CH 28

Wen Lang is beaming with happiness. Benefits from joining a team are sure good and choosing to join Lou Fan’s team is a super wise decision.

Qin Tan came out of the room, holding a notebook in his hand, and greeted, "Everyone is here, so let’s begin the meeting."

Wen Lang immediately put away his sloppy appearance and put on a serious attitude. He walked to the sofa and sat down, ready to listen attentively in the meeting. Everyone sat around the coffee table, with a pot of black tea puffing steam next to them. The cups are filled with tea, and the steam wafted gently, looking very warm.

Lou Fan wrinkled his nose, feeling like there is a strange smell in the air, and asked, "What smell is that? It smells so bad, who hasn't taken a bath?"

Chen Shuyang and Wen Lang both lowered their heads and sniffed at themselves, only Qin Tan sat undisturbed.

Chen Shuyang raised his head and reported, "I took a shower and changed my clothes yesterday. There’s only the smell of detergent now."

Lou Fan squinted at Wen Lang. He is still wearing that red sweater, which seemed to have been worn since they got into the small fishing village until now. Could this person be...

"Wen Lang, why didn’t you change your clothes?"

Wen Lang looked stunned as he replied, "I washed it yesterday when I went back home. Could it be I didn’t wash it properly?" He pinched a spot on his chest and smelled it again. Sure enough, there is still an unpleasant smell.

Lou Fan: "Why don't you change your clothes?"

Wen Lang: "I don't have any items to exchange for clothes. It's already good enough if I could exchange for things to eat."

"Tsk!" Lou Fan shot a disgusted look at Wen Lang before getting up from his seat. He walked to the exchange machine and pressed it a few times. A red sweater and a pair of black pants appeared on the tray. Lou Fan picked it up and threw it to Wen Lang, "Go and change it now. You have already returned to Lazuli but still live so sloppily. Be careful that we might kick you out of the team."

Wen Lang: "..." Bro, aren’t you a little bit too headstrong? Sure enough, having money in hand is really amazing!

After Wen Lang changed his clothes, Lou Fan signaled Qin Tan to continue the meeting. The three of them didn't feel anything wrong with Lou Fan’s action just now but Wen Lang simply felt powerless to complain. Their life in Lazuli is precarious, so do they need to be so elaborate with the quality of living? It feels like they are on vacation instead. This atmosphere inexplicably relaxed his tense heart.

Qin Tan put the notebook in the middle, wrote everyone’s name on it, and analyzed them one by one. First is himself. His weapon is the Tang sword, which can be used to deal with monsters or supernatural beings in the mission world. But if he encounters people who are hostile to them, he has no suitable weapon to use so he is currently lacking a close-combat weapon.

Next is Lou Fan. Lou Fan uses a bow, there is no limit to usage, and he has a dagger with him. But speaking of which, his most useful weapon is the bow, so he should carry some arrows with him[1]. The dagger could be used as a surprise weapon.

Chen Shuyang's book can only be used as a container, of course, they can put some emergency items in for emergencies. The short sword is actually very suitable as his weapon, but he is not familiar with it yet. Hence, the next task is to learn to use the short sword as soon as possible.

As for Wen Lang, his spirit weapon is a poker, which can be used as a hidden weapon. But it cannot be used as the main weapon, with its limited lethality and quantity.

Qin Tan concluded, "In general, the general problem is these that I have listed. Chen Shuyang and Wen Lang need to keep up with the basic physical training, and Wen Lang needs to choose a weapon that he is familiar with. Finally, we need to prepare necessary items for the next mission world. As for what we need, let's discuss it again later."

An example of necessary items is the flashlight they used this time. If their team didn’t have the waterproof flashlight, they really have to search blindly in the dark.

Wen Lang took out a bead from his bag and handed it to Qin Tan, "Brother Qin, please help me choose a weapon, I'm not very good at this."

Qin Tan looked at Wen Lang with a half-smiling smile, "You play poker very well and seemed to be very social, you must have used weapons before."

Wen Lang showed a wry smile, "I've been mingling in the society for a long time so I can play cards. But I'm a good young man. Using a knife or gun is not good! Ha, ha, ha."

Qin Tan stopped making fun of Wen Lang. Who hasn't fallen into the pit of life before? He didn’t reject Wen Lang’s little pearl and gave it to Lou Fan. "Okay, I'll help you choose the weapon. Our beads are all kept at Lou Fan's storage and yours too. If you need to use it, just ask him to exchange the item."

Wen Lang smiled and waved his hands again and again, "No, no, it’s fine to let Brother Lou holds them. I’m fine if my meals are taken care of. You see, even my clothing right now is exchanged by Brother Lou."

Playing with beads in his hands, Lou Fan smiled like a benevolent aunt, "I can take care of your meals and clothing but not including getting you a wife. Work hard to find one yourself!"

Chen Shuyang laughed out loud, and Wen Lang kicked him, "What are you laughing at? You are in a similar situation as mine."

At noon, in order to celebrate that he has joined the team, Wen Lang took the initiative to prepare lunch and cooked a pulled noodle meal. He is from the north and loves noodles, but he hasn't eaten it for a long time so he misses it very much.

Lou Fan huddled on the sofa with a small notebook to record the necessities to prepare. Qin Tan sat next to him and wrote the training plan. Lou Fan had long legs, and his legs slid forward as he wrote, casually touching Qin Tan’s foot. Qin Tan didn't mind as he continued with his planning. After a while, the pair of long legs stretched out onto his lap. During this movement, the bottom of the trousers got rolled up, revealing the fair feet and ankles, as well as a nice-proportioned and firm calf. Qin Tan looked up and saw that Lou Fan had fallen asleep, leaning against the armrest of the sofa. The small book on his chest rose up and down along with his breathing. The way this man fell asleep is completely different from when he is shooting arrows. When holding a bow and arrow, Lou Fan is focused, as if he only has the target ahead in his eyes, his eyes are firm and confident. When he fell asleep, it would remind one of a puppy. The hair on the forehead drooped down, covering the beautiful eyebrows.

Qin Tan lifted the feet from his lap and couldn't help massaging them. Seem to feel itchy, Lou Fan made an unconscious protest. Qin Tan smiled, straightened Lou Fan’s legs, and took out a blanket to cover him.

"Time to eat..." Wen Lang happily brought out a bowl of noodles, but Qin Tan stopped him before he finished speaking. "Be quiet, we’ll eat first."

Wen Lang nodded and put down the big bowl. Then he gently went outside to call Chen Shuyang.

…

When Lou Fan woke up from hunger, the other three are leaning in front of the exchange machine to look at the weapons.

Qin Tan: "Can you use a knife?"

Wen Lang thought for 3 seconds before asking, "Does a kitchen knife count?"

Qin Tan: "How about a stick/rod?"

Wen Lang: "Baseball bat?"

Qin Tan: "What do you know actually?"

Wen Lang frowned and thought for a long time. Why does he feel like he is worthless? Just as Chen Shuyang swiped the screen, Wen Lang’s eyes suddenly lit up. He pointed at the screen and said, "Brother Qin, I played this when I was a kid."

It's a chain whip. The quality looked good, just that... it's a little expensive.

"Alright, choose that then." Lou Fan's voice sounded behind them. Then, like a devil, he said, "but I can't buy you even if I sell you. How about this? I'll lend it to you, but you won't get anything when we come back from the next mission."

Wen Lang smiled, "Okay, okay, I will work hard for you on the next mission and collect more things for you."

Qin Tan glanced at Wen Lang, "Make the noodles first, I'll study this whip."

"Okay, just wait 10 minutes, it'll be ready soon!" Wen Lang cheered and ran into the kitchen with brisk steps.

Chen Shuyang shook his head, "How silly, he got sold and even helped to count the money."

Lou Fan: "En? Who got sold?"

One should not mess with the money manager, Chen Shuyang immediately smiled, "Brother Lou is awesome! Brother Lou is the best!"

This flattery is so bad that Lou Fan ignored Chen Shuyang and turned to wait for Wen Lang's noodles. Then, Lou Fan is immediately immersed in the temptation of the food - it is delicious! The noodles are elastic, the marinade is fresh and fragrant, and the seasoning is also excellent.

"Wen Lang, what did you do before? Why don't we open a noodle shop together after going out of Lazuli?" Lou Fan wanted to promote this craft to the sky.

Qin Tan spoke up, "I'll chip in a share too."

Wen Lang smiled but as if thought of something, he said, "I don't know if I can go out alive. If we can go out, we should open one."

Speaking of this, the morale suddenly dropped, and Lou Fan poked at the noodle, "We will definitely go out. We work hard and be fully prepared every time, so I believe we will definitely be able to go out."

Wen Lang looked in the direction of the South Square. Did the person who passed level 16 manage to get out alive or die there in the last mission world?

As the two are talking, Qin Tan had already studied chain whip. The nine-section whip is surprisingly easy to use. With a clever swing, it becomes a stick, and when it is retracted, it becomes a whip.

Qin Tan handed it to Wen Lang, "Take it and study it yourself, it's very useful."

"Thank you, Brother Qin." Wen Lang happily took the whip and tried to shake it. Obviously, he still hadn't grasped the essence and didn't succeed on the first try. He touched his head, "Ey, I forgot how to use it, but the quality is really good and it's quite heavy."

"The things that are exchanged in Lazuli all are good and excellent quality." Chen Shuyang has a short sword from Lazuli so he could vouch for that. Then he added, "And your whip is twice as expensive as my sword, so it's not surprising."

There should never be infighting within the team, so Lou Fan quickly comforted, "It's okay, Shuyang. When you're familiar with your weapon, let's change for a higher-quality one. There are a lot of good things in the exchange machine."

Chen Shuyang grinned, "Brother Lou, I'm not jealous of Wen Lang. Just that I wonder when he will be able to pay off his debts, hahaha."

Lou Fan: "..." He shouldn’t have overestimated Chen Shuyang's IQ.

In the evening, as planned, Lou Fan called Lin Man Man and Gong Yi over for a big meal to celebrate them getting back to Lazuli alive. Unexpectedly, He Yong and Li Xin also came right after the newcomers arrived.

"Team leader He, long time no see." Qin Tan said.

He Yong looked exhausted, and though his body looked alright and intact, one could see that he is in poor condition. It seems that their mission this time didn’t go well. Li Xin is much quieter, and her eyes completely lost their luster when Lou Fan first saw her.

Qin Tan brought the two in and Lou Fan asked Chen Shuyang to pour tea for them. Hearing that, He Yong waved his hand, "No need, we'll go right away. I just come here to see how you guys are doing." He looked around and took in everyone's expressions. Then, relief appeared on his face, "It seems that your mission this time went well, that's good."

Seeing that He Yong’s state is not right, Qin Tan and Lou Fan looked at each other. They both saw the doubts in the other's eyes.

"Team leader He, what happened to you this time?" Qin Tan asked.

He Yong sighed and stayed silent for a long time as if caught in a memory. No one bothered him, everyone waited quietly, He Yong finally turned his head to look at the team, his eyes showing the harsh vicissitudes of life, "This time, the whole team almost got annihilated."