“Who? Which bastard let it slip that you failed? Boss, tell me, and I’ll make sure to teach him a lesson. I curse his whole family with a hundred boils!” A Teng swore with the same ease as taking a sip of water, completely unaware that the cursed bastard was actually himself.
“Wow, you can really make such a vicious vow. If you’re so brave, just don’t admit it and let the debt collectors take care of you.”
“Boss, it really wasn’t me! As devout as I am, how could I be that kind of scoundrel who sells out for glory? Please, have mercy and save me!”
“You still… I told you not to deny it…”
“Ah, Boss, don’t slap my face like that, ah…”
Thus, Lu Fei Fan unleashed a flurry of shadowless kicks and rapid punches on the whining A Teng, treating him like a human sandbag. A Teng lay on the ground, howling in agony yet somehow seeming to enjoy it. Niu Dali occasionally joined in with a few kicks before quickly retreating outside, grinning innocently as if nothing had happened.
Half an hour later, after experiencing the thrill of venting his frustrations on A Teng, Lu Fei Fan felt considerably better. As for the scandal about Lu Fei Fan not graduating, A Teng eventually confessed that it was his own careless slip while trying to impress a girl that led to the rumor spreading. He hadn’t expected it to evolve into such exaggerated versions.
After getting up with a bruised face and swollen features, Lu Fei Fan’s anger had mostly dissipated. After inquiring about the amount he owed from his bet losses, he borrowed Niu Dali’s virtual wristwatch. Opening his virtual account, he transferred all the money they had saved up over time to A Teng’s virtual account. While it wasn’t much, it was enough for him to pay off two months’ worth of high-interest loans and avoid being castrated or killed before being dumped on the street. As for the other gambling debts, A Teng would have to figure that out himself; Lu Fei Fan couldn’t be bothered even if it meant A Teng had to resort to selling himself.
Lu Fei Fan seemed accustomed to this situation by now; he didn’t even know how many times he had saved A Teng. Whether it was helping him pay off debts or dealing with the lovers chasing after him, without Lu Fei Fan and Niu Dali’s assistance, A Teng would probably have been chopped into pieces and fed to fish long ago.
After all these years of shared hardships, A Teng was still considered a brother by Lu Fei Fan. Although they hadn’t enjoyed great fortune together, they had supported each other through tough times. He remembered their reckless youth when they would lift skirts of girls together only to get beaten up by a group of protective boyfriends—it was all worth it for the laughs.
A friend who shared bread with him during hard times and wore the same pants was someone Lu Fei Fan cherished deeply, even if sometimes he crossed lines.
“Let’s go back.”
Lu Fei Fan kicked A Teng lightly to help him up and then led Niu Dali as the three of them walked toward the campus exit against the glaring sunset light. In an instant, their mood shifted back to playful banter and laughter.
…
The evening sun continued its relentless warmth, casting rays like a striped waterfall across the sky filled with bands of blue and red clouds of various colors. Ever since the great disaster, natural phenomena had become quite bizarre.
A streak of light shot across the sky, growing larger as it swiftly cut through the clouds, shining brilliantly. As it entered several thousand meters into the atmosphere, it became evident that it was trailing a thick plume of smoke as it tilted and plummeted toward the distance. Its exterior was ablaze from the friction with the atmosphere, and anyone observing closely would be astonished to see that this falling object, resembling a meteor, was actually a Black Metal sphere.
It hurtled toward its impact point, but instead of meeting solid ground, it plunged into the vast green sea.
Boom!
The azure waters erupted into towering waves over ten meters high, extinguishing the fierce flames of the fiery orb that had descended from outer space. As the foam from the sea surged upward, the Black Metal sphere began to sink slowly toward the ocean floor.
Suddenly, a powerful ripple of energy emanated from the sphere in the water. Within seconds, a ferocious creature, resembling a shark and measuring over ten meters in length, swiftly swam into view. It was clearly summoned by the strange wave.
The beast twisted its body and bared its teeth, driving away the fish that surrounded the Black Metal sphere. It was either protecting or attempting to claim this object. The Metal Ball began to shrink from its original several-meter diameter until it transformed into a Black Sphere less than half a meter wide, quietly floating in the water.
The sea creature lunged forward and opened its mouth wide, swallowing the bizarre Black Sphere in one gulp before quickly retreating.
Before long, a dozen even larger and more fearsome Sea Beasts appeared in the area, dwarfing the previous creature. From the depths of the dark ocean, a pair of astonishingly large and terrifying eyes suddenly opened, scattering the swimming fish around them. A powerful and domineering consciousness frightened many creatures away; it searched for that object but found nothing before quietly descending back into the depths, gradually restoring calm.
After being swallowed by the Sea Beast, the mysterious Black Sphere vanished without a trace. Once the dominant creature left, other hungry Sea Beasts began to converge in this area, engaging in a chaotic hunt for prey.
The law of nature has always been survival of the fittest.
However, this level of carnage triggered a surge among nearby Sea Beast Monsters, stirring excitement among vast marine life. The disturbance spread initially over dozens of meters, then hundreds of meters, and finally thousands of meters outward in concentric circles until tens of miles of ocean were teeming with agitated Sea Beasts.
This phenomenon was soon observed from a forward island located several thousand meters away within a human safety zone.
Shortly after, several figures whizzed through the ocean safety zone and flew over to where the earlier chaos had unfolded above the Sea Surface. They hovered in mid-air while the Sea Surface had already returned to calmness, with only the blood-red water indicating that something significant had just occurred.
A dozen formidable human warriors exchanged glances, having never witnessed such a bizarre phenomenon, a sense of unease lingering in their hearts.
"Is this it?"
The leader, a rugged man with a fierce scar running down his cheek, calmly took out the Ocean Compass from his pocket. After determining the ocean's direction and confirming the coordinates were accurate, he began preparing for action.
"It should be here. According to the energy fluctuations detected by the lighthouse, the object's landing point should be nearby."
"Captain, what exactly are we looking for?" a tall young man beside him couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"Don't ask what you shouldn't. This is something the President specifically tasked our team to find. Once we locate it, we'll return it to the Council Lighthouse for a generous reward. Now, let's split into three teams and start searching. Remember, if you encounter any Ocean Beasts that you can't handle, retreat immediately—no fighting back."
After giving his orders, the captain swiftly divided the group into three teams. Each warrior activated their energy shields, creating a protective barrier around themselves. Then, in an orderly fashion, they descended into the water of their designated sea areas, resembling transparent balloons sinking into the ocean.
Underwater, they moved effortlessly thanks to their Energy Shields, gliding through the water like fish. Upon reaching their predetermined zones, they launched attacks against the Ocean monsters drawn by the commotion. Soon enough, all nearby creatures were slaughtered cleanly, and the Hunting Party began to expand its hunting grounds in the ocean. However, hunting was not their true objective; they were searching for the fallen Black Metal Sphere from outer space!
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