Chapter 273: Speak, Don’t Give Constant Praise
Teng Dong Lang was looking at a magic image and sank into a long silence.
The magic image showed the entire fight between the dragonman youngster and Spring Boxer, along with the reactions and comments of the spectators.
“The situation is a little troublesome.” Teng Dong Lang pursed his brows.
He realized that the situation had subtly changed, and things had taken a turn for the worst for him and the Bayonet Gang.
On the one hand, it was because of the dragoman youngster’s incomprehensible fighting strength. On the other hand, it was also due to the crowd’s reaction.
The people universally expressed positive emotions about the dragonman youngster, such as esteem and curiosity.
Spring Boxer had always been esteemed and respected by the people.
But the dragonman youngster was in a completely different situation.
The people universally had a favorable impression of the dragonman youngster.
“How many days has he been in Snow Bird Harbor?”
Teng Dong Lang analyzed to himself the reason why this happened, it was mainly due to how the dragonman youngster behaved during the battle.
The dragonman youngster not only didn’t retaliate, but he also let his opponent rest during the duel and even gave them a potion so they would recover faster.
These actions were rarely seen, and both amazed the people in a novel manner, along with thoroughly displaying the dragoman youngster’s unique svelte as a transcendent.
Teng Dong Lang was certain that tonight, taverns large and small were sure to circulate the dragonman youngster’s deed.
Then, so long as the dragonman youngster’s challenge continued, his deeds would be disseminated like the wind.
The dragonman youngster’s dramatic rise in renown and influence troubled Teng Dong Lang.
“I was a little careless, no matter if it was his intention or this was all accidental, I cannot treat Long Fu or the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps like an ordinary power.”
The more Teng Dong Lang thought, the less he could sit still.
He decided to order all six ringleaders to convene for a meeting.
Very quickly, Ban Lan Gen, Spring Boxer, Xiong Ju, and the others showed up.
Teng Dong Lang, “Everyone should know about the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps matter. How should we deal with them? Tell me your ideas.”
The six ringleaders looked at each other for a moment, then gradually, everyone shifted their eyes towards Ban Lan Gen and Spring Boxer.
Spring Boxer was somewhat red.
Ban Lan Gen the treeman had a wooden expression.
After a moment of silence, Ban Lan Gen spoke first, “I was too careless. I didn’t expect Long Fu to attack right after he finished speaking, I didn’t have any time to use my defensive battle skills. Don’t be fooled by his magnanimity, he is actually very treacherous.!”
Spring Boxer suddenly pursed his brows and retorted, “I don’t believe that is the case, the main reason was because you didn’t give him the respect he deserved.”
“Commander Long Fu is the paragon of a transcendent. It’s just a fact you suffered a crushing defeat by his hands!”
“Even if you use your defensive skills, could you really defeat him?”
“Hehe, are you saying I don’t know your strength?”
“You are now slandering him to exonerate yourself, that makes you appear more despicable.”
Spring Boxer had accepted the dragonman youngster wholeheartedly and defended him subconsciously.
Ban Lan Gen immediately bellowed hack, “How much better did you do? You couldn’t even break a single one of his dragon scales, an utter loss of face!”
Spring Boxer coldly snorted, “At least I fought him for a while, you? How many seconds did you last?”
Ban Lan Gen angrily stood up, “Did you actually fight him? He gave you water, right? I would rather fight to the death and wouldn’t rest during the duel, let alone accept his potion. Where is your face? Did you feel no shame in doing that?”
For a moment, neither Ban Lan Gen nor Spring Boxer gave way, and all sorts of insults wrangled their way from their mouths.
Teng Dong Lang inwardly had a headache.
The meeting just began, and his own people already had an internal conflict.
The other four ringleaders didn’t participate contrary to expectations.
They saw Ban Lan Gen and Spring Boxer had very different opinions on Long Fu; this inevitably made them more curious – what kind of person was Long Fu?
Teng Dong Lang coughed twice, “Stop quarreling.”
He stopped the dispute between the two with a light sentence, revealing his immense prestige.
“We need to think over how we should deal with Long Fu.” Teng Dong Lang ran his eyes over them, his gaze quickly streaking past Ban Lan Gen.
Ban Gen Leng had been defeated too swiftly; his opinion didn’t have any value.
Teng Dong Lang’s eyes settled on Spring Boxer. “I want your thoughts.”
Spring Boxer had fought Long Fu for a long time, and of the people present, he was most qualified to speak on the matter.
Spring Boxer tightly scowled, then after a moment of deliberation, he said, “Long Fu is very strong! He definitely is no ordinary silver level.”
“His greatest strength is his defense. I have never met a silver level who possessed such terrifying defense. I attacked him with my full strength yet didn’t leave a scratch on him!”
“Truth be told, if someone told me about it before the battle, I would have believed it to be a gargantuan joke. But now, after personally experiencing it, I would no longer laugh at it.”
“Thinking back now, I was very dismayed, frustrated, and even felt hopeless!”
As a matter of fact, it wasn’t just Spring Boxer. When the other five ringleaders saw the magic image, they didn’t laugh either.
The dragonman youngster’s observable defense shocked them.
Spring Boxer continued, “Commander Long Fu caused the main focus to be on his defense, but everyone please, don’t underestimate his other attributes as a result. I believe that Long Fu is a holistically formidable fighter, he has no obvious shortcomings.”
“At minimum, his mobility is very strong, completely above mine.”
The five ringleaders were silent.
They looked all seen the magic image; some had done so several times.
They had seen the dragonman youngster’s speed utterly trounce Spring Boxer’s.
But they didn’t understand that this was actually after the dragonman youngster had been amplified by the Grand Arena Medal.
This medal and the Gold Silk Chainmail were both made “invisible” by Deceptive Disguise.
Spring Boxer added on, “I believe that Commander Long Fu absolutely has other skills. I am just not strong enough and was unable to force them out. Think carefully everyone, he is a dragonman, he most definitely isn’t lacking in recovery capabilities.”
“I have a strong feeling, that when he and I fought, he never truly displayed his offensive capability either.”
“Because I had no way of dealing with his defense.”
No one spoke.
The atmosphere saturated with pressure.
Ban Lan Gen might be the one under the least pressure.
Because he had lost already.
The other four ringleaders, along with Gang Leader Teng Dong Lang, would be challenged by the dragonman youngster.
Spring Boxer looked at Ban Lan Gen and sneered, “There is nothing shameful of admitting one’s defeat, nor is recognizing an opponent’s power.”
“Commander Long Fu is very strong.”
“His strength makes people respect him.”
“Like he said to me, so long as other respect him, he will give them equal respect!”
“He obviously could have defeated me quickly, but he acknowledged my fighting determination and kept fighting me until dusk. He strictly abided by the promises he made during the fight and never violated them.”
“He is an adversary worthy of respect. I look forward to the fierce battle between him and the Lord Gang Leader!”
Spring Boxer’s opinion was clear; he believed that Long Fu was qualified to challenge Teng Dong Lang.
Teng Dong Lang couldn’t help but cough again, sighing to himself, “Xiao Tan…I want you to speak about your experiences, not constantly praise him and foster the enemy’s imposition.”
“Good. Your praise of your opponent ends here, tell me about his weak points.” Teng Dong Lang ordered.
But Spring Boxer just stared at him, then held out his hands, “Lord Gang Leader, I don’t think Long Fu has any weak points.”
This immediately annoyed the human ringleader.
“Enough, Spring Boxer.”
“You losing and being unable to force out Long Fu’s trump cards does not mean he doesn’t have flaws.”
“I watched your fight with him, and I have found at least two flaws.”
“The first flaw is his dashing. Are you telling me you didn’t notice? He moves similarly to you, a pause before exploding with speed, that is the biggest weak point of both of you.”
“The second possible flaw is that Long Fu lacks long range attacks. When faced with you jumping all over the place, he first lured you into attack him, then used swift movements to close the gap with you.”
Only when a fighter reached the gold level could their battle qi exist outside of them. This was known by all.
“Hehehe, you aren’t wrong.” The dwarf ringleader laughed, “Long Fu has one other flaw.”
“He doesn’t use a weapon.”
“In the intelligence report, he only used his fists and feet at the Battle of Two Eyes Island.”
“He might not have specialized weapons training, rather he has spent most of his time training unarmed fighting.”
The demon hybrid ringleader nodded, approving the dwarf ringleader’s words.
He said, “Long Fu is very young, and managing the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps takes a lot of his energy.”
“How much time does he have?”
“Being able to train his martial arts is already pretty good.”
“However, since he has the guts to challenge our gang leader, this indicates that he has trump cards capable of battling a gold level! As for what those trump cards are, we don’t know yet. The intelligence reports don’t have any clues.”
Those final words hit a nail deep into Teng Dong Lang’s heart.
Teng Dong Lang tapped the table with a finger, “Next, how do you plan on taking on Long Fu?”
The human ring leader tossed his opinion out casually, “Very simple. We contact a security official and have them make a trap and frame the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps. Get them to jail their people.”
“The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps’ members are still on their ships, unable to freely move about.”
“But what’s the use of that?”
“Their ships are berths at the dock and are under Snow Bird Harbor government supervision.”
“So long as a security official makes a move, it will be very easy to frame them.”
“Every year we deliver them many benefits and now is a good chance to get something back from all the money we sent them.”
“You want to frame Commander Long Fu? Out of the question!” Spring Boxer objected to it at once.
He was disgusted by the human ringleader’s method and sneered, “Your small tricks outside the arena are not what a transcendent does, and it divulges your cowardice and fear of battle.”
The human ringleader raised his eyebrows and replied with annoyance, “I say, Spring Boxer, could it be that after Long Fu let you off, let you rest, and also gave you medicine that you now completely support him now? Don’t forget yourself, you are one of the Bayonet Gang’s ringleaders, what’s with your demeanor?”
Spring Boxer coldly snorted, “It was because I am a gang ringleader that I consider the Bayonet Gang’s name in its entirety! If this happens, what will the people think? The many people will know it in their hearts, and even if there isn’t proof, the perceptive will know it was our plot!”
“Do we not have any shame? If we can’t beat them and resort to assassination and entrapment, how will the people see our Bayonet Gang?”
The human ringleader was shocked when he heard that.
He stared at Spring Boxer with outrage, “Hey, have you gone soft in the head? We are the Bayonet Gang, a gang, we are not the army you came from! Besides, when the army fights, isn’t victory what comes first, and for that, any strategy and method can be used and considered!
“You go so far as to consider our Bayonet Gang’s reputation, simply ridiculous! What need does our Bayonet Gang have for a good reputation?” The human ringleader didn’t conceal his reproach from Spring Boxer.
Spring Boxer was furious, he couldn’t refute the human ringleader, but he still showed his serious objections.
Ban Lan Gen seized the opportunity to kick him while was on the backfoot, saying curiously, “Some people who have lost to Long Fu hope that others also taste defeat, thus, making their own defeat not so conspicuous.”
Spring Boxer exploded in anger, he was just about to spit insults when Teng Dong Lang stopped him on time, “Enough, do you still want to argue?”
Spring Boxer and the others quickly stopped talking.
Teng Dong Lang muttered to himself, “We are a gang, not an army, that statement isn’t wrong.”
“But it is a bit early to use such a trick.”
“We are a medium sized power, while the other side is a small sized power.”
“Using this kind of trick outside the arena proves that you believe you are not confident in facing Long Fu and even feel that you will lose.”
“Long Fu has wanted to make this a big deal.”
“After today, many people will know about it, and there will be more eyes on us.”
“The best way of handling this for the Bayonet Gang is to defeat Long Fu outright.”
“I don’t need to get involved; you can force him to withdraw yourselves!”
When Teng Dong Lang said that, he stooped, and after looking around at them, he continued, “We must seize the initiative.”
“We cannot allow Long Fu to keep dueling us one by one.”
“If he beats you six, the Bayonet Gang’s reputation will be greatly damaged.”
“Therefore, tomorrow, I need one of you to challenge Long Fu and defeat him!”
When Teng Dong Lang said that the six ringleaders were silent once again.
Using their eyes to communicate with each other, all of them eventually settled their gazes on the beastman ringleader Xiong Ju.
Of the six bosses, Xiong Ju was first among them in terms of military strength.
The human ringleader spoke first, breaking the silence, “Xiong Ju is the strongest among us, if Long Fu can defeat him, then the rest of us have no hope of winning.”
“I fully support Xiong Ju!”
After saying that, the human gang leader gave him the epaulet he wore.
This is my strongest equipment, I will loan it to you Xiong Ju for tomorrow’s fight.”
Everyone’s look changed at this.
The human gang leader’s epaulet was gold level equipment!
It was called the Flowing Wave Armor, and the human ringleader had relied on it to stop many assassination attempts and it was his life saving trump card.
But now, he had simply loaned it to Xiong Ju.
The human ringleader frankly said to Xiong Ju, “This is the best thing I can give you, the rest are worse than what you current possess.”
Teng Dong Lang gave him an appreciative look.
The dwarf ringleader muttered to himself for a moment, then took out a short war hammer.
“This is my weapon that I meticulously forged, as you can see, it actually isn’t finished yet.”
The war hammer emitted a mixed and ununified aura.
The hammer’s head and shaft were silver level, while the gem inlaid into it emitted a gold level aura and sparkled with lightning.
“This is my recreation of the legendary Great Thunder God’s Flying Hammer – the Small Thunder God Flying Hammer.”
“Xiong Ju, I know your main weapon is very powerful, but you can treat this Small Thunder God Flying Hammer as a secondary weapon.”
Xiong Ju shook his head, “I have little experience with war hammers, and my hacksaw needs to be wielded by both of my hands, this weapon doesn’t fit me.”