Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1473: Chapter 200: Before Becoming the Brightest Guy

The small steed, Little Qiang, like a flying ant, finally came to a halt under Fish Ball Qiang’s strong control.

Da Zhe looked down and discovered that below was a palace floating in the void… Fish Ball Qiang said this was the Palace of Eternal Night, the portal to Void’s Lost Paradise… Void’s Garden of the Fallen is a place inhabited by a group calling themselves Transcendents.

Unexpectedly, Da Zhe managed to stumble upon the Transcendents’ lair while gathering materials in the dimensional rift, feeling somewhat tense yet not afraid.

For some unknown reason, the Zhan Lu Sword, transformed into a key shape hanging from his body, suddenly trembled slightly… Da Zhe grasped it in confusion, but afterwards, Zhan Lu Sword did not move again… nor did it provide any useful information.

At least it wasn’t a warning of danger… but Da Zhe couldn’t help but be more vigilant, quietly hiding the Qiankun Bag given by Ms. Ren and putting the key-shaped Zhan Lu Sword inside his clothes.

Da Zhe thought for a moment and then adjusted the state of his Black Soul Envoy body.

According to Ms. Ren, when this body was transformed, it used high-level materials. If Da Zhe could develop the Dark Soul Body to a certain extent, he could not only freely transform between fiction and reality but also simulate a true human body at nearly one hundred percent.

It is said that those Black Soul Envoys who live through their vacations mostly achieve this level—temporarily sealing their own memories during vacation, they are almost indistinguishable from real humans.

Da Zhe hasn’t been a Black Soul Envoy for very long, but he recently succeeded in achieving this level of humanization—even if not yet reaching the limit of flawless approximation, he’s quite close… ninety-six percent? Ninety-seven or thereabouts?

In any case, Da Zhe isn’t a perfectionist; often, he could be described as ‘Mr. Close-Enough’… He feels that being close enough is fine.

—Ninety-six, ninety-seven, and ninety-nine point nine percent… Are they really about the same?

With Fish Ball Qiang’s current capabilities, he naturally didn’t notice Da Zhe’s change in state… He simply felt as if this wanderer suddenly gave him a reassuring feeling—and this was obviously a good thing.

“Brother, do you see that place?” Fish Ball Qiang pointed below, “That’s where I live.”

Fish Ball Qiang pointed towards the Palace of Eternal Night… A rather simple and dilapidated small house in the corner of the palace’s outside plaza—upon closer inspection, one can tell that the house is merely thrown together using random stones.

“Brother Qiang… You don’t live inside?”

Fish Ball Qiang’s face looked like he couldn’t maintain it, “The air outside is better, the view is wide, and there’s a 360-degree unbeatable terrace; refreshing winds and cool water.”

Where do wind and water come from in a dimensional rift… But Da Zhe didn’t expose him, happily following Fish Ball Qiang to this stone house in the plaza corner.

Curiously, Little Qiang, who had a vendetta against Fish Ball Qiang, didn’t chase after him when Fish Ball Qiang landed into the plaza; instead, it lingered in the air for a moment, reluctantly and slowly flying away.

“This plaza floor, although it looks solid, is incredibly unusual!” Fish Ball Qiang stamped twice vigorously, “I can tell you, once those Void Primordial Demons touch the floor, they’ll be devoured without a trace.”

Just as Fish Ball Qiang finished speaking, Da Zhe stepped onto the plaza floor—his body trembled slightly as if receiving a kind of shock. It seemed the Black Soul Envoy’s body was affected by this shock and became unstable—but soon this instability paused.

Not disappearing, but the body adapted to this shock so it could no longer affect the Dark Soul Body’s stability, however… This thing, seems to be able to affect the stability of the Dark Soul Body?

The floor… devouring Void Primordial Demons’ bodies… impacting the Dark Soul Body’s stability… Da Zhe couldn’t help but ponder deeply.

“Brother, let’s go, don’t just stand there!” Fish Ball Qiang then turned back, suddenly worriedly asked, “You’re not looking down on me, are you?”

“No.” Da Zhe shook his head quickly, “Just seeing such a scene for the first time, I’m a bit stunned… Don’t know what to say. I haven’t seen much of the world, Brother Qiang, don’t blame me.”

Fish Ball Qiang nodded, recalling his much worse appearance the first time he saw the Palace of Eternal Night, and didn’t think too much, warmly pulling Da Zhe’s hand towards his stone house.

“Brother Qiang, do you know what’s under the floor?” Da Zhe suddenly asked.

Fish Ball Qiang was stunned, “No idea? Who would be idle enough to pry up the floor? But even if you want to pry it, it’s difficult, as the floor will automatically restore even if damaged.”

Da Zhe nodded, by now they’ve reached the stone house door… But Da Zhe suddenly pulled Fish Ball Qiang, whispering, “Brother Qiang, be careful, there’s something inside the house!”

“Something inside?” Fish Ball Qiang was startled and then shivered, as if thinking of something terrifying, “Could it be…”

Immediately, he rushed into the stone house, but next moment, Fish Ball Qiang flew out backward… Da Zhe directly reached out to brace Fish Ball Qiang’s back.

His wrist exerted some force, counteracting the inertia on Fish Ball Qiang’s body… Fish Ball Qiang now was spitting blood, clutching his chest, apparently quite injured.

“Are you okay, Brother Qiang?”

“No… I’m okay.” Fish Ball Qiang quickly wiped the blood from his mouth, but his expression seemed a bit flustered, hurriedly whispered to Da Zhe, “Brother, remember not to say anything later… There’s a troublesome guy inside, but don’t worry, I can handle it.”

Da Zhe frowned and looked towards the stone house door.

He saw a staggering figure walking out from the doorway… A gaunt, horse-faced man in his thirties… but with a rugged northern man’s vibe, with a peculiar whip hanging from his waist.

The horse-faced man now was hugging several bottles of alcohol in one arm, and holding a half-drunk bottle in the other… half-asleep, reeking of alcohol.

Fish Ball Qiang now braced himself despite his injuries, tremblingly approaching, respectfully calling, “Lord Attila, why are you here… You should’ve told me earlier so I could receive you properly.”

Attila? Da Zhe silently remembered this name.

At that moment, looking at Fish Ball Qiang’s submissive demeanor, the horse-faced man… Attila shook his head, suddenly took out a whip from his waist, and fiercely lashed it against Fish Ball Qiang.

Fish Ball Qiang screamed miserably after being whipped, and his whole body convulsed on the ground… Da Zhe frowned and stepped forward.

But Fish Ball Qiang quickly raised his head, quickly gestured to Da Zhe to not act impulsively… instantly, Fish Ball Qiang suddenly laughed loudly, “Lord Attila’s whip still hurts like this, it’s about to dislocate all my bones!”

Attila laughed heartily, and without saying a word, swung the whip wildly, striking Fish Ball Qiang more than ten times… until Fish Ball Qiang’s skin was split open, and he spat fresh blood before stopping.

“Does it feel good?” Attila directly asked, with a kind of cruel pleasure in his voice.

Just then Fish Ball Qiang gritted his teeth, desperately nodding, “It feels great! Lord Attila! I’m just a cheap bone, it’s not satisfying unless I’m whipped! If I don’t get whipped by Attila a few times a day, I have no energy when I wake up! Luckily Attila is here, otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to live these days!”

“Haha, you’re an obedient creature!” Attila then laughed even more joyously, then reached into his pocket to take out something resembling a fruit—call it a fruit, but its color made Da Zhe feel it’s not a good thing, emitting a kind of sinister feeling.

However, Fish Ball Qiang showed extreme desire—he wanted this fruit. He hurriedly walked in front of Attila, showing a more humble smile.

“Here’s a reward for you.” Attila directly threw the purple-red fruit on the ground, but also stepped on it… the fruit immediately shattered, splattering flesh and juice everywhere.

Fish Ball Qiang’s eyes flashed with shame… Instinctively, he glanced back at Da Zhe behind him, feeling even more uncomfortable.

Da Zhe silently shook his head as he watched Fish Ball Qiang.

Unexpectedly, Fish Ball Qiang gritted his teeth and knelt down at Attila’s feet, lowered his head, and started licking the fruit flesh and juice from the ground and Attila’s shoes.

Da Zhe opened his mouth, his brow furrowed even deeper, but saw Attila now laughing more merrily while continually shouting dog lackey, dog lackey, and the like.

Fish Ball Qiang stayed silent, until he completely consumed the fruit’s flesh and juice, then obediently knelt on the ground again… Da Zhe secretly sighed and shook his head.

“Who is this person? I’ve never seen him before?” Attila now turned his gaze to Da Zhe, tilted his head to look, and reached out a finger to beckon, “You, come here!”

“Lord Attila!” Fish Ball Qiang quickly raised his head to say, “He’s my friend, just arrived in the dimensional gap, knows nothing.”

“Oh?” Attila seemed half-drunk, looked Da Zhe up and down before nodding, “Is he a human who got swept in? Quite a lucky fellow, out of so many sub-worlds, he ran into one with infinitesimal odds… But the dimensional gap is so big, it’s not unusual for something like this to happen occasionally, though I wonder if it’s good luck or bad… But now that you’re here, come to my Hun Palace, I happen to need a toy for fun.”

Fish Ball Qiang instantly panicked, quickly saying, “Lord Attila, my brother is just an ordinary person, just wants to find the way back… Could you do me a favor—ah—!”

Attila suddenly raised his hand, directly whipped Fish Ball Qiang again, this time completely differently from the dozen lashes earlier—after being struck, Fish Ball Qiang’s skin and flesh exploded widely, making his whole body bloody and blurry.

“Your face? How could I not know you had any face, huh?” Attila now laughed heartily, “Amusing, amusing, this dog lackey dares to tell the king to show you face, quite amusing! The king just idly keeps you as a beast, rewarding you with little trifles as I please… You wouldn’t actually think the king considers you a human, would you?”

Fish Ball Qiang now trembled while speaking, “Lord Attila is right, I’m nothing… just a dog thing. But Lord Attila, my friend is not savvy, wouldn’t be fun… however you’d like to play, I’ll comply, so you see…”

“You really don’t get it, huh?” Attila now sneered, “You’re just a guy left here inexplicably, merely acquired some power… actually think you’re qualified to be our partner? Seems I really have to give you a profound lesson.”

Then, raising the whip in his hand again—the whip began to move automatically, as if a poisonous snake, immediately turned into a thick black shadow, swiftly whipping towards Fish Ball Qiang.

With this strike, Attila thought it could directly scatter Fish Ball Qiang’s soul.

“Hmm?”

But the whip ultimately failed to hit Fish Ball Qiang; instead, it was grabbed by someone!

“Friend, isn’t this a bit excessive?”

Only to see Da Zhe now standing in front of Fish Ball Qiang, directly holding onto one end of the whip, expressionless saying, “Though I don’t understand the relationship between you, after all, aren’t we acquaintances? Killing someone goes only so far.”

“Oh? Looks like you’re more entertaining than this dog lackey.” Attila not only didn’t get angry but appeared quite pleased, “The king loves taming fiery folks—surely you’re fiery! Hahahaha!”

Saying this, he slightly tugged his whip a bit, wanting to pull it back from Da Zhe’s hand—but unexpectedly, with that tug, it didn’t budge.

Attila opened his mouth wide in surprise, then exerted two more parts of strength, yet Da Zhe remained unmoved… his whip still couldn’t be pulled back!

Attila furrowed his brows, gaze condensed, then sneered, preparing to exert more force when suddenly a chill was felt.

He instinctually sensed this chill came from opposite him, from the young man with a gray scarf wrapped around his neck… Attila was slightly shocked internally, ready to do something when suddenly there came a prolonged howl across the plaza.

“King of the Huns, are you causing trouble here again? Why not call on me?”

Accompanying the howl was a rapidly arriving figure.

Only to hear Fish Ball Qiang suddenly exclaim joyfully, “Master Musashi!”