...
Tour guide Xiao Zhang and several others were waiting at the entrance of the guesthouse early in the morning.
Jiang Ming, a member of the mountaineering team, asked, "Did you hear the explosion last night?"
"I heard it, it sounded really close to us," said Zhou Hui, the female travel blogger. "I felt like the explosion was right above our heads..."
At this moment, Qingchen and Yangyang also came downstairs. The two of them still covered their faces with face masks, while Shendai Yunluo followed behind them with a clear and refreshed expression, without any intention of covering her face.
The moment Zhou Hui saw Shen Daiyunluo, Qing Chen clearly felt the female blogger's eyes light up.
Tour guide Xiao Zhang quickly introduced, "Last night, Mr. Liu Shuangxi's wife left Nanchi Market because she couldn't stand the altitude sickness. This Mr. Jindai Yunluo from the island country is a solo mountaineer living in Nanchi Town. He will become our teammate to climb Mount Everest in the future."
With red eyes, General Manager Liu glanced at the scene silently. Only he knew the cause of the explosion last night, and he also knew that Shen Dai Yunluo was Qing Chen's teammate and a super expert, not some lone mountain climber.
"Let's go! Today we'll climb Lobuche Peak for basic acclimatization training, and then tomorrow we'll depart from Lobuche Village and reach Everest Base Camp in about 5 hours!"
Setting off again, Qingchen didn't act this time, because this time it was truly difficult for him.
The high-altitude environment seemed to magnify all his injuries.
The pain was excruciating during the repair of the fractures in both arms, and the internal organs were both painful and itchy as they healed.
Muscles, bones, and internal organs are repaired by blood carrying oxygen and nutrients. When an injured person can't help but gasp for breath, it's because the brain is telling the body that it needs more oxygen.
However, in this high-altitude environment, lack of oxygen can be fatal.
Yangyang glanced at him with concern, then used her force field to envelop Qingchen's backpack to lighten his load.
Qing Chen glanced back at Shen Dai Yunluo's location to see if the other party was protecting him properly.
When she turned around, she found the young man making the female blogger giggle, and she was practically clinging to him...
Is this how a young nobleman is treated?
Along the way, going to Lobuche Peak before reaching Everest Base Camp is a standard activity for almost all mountaineering teams.
Therefore, there were more than ten mountaineering teams traveling together, totaling nearly a hundred people.
When Qing Chen looked back for the first time, Shen Dai Yunluo only had Zhou Hui by her side.
When he looked back an hour later, he saw more than twenty women gathered around Kamishiro Unra, all giggling and arguing over who was closer to him...
Amazing!
Qing Chen looked around at the other mountaineering teams and clearly saw many people staring at Shen Dai Yunluo with hostility.
This is far more effective than him inciting hatred...
Yangyang asked with a smile, "What, are you envious?"
"No," Qingchen shook his head, "He promised to be my protector, but he started flirting with girls instead. My combat power is practically zero right now, I really need this protector..."
Yangyang laughed and said, "I think it's great, it saves us from being third wheels."
During a break, Shen Daiyunlu came to find Qingchen: "I've found out that there are two other mountaineering teams with suspicious individuals. They never open their backpacks in front of others. Don't worry, I've already set up a joint defense team. We'll investigate and kill those people tonight. Anyone with weapons in their backpacks will be killed for you."
Qingchen and Yangyang both stared wide-eyed...
While they're still in Makka Pakka, Shindai Unra has already used the female comrades in his group to build a joint defense team of more than twenty people!
We also need to go out at night to investigate and kill those suspicious individuals one by one!
Amazing!
Kamishiro Yunluo looked at the two of them: "You don't really think I'm talking about love, do you? I'm very picky, okay? Every woman I've dated, isn't she a famous celebrity in the Federation, or a socialite from a wealthy family?"
Qing Chen sighed, "You know how to play."
...
...
At night, everyone descended from Lop Nur Peak and rested briefly in Lop Nur Village before setting off again the next morning to reach Everest Base Camp.
Everyone was setting up tents, and Shen Daiyunluo said with a smile, "Now it's time to repay the favor. Qingchen, Yangyang, help me set up the tent. This is my condition as a protector."
Qing Chen was stunned for a moment: "That's it?!"
“Of course,” said Kamishiro Yunra, “What other conditions did you expect?”
"Can't you build it yourself?" Qingchen complained. "You don't get many chances to get me to agree to a request, so you should cherish them."
“I wouldn’t,” said Kamishiro Yunluo slowly. “I’m a noble young master from Kamishiro, someone who never lifts a finger. How could I do such servant’s work? In the Otherworld, I would definitely use shikigami to set up tents, but I’m just afraid that letting them out would scare other people.”
"Alright then," Qingchen sighed.
He and Yangyang helped this guy set up the tent, while he went off to continue chatting animatedly with the women.
There was an unsettling feeling that the two of them were like attendants of Shindai Yunluo...
When the evening sharing session arrived, Jindai Yunluo went to socialize with the women, leaving only the men in each mountaineering team staring at each other blankly, sharing their own little stories about life in a dry and uninspired manner...
Only Qing Chen's team was alright, at least they still had Yang Yang.
Tour guide Xiao Zhang smiled and took out a radio: "In the high-altitude areas, wireless equipment is our only means of communication. Calling for rescue down the mountain, contacting the mountain, and informing others about the weather all rely on wireless equipment. Our place is a bit rudimentary; there's no television to watch, so you can only listen to the news on the radio for twenty minutes, and then go back to your tents to sleep."
The radio was old, and when I turned it on, it broadcast the recent news: mutual funds had plummeted, and there was widespread lamentation. The radio reminded listeners not to invest haphazardly. If you don't manage your money, it will stay with you.
While listening, Qingchen suddenly noticed that everyone around the campfire was yawning at the same time, and their eyes were gradually becoming sluggish.
Even Yangyang is no exception!
In just one minute, everyone around the campfire collapsed to the ground, except for Qingchen, who remained seated, stroking his Three Realms Buddhist beads in deep thought.
Tour guide Xiao Zhang was a little surprised: "Why aren't you asleep?"
Qingchen thought for a moment and replied, "I'm not sleepy yet..."
Tour guide Xiao Zhang was astonished. "How can you not be sleepy? The person who handed me the radio said that as long as the radio is playing the news channel, everyone who hears it will fall asleep, and only the person who presses the switch will be fine!"
Even Grade A is no exception!
Qing Chen smiled and asked curiously, "This radio is a forbidden item, right? It seems there's no record of such a forbidden item in the Inner World Federation. Besides, all the buttons on the radio, even the production information on the back, are in English. So, it's a forbidden item in North America? You're too kind..."
Tour guide Xiao Zhang said tremblingly, "Why are you alright? Even an A-level being can fall asleep; no one in the surface world can resist it."
Qing Chen said with a smile, "Is it possible... that I'm already S-rank?"
At the foot of the mountain in Lop Nur village, someone was listening to everything that was happening through a communication device on the button worn by tour guide Xiao Zhang's chest, deciding whether or not to take action.
When Qingchen uttered these words, a translator conveyed the meaning to the people in the darkness, and everyone was shocked!
S-class?
How long has the Time Traveler in the World of Surface existed? How could a demigod-level powerhouse appear?
Even the Kingdom and Future Organization doesn't have that!
Someone whispered in the darkness, "How credible is that?"
“I think it’s unlikely, unless he directly replaced a demigod right after he transmigrated, but his records show that he was just an ordinary person when he became a time traveler.”
"However, he did exempt it from the rule of 'Hypnotic Radio'. Only demigods can be exempted from this rule. You and I have both tested it, and A-level cannot be exempted."
"That being said, I tend to think... he didn't actually become a demigod."
At this moment, someone said, "Since you think he doesn't have the strength of a demigod, then go and test him."
"Why should I test him... I think he might actually be a demigod."
Another person said softly, "Actually, regardless of whether he is a demigod or not, now is not the best time to make a move. Someone has already provided the best information. What we need to wait for is the moment when he completes the life-or-death challenge."
“In that case, we need to revise our plans against him. I need more members of our organization to arrive in Nepal,” someone said gravely. “Qing Chen is a staunch advocate of war. We must kill him so that our colonial efforts can continue. My Kingdom Organization will immediately assemble its forces.”
"I will make arrangements for my organization immediately in the future."
In the darkness, a man with half his face disfigured sneered, "Kashima is also determined to kill him."
"Then we'll make our move when he's facing the Knight's Trial of Life and Death, when he'll be at his weakest."
"By the way, what about Zhang?"
"They can't be saved; they'll fend for themselves."
At this moment, tour guide Xiao Zhang looked at Qing Chen in front of him and fell into despair.
Chapter 733, The Respect That's Due
Countdown 143:01:02.
It was almost 1 a.m.
In the Indian Ocean, a luxury yacht is rapidly approaching the port of Mumbai at a speed of 30 knots.
More than a dozen North American supermodels were still partying on the deck of the yacht, swaying their alluring figures. Around them, more than a dozen male time travelers were playing around.
The power of the Kingdom and the Future Organization has given them unimaginable wealth, enough for them to indulge in pleasure.
Unlike the low-key nature of the Eastern Time Travelers, even though Kyushu is now incredibly wealthy, it is under completely militarized management, and no one dares to be so unrestrained in front of He Jinqiu.
Kunlun is even less of a story; it's a bunch of bachelors.
On a luxury yacht, a white female time traveler is dressed in a simple suit.
She watched all this coldly, showing no intention of participating. The male models that the Kingdom Organization had prepared for her sat trembling on either side of her, like two quails.
The woman was around thirty years old, and the waistline of the suit accentuated her figure beautifully.
The atmosphere on the yacht was cheerful.
Strangely, there was an old oil painting on the deck depicting an English-style clock tower with a huge mechanical clock on top.
Upon closer inspection, the clock hands in the painting, which should have been frozen in time, were actually still slowly turning.
Beneath this clock tower, hundreds of people stood frozen in time, dressed in various styles—punk, British, casual—as if they belonged to different eras.
At 0:59, an Asian man suddenly walked out of the clock tower and onto the deck.
Arthur, the agent of the leader of the Kingdom Organization, wore a skull ring on his hand. In the skull's two eye sockets, a green serpent slithered through the ring and band, forming a band around his finger.
Taboo item: an artist's oil painting.
An oil painting, 80 centimeters wide and 180 centimeters high, "comes back to life" every night at midnight and lasts for one hour until 1 a.m.