After taking out those Fire Mist Warriors who came to kill and steal treasures, Fang Zheng found his journey to be much smoother.
In the past, wherever he went, there would always be Fire Mist Warriors sensing the aura of Tilia’s Followers of the Crimson Realm coming over to start trouble. Now, however, things had changed. In each place Fang Zheng arrived at, he had not even done anything yet, but he could feel the Fire Mist Warriors and Followers of the Crimson Realm fleeing at top speed, almost as if they had seen the Demon Lord himself. Of course, the Fire Mist Warriors seemed to react even more dramatically while those laid-back Followers of the Crimson Realm didn’t seem to be particularly frightened of him. In fact, some who felt they had a “clear conscience” would even go out of their way to greet Fang Zheng, and take the chance to take a photo with him or get an autograph...
Regarding this, Fang Zheng always had a feeling that after he killed those Fire Mist Warriors, he had lowered the reputation of their camp to cold, while the reputation of the Followers of the Crimson Realm somehow rose to friendly... even though he had killed more Followers of the Crimson Realm than Fire Mist Warriors.
However, Fang Zheng didn’t care much. After all, whether it was the camp of Fire Mist Warriors or Followers of the Crimson Realm, neither were good news to Fang Zheng. Of course, on an individual level, Fang Zheng found the Followers of the Crimson Realm somewhat more charming because they followed their own desires, which meant they often had independent and vibrant personalities. As long as they didn’t harm humans, making friends with Followers of the Crimson Realm was obviously more interesting than with Fire Mist Warriors.
After all, apart from a few specific Fire Mist Warriors, the others were always about mission, revenge or something like that... truly boring to the core.
But when Fang Zheng arrived in Luxembourg, they received an unexpected invitation.
An invitation from the outside world’s inn.
“These people actually dare to invite us for a dinner together?”
Honestly, Fang Zheng was quite surprised when he received the invitation from the hotel service staff.
This can’t be the Hongmen Banquet, can it?
“Shall we go, Elder Brother?”
“Of course we should go. How can we not take advantage of a free meal when someone is offering?”
Fang Zheng wasn’t afraid of a Hongmen Banquet. In fact, he wished it was a Hongmen Banquet, so he could have even more Noble Phantasms to collect... Ah, you see, it’s not that I’m greedy, they’re the ones who brought it themselves, I can’t just stand there and be attacked without fighting back, right?
But when Fang Zheng arrived at the rendezvous full of confidence with Tilia and Nanoka, reality turned out to be disappointing.
“Hello, nice to meet you for the first time, Mr. Fang Zheng.”
Standing in front of Fang Zheng, smiling, was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man wearing glasses, who looked very cultured. More importantly, he was a human, not a Fire Mist Warrior.
Fang Zheng suddenly felt rather uninterested.
“Hello.”
Although the absence of the expected Hongmen Banquet disappointed Fang Zheng a little, it wasn’t a big deal for him. On the contrary, after the initial surprise, he became increasingly curious. The inn of the outside world was the command center for the Fire Mist Warriors, which of course also had humans assisting and managing. Fang Zheng had heard about this from Shana. But what did these people want with him?
“My name is Hill, and I am the head of the Romanian branch of the inn from the outside world.”
“I’m Fang Zheng.”
Seeing the hand extended by the other party, Fang Zheng also reached out and shook it. Since the man seemed to have no hostility, Fang Zheng had lost interest in making a move.
“This is Tilia, my adorable younger sister. That one is Nanoka... Well, you can consider her my maid and student.”
“Is that so.”
Hearing Fang Zheng’s introduction, Hill nodded politely at the two girls, then made a gesture inviting them to have a seat.
“Now that you’re here, why not sit down and talk? The meal is already prepared.”
Fang Zheng wasn’t fond of Western food; it was oily, unsatisfying, unhealthy, and not particularly tasty. To be honest, if Fang Zheng had a choice, a bowl of beef noodles or fried rice would be his preferred option to fill the stomach. If all else failed, even instant noodles with just the seasoning packet would taste better than those dishes.
But Fang Zheng also knew that people weren’t invited to Western dinners to fill their stomachs; the complicated processes and modest amount of food were meant to facilitate discussion at the dinner table. Otherwise, if you had a big bowl of mixed noodles and just focused on eating, how would you discuss any business?
Therefore, without a word, Fang Zheng sat across from Hill with Tilia and Nanoka, and soon waiters came to serve the appetizers and wine that had already been prepared.
“I guess you must be quite puzzled by the invitation, Mr. Fang Zheng.”
“Yes, I am.”
As Hill spoke, Fang Zheng swirled the red wine in his glass and nodded.
“To be honest, I thought you had 300 Fire Mist Warriors lying in ambush here, waiting for us to come so at your command, you’d drop a glass as the signal, and then these 300 Fire Mist Warriors would burst out and chop us into mincemeat.”
At these words, Tilia showed no reaction, but Nanoka trembled involuntarily, looking anxiously around. After ensuring there was no issue, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Hahaha, Mr. Fang Zheng, you do have a sense of humor.”
Hill laughed dryly, shaking his head. He also understood the hidden meaning behind Fang Zheng’s words.
“Indeed, some Fire Mist Warriors have similar thoughts, but I do not agree with their opinion.”
Sighing, Hill sighed again.
“I don’t know what you think, Mr. Fang Zheng, but for many of us from the External Residence, your ability to exterminate those Fire Mist Warriors has really been a relief.”
“Huh?”
Hearing this statement, Fang Zheng had not yet reacted, but it was Nanoka who exclaimed in surprise. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard, her eyes wide as she looked at the man before her, unable to comprehend his words.
“But, but they’re Fire Mist Warriors... aren’t they? Didn’t they eliminate a lot of Followers of the Crimson Realm...”
“Miss Brigitte, you are misinformed.”
Facing Nanoka’s curious query, Hill sighed deeply. Had it been any other Fire Mist Warrior, he might not have been so easy to talk to. But Nanoka’s background was clear; Hill had investigated it. Born an orphan, she had been taken to the External Residence and raised there. It had been only half a month since she made a pact and became a Fire Mist Warrior, so in Hill’s view, this girl was still a part of humanity. Discussing this with her did not seem inappropriate.
“Those Fire Mist Warriors who attacked you earlier... to put it bluntly, we’d been hoping they would die sooner rather than later.”
“Why, why would that be?”
“Because of their battles.”
Hill spread his hands, his expression dark.
“Perhaps you are not aware, but the seven Fire Mist Warriors who attacked you were members of the radical faction with the strongest power in the Eastern European branch. Their battles would affect vast areas. These people were bent on slaughtering Followers of the Crimson Realm and often caused human casualties... to say the least...”
At this point, Hill glanced with some difficulty at Tilia, who was next to him silently eating cake, but continued speaking.
“They are even worse than the Followers of the Crimson Realm. Indeed, Followers of the Crimson Realm feast on us humans, but they stop when they are full and don’t cause too much harm. But these Fire Mist Warriors, in their quest for revenge, disregard everything! Often, they cause more harm than the Followers of the Crimson Realm when they consume the Power of Existence from people! Moreover, once Followers of the Crimson Realm have devoured enough humans, they calm down for a while. But these Fire Mist Warriors? As soon as they see a Follower of the Crimson Realm, they start fighting! They never consider the harm and loss they cause!”
As he spoke, Hill’s face turned ashen, his fists clenched tight.
“We’ve also lodged complaints with the headquarters of the External Residence, hoping they could restrain those Fire Mist Warriors, stop their reckless behavior. But guess what those Fire Mist Warriors said? ‘We are protecting humankind, casualties are an inevitable part of this, would you have us let those Followers of the Crimson Realm go free to feast on more humans?'”
“What can we do?”
At this, Hill let out a bitter smile and spread his hands.
“After all, we are but ‘humans,’ unprotected by Fire Mist Warriors, without the Free Method, we wouldn’t even know if we were devoured by a Sealing. Do our words matter, do our protests make a difference?”
“Only when you have a gun in your hand do you have the right to demand peace.”
Fang Zheng picked up a napkin to wipe the corner of his mouth, then looked at the man before him with interest.
“Mr. Hill, I think you’ve come to me not just to complain.”
“Just as you said, Mr. Fang Zheng.”
Hearing this, Hill’s expression also became serious.
“I have an idea... It’s like this...”
After hearing Hill’s idea, Fang Zheng finally understood why he had been invited for this meal.
As Hill said, there were quite a few humans in the External Residence who were discontent with the Fire Mist Warriors. However, the organization of Fire Mist Warriors was not very strong, and as Hill mentioned, many Fire Mist Warriors have a Savior complex when facing humans. This left those humans quite unsatisfied, but without a means to constrain the Fire Mist Warriors, however disgruntled, they had to endure.
But then, Fang Zheng appeared.
And his attacks on both Followers of the Crimson Realm and Fire Mist Warriors were ruthless, with exceptional strength. More importantly, Fang Zheng acted with principles. In fact, Fang Zheng did not realize that, after he had killed those seven Fire Mist Warriors, External Residences around the world noticed that both Fire Mist Warriors and Followers of the Crimson Realm became much more cautious during their battles. Not only did the hot-tempered Fire Mist Warriors start choosing remote locations for their battlefields, but even the Followers of the Crimson Realm seldom engaged in large-scale consumption of the Power of Existence from humans.
Of course, they were certainly still snacking on a few people in sewers or alleys, but that was unavoidable. After all, killings between humans hadn’t stopped completely, and countless human lives were lost in the darkness every day. Even if some were devoured by Followers of the Crimson Realm, it was much better than unleashing Sealing catastrophes that affected entire cities.
Actually, compared to Fire Mist Warriors, the humans of the External Residence were more rational. They knew it was unrealistic to hope that Followers of the Crimson Realm would not consume humans, but the most important thing was not to do it on a large scale.
For the people of the External Residence, they felt it was better to be consumed by Followers of the Crimson Realm than to be killed by others. Every day, countless people die due to gang fights or vendettas, and these deaths bring endless pain to their families.
On the other hand, being devoured by Followers of the Crimson Realm allows them to completely vanish from the world. Moreover, their deaths don’t bring sorrow and pain to their loved ones.
In some ways, this is far more “humane” than what human criminals do!
And Hill’s idea surprised Fang Zheng even more.
He hoped to build a tripartite force centered around Fang Zheng, consisting of humans, Fire Mist Warriors, and Followers of the Crimson Realm!

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