Chapter 1442

Zhao Chi smiled in response.

To Yin Tenglong's left was another middle-aged man.

Expressionless, seemingly considering something.

Zhao Chi had seen him in Li Ruanyu's office — he was Cheng Shunzhou, captain of the Rapids Squad.

Further left were two familiar faces.

Tieshan Squad's captain Tieshan… a square-shaped man, truly as sturdy as an iron mountain.

And Mo Ming, captain of the Ming Tide Squad, still that languidly charming man…

Both of them nodded to Zhao Chi in greeting.

Zhao Chi politely responded in kind.

On Li Ruanyu's other side were two women.

One was Yin Lan, captain of the Azure Squad — a woman who looked to be in her thirties, with a decent air about her.

The other was Shang Yu, captain of the Rainfall Squad — comparatively young, probably a bit younger than Li Ruanyu, a fashionable type.

Zhao Chi had also seen these two female captains in Li Ruanyu's office.

They were currently chatting in low voices, paying no attention to Zhao Chi.

Zhao Chi, however, grew even more puzzled.

Li Ruanyu, this squadron captain, plus all six squad captains, were fully armed.

This didn't look like a meeting at all — it looked more like they were about to head into battle.

Into battle…?

Holy shit!

Could it really be a deployment?

Other lords had already begun appearing around them.

And in growing numbers.

After arriving, most of the other lords also looked around, taking in their surroundings, then wore puzzled expressions.

But upon seeing the captains were all present, with other lords nearby as well, they all settled down.

Soon, nearly a thousand people had gathered across the entire territory.

Slightly noisy and chaotic.

But the lords quickly used their respective captains as reference points and took their places.

The other groups also fell into formation.

"Zhao Chi, over here."

Su Qin called out softly and beckoned.

Su Qin's group was the reserve group, so they could only line up at the back.

Diagonally behind them was Lu Yi's group — their combat power was even weaker, so they were placed further back.

Zhao Chi briefly exchanged greetings with Yang Xiong, Lu Yi, and the others.

Then he stood beside Su Qin.

Geng Zhan, Fu Yi, and Xiang Yuan were all standing quietly on the other side.

Before long, every group was lined up neatly.

Li Ruanyu looked left and right, then said loudly: "Every group's leader, count your people immediately. There's still three minutes before assembly — anyone not here, get them called over as fast as possible."

Instantly, the captains and group leaders sprang into action, hurriedly counting heads.

Su Qin bent down and looked left and right.

Then she chuckled softly: "Our group has so few people, you can tell at a glance — everyone's here!"

Xiang Yuan laughed: "A small group isn't scary; what's scary is people not being of one mind. Our group is doing pretty well."

Geng Zhan nodded: "Naturally!"

Fu Yi smiled but said nothing.

Zhao Chi turned to look at Lu Yi's group.

Their group also had five people — at a glance you could tell whether anyone was missing.

At that moment, Yang Xiong sidled up.

Leaning close to Zhao Chi, he asked quietly: "Zhao Chi, what's your combat power now?"

Combat power is public information.

Just like exam scores.

Nothing to keep secret.

Zhao Chi also said softly: "1,114 points."

Yang Xiong's eyes went wide, and he whispered in amazement: "Holy shit! You broke through 1,000? And past 1,100 too? How are you improving so fast?"

Zhao Chi didn't know what to say, so he just smiled: "And you?"

Yang Xiong said: "I'm about where you were a little over a month ago — I've just broken through 500, at 513 points now. I thought my strength had jumped a notch and I might catch up to you, but the gap's actually gotten bigger."

Zhao Chi laughed: "The higher you go, the faster combat power increases — that's normal. What about them?"

Yang Xiong said: "Lu Yi is badass now — she got rich off the armor-piercing bow, and her combat power is the highest, a full 520 points. She was behind me before."

When they'd eaten together before, Zhao Chi had heard Lu Yi mention she had the armor-piercing bow technology.

She'd also borrowed money from her family to hire a batch of Gao Jie blacksmiths, specifically to craft these armor-piercing bows.

With money, combat power does rise faster.

Lu Yi has the armor-piercing bow; Su Qin has the Wind-Chasing Arrow.

GLOSSARY:

- Zhao Chi

- Su Qin

- Lu Yi

- Yang Xiong

- Yin Tenglong

- Cheng Shunzhou

- Rapids Squad

- Tieshan Squad

- Tieshan

- Ming Tide Squad

- Mo Ming

- Yin Lan

- Azure Squad

- Shang Yu

- Rainfall Squad

- Li Ruanyu

- Geng Zhan

- Fu Yi

- Xiang Yuan

- Gao Jie

- Armor-Piercing Bow

- Wind-Chasing Arrow

Once we get back, I can have the two of them cooperate with each other.

Su Qin's Wind-Chasing Arrow, although Zhao Chi had converted its information, is like ultra-bright fire oil — it'll be very popular, but won't attract too much attention.

It can be exchanged with Lu Yi perfectly well.

Yang Xiong continued: "That idiot Cao Feng isn't bad either — his combat power is 498 points, just 1 point less than yours back then. He's feeling pretty depressed right now."

Cao Feng glanced this way, then turned his head away.

Yang Xiong said: "Wang Lie is at 387 points now. Li Xun is a bit worse, only 226 points. Last time we fought, his skeletons took heavy losses drawing the enemy's attention. We gave him some extra loot after the battle, so in about half a month he should recover and reach 300 combat power."

Zhao Chi nodded: "So your squad also has over 2,000 combat power now?"

Yang Xiong laughed: "That's right. If you add in the hidden portion, our combat power should already be over 2,500."

Zhao Chi nodded: "Not bad — you have hidden combat power too?"

Yang Xiong said it as if it were obvious: "Obviously. Everyone has some, just more or less. After all, that combat power detection still has its limits — it can't measure everything completely."

"That's true. How have you all been lately?"

"What else? Doing quests. We cleared a few beast camps and got decent loot. Our principle is steady progress — more troublesome and tiring, sure, but less risky. At our current combat power, we're not asking for any big victories. As long as we can win with few losses, we figure that's good enough."

"That line of thinking is right."

"What about you, Zhao Chi? How are you doing? Your squad should be close to promotion to a full squad, right?"

Zhao Chi shook his head: "Haven't heard anything about that."

Yang Xiong said: "It must be soon. Lu Yi checked your little wife's combat power — said she's already over 2,000, close to 3,000. Your squad members are all around 2,000 too, adding up to nearly ten thousand total. That right?"

"Mm… about that."

"Combat power over ten thousand — you should be able to promote real soon."

"Doesn't really matter to me. Feels about the same."

"It's still quite a difference though… and it sounds better when you say it out loud. It's like people's clothes — sure, everyone wears them, but some just look more presentable. You'd agree, right?"

"Right…"