Zard and Huanyu are also here, but before the last time they traveled through time, they were Xiaoyu, and now they've become Dayu... How strange.
"This time, we successfully guided the scientists and facilitated the evacuation of the main group from the parents' meeting. Thank you all, you've worked hard," Qingchen said solemnly.
Xiaoqi laughed and said, "It wasn't hard work, parent. You guessed everything! The people from Kamishiro really did go to kill Gawain, and there were two groups of them. We caught them all. The Japanese are quite clever. The first group was actually bait, trying to lure us into lowering our guard."
Qingchen nodded: "Protect Gao Wen. There are too many people in history who spoke out for justice and were killed. Since we have read history, we should learn something from it."
At this time, Chen Zhuoqu and others had already left Whale Island, and the 112 messengers had just emerged from their feelings of disappointment.
Xiao Qi asked, "Parents, if I just arrange for them to cultivate and farm every day, what should we 'messengers' do when we get to the inner world? We can't just sit around doing nothing."
Qing Chen looked at all the messengers and said, "I need you to do something now. It may take a year to complete, or it may take several years. During this time, when you return, you will stay on this Whale Island to cultivate. When you travel through time, you will go to complete the mission under Xiao Qi's guidance. When other students play, you cannot play; when other students go home for winter and summer vacations, you cannot go home; when other students date, you cannot date. You will face danger and endure loneliness. Your names will not be on the medals of the knights or the parent-teacher association. You will not even have names, only serial numbers... Are you willing?"
He didn't tell these people what to do, or even what dangers they might face.
Xiaoqi scratched her head and said, "I'm fine with it. As long as this helps the career you want to pursue, I'm fine with it. To be honest, I'm actually quite envious of Xiaosan. Although he's a bit disgusting, he's so important to the parents' meeting now... Now that it's my turn, I'm quite happy."
"What about the others?" Qing Chen looked at the students: "You won't be able to go home for several years, you won't be able to make new friends... This matter will waste several years of your youth. Perhaps by the time it's over, you will no longer be young. Are you willing to accept that?"
Ye Han took a deep breath and said, "I'm willing. I couldn't climb the cliff, but I can do it this time!"
"I'm willing! Anyway, I don't want to go home, and nobody wants to date me!"
That's heartbreaking!
Qing Chen breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Zheng Yuandong: "Please ask Mr. Zheng to use the Secret Protection Technique on my 112 messengers, including Xiao Qi."
Zheng Yuandong looked at Qing Chen thoughtfully: "You have a very important task for them?"
“Yes,” Qingchen nodded, “It is very important, and we cannot afford to have even one person leak the information. We cannot afford to lose anyone.”
“I’m about to hand over the Black True Sight to you. I’ll give it to you after I finish casting the Secret Guardian spell,” Zheng Yuandong said.
“Just give it to Boss He. I’m sorry, Boss Zheng, but Boss He used conditions I couldn’t refuse to get six months of usage rights,” Qing Chen said.
“No need to apologize to me,” Zheng Yuandong said with a smile. “This was originally something you exchanged for the Pantheon of Thunder. You have the right to decide its ownership.”
Qing Chen shook his head and said nothing.
He apologized because Zheng Yuandong wanted the Pantheon Thunder Division to find a way out for all the Time Walkers in the academy, not for his own selfish desires.
The other party's act of exchanging their own possessions for the happiness of the collective is admirable in itself. Qing Chen had to inform Boss Zheng before exchanging the Black True Sight Eye, even if it was only for a six-month usage right.
Zheng Yuandong asked curiously, "What tasks do you assign to these messengers? Would you mind telling me?"
Qing Chen said, "All I can say is that the ultimate goal is to kill someone who can create puppets. That's all I can say."
“Understood,” Zheng Yuandong said. “I can cast the Secret Keeping Spell on all of them in just one hour.”
“Please,” Qing Chen nodded, looking at the 112 messengers and Xiao Qi: “From today onwards, you are the swords I have hidden away.”
At this moment, Zard, who was standing to the side, said curiously, "Wait a minute, boss..."
Da Yu said irritably, "I'm still here, do you think I'm invisible?"
Zard said embarrassedly, "Ah, seven days ago I was still with Xiaoyu, I forgot, sorry."
"So you called him 'boss' when Xiaoyu was around?" Da Yu raised an eyebrow. "So you're not planning to hide your treacherous intentions?"
"Stop shouting! Stop shouting!" Zard pleaded. "Xiao San and Xiao Qi have missions, which is quite enviable. Can you give me some missions too? How about I assassinate some important figure from the Age of Gods? I'll even tear up his kids' homework."
Da Yu: "...Why did you tear up someone else's homework?!"
"Retaliation!" Zard said matter-of-factly. "I can't exactly kill a kid, so I'll just tear up his homework. Isn't that cool? Isn't that cruel?"
Da Yu remained silent for a while: "Then his child should be quite happy, and will thank you."
At this moment, Qingchen said, "Zard and Huanyu, you two should first help the settlement complete the water conservancy project..."
While pondering, Da Yu subconsciously replied, "Good... my ass!"
He turned and left the war fortress.
Qing Chen smiled and looked at the messengers again.
These messengers no longer had names; they were called 001, 002, 003... up to 112. Qingchen had placed his bet on these people.
If you want to kill the person who made the puppet, there is only one way to go. Once you step onto Qingchen, you have no intention of turning back. You don't care if the whole world is your enemy.
At this moment, Xiao Qi said, "By the way, boss, a few days ago, Xiao Tongyun suddenly came to collect 32 pieces of Purple Orchid Star, saying that she would keep them in the dormitory for future use, so that she wouldn't have to come and collect them every time she used them up. Moreover, she specifically requested that they be from the seven plants that were transplanted from the Inner World... At that time, you were busy arranging the matter of guiding scientists, so I didn't tell you."
For the Agricultural Academy, 32 pieces of Purple Orchid Star are a drop in the ocean, and it's not worth Xiao Qi mentioning this to Qing Chen.
But when Xiaoqi thought about this, she felt that something was not quite right.
Qing Chen pondered for a moment: "Let's just take it. I need to talk to her about something. I'll ask her what she's going to do with these purple orchid stars."
32 pieces of purple-blue star are enough for one person to seamlessly continue for 224 days, more than half a year.
He called Li Tongyun, wanting her to bring Xiao Zhenji to see him.
As a result, Xiaotongyun's phone was turned off!
Qing Chen first went to the place where Li Tongyun and Xiao Zhenji usually cultivated, but there was no one there.
He went to the dormitory area and knocked on the doors.
Jiang Xue opened the door wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt. In the past, she never dared to wear short sleeves in the outside world, for fear that people would see her mechanical arm.
Once she arrived at Whale Island, she felt much more relaxed. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of Time Travelers with mechanical limbs on the island. She felt happy on Whale Island, teaching art without having to endure strange looks from others, and without being harassed by her ex-husband.
"I'm looking for Li Tongyun and Xiao Zhenji. Aren't they in the dormitory?" Qingchen asked.
“They’re not here. They’ve probably gone to the island to train again,” Jiang Xue said helplessly. “Xiao Tongyun insisted on forcing Xiao Zhenji to train, and I couldn’t stop her no matter what I did. I couldn’t just lock her in the house… Later, I realized that she actually knew her limits, so I stopped interfering.”
Qing Chen shook his head: "They are not in the place of cultivation."
As he spoke, he went inside to look at the beds of Maki and Li Tongyun.
Yes, he took his personal belongings, including Maki's favorite doll, which Qingchen bought for her in Japan.
Li Tongyun also took away the forbidden item, the ACE-119 tissue box.
“They… ran away from home,” Qingchen said, both amused and exasperated. “This is such a mess, they didn’t even tell me.”
"Huh?!" Jiang Xue's expression changed: "Where did they go?"
Qing Chen pondered for a moment and said, "I roughly know where they went. Don't worry, they're not in any danger. Li Tongyun is bold and careful; she won't do anything she's not sure of. She wanted to run away from home so much before, but she didn't. Now... she's probably already used the Purple Orchid Star to cultivate to Rank B!"
"Where did they go?" Jiang Xue asked curiously.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine," Qing Chen said with a smile. "Just think of these two girls as going to summer camp. Someone will take good care of them. I'm leaving now, and Aunt Jiang Xue will need to look after everything on Whale Island."
Jiang Xue nodded: "Yes, I will."
Qing Chen left the island on his very first day back.
He's going to go his own way.
Watching a snowfall, killing some people.
...
...
On a cargo plane flying from Zhengcheng to Haicheng, the knights sat by the cargo racks, looking somewhat dejected. What happened to the promised private jets and celebrity parties?
“Master, aren’t you lying? You said there were four private planes, but we’re all on a cargo plane with no chairs. We have to sit on piles of packages. This is so different from what you described,” Zhang Hubao said in shock as he sat on the plane. “Where is the most professional coaching team?”
These delivery riders were all wearing Hu's Express uniforms, and they hadn't showered for days. They were disheveled and on the verge of collapse.
Hu Xiaoniu laughed: "Is that what Master told you? It's okay, you'll get used to it. It's a tradition for the Knights to trick their disciples. When you have the chance to expand your family in the future, you can trick them too."
Inside the cabin, Zhang Tianzhen said with a smile, "We have professional coaches and celebrity parties, but that's not something you should be thinking about right now. You are still weak and can't even appear openly. If four private planes from the Hu Group were to transport you to Haicheng, wouldn't that be announcing your whereabouts to the whole world? So before you complete the eight life-or-death trials, you should honestly remain anonymous."
Hu Xiaoniu said with a smile, "You have already climbed the cliffs of Qingshan. The first training subject from now on will be diving, the second will be skydiving, the third will be mountain biking, the fourth will be wingsuit flying... The last subject will be taking you to a fishing boat, just like your master, to go out to sea and find a storm at sea."
Zhang Tianzhen said with a smile, "Fishing for king crabs in the most dangerous places, riding mountain bikes down the steepest slopes, and facing 30-meter-high tides without fear. Compared to private jets and celebrity parties, this is the most romantic thing in your lives. You are knights, but you have to really put in the sweat and effort to become true knights. And before that, no one can know that you exist."
Hu Xiaoniu also said, "After getting off the plane, you will be normal porters. Six hours later, an unmarked bus will pick you up one by one and take you to your destination."
We still have to work; they were the ones who unloaded all the cargo from that plane...
How could a knight be so cruel to his apprentice?!
However, at that moment, a noise came from their pile of luggage. Hu Xiaoniu was startled, and Zhang Tianzhen immediately drew a short knife from her waist and stood in front of Hu Xiaoniu to protect him.
Zhang Tianzhen said coldly, "Who goes there? Show yourself!"
"Don't be nervous, it's us."
Then, Li Tongyun and Xiao Zhenji emerged from a 28-inch suitcase.
Xiao Tongyun quickly fixed her own hair, then fixed Xiao Zhenji's hair, maintaining Xiao Zhenji's "Third Senior Sister" dignity despite her young age...
She said casually, "Ahem, I've already advanced to Rank B. Your master sent me to be your protector. I hid in the suitcase just now to test your vigilance and see if anyone could find me, but I was very disappointed."
Hu Xiaoniu said, "Tongyun... I called Master as soon as I got off the plane."
Xiao Tongyun cried out in alarm, "No, no, no, no!"
Chapter 717, A Cart Wheel Ran Over His Face
“You guys are too bold,” Hu Xiaoniu exclaimed. “And you’ve dragged me into this. What if Master thinks I secretly brought you out? No, I must call Master and explain the situation after I get off the plane.”
Li Tongyun's "majestic" demeanor vanished, replaced by a pitiful expression: "Brother Xiao Niu, Xiao Zhenqi is a knight too, she needs to train as well. I'm not a professional enough coach for her, so I'll learn alongside you while you're on your training camp. Brother Qingchen doesn't have time to teach her, and I, as her protector, am anxious too."
In fact, what she said was what she truly felt.
The knight's protector is someone who simultaneously acts as coach, bodyguard, and confidant.
Now that the 99 new knights have embarked on their journey of growth, Maki Jinguji is their senior. If all 99 knights complete their challenges in a year, her position as senior knight will become very awkward...
Jinguji Maki can be confused, but Li Tongyun has to consider her feelings.
Looking at the mischievous Li Tongyun, even though he knew that her aggrieved appearance was an act, Hu Xiaoniu could only give in: "But you have to let Master know about this."
"Don't worry, I'll call him after we get off the plane. Just make sure the plane doesn't turn back," Li Tongyun laughed.
"Alright, you two have been cooped up in your suitcases for a long time, haven't you? Are you hungry? I'll have the staff prepare dinner for you," Zhang Tianzhen said with a smile. "Chicken rice, beef rice, noodles, what would you like to eat?"
"Give me a chicken rice bowl, and a beef rice bowl for our little Zhenji. She likes beef. Do you have canned yellow peaches? She likes those too," Li Tongyun said with a smile. "Tianzhen-gege is the best."
Li Tongyun usually tells everyone not to spoil Xiao Zhenji, but she herself knows Xiao Zhenji's tastes very well and remembers all the details.