Chapter 758: In Search of ProofAfter a momentary pause, Li Feng asked, "Captain, what's the deal with those aliens from the Milky Way?"
Yang Ze's question was different. "Captain, I heard you snatched away a large world's princess at her wedding!"
Zhou Ying added onto that question. "Why did you do it, Captain?"
Sun Xiaowu piled on. "Captain, what were you thinking? My sister almost sobbed herself to death when you did it—you have to explain yourself!"
Zhang Lie raised his hands in surrender. "Enough, enough! I don't know where to start answering your questions. A lot of things happened to me in the third realm, so many that I wouldn't be able to tell you about them all in three days and three nights."
Sun Mengmeng leapt forward. "Captain, you'll at least tell us why you crashed the wedding, won't you?" Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ ɴøvᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
Zhang Lie raised his head and glanced up at the sky. "I was struck by love like a jolt of lightning: in a flash, I found myself with intense longing for the bride."
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Sun Xiaowu's lips spasmed.
Zhang Lie sighed and turned to the members of Team Zenith. "Alright. Enough about me—all of you were training hard in the second realm, weren't you?"
The hunters all knew he wanted to change the topic. Since he was unwilling to tell them more about the wedding, none of them would push him.
Li Feng patted himself on the chest. "Captain, there's no need to worry about us. We're far stronger than we were in the second realm, so we'll surely be able to take on any responsibilities you give us!"
"I don't have anything planned for you at the moment. After all, you've all just advanced, so take the time to claim your new gene fragments. Once you've all maxed out your superior gene fragments, there'll be plenty of responsibilities waiting for you all. Come, let's drink!"
Zhang Lie retrieved a vat of alcohol from his soulshard storage. "This is remarkable alcohol," he introduced, handing cups out to everyone. As the hunters downed the alcohol, their eyes brightened.
Li Feng suddenly shouted, "Captain, just what is this alcohol? I just received some gene fragments!"
Zhang Lie laughed. "I told you, it's good alcohol."
Yang Ze sighed in relaxation. "The third realm is truly incomparable to the second. I can't believe alcohol like this exists!"
Zhang Lie poured himself a cup and took a gulp. "Haha, there are more amazing things in the third realm to discover. Once you're all done with the alcohol, I'll have the Jinghun bring over some lifeforms for you to kill. We'll work on your regular, mutated, and superior gene fragments for now. Stabilize your foundations after that, then come back to me for peak gene fragments."
Sun Xiaowu shouted, "Yes, Captain! With you around, we won't even have to go hunting ourselves!"
The hunters of Team Zenith drank together for the entire night.
Ren Kunjing was a particularly efficient aide, and he had returned by the next morning.
Zhang Lie had also been drinking for the entire night, but his remarkable constitution kept him clear-minded even when everyone fell down drunk. The alcohol he had shared was very potent; even the hunters of Team Zenith, who were all peak-grade lifeforms, were affected by it.
However, after drinking for the entire night, not even Zhang Lie was immune to the effects of a hangover. His head throbbed with pain, as though two hammers were continuously beating on his temples.
As he stumbled to the gates of the draconian enclave, he found a few Mengtai kneeling before them.
Zhang Lie turned to Ren Kunjing. "What's this? You like those tricks about making sinners kneel and show their repentance?"
Zhang Lie believed actions spoke louder than words. No matter how these sinners knelt or lived their lives now, the dead wouldn't revive. What was the point?
Ren Kunjing rolled his eyes. "Zhang Lie, you were the one who told me to bring any relevant Mengtai back here!"
Zhang Lie winced as he palmed his head. "I remember now. I was drinking the entire night, so I'm having a hard time thinking straight."
Ren Kunjing continued, "These Mengtai are the chieftains of each of the nomadic tribes. None of their tribes can compare to the one led by the king of the realm, but they're all relatively important people in their own right.
"We've asked about the proof of kingship before, but they've staunchly refused to reveal what they know. However, our informants are certain they know more than they're letting on."
Zhang Lie rubbed his temples. The effect of the alcohol had yet to subside; they had drunk all the vats of alcohol that Zhang Lie had had in his storage.
The alcohol packed a punch, but the side effects were equally overwhelming. No ordinary hunter would be able to bear it, so the fact that Zhang Lie was even standing was extraordinary. None of the members of Team Zenith had yet woken up—and Zhang Lie had drunk far more than they had.
Ren Kunjing explained, "That's why I've brought them all here so you can interrogate them all simultaneously, Zhang Lie."
The Mengtai chieftains begged for mercy as they knelt.
"Please, let us go! We really don't know anything!"
"We apologize! If we had known that the humans were under the protection of such strong hunters like you, we wouldn't have attacked.
We deeply regret our foolish actions, and we've repented. We shouldn't have struck at the humans and draconians."
Zhang Lie and Ren Kunjing watched on coldly, unperturbed by the chieftains' cries.
Since the humans had emerged as the complete victor of the confrontation, the chieftains naturally had to defer to them, but if Zhang Lie and the others hadn't made it to the human homeworld on time, or if the members of Team Zenith hadn't ascended quickly enough, the draconian world would now be the property of the Mengtai.
The humans, who would lose their homeworld and be teleported to a random location in the third realm upon ascending, would have much greater a mortality rate.
Zhang Lie and Ren Kunjing knew very well that, in the dimensional realm, strength was might. The humans and draconians had won; that was why the Mengtai chieftains were regretful. If the humans and draconians had lost instead, the Mengtai would have lorded over them and not spared them any mercy. Their cruelty was apparent on the battlefield.
Zhang Lie began, "As long as you tell me where the proof of kingship is located, all of you will have a chance to live."
The Mengtai cried out, "We don't know, we really don't! Something as important as the proof of kingship could only be under the care of our king, and none of us have any clue where he would hide it."
"Right, how would we know? None of us are close to the king of the realm!"
"If I'm not mistaken, something as important as the proof of kingship should be located by the king's side. Didn't you find it?"