Vol. 7 - Ch. 2 - Rest and Recuperation

Rewinding time to the previous morning.

At the Quest Guild in Dris Town, a large crowd had already gathered in the hall.

Standing in the center of the crowd was Wayne Bixi, the eldest son of the Green Lizard family. With his tall stature and feminine beauty, his mere presence was enough to attract attention.

Next to him was Vanessa, the second daughter of the Snow Deer Clan. Her presence complemented Wayne Bixi beautifully, causing the others to consciously stand a considerable distance away.

Meanwhile, Branch Chief Padme had also arrived early.

She checked the number of people present, then went upstairs to invite Ice Star Shirley down.

After taking the stage, Ice Star Shirley first compared the attendees. She was somewhat surprised to find that all four of the people she had seen yesterday—Fick, Pryde, Heloise, and Balbo—were still there.

She had thought the harsh words she had uttered yesterday would be enough to scare them off.

Besides these four, the newly arrived VIP from the Green Lizard Family and Vanessa Ji from the Snow Deer Clan in Dris Town had brightened Shirley's eyes. She felt like she finally had some decent candidates.

If any more of these losers continued to arrive, she felt she could return to the palace to report early.

Then, with the words, "Listen up, you bastards," Ice Star Shirley began explaining the captain selection process.

…

She explained that since the "Green Ghost Lair Labyrinth" had three entrances, three teams would be formed and three captains would be appointed.

There were two entrances from Dris Town, so before officially entering the maze, Ice Star Shirley would select two captains.

The captain, of course, wasn't just a title; it came with corresponding privileges.

More specifically, the captain would have three privileges:

1. The authority to select team members;

2. The right to receive an additional royal reward;

3. The power to decide how labyrinth treasures were distributed within the team.

As a result, becoming captain had more advantages than disadvantages.

Since the final departure date for the Labyrinth Expedition Team was set for July 22nd, twelve days from now, Shirley divided the remaining twelve days in half.

She would use the first six days to select the first captain, and the remaining six days to select the second captain.

As for the selection method, it was simple: a traditional one-on-one arena battle.

Shirley, feeling uneasy, simply took out the existing arena rules and had Branch Director Padme post them. Furthermore, during the arena, Shirley and Director Padme would serve as referees to ensure fairness, justice, and effectiveness.

That was all about yesterday's "Captain Selection."

… 

From yesterday to today (July 9th), the only person who signed up for the tournament was Balbo, the representative from Medison Town. This automatically made him the champion, leaving him feeling elated and smug.

The others who hadn't signed up didn't seem anxious, as they had already figured out the true rules of the "Captain Selection" and didn't need to rush and waste their energy.

Yes, if you really wanted to be captain, you could just fight for the champion position in the last one or two days. There was no need to rush into the ring and waste your energy.

… 

—Young Master Wayne will probably compete for the captain's spot... That leaves only one spot left…

—Ah, I don't want to compete with Fick for the remaining spot, but...

In the Red Leaf Inn, Vanessa pondered the captaincy while drafting an agreement.

Even though she had found a 'Dragon Shadow' she could work with, she wasn't ready to abandon her other plans just yet.

Knowing the treacherous human nature, she wouldn't easily throw everything into one basket.

In addition, to prevent Master Wayne from discovering her other identity, Vanessa had to continue playing the role of a young lady.

To this end, she had already agreed with Lord Fick that assisting the 'Dragon Shadow' would be done in secret. In public, they would pretend they didn't know each other.

—Alright... I'm finally done.

—Hopefully the first draft will pass!

Vanessa proofread the cooperation agreement twice, making sure it was correct. Then, she quickly dressed and set off.

=====

July 9, 187

7:32 a.m.

Confession Death Countdown: 29 days left

=====

In the hotel, Jiang Ran stood by the window, watching the people coming and going on the street, honing his skills in a long-awaited peaceful atmosphere.

After successfully resolving the issues of 'unknown cause of death' and 'parasitic blood snake', the two heavy burdens weighing on his heart finally fell to the ground.

Although this time there were no grand and spectacular scenes, nor were there any life-and-death struggles fought to the bitter end, Jiang Ran persevered through all the trials.

Compared to a head-on confrontation with the enemy, this passive situation, with no place to use his strength, was actually more frustrating for him.

Now that he had finally gained a rare respite time, he naturally needed to regroup.

Jiang Ran knew that while he rested, his enemies wouldn't be idle.

... 

In no time, Jiang Ran completed his daily skill-leveling routine.

'Computing Power Improving' went from level 13 to level 15. The main improvement was that the 'Overclocking' state increased from 2x to 2.5x, boosting computing power by 50%.

(Correspondingly, the magic power consumption also increased by 2.5x, to 50 magic points per second.)

Additionally, 'Trickster' went from level 18 to level 20, and the effective range of the 'Spiritual Speech Effect' increased from "Level 4 and below" to "Level 5."

Based on Jiang Ran's observations of the general population, this increase meant that the 'Spiritual Speech Effect' could now control more than one-fifth of the people on the street, especially children and young people of lower levels.

If it weren't for the restriction in 'Soul Curse: Purgatory of the Heartless' requiring a 'sincere' confession, Jiang Ran would have happily manipulated the girls into confessing their love to him.

Next, he began mass-producing potions while waiting for Vanessa to deliver the agreement.

At this moment, amid the clanking sounds of Jiang Ran fiddling with bottles and jars, Heloise gradually woke from her sleep.

… 

In a haze, Heloise saw Fick mixing the potion and thought, "Ah, time to get up and undergo the 'purification ritual'." She rolled over in bed, finally tumbling out from under the covers, and while undressing, she came to Fick's side.

"The Evil Tiger God's follower... sends you... greetings from the rising sun..."

"The Good God's... channel... come and perform... the 'Purification Ceremony IV'..."

Heloise slumped unsteadily against Fick. Still drowsy and dizzy, she struggled to stand, which caused significant trouble for Fick as he prepared the potion. When mixing a potion, even a single drop extra or missing would make a huge difference in the effect.

"Still feeling sleepy? Go back to sleep, He-Luo! I'm busy here."

Fick skillfully avoided the two little lumps on Heloise's chest with one arm, while working with the other hand.

If he just mixed the two bottles of potion together in a three-to-one ratio, he'd have his hands free... Just as he was thinking this, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Good morning, Fick. It's me, Vanessa. Can I come in?"

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