Chapter 115: Team

Lin Ke did not act rashly.

The female apprentice from the Northern District on the small dirt mound, although surrounded by the "wolf pack", appeared to be in a perilous situation.

However, according to what Lin Ke observed, it was actually not dangerous at all; that Northern District female apprentice was perfectly safe.

She even had the leisure to shout and yell, and could rely on some witchcraft or witch device that Lin Ke hadn't even noticed to detect his presence from far away.

Could an ordinary person do that?

After thinking, Lin Ke raised his right hand and lightly tapped the bone-conduction earphone hanging on his left ear.

He activated the voice playback function of the scouting puppet and shouted: "Two Districts Grand Comparison, South and North in opposition; please excuse my cautious actions. If you do not report your identity information, I cannot take any risky action."

The Northern District female apprentice was not startled by the sudden voice coming from the upper front-left; she accepted it very naturally.

Obviously, this is someone who is not short of money; they have surely come into contact with this first-ring witch device–level scouting puppet, and thus know or have used these functions.

The Northern District female apprentice shouted loudly: "My name is Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke; my sister and Witch Selin are good friends. I learned about you from Witch Selin, and I know a lot of your information."

Lin Ke froze for a moment upon hearing that.

If what this Northern District female apprentice who calls herself Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke says is true, then I really cannot just leave simply.

Witch Selin has nothing bad to say about Lin Ke; she is excellent in every way and deserves Lin Ke's respect.

Not only did she teach Lin Ke much core knowledge of pharmacology and alchemical pharmacology, but she also gave him work in the pretreatment, fine processing, and packaging of practical plants and herbs, as well as the opportunity to observe potion brewing.

She gave Lin Ke great help in independently completing potion brewing.

Moreover, she very generously issued additional "a tiny bit" rewards!

This "tiny bit" reward helped Lin Ke enormously, to the point that his strength took off like a rocket.

Since the sister of Witch Selin's friend is in trouble, Lin Ke ought to lend a hand.

Otherwise, it would be awkward to see Witch Selin again in the future.

"How do you prove it?"

Lin Ke could not possibly believe Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's one-sided account so easily; he spoke up, asking for evidence.

"Ah?"

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke was slightly dazed.

"Do I have to prove that I am myself?"

"Or do I have to prove that I really have a sister who is good friends with Witch Selin?"

Soon regaining her composure, Ai Rui Si. Ke La, with a strange feeling, revealed a secret: "Your right shoulder was dislocated by a pat from Witch Loken, but you never told anyone."

That sentence instantly made Lin Ke believe about half of Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke's identity.

Besides the two parties involved, Witch Loken and Lin Ke himself, only Witch Selin could know this matter.

As a boudoir gossip, Witch Selin telling her friend about it is understandable.

After all, when Witch Selin asked Witch Loken whether she had given Lin Ke a hard time, Lin Ke chose to be stubborn.

A few thoughts flashed through Lin Ke's mind in an instant, but he still did not act rashly, continuing to ask: "How do you want me to help you?"

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke was immediately at a loss for how to answer the question.

Should I have Lin Ke help drive away the "wolves", or should we kill them together?

At this point she somewhat realized that she had demonstrated the ability to detect Lin Ke's movements early on; how could she possibly be trapped by these "wolves"?

Even if she were trapped, could she not beat these "wolves"?

Almost impossible!

So why is she waiting for Lin Ke's aid on this small dirt mound?

Obviously, she wants to meet and connect with the legendary Witch's Friend.

Wasn't there a period on the "forum" when rumors spread that Linke Grand was a "copper-refining cancer patient"?

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke recalled her beautiful, youthful face in the mirror before she left this morning.

She also lowered her head to glance at her obvious righteousness.

Unexpectedly, she failed to trigger a "hero saves the beauty" plotline.

Truly absurd!

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke suddenly began to suspect that those rumors on the "forum" were fabrications, not the truth.

Moreover, who the heck knows, this Linke Grand's suspicion is so heavy?

Is he sick or what!

Well, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke subconsciously overlooked the problem of her overly bizarre entrance.

Anyone with a bit of vigilance would suspect her of having ulterior motives.

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke scratched her head, suddenly unable to think of how to respond.

She simply stopped the act, tapped her feet together, and whooshed up into the air.

The "wolf pack" tightly encircling the small dirt mound, seeing its prey just fly away, could not help but anxiously howl up at the sky.

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke, too lazy to attack the "wolf pack", directly controlled her flight direction and flew toward where Lin Ke stood.

Lin Ke recalled the two scouting puppets that had approached for reconnaissance; they accompanied her flight the whole way, monitoring her movements.

"What's wrong with you?"

Upon landing, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke saw Lin Ke's defenses fully open, ready to counterattack at any moment; she was speechless and muttered,

"I, a delicate big beauty, am asking you for help, yet you can be so ruthless as to choose to detour. After I called out to you, you keep asking this and that, nonstop! Isn't it easy for you to just step forward and drive those beasts away for me?"

This round of banter already captures the essence of the martial art.

Lin Ke, pressured by her aura, quietly stepped back two paces to create distance and asked: "Miss Clark, what exactly do you want to do?"

By this point, if Lin Ke still didn't realize he had long been discovered by the other side, he might as well just grab a block of tofu and knock himself out.

The other side, having gone to such lengths, surely has some ulterior motive.

Call me Ai Rui Si.

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke looked up at the sky, waved, and summoned a bionic eagle down, which perched on her shoulder.

Obviously, this bionic eagle, clearly of higher grade than the reconnaissance puppet, discovered his whereabouts without Lin Ke noticing.

She put on a calm appearance and said, 'I mean you no harm; I just want to get to know you, and maybe form a team.'

"Why?"

Lin Ke directly asked, 'I don't think I have anything special enough for this.'

"Oh my, why are you so long-winded?"

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke grew impatient, stamped her feet, and complained, 'Whether we team up or not is just a matter of one sentence; why keep asking questions?'

Well, it seems she's someone spoiled rotten by her family.

She does whatever she wants, and if things don't go her way, she becomes irritable, angry, and throws tantrums.

Lin Ke couldn't be bothered to attend to her and immediately replied, 'We're strangers; we don't know each other's background; it's better not to team up.'

"Hmph! If we don't team up, we don't team up! Why say all that?"

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke pursed her lips, her tone displeased, and said, 'We'll see.'

Having said that, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke turned and walked away in a huff.

The bionic eagle perched on her shoulder spread its wings and swiftly soared to an altitude unreachable by the reconnaissance puppet.

Lin Ke's gaze locked onto the bionic eagle's flight path, and he felt both envy and doubt.

He envied the bionic eagle's powerful capabilities.

His doubt stemmed from the institute's clear rule that all equipment used by participants in the Two Districts Grand Comparison must be purchased with magic stones they earned themselves.

How did this miss earn so many magic stones to buy this bionic eagle, which is nearly at the ceiling of first-circle magical devices?

Could it be that apprentices in the North District find it easy to earn magic stones?

After Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke walked away and disappeared from sight, Lin Ke then continued forward.

He adjusted the deployment of the four reconnaissance puppets,

patrolling back and forth within a circular area with a 500-meter radius centered on himself.

Since the bionic eagle scouts from high altitude and is hard to detect, he simply didn't set up defenses against it.

It was simpler to just keep an eye on Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke.

As long as Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke appeared within that circular area, Lin Ke would adjust his direction of travel.

This strategy actually worked.

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke, for some unknown reason, fixated on Lin Ke, lingering nearby, looking for a chance to team up with him.

Lin Ke promptly spotted her twice.

From the bionic eagle's perspective, it discovered that Lin Ke had twice deliberately adjusted his route to avoid her, which made her a little annoyed.

At her age, she had never before encountered something so displeasing as today!

She simply flew again, blocking Lin Ke's path.

"What do you mean?"

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke demanded angrily.

"I don't mean anything."

Lin Ke, having prepared himself, then replied, 'What do you mean? Speak clearly. Then we'll go our separate ways on the great road.'

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke snorted in anger upon hearing that, feeling truly despised.

She pointed at Lin Ke with her index finger, which trembled from anger for a while, leaving her unable to utter a word.

At the peak of her anger, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke realized her old flaw had flared up again.

After taking a few deep breaths, her sense of justice swelled, and Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke forced herself not to be so impulsive and irritable.

She lowered her index finger and thought calmly.

Ai Rui Si recalled her sister's frequent criticisms, saying she had grown accustomed to being self-centered, spoiled by her family, and used to a life of willful self-indulgence.

When she encounters someone with stronger principles who doesn't easily yield to her wishes, she must restrain her temper.

Otherwise, minor conflicts and contradictions aren't a big deal.

The fear is that they could escalate into hatred.

If something unspeakable were to happen, even if her family's power were vast, all they could do is avenge her; they couldn't accomplish anything else.

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke reflected on the previous events again, her intellect kicked in, and her face involuntarily flushed.

It seems that the responsibility for this matter having devolved into such a stalemate lies entirely with her willful self-indulgence.

After a moment, she stammered, 'Sorry, Linke Grand. My personality has issues; I often act without thinking. If I just offended you, I apologize and hope you can forgive me.'

After a pause, she added, 'I'll stop bothering you now; we'll each go our own way.'

Having said that, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke tapped her boots together and was about to fly away.

"Wait a moment."

Lin Ke spoke up in time to detain her.

"What's up?"

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke stopped her action and asked doubtfully.

"If you truly want to team up with me, I can agree, but I have a few conditions; I hope you'll listen first."

Lin Ke pondered carefully and felt that if Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke hadn't apologized, letting her go like that wouldn't matter much.

But Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke openly admitted her mistake and apologized.

Then Lin Ke ought to show something in return.

Unless he no longer wishes to maintain a relatively good relationship with the witch Se Lin.

"What conditions?"

A turn of events, Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke was somewhat surprised, somewhat delighted.

Lin Ke said: "It's simple: first, one must not arbitrarily quarrel with others; second, when encountering a situation, if the circumstances are unclear, one must not act rashly."

"No problem."

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke originally thought it would be some harsher condition, but it turned out to be these two basic basics.

What's there to hesitate about? Hurry up and agree.

"Good. From now on, we are temporary teammates."

Lin Ke extended his right hand, showing friendliness, and at the same time formally introduced himself: "I am Linke Grand, pleased to meet you."

Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke immediately reached out and shook hands with Lin Ke, also imitating Lin Ke's manner, and introduced herself: "Ai Rui Si. Ke La Ke, I'm happy to team up with you."

Two hands, one big one small, separated as soon as they touched.

A temporary team of two was formed.

No one knows how long it will last.

(End of chapter)