Chapter 323

The Demon City has five districts: Jing'an, Huangpu, Xuhui, Changning, and Yangpu.

Among them, Huangpu District is the area closest to the ocean.

And within Huangpu District, there is only one port named "Eastern Pier."

All ships enter and exit through here.

At 8:23 a. m., the sky was clear and boundless.

At Eastern Pier, five or six vessels were already moored.

Among them, one vessel was by far the largest, its side inscribed in ancient, fluid characters with the words "Lang Jing."

The Lang Jing cruise ship!

It departs from the Demon City and heads directly to Hokkaido, Sakura Nation.

It is less a cruise ship than a warship!

It is about 150 meters long, 32 meters wide, and stands as tall as seven or eight stories.

On the ship's tower, dozens of heavy machine guns and two massive laser cannons are mounted.

The black muzzles gleamed with a chilling sheen under the sunlight.

The entire Lang Jing vessel lay crouched like a black monstrous beast.

At this moment, beneath this monstrous beast, three long lines formed, waiting to board.

In the center of the third line stood a tall, ordinary-looking young man wearing a black combat suit, a smart wristband on his left arm.

He glanced curiously around.

"I've been in the Demon City for nearly a year, and this is my first time at Eastern Pier."

Xu Jingming silently reflected after taking in the surrounding scenery.

Unlike the docks of his past life, Eastern Pier resembled a military base.

Lookouts were stationed everywhere, and soldiers and ability teams patrolled without pause.

Of course, this was normal—outside Eastern Pier lay the East Sea.

The sea teemed with ferocious beasts; without any defense,

even a single beast surge could cause severe losses to the coastal regions near the Demon City.

"Huh? That's...?"

As his gaze swept forward, Xu Jingming suddenly spotted a familiar emblem on several people ahead in the line.

These individuals wore either silver-white or pure white combat suits, each bearing a large blue lightning emblem on the back.

It was the emblem of Lei Ting Martial Arts Gym.

"They're all members of the Lei Ting Martial Arts Gym's Tianjiao Training Camp—likely, like you, S-level, heading for Relic No. 9."

A clear, melodious voice sounded in his ear.

Yi Wa's holographic projection couldn't appear constantly, so Xu Jingming communicated with her through an earpiece in his right ear.

"So that's why their aura feels so thick," Xu Jingming realized.

Most of those waiting to board were ability users.

But most of them felt only second or third tier.

Yet these few had an aura distinctly surpassing theirs by a wide margin.

"But come to think of it, if Tianjiao Training Camp members are this strong, why are there sixth-tier ability users among them?"

Xu Jingming said in surprise, looking at those whose aura matched that of his school instructors.

"Lei Ting Martial Arts Gym's Tianjiao Training Camp does have sixth-tier students, but judging by their appearance, they're likely team leaders."

Yi Wa's voice continued. "Just like in the Demon City University—beside them, the Bao Xiong Martial Arts Gym's Tianjiao Training Camp has the same setup."

Bao Xiong Martial Arts Gym?

Xu Jingming turned his gaze—and indeed, he spotted Bao Xiong Martial Arts Gym members just ahead of the Lei Ting group.

On their combat suits was a large bear-head emblem, unmistakable.

"In every provincial capital and prefecture-level city, Lei Ting and Bao Xiong are rivals."

"I didn't expect them to cooperate on an event like this," Xu Jingming said, surprised.

There had been incidents where Lei Ting and Bao Xiong fought violently over top students.

Even in Jiangcheng, a remote city in Jiangsu Province, it had happened multiple times.

"Lei Ting's Tianjiao Training Camp and Bao Xiong's Tianjiao Training Camp are located right next to each other; joint operations are normal."

"And while competition within the country doesn't matter, abroad, unity is clearly better."

"Once we enter the relic, if you encounter danger, S-level, you can reveal your identity and ask them for help."

"With your SS-level ability awakening status, they won't let you die."

"I see. Understood," Xu Jingming nodded slightly.

It was undeniable that having Yi Wa with him made things far easier.

At least now, he wouldn't be completely blind to intelligence.

Many people waited in line, but ticket checking was fast—within ten minutes, it was Xu Jingming's turn.

"Hello, please show your ticket and ID."

At the entrance, a pretty female staff member smiled as she took the documents from Xu Jingming and placed them on the scanner.

When she saw the information displayed on the screen, her eyes lit up.

She spoke with deep respect: "Welcome, esteemed Mr. Su Chen, aboard the Lang Jing.

In recognition of your fourth-tier ability user status, I extend on behalf of the Lang Jing Security Team an invitation for you to join as a temporary security member, responsible for handling any marine ferocious beasts that may appear on deck."

Inviting you to become a member of the temporary escort guard, responsible for dealing with the ocean-type fierce beasts that may appear on the deck during the voyage.

"If you're willing to join the temporary escort squad, after the voyage ends, we will give you a reward of 3,000,000 Great Xia dollars."

Although the Wave Whale has its own escort squad, the more ability users there are, the safer it is.

Of course, not just any ability user can receive an invitation.

Only those who have reached Tier 3 or above qualify, and the rewards also vary.

As a Tier 4 upper ability user, Xu Jingming qualifies to receive 3,000,000.

"And there's such a good thing?"

Xu Jingming's eyes lit up, and naturally he wouldn't refuse. He said readily, "No problem, I agree."

"Really? That's wonderful!" the female staff member said, somewhat pleasantly surprised.

3,000,000 Great Xia dollars, for a Tier 4 upper ability user, really isn't that much.

After all, this still involves some risk to one's life.

She had even already prepared herself for being refused.

But she hadn't expected Xu Jingming to agree so readily.

"Xiao Mei, help me check the tickets, I'll take this Mr. Su up to the deck."

Quite pleased, she had another person cover her shift, and then this staff member led Xu Jingming aboard the ship.

"Mr. Su, your room is number 407. If you feel fatigued during the escort, you may return to your room to rest directly.

Of course, our escort squad also has support-type ability users; you may also find them to perform recovery treatment on you."

Led by this female staff member, Xu Jingming soon arrived at the highest deck of the entire warship.

His gaze swept across, and the entire deck was fully in view.

Apart from the heavy machine guns placed on the tower opposite, the entire deck was actually no different from an ordinary cruise ship.

On it were placed tables, chairs, and even sun umbrellas.

Besides him, there was another group of ability users on the deck.

This included the people from the Lei Ting Wu Guan Prodigy Training Camp and the Violent Bear Wu Guan Prodigy Training Camp that had been seen queuing earlier.

"Mr. Su, then we'll trouble you for this voyage."

The female staff member politely bowed, then respectfully turned and left.

"Speaking of which, since the Wu Ke Gaokao ended, I've never gone traveling.

I can just treat this voyage as a trip..."

Finding a lounge chair with a sun umbrella, Xu Jingming lay down comfortably.

There was still a little time before the voyage began; he could still relax for a while.

"Oh, another ability user has come up. Not bad in rank, Tier 4 upper.

Just don't know when facing those terrifying sea beasts later, whether he'll be scared back into the cabin in the very first wave."

On the other side,

Seeing another ability user step onto the deck, a young man from the Violent Bear Wu Guan side exchanged words with his companions.

"That's hard to say. Maybe he's a newbie, and won't even wait for the first wave of beasts to attack.

Once the ship sails into the East Sea, after seeing those dense beast hordes in the ocean, he'll probably retreat back."

The young men beside them also said with smiles.

Sea-type beasts and land beasts are entirely different concepts.

Ability users entering the ocean for the first time will mostly be frightened by those hideous and terrifying sea-type beasts.

This group of young men had a rather condescending tone.

But they, coming from the Violent Bear Wu Guan Prodigy Training Camp, indeed had that confidence...