness, everyone in the room. I just happen to have something to ask you.” The sound of a young man rang out.

Sebastian looked at Sila to ask for his opinion, to which Sila nodded. Thus, Sebastian slid the partition open.

The person who spoke just now was probably the blue-haired young man in a silver knight uniform who stood at the front. Behind him was a group of six people whose strengths didn’t seem to be ordinary.

Sila seemed to have been appointed as the spokesperson for his team. Since the opposing party had yet to be impolite, he decided not to be rude to them in return.

“Do you have any business with us?”

“It’s nothing much, ladies and gentlemen. We just have a trivial request to ask of you.”

“Please state your request. If I can help you, I will do it.”

“It’s not difficult, I just need the two of you to remove your masks. If you are not the one we are looking for, we will peacefully leave.”

“Who is it that you are looking for?”

“He is Venom, the Poison Master. I received a report that Venom has infiltrated Zhongsuyuan City. This person is the public enemy of everyone. We need to get rid of him.”

The last time Sila met Venom was in Colossia City’s Tournament. Afterward, he heard Venom had declared to the world that he would seek revenge against Sila. However, the Royal Armament Guild collapsed soon after, so he didn’t have any backup and had to flee from the ones who chased after his life all over Monster Soul. It was a story in the past which Sila almost forgot all about.

Unexpectedly, there was someone else in the room who showed a peculiar reaction. That person was Franz. The fact that a mere human was hailed as the Poison Master irritated her. This title was like a slap to her face, implying that she was inferior to a human.

Modestly, Sila replied, “Neither of us is Venom, I guarantee you. It seems you guys are in the wrong place.”

“Whether we are in the wrong place or not, we will confirm it with our own eyes. All we need is for you two gentlemen to remove your masks.”

“Both of us wear a mask because we don’t want everyone else to see our faces. We have our circumstances. How can we be sure that you guys are not our enemies?”

“The fact that you don’t remove your mask means you are a suspect. It proves that you are wrongdoers, being dishonest to us. If you two don’t remove your masks, we will have no choice but to join forces and use violence under the name of justice.”

Bluebird swallowed a piece of meat into his throat before stating his opinion, “Venom is skilled at disguise using his earth magic. Even if my friends remove their masks, you still can’t be certain if they are Venom or not. What you are doing is pointless.”

“You have a point, young master. In that case, I guess we will have no choice but to use a more reliable method. Let me just check the names of you two when you die. There will be no lie in the names that the system announces.”

The young man replied politely, but the meaning behind his words meant their peaceful conversation had come to an end.

“What if neither of us is Venom? How do you plan to take responsibility?”

“It’s fine to kill a wrong person, but it’s wrong to not kill a suspicious person. If it turns out that you are not Venom, I will personally come to visit you at the rebirth point to give you my apologies.”

“I don’t think apologizing is enough to atone for you killing us though.”

The young man gave them a faint smile. “Sorry, sir, but that’s already the best that I can do for you. We don’t have time to spend compensating everyone we kill. You should already be grateful that I will apologize.”

“I won’t just sit still and obediently accept my death, you know?” Sila said coldly.

“I understand. I will do my best to not let you suffer too much.”

The young man clapped his hands twice, and twenty more people bolted upstairs. They took their stances neatly and orderly, showing that they were a group of professionals.

“It’s not too late to change your mind. Just remove your masks and surrender only the lives of you two. If you do that, your friends won’t have to die with you.”

The reputations of Sila and Burapha were well known. If they just removed their masks and let the group of the young man in silver knight armor investigate a bit, they might be able to avoid the conflict. However, this method only worked if the opposing party really sought Venom and would not tell anyone about this. If they revealed their identities, the fact that Sila and Burapha were in the city would no longer be a secret. Afterward, it was possible that their enemies would come to know this information, gather, and search for them. Considering this, removing their masks was never an option.

Moreover, since the opposing party came to them with hostility, Sila didn’t want to yield to their request anyway.

Sebastian stepped forward. “My name is Sebastian, and I’m quite famous in this area. You can confirm my statement with any of the locals. I can assure you that neither of these two is the man you seek, and I guarantee that you will regret becoming our enemies.”

One of the young man’s subordinates came forth and whispered some words to him. The young man nodded once, and his subordinate stepped back.

Meanwhile, Asura was almost choking on his sake. “So Sebastian can be kind to others?”

Sebastian turned his head to reply, “I won’t be if this place is somewhere else. I am opening a business here, so I want people to respect me, not fear me. I will be in a bad spot if my customers are too afraid of me to come to my shop.”

“Hey, you can’t just let them leave. I want to know who the hell is the Poison Master they are talking about,” argued Franz.

The trio began to talk among themselves and were no longer interested in the young man and his people. Admittedly, Sila recognized that the young man in front of him was good at keeping his cool, unlike his subordinates who started to show ruthless expressions, wanting to take action at any moment.

“Your name won’t work on me, Mister Sebastian. This matter is far more important than your trivial business. It will be in your best interests to not meddle in our conversation. Whether your shop stays or disappears is for me to decide. All I need to do is lift up my hand.”

Sebastian smirked. “Is that so? You only need to lift up your hand? Mn. Humans really are creatures that shed no tears until seeing the coffin. I even offered a way out but you still declined my kindness. It’s a pity. Death is in front of you, yet you are still unaware of it.”

Although Sebastian was famous, he had never showed his skills in public. Most of the rumors about him only came from a handful of victims spreading his ruthlessness to the masses. Therefore, it’s unavoidable that someone might not believe the rumors.

“No need to intimidate us. Your ability is only a rumor. This kind of thing is easy to fabricate.”

“Have you ever heard the proverb: there is no smoke without fire?”

“I suppose it’s a small bonfire that creates an unusually large amount of smoke, then.”

“Ah, I admit that you are quite skilled with words. Hopefully, you are as skilled with your sword as you are with your tongue.”

Killing intent was emitted from the people behind the young man. Yet, Sila was still perfectly calm. He was reviewing his Weapon Subduing Art in his head.

At that moment, Julia stood up and volunteered, “Master, please let me take care of this matter.”

“I think we better fight together, Julia. This is your first battle, so I think you should start by targeting the weak ones. I recommend those guys in the rear or the ones that try to flee. I also want to try my new moves, so I will handle those in the front. Miss Franz and Mister Asura are our guests, so I won’t force or forbid you to take action. Please feel free to do anything. What about you, Sebastian?”

“Ah, about that, since my respected master wants to have some exercise, I won’t take action to avoid being in your way.”

“Likewise, I won’t do anything,” Bluebird quickly declared.

“Let me fight too, Big Brother. I want to try fighting against a group of enemies. Furthermore, I don’t like their attitudes.”

Asura lifted a cup of sake up and poured it into his mouth. “Against them? I won’t take action so I don’t bring shame to my reputation.”

As for Franz, she only gently picked up food with her chopsticks. “Just leave one or two of them alive for me to question.”

The group outside was getting annoyed, as Sila’s group was casually thinking of them as small fries. Some of them even started to yell. However, the young man who was the leader gestured his hand to make them stop.

“These people are only trying to infuriate us. Don’t fall for their provocations. Just stick to what we have practiced. Keep our calm and no one can oppose our combined forces.”

Recalling the content in Pumin’s book, Sila remembered that his father had encountered a similar situation. Since Mora told him to imitate how others reacted to certain situations in order to improve his social skill, Sila decided that, for now, he would imitate Pumin.

Although he had never met his own father, the book recorded several events from his adventures. The more Sila read, the more he learned about his father’s personality. Sometimes, he could even imagine Pumin’s face. Imitating his own father also gave him a sense that he was becoming closer to his parents.

“Infuriating is an action only used by the weak. Against insects like you, there is no need for me to do something so pointless like that. You slandering me as I’m taunting you is, in fact, your ridiculous attempt to infuriate me. As expected of you pieces of trash, thinking that you are so superior to others.”

Listening to Sila’s remark, Bluebird, Burapha, and even Sebastian felt strange. It was their first time hearing Sila insult other people. His words were too vicious even against the enemy. For his comrades to think that way, it's not necessary to describe the opposing side. The young man’s attempt to suppress their anger ended up in vain as they snapped. The fight could break out at any moment now.

Sila stood up and slowly walked toward them. Likewise, Burapha summoned his lance and tightened his grip on it while following Sila. Meanwhile, Sebastian stepped back, leaving only Sila, Burapha, and Julia to fight.

“Now that I think about it, you have yet to hear my name. Allow me to introduce myself, so that you might change your mind and get on your knees, begging for your death. My name is—”

Sila cut in, “No need to tell me. I don’t care. When you die, the system will inform me anyway.”

Readying his sword, the young man signaled the start of the battle. Sila and Burapha dashed forward. This moment marked Sila’s first chance to use his Nine-Styles Weapon Subduing Art against real enemies.