Chapter 19 With Money Comes Capriciousness

Chapter 18 Tianjin Knight <TOC> Chapter 20 The Diverse Knight Orders

Translator: SumTLMan

Cui Mao took off his coat. Underneath the soft armor, his upper body was wrapped in tight black clothing, his muscular lines particularly prominent.

The Knight rolled his shoulders; his body looked extremely agile.

“Mr. Zhou, I specialize in hand-to-hand combat and single-target engagements.”

“For me, fists are the most powerful weapons.”

Cui Mao raised his right arm.

Zhou Yi noticed that his fist was wrapped in bandages, and his entire arm was enveloped in a hazy light.

“Watch out.”

Cui Mao exhaled a puff of white air; his fist, swift as a white blur, shot straight toward Zhou Yi’s chin.

Clang.

Zhou Yi slightly tilted his head back.

Giving the opponent some face.

The fist that struck his chin remained unnaturally rigid, and wisps of heat slowly rose from his forearm.

Cui Mao’s face instantly turned pale. He grasped his trembling right fist with his left hand, and his entire arm drooped down.

Red Falcon synchronized the inner thoughts of this Tianjin Knight to Zhou Yi.

——Even the overloaded deployment of Gun Fist couldn’t break through the defense? A D-class destructive skill completely ineffective?

——Not good, the side effects of Gun Fist are too intense this time.

——My right fist is unusable… Sigh, it’ll take a long time to reactivate it.

Cui Mao dragged his right hand and gave a wry smile, simply admitting defeat: “Thank you for letting me witness the real gap between myself and a strong practitioner.”

“No problem.”

Zhou Yi casually replied.

In the Dead Sea, countless monsters had attacked him. After ten years of daily strengthening his defense system, except for those high-class monsters in the upper and middle sea regions, none had broken through his defense.

Just now, Zhou Yi could clearly see:

The opponent’s attack caused 33 points of damage, completely negated by his defense.

This level of strength was far off.

Zhou Yi looked at the Knight before him: “It seems your hand won’t be usable for a while.”

Cui Mao nodded, hiding nothing from someone far stronger than himself: “My enhancement, Gun Fist, has a characteristic: if it causes damage feedback during battle, it gets activated and becomes excited, entering an overloaded berserk state that can cause armor-piercing effects.”

“In terms of destructive power, it has reached D-class.”

“Unfortunately, the drawback is also here. If it can’t inflict any damage at all, the Gun Fist will enter a negative state of evasion and fear. The entire arm will temporarily stop obeying commands, and it’ll take several days of recuperation to restore its confidence.”

Zhou Yi thought to himself, learning something new.

So when Enhancers strengthen parts of their bodies, the enhanced parts can develop characteristics similar to self-will and personality.

Cui Mao’s fist could handle advantageous and stalemated situations but couldn’t deal with disadvantageous ones at all.

A godly skill in favorable conditions.

Zhou Yi said: “In your current state, stay here and rest for two days before returning. It’s not entirely peaceful here either.”

Cui Mao touched his head with his still-functional left hand, his face showing slight embarrassment: “Truly embarrassing. Then I’ll impose on you.”

Gong Zheng led the camels into the courtyard to settle them and went to prepare a box-style room for the guest to stay in.

Zhou Yi gestured for Cui Mao to sit under the awning outside.

“Tell me about the bandits around here.”

Cui Mao pondered briefly and said: “The bandits around here are indeed a tricky problem. Chicken Head Town is under the jurisdiction of Sand Port and within the defense range of our Third Squadron. Although Grub Grain Town is an independent area, it borders closely. Sometimes, bandits hide in this area.”

“We’ve investigated; the bandits here are basically guards and private soldiers hired by merchants. They operate covertly and have various informants in Sand Port, so it’s not easy to root them out completely.”

“With Tianjin Knights stationed, bandits rarely appear near Sand Port. They drift to edge areas like this, attacking merchants and locals along the way, conducting raids periodically. Grub Grain Town doesn’t have regular armed forces, so it’s hard to solve this problem.”

Cui Mao pointed out the crux of the bandit issue.

In the wasteland era, the poorer the place, the more susceptible it was to bandit attacks.

“However, I think even if bandits appear nearby, they wouldn’t dare have any improper thoughts.”

Cui Mao said with a smile: “They also assess people before acting.”

Zhou Yi shook his head: “Not long ago, bandits led by an Enhancer attacked here, but I discovered and eliminated them in time.”

The other was shocked: “Are they crazy? Just the Warrior Crabs around here aren’t something they can contend with. Bandits are cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong, always picking safe, easy targets… This is really unbelievable.”

Zhou Yi asked him again: “Do you know an alchemist named Yang Si?”

Cui Mao showed a look of realization: “I remember this name. There’s a notice board for Yang Si in the Alchemist Association’s hall in Sand Port. Why?”

“He was the Enhancer leading the team.”

This made Cui Mao’s expression become serious.

Zhou Yi asked: “Are these bandits backed by the Alchemist Association?”

“No, Mr. Zhou. The Alchemist Association only provides professional ratings and guidance to alchemists. Only a very few high-level alchemists are affiliated with the association. Yang Si is just an ordinary member who has only received the association’s rating certification.”

“However.”

Cui Mao slowly said: “Yang Si’s boss is called Ji Chang. This person is not simple.”

“Ji Chang is a weapons dealer. He’s handled many large-scale weapons transactions, including new weapons manufactured by the Mechanical Light Absorber lifeforms, as well as ancient weapons from the Dead Sea… His personal background is very complicated.”

“He’s not only associated with some large marauder groups but is also an honorary Knight of the Dead Sea Knights, which essentially means he has their protection. Ji Chang’s whereabouts are hard to determine; he rarely shows up himself and usually sends his subordinates. He’s also on the key watch list of our Tianjin Knights.”

Zhou Yi had a speculation in his mind.

The bandits, including Yang Si, appearing here were likely after the Giant Mushroom in the Mushroom Forest that couldn’t stand up, under the instructions of the weapons dealer Ji Chang.

Cui Mao looked puzzled: “But I still don’t understand why Yang Si dared to launch an attack on you…”

Zhou Yi didn’t understand either.

However, he vaguely guessed that perhaps their excavation of the giant had reached a critical stage.

So they were highly vigilant of any movements around, leading to more aggressive actions.

But it didn’t matter.

For Zhou Yi, fighting was as natural as breathing.

Cui Mao suddenly said: “Mr. Zhou, I have a question. The two Mechanical Light Absorber lifeforms over by the oasis are reclaiming and plowing land. You must have hired them, right?”

“What kind of crops do you intend to plant and cultivate?”

“Sweet potatoes and peanuts.”

“……”

The other uttered an “ah,” his eyes becoming somewhat dazed: “Hiring them is extremely costly, and you did it just for sweet potatoes and peanuts…”

Zhou Yi told him: “Growing your own crops gives you peace of mind. You don’t have to worry about strange additives. Actually, I’m quite particular about food.”

Cui Mao held back for a long time, finally squeezing out a sentence: “Makes sense.”

Zhou Yi heard his inner thoughts.

——With money comes capriciousness. Doing whatever one wants… How nice…

Chapter 18 Tianjin Knight <TOC> Chapter 20 The Diverse Knight Orders

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