Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 247 - 240

Chapter 247: 240

Cheng Ziang, shocked from losing his weapon, quickly retreated a step, avoiding the big man’s attack range. At the same time, his team was also preparing to attack.

The big man’s eyes carried a hint of mocking mirth. Even with his face covered, they could see his triumphant smile. Knowing that Cheng Ziang still had retorts, he didn’t give him a chance to catch his breath and continued to thrust his longsword.

Biting his teeth, Cheng Ziang stared at him. Despite his unwillingness, he had to admit this guy was much more powerful than him. Noticing the sword thrusting again, he bit his teeth and reluctantly drew his revolver from his waist, pointing it at the man and shouted, "Freeze!"

The big man paused for a moment and then stopped, facing the dark muzzle of Cheng Ziang’s gun. His eyes were full of laughter, he couldn’t hold back and said, "This seems to be a bit unfair, don’t you think?"

"Times have changed, sir!" Cheng Ziang pointed his gun at him, and said coldly.

The big man stared at him, then shook his head, and couldn’t help but laugh. Next, he took off the mask from his face, revealing a typical face of an Aud. Seeing his face, Luo’er immediately froze, and then put down his gun.

"What’s up, boss?" Noticing Luo’er’s strange action, Hu Daoke couldn’t help asking.

"Put down your weapons, he’s one of us!" Luo’er waved his hand and said.

"You know him?" Hu Daoke and Tangmo asked in surprise.

"I’ve met him at the Headquarters. He is our informant!" Luo’er said.

"Looks like the Headquarters is indeed capable. But lad, you still have a lot to learn," the big man said casually, making a sheathing motion with elegance.

"Are you the person mentioned in the letter?" Luo’er stepped forward to ask.

"Oh, it’s you, little elf!" the big man broke into a smile upon seeing Luo’er.

"UUmm..." Faced with the big man’s teasing, Luo’er was momentarily speechless.

Next, the big man pulled out Cheng Ziang’s longsword and inspected it before nodding with satisfaction. "Not bad, it’s a good sword. I should have the guys make one for me too!"

Then, he held the back of the sword hilt and handed it back to Cheng Ziang. After hesitating for a moment, Cheng Ziang decided to put back the revolver into its holster and reluctantly accepted the longsword back into its sheath.

"How should I address you?" Luo’er asked respectfully.

"Oh," the big man blinked before pounding his chest and announced, "I am Yalunte Burlingchi, a wandering swordsman!"

"You’re Burlingchi?" Upon hearing his words, Baiyue couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.

"Oh, missy, do you know me?" Yalunte asked when he heard Baiyue’s voice.

"Yalunte Burlingchi, the number one swordsman on the continent, and former commanding officer of Royal Guards of Otland." Baiyue slowly revealed his identity.

She loves reading in her leisure time, not just those with literary value, but also interesting anecdotes about the Otherworld. In a historical miscellany published a few years back, a ranking was made for the swordsmen of the continent. Yalunte rightfully earned the top spot and received high praise from the editor.

Hearing Baiyue’s words, Yalunte laughed self-deprecatingly, waving his hand in dismissal: "Whoever gave me the ridiculous title of the number one on the continent is talking nonsense."

"Burlingchi left Otland’s palace over twenty years ago and disappeared. It’s amazing that the Headquarters managed to find him to work for them." Baiyue turned to Luo’er.

Upon hearing Baiyue’s words, Luo’er paused for a moment, remembering the discussion he had with Wang Xu. If he wasn’t mistaken, this man was looking for a child, hence why he joined forces with the Headquarters.

It seems that the renowned swordsman of the continent had some unspeakable illness, hence why he had to turn to the Headquarters for help. He wonders if this has something to do with his departure from Otland. But regardless, this was just his guess, better to keep it to himself.

Upon hearing the identity of the man he was facing was the continent’s number one swordsman, Cheng Ziang’s expression eased a bit. After all, he hadn’t been defeated by some inexperienced adventurer, but by the top swordsman of the continent. Although it’s embarrassing in both cases, being defeated by a top swordsman felt much better.

"Is this your first battle?" Yalunte asked Cheng Ziang.

"What do you mean?" Hearing that, Cheng Ziang frowned, asking coldly.

"You seemed a bit like a novice!" Yalunte laughed.

"You’re calling me a novice?" Cheng Ziang’s face couldn’t help but change.

"No?" Yalunte shrugged, looking innocent, "Your weapon is clearly suited for slashing, but you kept using stabbing attacks. At first, I wasn’t sure if you were looking down on me or if you were inexperienced, but after a few exchanges, I realized you truly lack combat experience."

Yalunte’s evaluation was a hit on Cheng Ziang’s weakness. All along, the Advance Team adhered to Earth’s modern combat philosophy, which was largely centered on shooting. He was responsible for scouting and protection, rarely being employed as a vanguard. And most of their enemies don’t use cold weapons, so he had fewer combat opportunities.

"So you’re the top swordsman of this world!" Tangmo excitedly approached and looked up at Yalunte, who stood as tall as an iron tower; her eyes shimmering with admiration.

"Huh?" Lowering his head and seeing the petite Tangmo, Yalunte paused, then asked, "Why does your team have a little girl?"

"How rude!" Tangmo put her hands on her hips, angered by his disparaging remark, "I am a major mage and I’m already an adult!"

Hearing her declaration, Yalunte bent down to take a closer look at her and understood, "Oh, so you are a half-dwarf! That explains it!"

"You can tell who I am?" Tangmo immediately froze when she heard that he could accurately distinguish her race.

"Is it difficult?" Yalunte shrugged and asked.

"What about her?" Tangmo pointed at Baiyue, who was not far away, and asked.

"She..." Yalunte squinted, carefully sizing up Baiyue, then hesitated, "Is she a Snow Elf? No, she lacks the distinct features of Snow Elves. Silver-white hair, her appearance... She doesn’t seem like someone from this world. Mmm, let me think, a sub-beastmen?"

"Amazing!" Before he could guess, Tangmo exclaimed in astonishment.

"Of course, what do you think I’ve been doing all these years?" Yalunte laughed, immensely pleased with the compliment.

Yalunte appeared to be in his forties, full of the vitality of youth and the dismissive cool that came with age, which made him particularly charming.

"Did you kill all these people?" Hu Daoke, looking at the bodies strewn about the floor, couldn’t help but ask.

"What, don’t you believe in my abilities?" Yalunte asked, laughing.

"Um, no, I just meant... these guys still had guns." Hu Daoke said.

"Their shooting skills were terrible," Yalunte shrugged, "They weren’t even a tenth as good as the Earth invaders who entered the Continent years ago."

"So why did you stop just now?" Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but ask.

"I never wanted to fight you in the first place," Yalunte said, laughing, "Because you’re just too weak. Actually, I could have subdued you in one move."

Mocked by Yalunte and unable to find any reason to rebut, Cheng Ziang could only grit his teeth in anger, silent.

"Ah, Mr. Yalunte, this sword is Arya’s Blade, right?" To lessen the awkward mood, Luo’er changed the topic.

Looking at the sword and then at Luo’er, Yalunte let out an eerie chuckle and shook his head without when Luo’er asked about the sword.

"What do you mean by that?" Luo’er was puzzled and failed to understand his intentions.

Yalunte bent over, picked up the long sword from the wooden box, and examined it thoroughly. The sword was adorned with exquisite decorations. Skilfully carved glyphs adorned the blade, and a magic crystal was embedded at the center of the guard. After examining it, he suddenly grabbed the sword and plunged it forcefully into the corpse of a light cavalryman leaning against a tree trunk.

The blade pierced the thin armor of the light cavalryman and slid off, leaving a long mark and immediately emanating a dazzling white light. Then, following the contour of the armor, the blade was repelled, piercing deeply into the mud behind the corpse.

"This..." Yalunte’s actions startled everyone.

"This is not Arya’s Blade!" Luo’er was the first to regain his senses and said solemnly.

"Ah, how did you deduce that?" asked Hu Daoke, looking dumbfounded.

"Are you an idiot," Cheng Ziang said gruffly, "Arya’s Blade is also known as the Anti-Magic Blade!"

"Oh!" Hu Daoke exclaimed, finally getting the point.

It seemed that Yalunte had already figured out the trick - if the sword was indeed Arya’s Blade, the Anti-Magic Glyph engraved on its blade would easily cancel out the Defense Runes on the armor. But they had clearly witnessed the effectiveness of the armor’s Defense Runes, implying that the blade could not possibly be Arya’s Blade.

"Damn it, we were lured away!" Luo’er said angrily.

"I’ve also started to feel suspicious!" Cheng Ziang announced.

"What do you find odd?" Luo’er asked.

"Don’t you find it strange that the agency deployed so many people outside the city, yet no one chased after this sword?" Cheng Ziang said.

"You mean!" Luo’er quickly put two and two together.

"It seems like we’ve been played by both them and the headquarters!" Cheng Ziang concluded, shaking his head.

"Mr. Yalunte, may I ask how you knew about this group’s whereabouts?" Luo’er inquired respectfully.

"I’ve been following them all the time." Yalunte shrugged.

"Heh, we’ve all been made fools of!" Upon hearing his answer, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but snicker.

Listening to his response, Luo’er bowed his head in deep thought. After a while, he furrowed his eyebrows and said: "If the CIA’s people didn’t follow us, they must know where Arya’s Blade is by now!"

"What do you want to do?" Cheng Ziang asked.

"Send a message to the headquarters, ask them to deploy the intelligence network to locate these special agents, we won’t be able to find Arya’s Blade on our own!" said Luo’er.

"We’ve got no other choice!" Cheng Ziang sighed.