Chapter 89

Chapter 4: Invitation

The demon hunters were scattered on the second floor, and apart from a glance when the new branch president entered, they continued their conversations—replacing the branch president of the Demon Hunter Guild in the Bay Area was not a secret, and they had already been prepared for it. After all, even with a new branch president, their tasks would remain the same, they would still get paid, and they could still drink. The reason they glanced at Ye Qi when he entered was probably due to his youth and his status as an apostle, which piqued their interest.

"Today's first round, I'll treat everyone!" Ye Qi placed a flaming Inferno Ice Lake on the bar with a smile: "The specialty of this place: Inferno Ice Lake!"

Almost every demon hunter had an unusual fondness for alcohol, especially for strong drinks like the Inferno Ice Lake, which were particularly popular. Ye Qi, who offered everyone a drink, naturally gained some favor from the surrounding demon hunters, though not from everyone. A demon hunter sitting in the center of the second floor drank the Inferno Ice Lake in one gulp, then slowly approached Ye Qi, carrying a bundle almost as tall as his body. The most noticeable thing was the black windbreaker he wore, which symbolized his status as an apostle.

He's here.

Ye Qi, who was wiping a glass, smiled mockingly—proud and arrogant demon hunters causing trouble when a new person arrived was normal. Even with the appointment from headquarters and his status as an apostle, it wouldn't intimidate certain demon hunters who also had the status of apostles. It would only make them more eager to challenge him.

"Good drink!" The man praised the Inferno Ice Lake as he approached the bar, then looked at Ye Qi and asked, "But how about the person? You're also an apostle, let's have a competition, what do you say?"

"What kind of competition? You know, the furniture here is quite expensive!" Ye Qi put down the glass and pointed around. The man was taken aback for a moment, then placed his arm on the bar: "Arm wrestling?"

"C-class mission: Strength Competition. Defeat the opponent in the challenge..."

When Ye Qi nodded, the system mission prompt sounded in his ear—the bundle on the man's back likely contained his weapon, and someone who used such a large weapon was naturally very strong. At that moment, his strong, muscular arm, with its bronze color, stood on the bar like a hunting crocodile, ready to strike...

"Bloodlust!"

"Bear's Resilience!"

Two spells, visible only to Ye Qi, were cast on him. Feeling the enhanced stamina and the surge of strength from deep within his body, Ye Qi ignored the man's aggressive gaze and smiled as he raised his arm.

"Start!"

With the shout of a demon hunter acting as the referee, Ye Qi's hand and the man's hand gripped tightly together. White and bronze hands held each other, neither giving in. The muscles in their arms bulged instantly, veins clearly visible, like two giant pythons entangled in a struggle for food.

However, as time passed, Ye Qi gradually gained the upper hand. With the spell enhancement, his strength was 18, and his constitution reached an astonishing 25. The advantage of high constitution finally showed in this endurance competition—superior endurance, quick recovery, even with full effort, his arm showed no signs of fatigue. The man, though still gritting his teeth, was already showing signs of defeat...

"Bang!"

Ye Qi's hand slammed the man's hand onto the bar, like a hammer driving a nail, producing a dull sound. The solid wood bar showed a clear crack from the impact...

"Very strong!" The man did not show disappointment after losing; instead, he smiled and said to Ye Qi, "Swordman Cyril, it's a pleasure to meet you; I hope to see your performance in other areas in the future!"

"Ye Qi, likewise, it's an honor to meet you, Cyril!" Ye Qi pushed a cup of Inferno Ice Lake to the man, "This one is still on me!"

"C-class mission: Strength Competition completed; gained 3,000 experience..."

"Thanks!" The swordman took the glass without hesitation, drank it in one gulp, then asked Ye Qi, "Any missions? Although I don't want to admit it, if I don't get some income soon, I'll have to sleep on the park benches! Even though the temperature in Lantingburg is warm, those hard benches are still unpleasant!"

"Hmm, this mission is good!" Ye Qi listened to the swordman's complaint with a smile—when he and John were in a tight spot, they had also slept on park benches, and those memories were far from pleasant. On the list of apostle-level missions, Ye Qi picked one with a decent reward and handed the mission scroll to the man: "Based on the available clues, it should be a group of migrating water monkeys near Sasse Harbor..."

...

As the sky gradually darkened, the demon hunters left with their mission scrolls—most of them were in a similar situation to Cyril, having been without missions for a week. Starting with Cyril, the demon hunters began to take missions from Ye Qi, quickly clearing about a third of the backlog from the past week.

Looking at the remaining missions, Ye Qi carefully selected suitable ones—rewards were not important, what mattered was triggering system missions. He still needed a lot of experience to reach level 11, and waiting for random missions like today's would likely take a year to gain enough experience.

"Boss, someone has delivered an invitation for you!" The mercenary leader reported over the intercom—Ye Qi had stipulated that no one unrelated could enter the second floor while it was in operation, and the three mercenary guards at the door were included. Ye Qi picked up the intercom and asked, "Who is it?"

"The person claims to be the butler of the Nord family..." Before the mercenary leader could finish, Ye Qi interrupted, "Let him come up!"

The Nord family, the largest demon hunter family in the Bay Area, had at least five holy artifacts and seven publicly known apostles. They controlled about 50% of the maritime trade around the Bay Area, making the Deko family, who had once been Ye Qi's enemy, seem like mere country squires in comparison.

The Nord family... invitation...

Ye Qi tapped his finger on the table, deep in thought—since becoming a demon hunter, the only family he had any connection with was the Deko family, which he had brought down. He had no contact with any other families, let alone a behemoth like the Nord family...

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Ye!" An elderly man with neatly combed chestnut hair, wearing a tuxedo with a blue handkerchief on his left chest, bowed slightly and presented a card with a flowing water pattern to Ye Qi: "My master invites you to attend the Nord family's dinner party. Please do us the honor of your presence!"