Chapter 101: Chapter 100: So It Really Is Possible to Invade? (4/5)
"Uh..." Looking at the unconscious Xiao Fa across from him, Shen Sui instinctively touched his nose, wondering if he had gone a bit too far.
The emotions got too deep, and it seemed he accidentally did something excessive.
"Well... you all saw it." Shen Sui coughed twice, looking at the referee and Yang Liguang, "I did advise him to surrender, but he just wouldn’t do it himself."
The nearby Exploration Bureau members were startled when they suddenly saw someone faint. But upon closer inspection, it seemed to be one of the Life Card Masters in this duel. After a moment’s hesitation, they quickly hoisted Xiao Fa and carried him away.
Yang Liguang, seeing Xiao Fa being pitifully carried away, initially had an awkward expression that suddenly became lively, but very quickly turned indifferent.
"Uh... referee." Yang Liguang was just an honorary referee, meaning just here as a familiar face, as the decision for the Ranking Tournament rested in the hands of the real referee, "Now that the opponent fainted, how should we count that?"
This referee was quite familiar with Shen Sui—he had refereed Shen Sui’s previous three Ranking Tournament matches. Seeing Shen Sui’s embarrassed smile, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
Xiao Fa certainly was detestable, but knocking someone out cold like this is not encouraged.
"The opponent has lost the ability to act, according to the competition rules, you have won the duel." The referee declared, "Congratulations, you have stepped into the threshold of a fourth-tier Life Card Master."
"Wow, is there such a rule?"
The referee couldn’t help but roll his eyes: "This rule is to prevent disputes over victory when one side has a sudden illness during a duel. But I never expected someone could actually knock another out during a duel."
After a pause, the referee patted Shen Sui’s shoulder and added: "You should be glad that Xiao Fa merely fainted. And plus, the guy’s reputation is terrible and poorly perceived across the net. Otherwise, just based on your actions, the Life Card Association could ban you for life."
"That would be unfair to me." Shen Sui spread his hands and said, "I did give him a chance to surrender, asked him several times, and he refused to surrender. I’m too weak; if I missed this opportunity, I might not have won."
This was a lie.
In fact, even without the infinite card-drawing chain, Shen Sui had means for a complete victory.
[Thunder Strike] clears the backfield, [arson] clears the front. For Shen Sui, Xiao Fa’s field was no unsolvable problem at all.
The referee was a master at reading minds and could undoubtedly see Shen Sui’s true intentions.
But so what?
Xiao Fa’s infamy was well-known even to him, and Shen Sui hadn’t done anything out of line during the duel. You couldn’t even find evidence of him being rude or disrespectful in speech. You can’t simply judge someone as having malice based on a few retorting words, can you?
"Congratulations, Shen Sui, on becoming a fourth-tier Life Card Master." Wu Ziqin walked over, clapping his hands, and with those words, defined the matter—any further pursuit would be a slap to Wu Ziqin’s face.
"Oh! Director Wu!" Shen Sui, seeing Wu Ziqin, exclaimed joyfully, "I forgot to ask over the phone earlier, what about my bonus...?"
About to exchange pleasantries, Wu Ziqin was immediately caught off guard by Shen Sui’s question.
"Hahaha, don’t worry, you won’t be short-changed; the process is already completed, and it will be credited to your account by mid-month." A young man appeared behind Wu Ziqin, extending his hand to Shen Sui, "Nice to meet you, I’m Zhang Fang, also a Life Card Master. If there’s a chance, let’s have an enjoyable duel."
Wu Ziqin looked helplessly at his superior.
Director Zhang’s old habit kicked in; he loved challenging people to duels at the drop of a hat.
Even though he had already retired, his enthusiasm for duels hadn’t waned a bit, even resorting to slapping the table and insisting on resolving disputes with duels when arguing with subordinates.
The key point was, the Exploration Bureau was filled with these retired Life Card Masters from professional circuits, and even Zhang Fang’s subordinates wouldn’t hold back, "Wanna duel? Then let’s duel, come on!"
And thus, the tone at the Huaxia Exploration Bureau would shift from rigorous office work into an intense duel arena.
As long as you win, you are right.
Wu Ziqin was a senior, a bit at a loss with the young folks’ mentality.
Shen Sui glanced skeptically at Zhang Fang, then turned to Wu Ziqin.
"Oh, let me introduce you." Only then did Wu Ziqin react, pointing at Zhang Fang and telling Shen Sui, "This is Director Zhang Fang, the General Director of the Huaxia Exploration Bureau. By the way, he’s also a ninth-tier Life Card Master."
"Ninth-tier?!" Shen Sui was not surprised but rather excited, pointing at the duel arena behind him whose equipment had yet to stop, and said to Zhang Fang, "Let’s have a duel right now!"
A ninth-tier Life Card Master! Wow!
In any country, they are a rare high-level Life Card Master.
Shen Sui has always enjoyed challenging strong opponents.
Facing such a rare powerhouse, naturally, he can’t let the duel opportunity slip by.
"Sure, sure!" Zhang Fang, having watched Shen Sui’s duel, was itching for a fight, and instinctively agreed.
"Ahem!" Wu Ziqin coughed twice, reminding Zhang Fang of the current situation.
Only then did Zhang Fang realize that he was not here to goof off with duels but to arrest that mysterious person invading the real world.
He immediately composed himself and seriously said to Shen Sui: "Next time for sure. The current situation is extremely urgent; I’ll send you into the safe house first."
"Safe house?" Shen Sui felt a bit perplexed.
Zhang Fang led a group towards the underground of the Duel Training Hall.
Back when this professional facility was constructed, the existence of a safe house was planned, initially for the evacuation of personnel inside the venue during disasters. Now, it came in handy.
"Xiao Pei, why are you here too?" Wu Ziqin said somewhat helplessly upon seeing Bu Pei, "Your old man’s back, and you don’t go see him."
"What’s there to see." Bu Pei pouted.
Wu Ziqin did not say more, just pulled Bu Pei along to the safe house.
However, Shen Sui stayed beside Zhang Fang, not heading immediately to the safe house, as Zhang Fang seemed to have something to tell Shen Sui.
"Invasion? You mean the Soul invasion from the Soul Card World has entered the real world?" Zhang Fang’s opening indeed startled Shen Sui.
Even though he had somewhat speculated, he didn’t expect it to truly happen in reality.
"Yes, and that person seems to have targeted some of you already." Zhang Fang said. "So, to better protect you, and also to draw him out, we moved your Ranking Tournament forward."
"Uh, when placed into a typical suspense drama, it’s hard not to suspect this is gathering people to serve them up." Shen Sui quipped.
"Would you kindly place a bit of faith in the Exploration Bureau’s abilities?" Zhang Fang didn’t mind Shen Sui’s attitude.
"It’s because I trust in your abilities." Shen Sui replied.
If not trusting, where did my 5 million come from?
"So, why keep me back to tell me all this?" Shen Sui asked curiously, "Shouldn’t this be confidential?"
"It is confidential." Zhang Fang nodded, "This incident sets a precedent, requiring serious consideration on the individual invasion from the Soul Card World into reality."
"But at present, exploring the Soul Card World still outweighs the disadvantages, and we’ve found means to combat such invasions." Zhang Fang continued, "If this experiment goes well, we’re considering forming a specialized unit."
"Oh, and what’s that got to do with me?"
"Actually, quite a lot." Zhang Fang replied, "We suspect the soul on Feng Lindu isn’t the first individual to invade reality from the Soul Card World. We suspect the first invading individual came from the Dawn Continent. I hope you can search for relevant clues in the Dawn Continent."
As he spoke, Zhang Fang took out a notebook made of printed paper bound together.
"Investigate the intelligence related to the Twilight Saintess."
Shen Sui took the notebook from Zhang Fang.
"What is this?"
"The diary of the Twilight Saintess Vivian. This is a copy." Zhang Fang paused, adding, "It was discovered in reality."