AZI Volume 3 Chapter 28

On the yacht, the Fortisa, that is Long Hua's home—

"It's complete."

Holding what seems to be an ordinary cigar in his right hand, Long Hua has an awfully pleased look on his face.

Unlike ordinary tobacco products—that can be found in convenience stores, this particular cigar was made using spirit herbs.

If any alchemist from the Everlasting Spirit Realm were to hear about this, they would instantly call Long Hua out for blasphemy.

However, since spirit Qi is severely lacking in the Leng Bing Realm, Long Hua has no other options than to directly acquire it from items like spirit herbs.

(Hmm, compared to the ones—that I've seen in the Zang Luo Realm, yours can only be considered crude.)

Towards the Tai Xuan Emperor's remark, Long Hua replies—

"Can it. I'm not exactly a professional spirit herb cigar maker to begin with."

Using talismans, an enduring magic array had been set up—to prevent spirit Qi from leaking outwards. As for the materials that were used to create these talismans, they had naturally been purchased from a certain surnamed Zhen.

"Time to test it out."

Without further ado, Long Hua takes out a classy looking metal lighter—one of the items that he had acquired from the free ten-rolls, and ignites the cigar.

Pressing the cigar to his lips, Long Hua sucks in the smoke, which is mixed in with spirit Qi.

Immediately, he feels its effects, however—

"Meh…"

Exhaling the smoke, disappointment couldn't be any clearer on Long Hua's face, as he mutters—

"Ai, spirit herbs of this quality can't really be used for cultivation. At most, I can use them to replenish my spirit Qi in emergencies."

Heaving a sigh, Long Hua trims off the burning portion of the cigar with his sword Qi, and stores the rest away into his storage pouch, while the Tai Xuan Emperor remarks—

(Better than nothing. Hey, *-laoban, when are you going to pull some more? You're 90 away from pity.)

Raising a cold snort, Long Hua replies—

"You can dream on about making me waste my resources on your gacha. Even if you beat me to death, I won't be wasting any resources on it in this lifetime. I'm going down the completely free-to-play route by stacking free pulls over time."

(*-laoban, no need to be so stingy. What's a few spirit stones here and there—going to do to your wallet?)

"I-"

"Master, it's time to leave."

Before Long Hua can say anything back, the Tai Xuan Emperor swaps over to her vessel. Held in her vessel's hand is a boxed lunch.

"I'll be off then."

Taking the boxed lunch, Long Hua heads off to the office.

"…"

Glancing behind him once, Long Hua sees Tian Cheng inserting an electric plug into her wrist to recharge her battery.

...…

Within the dreamscape—

"Ai, the amount of affection points my main account has on him is far too low. Hmm, should I tell him to pull—through my vessel? …No, doing so would just seem off."

Raising a sigh, the Tai Xuan Emperor continues to contemplate ways to get Long Hua to use her gacha system.

"Hmm. If only an event that would make him feel a sense of crisis occurs. Once that happens, his way of thinking will change, and make him more susceptible to gambling away on the gacha system—to acquire something that will get him out of pinches."

...…

Arriving at the office, Long Hua is quick to take his seat down on the sofa. As he was ten minutes late—due to traffic, Yu Ji and Qing Yue had managed to get here ahead of him.

Coming over from his desk, Ye Chen takes a seat next to Li Xue, and says—

"Right, we're all here. Time to go over the details of our plans."

Taking over, Li Xue begins by saying—

"Let's go over the recent news—regarding the ancient ruins first. The military has decided—that the Disciplinary Bureau offices shall be the main force for excavating them. Looking at the state of our office daily, I don't think I need to explain why?"

"Give the people who have too much free time on their hands a proper job, is it?"

Nodding his head, Ye Chen replies—

"Right you are, 2nd Lieut. Yu Ji. It's been agreed upon—that the Ashen River Hall shall be joining our folks on the first excavation trip. After that, any ruins found—will be distributed to those, who can afford the rights to them. The plan is for the wealthy to gather at an auction, and bid for the rights later on."

Blinking his eyes, Long Hua asks—

"So, when is the first excavation trip, and where?"

Pointing his index finger towards the ground, Ye Chen answers—

"Near this very city. As for when… Day after tomorrow. The military booked all the aircraft runways for the day to send in some supplies."

Taking over for Ye Chen, Li Xue explains—

"Turns out there is an ancient ruin near all the Grounded Cities; anyone with a good head on their shoulders would think—that this can't be a coincidence. In any case, it's been decided by our city lord—that out of the 150 Disciplinary Bureau offices that there are, 90 of them will be taking part in the first excavation. No idea if we were fortunate, or unfortunate to be selected as a part of this trip, or not."

Raising a frown, Qing Yue asks—

"They're throwing around 450 people into the ruins?"

"They're preparing for the worst-case scenario of this ruin—being designated with a grade four, or five difficulty rating."

Continuing from there, Li Xue talks about the difficulty ratings in more detail, and upon taking this bit of information in, Qing Yue raises a second question, being—

"Where are they getting their information from?"

"Where else do you think they could get any of this information from?"

"The hall, is it?"

Towards Yu Ji's answer, Li Xue nods, and replies—

"Naturally, we should take this information in with a grain of salt. However, according to the Ashen River Hall, they say—that all the ruins found near their world's largest settlements, have had a difficulty rating of four, or five; hence, they expect the same for our side as well."

Shrugging a shoulder, Long Hua asks—

"So, what are we doing for the rest of today—other than sitting around?"

Taking over for Li Xue, Ye Chen answers—

"Start preparing your hearts, and maybe start praying—that the ruins won't be anything above grade two. I've said this before, but I'll say it again, be prepared to be swarmed with work. The chance of us getting sent out into another ruin right after this one is rather high. Ai… The more experienced we become at excavating them, the more likely we are to be selected for more of these trips in the future."

"Also, there is a high possibility—that ruins excavation might be an alternative, to heading off into the frontlines in the future. But that really depends on how many ruins there are in our world."

Towards Li Xue's remark, Yu Ji and Qing Yue showed evident surprise, while Ye Chen adds—

"This is also from the hall. They say—that in their world, there are still a few grade five ruins, that have yet to be excavated. The reason for this is anyone's guess, but it's most likely due to how difficult it is."

Clapping his hands together once, Ye Chen smiles, and concludes—

"Right, that's all that we needed to talk about for today. The rest of office hours will be the same as usual."

"Hey, captain?"

"Hm?"

With a sharp gleam in her eyes, Yu Ji asks—

"How much are we getting paid—for this excavation trip?"

"Hmm. Our side really doesn't have much information on these ruins, so it's impossible to say for certain. Still, if it makes 2nd Lieut. Yu Ji feel any better, the amount we receive—may be able to help us fully renovate this office, and leave us with a major bonus afterwards."

"That's all I needed to hear."

If it was in the past, Ye Chen might have called Yu Ji out for being materialistic, but now—

"You really care for your little sister, don't you?"

"Of course. When our parents disowned us, she became my only family."

Looking down at his shoes, Long Hua thought—

(If ancient ruins are like the secret realms—that are found in the Zang Luo Realm, then I should probably buy some new shoes that can fit the environment better.)

Sneakers are good for running, but they're not meant to last, nor are they meant for hiking up difficult terrain.

Although Long Hua does have another pair of footwear in his storage pouch—that one is a part of his attire for mercenary work.

Using it as a casual piece of footwear, may not be an issue, but Long Hua isn't willing to risk it—in case he runs into someone with keen eyes.

(If possible… I want to scout out the ruins ahead of time.)