Chapter Thirty-Two: Vindication!

The only thought in Lu Sheng’s mind was that this man could withstand five times his own strength—quite impressive. After all, Lu Sheng himself was already at the late stage of the first tier, and his opponent's cultivation was also at the late stage of the first tier—the same as his own. With equal levels, Lu Sheng had used fivefold strength, yet Niu Ming could still face him head-on, which was commendable.

But thinking about it, this was also related to Niu Ming’s life card. His life card was a black-skinned bull, which gave him both defensive and strength boosts.

Lu Sheng had been in this settlement for half a month. He hadn’t memorized everyone, but he had made a point to remember the key figures. He might not recall the captains of other teams, but the sixth team and his own seventh team were always at odds. The members of his squad often chatted about them, so Lu Sheng had come to know a bit about the sixth team’s captain.

Lu Sheng decided to reveal a bit of his strength. With the presence of the Red Pouch, it would be easy to explain, and frankly, he was quite fed up with these people. Not teaching them a lesson would leave him unwilling.

Quietly, his strength surged—to tenfold.

Niu Ming threw a punch at Lu Sheng as usual, but suddenly, an inexplicable unease washed over him—a chill, like something bad was about to happen. His heart trembled. The man before him suddenly radiated extreme danger.

He shook his head to dispel the strange thoughts. How could one get distracted in a fight?

Lu Sheng raised his arm and punched.

“Bang!”

Niu Ming was sent flying backwards, shock filling his eyes as he hung in midair. If not for the searing pain in his hand, he would have thought he was dreaming.

Who was his opponent? Just a nameless subordinate under Shi Jiu. And yet, he had been sent flying by one of Shi Jiu’s men?

Disbelief flooded Niu Ming’s mind—he simply couldn’t accept it.

Zhou Jian and Shi Jiu’s gazes were drawn over, wanting to see what had happened.

“This is impossible!” Zhou Jian could hardly believe it. Niu Ming’s strength was nearly on par with his own, and in hand-to-hand combat, Niu Ming was even superior. But after only two exchanges, Niu Ming had been sent flying. How could he believe it?

Believe it or not, it was reality.

He stared wide-eyed at Lu Sheng, a sudden fear creeping into his heart. If Niu Ming had been taken down, could he take on the remaining two by himself? Clearly not.

Zhou Jian said in a low voice, “Shi Jiu, I admit defeat in this matter.”

He turned to leave, as if that would be the end of it. But how could Lu Sheng let him go? Did they think they could just walk away after losing? If Lu Sheng and his group had lost, would they have been robbed again today?

Lu Sheng stepped forward, blocking Zhou Jian. “Stop! You think you can just leave after this? Isn’t that wishful thinking?”

Zhou Jian met Lu Sheng’s cold gaze and immediately flared up. When had he ever been threatened like this? “Then what do you want?”

His tone was chilly, and the tension at the scene was rapidly escalating.

Lu Sheng snorted. “What do I want? Simple—an eye for an eye. Didn’t you want our skill cards? Well, I happened to see you obtain a card just now. Hand it over, and today’s matter is settled.”

Zhou Jian ignored Lu Sheng and instead looked at Shi Jiu. “What about you? Are we really going to tear each other apart over this?”

Shi Jiu sneered. “You have the nerve to say that? Tearing each other apart? From the moment you surrounded us, you showed your true colors. If I’d known, I’d have let you die instead of helping.”

Zhou Jian was caught on the horns of a dilemma. If he backed down, he’d lose all face in the future. But if he didn’t… the situation was clearly against them.

At that moment, several teams surged in from all sides. One man shouted, “All of you, stop right there!”

The newcomer was Liu An, vice-captain of the seventh team. The others were also from the seventh team. Four squads in total—forty people.

The situation shifted in an instant. The sixth team was surrounded, while the seventh team watched them with hostile eyes.

Liu An strode up to Zhou Jian and, without a word, slapped him across the face.

A crisp sound rang out.

Liu An’s voice was icy. “You really have some nerve, daring to lay a hand on one of our seventh team?”

Zhou Jian said nothing, his expression dark. They had no chance of resisting now; any bluster would only earn another beating.

Seeing Zhou Jian’s silence, Liu An snorted and stopped paying him further attention, turning to Shi Jiu for an explanation.

After hearing what had happened, Liu An’s anger only grew. “So this is the sixth team’s style? You people are shameless!”

Zhou Jian and his companion stayed silent. There was nothing left to say—they’d been caught. When there was no evidence, their opponents could do nothing, but now they could only accept their fate.

Liu An faced Zhou Jian. “You have a card, don’t you? Hand it over.”

Zhou Jian didn’t resist. He took out the card he’d just acquired and handed it to Liu An.

“Get lost!” Liu An barked after taking the card. He wouldn’t really kill them—what needed to be done was done.

With tails between their legs, Zhou Jian and his men slunk away, not daring to make a sound.

Liu An then handed the card to Shi Jiu. “Here, take it.”

Shi Jiu refused. “Vice-captain, I can’t accept this.”

Liu An frowned. “I told you to take it, so take it. Why all the nonsense? Don’t you know my temper?”

Shi Jiu could only smile wryly and accept the card.

[Acceleration]

Function: Upon use, increases speed by ten percent for ten minutes.

A function card.

Afterwards, Liu An led his men away. Apparently, his brother Liu Quan had made some discovery and needed help, and Liu An had come across them on his way to gather assistance.

Shi Jiu’s group still had a task to complete, otherwise they would have been dragged along as well.

Liu Quan and Liu An—two brothers, both vice-captains of the seventh team.

The matter was resolved perfectly. No one in their squad was injured, and everyone felt thoroughly vindicated.

Zhou Jian, on the other hand, had lost both his men and his spoils. Some of his teammates were injured—just Lu Sheng alone had broken one person’s arm, which would take at least ten days to heal, and another would need at least a day’s rest.

Shi Jiu was in high spirits. “Let’s go, keep patrolling!”

Lu Sheng felt completely at ease after this episode. But it wasn’t over yet—he still had a score to settle with Lei Yan.

The day passed quickly, and their patrol task was finally completed. After a hard day’s work, Lu Sheng felt no fatigue at all. In fact, he was even more exhilarated, because his bloodthirsty mosquitoes had matured that afternoon.

Thanks to the time-space ant’s enhanced power, his control over the subdimensional space had increased significantly. That afternoon, he had immobilized the bloodthirsty mosquitoes and had the goblins harvest them.

The result greatly satisfied him—all those bloodthirsty mosquitoes were at the peak of the first tier!