"But it's slightly heavy, it will take some time for me to adapt with these," Zhang Mengyao remarked as she tried to swing the lance and moved the shield up and down. It could be seen that her movement was indeed a little stiff.
After testing her new set of weapons, Zhang Mengyao put it into her inventory. She hugged Tang Shaoyang, "Thank you~," a genuine happy voice flowed out of her mouth.
"This is kinda weird though," Tang Shaoyang whispered to her, "What's weird about this?" She asked back while resting her chin on his shoulder.
"The gift. Usually, the man would give the girl a diamond ring or maybe an expensive bag to make her happy, but you are happy to have a set of weapons from me," he was not expecting her to be excited like this.
"Diamond rings could not be used to kill the zombie just like the lance, and the bag could not protect me from the zombie too like the shield you just gave me. So what you gave me was more valuable than the jewelry or branded bag," Zhang Mengyao voiced her honest opinion to his ear with her soothing voice.
"As long as you like it then I'm glad," since the girl was happy with the gift then he was happy too.
"What about if we open the remaining four treasure chests? Maybe we can find the armor for the fallen set too," she crooked her head toward the control room where Tang Shaoyang saved four Level 7 Treasure Chests from the first expedition.
"Nope, I have my plan for those chests," he did not agree to open the chests for himself. Since he traded the set of the fallen with a chest with Jin Fan, that meant he no longer had his chest. As for the remaining four chests, those were the empire's assets. He planned to use the chest as a reward for his remarkable subordinates later. He could not be greedy and take all of them for himself.
*** ***
The second expedition was getting near and near. After what happened to the first expedition team, the Tarriors were eager to volunteer themselves to join the expedition.
The reward Qin Shoushan and Jin Fan got from the treasure chests had spread among the Tarriors. The reward was enough to make them drool despite the risk of losing their life. A skill and an advanced class, that was something they would dream of.
The same for the slave group, after Chen Jianping and Qian Jianguo got their contracts renewed the others were also eager to join the expedition team. They wanted to get rid of their slave status as soon as possible so this was their chance.
The night before the expedition day
Tang Shaoyang was laying down on Kang Xue's bed, shirtless. When the sound of the door opening resounded, he opened his eyes. Kang Xue was coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head.
The girl was surprised to see Tang Shaoyang on her bed. She did not expect him to be here last night before going for an expedition to HZ Bay. She thought he was going to accompany Zhang Mengyao.
"Why are you here?" She blurted out. "Sleeping of course," Tang Shaoyang rolled his eyes before lazily changing his posture of sleeping. "What about Sister Mengyao? I thought you were going to accompany her?" She asked in a concerned tone.
Having your man to have another woman put her in an awkward spot. In her case, she was the third party that entered the couple's life. She felt bad for Zhang Mengyao, so she wanted Tang Shaoyang to company Zhang Mengyao more, especially since this was their last night before going on a trip to look for her parents.
In fact, Tang Shaoyang was having a hard time balancing things as well. He had to make sure that he had to be fair to both women. Since he slept with Zhang Mengyao so he decided to sleep with Kang Xue tonight.
"It's okay, she's sleeping now," then Tang Shaoyang motioned to the girl by tapping the empty spot next to him, "Come here," the girl obediently came over, her cheeks flushed red as she thought Tang Shaoyang wanted to do something.
To her surprise, the man merely embraced her and whispered, "Good night," that was all, he did not do anything to her, "Are you disappointed?" She heard the man's playful voice. Instead of answering him, she buried her head in his chest.
*** ***
The next morning
Li Na was standing in front of the mirror that was a half head taller than her. She was wearing complete gear with a cloak draped on her back, light silver armor, a crossbow on the back, and a spear in her right hand.
Li Na's grandmother was standing near the door, looking at her eldest granddaughter with an uneasy expression. Since she was one of the kitchen staff, Li Na's grandmother had heard everything about how dangerous the first expedition was. Seven people died and she was concerned about her granddaughter's safety.
Li Na was aware of her grandmother's presence. She turned around and smiled reassuringly at her grandmother, "It's okay grandma, I will be fine. Boss Tang also participates in the expedition," she came over and hugged her grandma while rubbing her back. The girl could feel that her grandma's body was shaking.
"It's okay! It's okay! A lot of people join the team as well, I will be fine," Li Na's grandma could do nothing since her granddaughter was called to join the expedition.
After reassuring her grandma, Li Na looked down at her little sister who stood behind her grandma, "Don't worry, Sister! I will protect grandma well!" Clenching her tiny fist, Li Yue said that confidently.
"Yes, you have to protect grandma when I am away, okay?" Li Na squatted down as she tried to kiss her little sister. However, Li Yue dodged the kiss, "I am grown up, don't treat me like a little kid!" The little girl protested.
Li Na was merely shaking her head, "Alright, I won't kiss you, but you have to protect grandma, promise?" She offered her pinky.
"I told you I am not a little girl," even though her mouth said so, Li Yue reached her sister's pinky with hers, "I promise I will protect grandma!" She nodded her head solemnly.
Just as Li Na was about to get up, Li Yue lunged forward and hugged her neck, "This is my charm kiss that will bring you luck," the little girl who refused her sister's kiss kissed her big sister's cheeks. The kiss lasted about ten seconds before Li Yue released Li Na, "You have to go back, okay?"
"Of course!" Li Na nodded seriously and patted her little sister's head, "I have a cute fairy waiting for me, so I will return for sure,"
Watching her granddaughter, the grandmother managed to hold her tears and smiled at the two.
After a small farewell between them, Li Yue and her grandmother sent Li Na to the team that should be gathered in front of the base. There, Zhang Mengyao was recording the people that participated in the second expedition.
Of course, Li Na was not the only one with a family. The others also had their family members to send them so outside was more crowded than usual.
For the second expedition, thirty-seven slaves, thirty Tarriors included Tang Shaoyang, and one guide, so sixty-eight people in total.
Tang Shaoyang's figure could not be seen among the crowd. He was already sitting in the front most car. He handed over the small work such as organizing the people to Zhang Mengyao and Lu An.
On the driver's seat, Bai Yuan was accompanying him. Both men did not speak but just waited silently. Not they did not want to speak, but both just liked and were comfortable with the quiet atmosphere.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The quiet atmosphere was broken when someone knocked on the glass. Tang Shaoyang opened his eyes and glanced toward the window, Kang Xue was the one who knocked on the window.
He pulled down the window and motioned to the back seat with his finger, "Hop in, what are you doing outside?" Kang Xue however just looked at him and Bai Yuan, back and forth. She wanted to say something but hesitated with Bai Yuan who sat next to him.
"Just speak? Do you need anything?" The girl looked hesitant to speak, but he urged her. In the end, Kang Xue got closer to him and whispered, "I have a friend that wanted to follow us, can you let him in?"
Tang Shaoyang furrowed his brows, "Who? The security guard?" when she mentioned her friend, Zhang Wen's face resurfaced in his head.
"No," Kang Xue shook her head while pointing her finger to the back of the car, "It's him!" Tang Shaoyang peeked his head out of the window. Right behind his car, a man was standing. The man was wearing normal clothing, long pants, and a black shirt. His attire was telling him that the man was not someone who could fight.
"Who is he? Why does he want to participate?" Tang Shaoyang did not immediately reject the man but asked the girl the reason first.
"He has his family in HZ Bay too, so he wants to come to look for his family, but do you really not recognize him?" Kang Xue looked at Tang Shaoyang curiously.
He gave the man one more glance before shaking his head, telling the girl he did not know the man. "He's the guy you kicked until he passed out in front of the hospital, you don't remember him?" She told him about the man's identity.
As soon as she said that, Tang Shaoyang immediately lost his interest, "No, he's not allowed to join. We don't welcome someone who could not fight, one guide is enough!"
"About his family, we can look for them instead. If they are still alive, then we will bring them back with us, so tell him to f*ck off!"
Ding Hao was waiting for a response from Kang Xue. Then he saw Kang Xue was shaking her head to him, indicating he was not allowed to join.
'F*ck!' He cursed secretly, he was about to rush and asked the man why he was not allowed to join. However, the memory of one kick reminded him to not act rashly. That memory was still fresh in his head.
In the end, he kicked the wheel and ran back to the base, 'Heh, you lucky b*stard. If you don't let me join then I will just need to adjust my plan. Let's start from the inside, I will ruin your base for sure later, just you wait. This is the price you have to pay for humiliating me!' Malice filled his thoughts as he ran back to the base. Yes, Ding Hao had a hidden intention when he said wanted to join.