MCL CH73

Chapter 73: “Woof Woof Woof?”
 

In a world of ice, the towering giant that reached the clouds became the most prominent landmark.

The frost that beat against it had condensed into ice and snow around the sturdy surface of the tower, its crystalline appearance making it look like an eternally standing ice sculpture.

Yan Xingzhou stood at the base of the tower, looked up at the top that almost disappeared into the clouds, and then turned to look into the distance.

Despite being in a land of ice and snow, at the end of his vision, an endless desert came into view.

This desert stretched for a thousand miles, and further beyond, it was completely swallowed by intense lava.

From the moment he entered this rift, the inner world was filled with an unbearable sense of disharmony from the inside out. Just from the entrance to this point, he had passed through at least five or six patchworks that seemed to come from completely different worlds. The color of the sky had changed several times before he finally arrived here.

He could clearly feel that there was something very wrong with this inner world, which was precisely why he needed to find Samuel and get him out as soon as possible.

In any case, the signal had been sent out. To this extent, the existence of this giant tower should be visible from all parts of the inner world.

If even this couldn’t get Samuel to sensibly find his way over, then it seemed he would have made this trip for nothing.

The flow of time in the inner world had always been strange. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but upon sensing something, Yan Xingzhou’s gaze towards the distance sharpened slightly.

What followed was a thunderous explosion that burst into his vision.

On the other side of the frozen world, as if crushed by an immense force, the towering sand dunes collapsed.

As the entire ground sank into a huge concave shape, a figure could be seen vaguely flashing past, just grazing the edge of the immense pressure.

Yan Xingzhou didn’t hesitate and immediately went to meet him.

After fleeing all this way, Samuel looked increasingly pathetic. His clothes were still soaked with water, and after passing through a field of exploding sand, he was unavoidably covered in it, making him look like a stray golden retriever that had been rolling around in a mud pit.

Under normal circumstances, he, who prided himself on his elegance and nobility, would never tolerate this. But right now, he was being pushed by Joseph with almost no room to retreat, completely holding on by his last breath, trying his best to reach the marked signal point before his stamina ran out.

He glanced up and saw the stark dividing line between this desert and the adjacent world of ice and snow. The majestic tower was finally within reach. As space continued to overlap and change at an increasing speed, Samuel’s figure, in what looked like frequent teleportations, was about to rush into the frozen world. Suddenly, all his muscles tensed. He looked up abruptly, his pupils tightening.

In an invisible space, the scattered, drifting yellow sand made everything appear more concrete.

Under the gravitational pressure, all the sand and dust gradually gathered into a solid ball of sand, which was about to come crashing down like a thousand-pound hammer on the just-appeared Samuel.

“FUCK, you even know how to predict my moves now, huh!” Samuel knew at a glance that things were bad. He finally stopped caring about any damn decorum and cursed out loud. But having just landed, it was too late for him to cut open another spatial rift. Seeing no way to dodge, in the short span of less than a second, he even felt a pang of regret for not having arranged his inheritance before entering the rift. He could only sigh with a sense of pity.

He raised his hand, about to gather his last bit of strength to open a spatial rift on the spot, only to see something rapidly unfurling within the immense pressure.

A look of joy appeared in Samuel’s eyes. “Huh?”

A metal shield as solid as a rock appeared out of thin air, steadily blocking the attack in front of Samuel at the last second.

Clang—!

The pressure, enough to crush a skyscraper, emitted a heaven-shaking roar at the moment of violent collision.

The resulting blast of air caused the surrounding yellow sand to spread out like waves. When it finally subsided, all that was left was a deep trench around them, and an independent space under the protection of the metal shield that remained completely unaffected, like a deserted island left floating in mid-air.

Given Joseph’s ability attributes, if not for Samuel’s depleted stamina, it would have been almost impossible to catch up to him. Even now, after chasing him all this way, he looked rather pathetic and embarrassed himself.

Seeing that he was about to rendezvous with Yan Xingzhou, he had wanted to use this prediction to end this meaningless chase once and for all. He never expected to fail at the last moment.

His face was as grim as it could be. Joseph looked up at the figure that had now come into view. “Interfering in the affairs of Country A’s evolver circle without cause is probably not appropriate, is it? Besides, didn’t you already step down after Lin Xi’s death? What is this now? Are you willing to sell your life for that waste Gu Beiqiu?”

“Neither Gu Beiqiu nor the United Administration has anything to do with me. I came here just to take this guy back.” Yan Xingzhou raised his hand slightly. As the metal shield instantly disappeared, the sand covering it, now without support, cascaded down, showering Samuel like a rain of sand. As if not hearing Samuel’s very clear curse, he glanced at Joseph. “Also, a friendly reminder: although many years have passed, I still don’t like hearing his name from your mouth.”

“Although many years have passed, you are still the most loyal dog under Lin Xi’s command.” Joseph sneered in retort. “But I really underestimated the loyalty of canines. I originally thought you only tolerated this guy Samuel because of Lin Xi. I didn’t expect you to rush over so quickly this time. It’s truly surprising.”

Samuel, who was still trying to spit the sand out of his mouth, let out a soft “tsk” upon hearing this. “What’s so surprising? You’ll never understand the bond between the three of us in your lifetime.”

With Yan Xingzhou by his side, he had clearly relaxed completely. Exhausted, his legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the ground. His unchanging expression was filled with an undisguised provocation. “After all, you, as a person, seem to have never had any friends.”

Joseph’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Samuel, if I were you, I certainly wouldn’t be so—”

“A dog borrowing its master’s power?” Samuel found this amusing and naturally finished the sentence. Not only did he have no intention of correcting himself, but he also grinned and scooted closer to Yan Xingzhou, shamelessly hugging his long leg. “Woof woof woof?”

“…”

A muscle in Joseph’s brow twitched violently. Although he didn’t speak, Yan Xingzhou could feel from his expression that he was probably asking: Are you not afraid of losing your own dignity by associating with this dog-like creature?

After a moment of silence, Yan Xingzhou calmly pulled his leg out of Samuel’s embrace, his words directed at Joseph. “Even if he is a dog borrowing his master’s power now, what do you plan to do? If I were you, I definitely wouldn’t make a foolish choice right now.”

This was more or less returning Joseph’s own words to him, but when it fell on Samuel’s ears, he vaguely felt that something was not quite right. “Hey now, Yan, it’s one thing for me to say it about myself, but for you to say it… isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

“Then what kind of choice do you think isn’t foolish?” Joseph casually adjusted his posture and asked with a cold smile. “Yan Xingzhou, if I back off now, will you act as if nothing happened?”

Yan Xingzhou replied, “Of course not.”

Samuel: “…”

Wait, aren’t I supposed to be the main character? What’s with this attitude of completely ignoring me? It’s like this whole thing has nothing to do with me.

Joseph’s smile became even more exaggerated. “There you have it. The first thing you’ll do after getting out of here is probably to report it directly to the International Evolver Bureau, right? By then, having my reputation ruined would be a small matter; it’s very possible I’ll be imprisoned. If it were you, would you be willing?”

Yan Xingzhou answered, “No.”

“It seems you should also be very clear in your heart that I actually have no way out right now. For me, there has only ever been one path.”

As Joseph spoke, the surrounding air pressure had already begun to distort with the secretly surging power. “To have a smooth journey after getting out of the rift, actually, all I need to do is ensure no one speaks nonsense. Anyway, the outside world won’t know what specifically happened in the rift. Two X-coded evolvers being seriously injured during a confrontation with an S-rank contaminant should be a very common thing, right?”

Yan Xingzhou was not surprised by this development. His eyes just darkened slightly as he silently prepared to deal with everything.

However, he had only just raised his hand when he froze for a moment at the familiar voice that fell upon his ears.

“That is indeed, all too common.”

Along with this very approving tone came Lin Xi’s interested chuckle. “How rare, to actually see a scene of top-tier evolvers fighting each other. Love it, love to see it. More, please?”

“…”

Joseph hadn’t expected anyone else to appear here. He glanced at Lin Xi’s striking red hair, his expression faltering for a moment before his attention shifted to Su Qiuyin next to him. His tone was inscrutable. “I almost forgot, Gu Beiqiu has always been a sycophant to Hua nation’s X-codes. Since Yan Xingzhou is here, he surely rushed to send a few dogs to follow and protect him.”

Su Qiuyin was clearly not pleased with this description. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Lin Xi speak up with a smile. “Woof woof woof?”

The corner of Su Qiuyin’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch. “…”

Yan Xingzhou: “…………”

After a brief moment of speechlessness, Su Qiuyin found his voice again. “So, in the current situation, are you still insisting on making a move?”

Joseph unhurriedly stretched his limbs. The slight cracking of his bones in the movement became the only background sound in the silence.

In the current scene, in front of him were Yan Xingzhou and Samuel, who, although basically useless, could at least count as a top-tier evolver team. Beside him were Su Qiuyin, widely recognized in Hua nation’s United Administration as not easy to deal with, and that unknown red-haired little follower. But even so, he just chuckled noncommittally. “As I said just now, it seems the only path I can choose now is this one, right?”

He cleared his dry throat and looked around. “So, are you planning to come one by one, or all at once?”

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