Zhang Shiyao suddenly spoke up, leaving both Shao Dongyang and Bai Qiu a little puzzled.
Just as Bai Qiu turned to look at her, she said enthusiastically, “Do you have any dungeon cards that need clearing? I can help!”
“If my brother doesn’t have time, I can go instead—but my fee will be the same as his!” she added.
Bai Qiu instinctively wanted to refuse, but then he remembered that she now had the ability to slaughter multiple Dragonfang Lords, and aside from Azure Light, she had also gained a powerful consecutive blink skill.
She was now someone who possessed both damage and mechanics. Handling some dungeons shouldn’t be a problem for her.
Although Shao Dongyang knew that Zhang San had been killed, he didn’t believe Zhang Shiyao was the one who did it.
After all, how could such a thin, harmless-looking little girl possibly kill Zhang San?
It had to be just an excuse Bai Qiu made to clear himself!
But now, hearing this child say she would take Bai Qiu’s place to help them clear a dungeon, he gave an awkward smile and said,
“Haha… little one, this kind of thing is probably still too early for you. You should just go back with your brother, okay?”
“Pfft…” Bai Qiu couldn’t hold back his laughter.
She really did look like an innocent, harmless little girl.
When escorting survivors, she had only shown her clone ability, and even then, it was just used to clear minor mobs.
Wang Haoyu’s report about her was probably something like: a fairly ordinary child archer, equipped with a decent skill and good accuracy.
The person being underestimated, however, was clearly unhappy.
She looked at Bai Qiu, who was trying to hide his laughter, and said resentfully, “Brother!”
She didn’t care about other people’s opinions, nor did she intend to reveal her true abilities in front of others.
But she knew that as long as Bai Qiu agreed to let her handle the dungeon, she wouldn’t need to prove anything at all.
“Ahem.” Bai Qiu quickly composed himself and looked at the still-hesitant Shao Dongyang, speaking confidently:
“This girl does indeed have the capability. At this stage, if someone can defeat her, that person would have the strength to fight me—or even push me into a tough battle.
“And when it comes to exploring dungeons specifically, she’s actually more useful than I am.”
He didn’t elaborate further or expose her trump cards, only giving a brief summary of her abilities.
In terms of raw combat power and efficiency, Zhang Shiyao was certainly inferior to him.
But what if she had five stored Demon-Gathering Thorn (Pseudo), plus two more that she and her clones could cast on the spot?
Seven Noble Phantasms detonating at once—even the Dreamlike Flower Sea that had once pushed Bai Qiu and the others into danger a few days ago could now be cleared by her alone!
Shao Dongyang still looked doubtful.
Bai Qiu said, “If you’re willing, I can let her stay here temporarily to help you clear the dungeon. But as for the payment, you’ll have to negotiate that yourselves.”
He then glanced at the two student girls standing nearby and said, “You two… actually, never mind. I’ll just check for myself.”
He had originally wanted to ask about their basic information, but after a moment’s thought, he decided against it.
His gaze sharpened as he directly examined their personal data.
The girl with shoulder-length hair was named Wang Shiyun, while the girl with waist-length hair was named Feng Yuling.
As for their attributes, there was no need to explain—they were very weak, belonging to the stat-dependent Rider and Caster classes.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you to get familiar with Zone 2233…” Bai Qiu said, then glanced at the system time.
It was 7:26 PM—only four minutes left until the time he had agreed upon with Ning Xingxue!
“Change of plans. We’re going to Zone 2243 first. Follow me.”
Bai Qiu walked up to the teleportation device, set Wang Shiyun and Feng Yuling into his party, and began inputting the coordinates.
“Shiyao, come here.” As if remembering something, he waved Zhang Shiyao over.
Zhang Shiyao, who had been confronting Shao Dongyang, immediately blinked to Bai Qiu’s side upon hearing this.
The sudden movement left Shao Dongyang utterly shocked.
He hadn’t even seen when she moved!
It seemed Bai Qiu wasn’t exaggerating.
If so, then her claim of being the strongest in Zone 2233 aside from Bai Qiu might actually be true…
…
Bai Qiu had already communicated with A Yuan in advance: if he wasn’t around, it should follow Zhang Shiyao’s commands.
It was very intelligent—even without telepathic communication, it could now understand basic instructions.
“Take this. Only call it out if you encounter danger. Also, these potions and raw meat—remember to feed it. Don’t let it go hungry,” Bai Qiu said calmly, handing the Contract Space Card to Zhang Shiyao.
The Contract Space Card functioned like a piece of equipment, allowing the beast inside to be summoned.
As for whether it would obey, that entirely depended on its own willingness.
If its affinity toward Zhang Shiyao became higher than toward Bai Qiu, it was even possible for it to become her spirit pet directly.
Of course, if the card fell into the hands of an enemy, and they tried to summon A Yuan and order it to attack its original master—toward whom it had maxed affinity—there would only be one outcome:
They would be bitten back immediately.
The Contract Space Card was merely a tool—the one that truly made decisions was the spirit beast inside it.
….
Zhang Shiyao nodded and accepted the Contract Space Card.
She had already been confident to begin with, and now with A Yuan as a powerful ally, she was completely fearless.
Bai Qiu, along with Wang Shiyun and Feng Yuling, was enveloped by a beam of blue light and disappeared from the teleportation device.
Zhang Shiyao turned back to look at Shao Dongyang, who was still in shock, and said,
“Alright, now we can talk about the payment, Uncle Shao.”
…
And so, Zhang Shiyao stayed behind in Area 2229 to help the troops clear dungeons, while Bai Qiu brought the two girls to keep his appointment.
At this moment, somewhere in a desolate wilderness, skeleton priests holding staffs began gathering one after another.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that within a patch of hay sat a crimson-colored skeleton priest in meditation…
It wore a glowing red robe and held a crystal staff.
However, that staff looked far more grotesque and sinister, and the crystal orb atop it emitted a strange gray-black hue…
One… two… more and more skeleton priests arrived, forming a circle around the red-robed skeleton priest.
They planted their staffs into the ground, knelt on both knees, and pressed their skulls deeply against the earth…
If anyone were to witness this scene, they would be terrified out of their wits—for the number of skeleton priests kneeling on the ground exceeded three hundred!
As the last skeleton priest arrived and knelt down, the red-robed skeleton priest slowly rose to its feet.
It planted its staff into the ground, its upper and lower jaws moving as if chanting something.
Along with its chant, wisps of soul fire began to drift out from the staffs of the surrounding skeleton priests…
— The end of the Chapter–
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