The remaining members of the Daredevil Squad were also drinking with him. It was impossible not to be sad after losing so many brothers, but as men, they could only vent all their emotions through alcohol.
While drinking, Xi Wen suddenly produced a key and unlocked the kilogram bomb on Li Chonglou.
Li Chonglou looked at him in confusion, "Captain, what is this?"
"Do you remember Old Ge? The one who wanted to poach you today? This key was given to me by him. Don't worry, since he gave it to you, you won't be violating the competition rules. This thing is a hidden danger after all, and we don't want such a peerless master as you to die on it."
Xi Wen explained with a bit of drunkenness. Li Chonglou nodded, and because of this, he finally felt a rare moment of ease, staying with everyone until dawn before they each went to sleep.
However, he did not sleep. Instead, he secretly used his internal energy to dispel all the alcohol and then found Chen Guang and Gao Shang.
"Li, Brother Li, hello."
After yesterday's events, the two were a bit reserved around him. Li Chonglou, however, did not dwell on it, shaking his head and saying,
"Let bygones be bygones. Don't say too much about this after you go back."
The two exchanged glances and nodded heavily.
Then, at Li Chonglou's reminder, they communicated with the base management and left the base together.
Not long after the three left, in the base's Sacred Beast Cultivation Facility, the third team of the Dark Department also emerged with Li Chonglou's Sacred Beast.
"Dao Ye, are we returning to the Dark Department or going directly to the trial area?"
The captain of this third team also had another nickname, Dao Ye, because his specialty was dual blades. Although his strength was not as good as Yi Long's, he ranked third in the entire Dark Department.
Because they had been confined to the Sacred Beast Cultivation Facility all along, they were completely unaware of what had been happening outside. Therefore, Dao Ye said directly, "The trial area should have opened by now. It's perfect for us to rush there, so we won't go back to the Dark Department."
Then, a group of about ten people headed directly towards the trial area.
At this time, the crowd gathered outside the trial area gate received the news: the beast tide had been resolved. The trial mission would commence in the afternoon.
The hunting teams without Sacred Beasts showed signs of joy. Although it was delayed by a day, under normal circumstances, it would have taken at least four or five days. Thus, being able to start the trial mission as soon as possible was very beneficial to them.
Fat Zheng, upon receiving the news, had a rather grim expression. In the past day, he had only managed to recover eighty percent of his strength. The Dark Department was not particularly outstanding among the hunting teams in Iron Forest. Moreover, the first round of the trial mission was a one-on-one challenge. In this first round filled with masters, Fat Zheng felt that his current condition made it difficult for him to cope.
However, there was nothing else he could do at the moment. Each outpost could only send ten people to participate in this round. Excluding the three from the third team who had reserved spots, their Yi Long team and Lei Feng team had to contribute another seven people.
No matter how the lineup was arranged, he had to be in the competition.
"Don't worry, as long as you're not too unlucky, you still have a chance with your strength,"
Lei Feng walked over and comforted Fat Zheng. Fat Zheng, however, said with some resentment, "It's all that damned guy's fault. If he hadn't launched a sneak attack at this time, I would at least have the confidence to secure one point."
Lei Feng patted his shoulder and said, "Forget it, don't mention what's past. Besides, he's gone to the beast den to be punished. Given yesterday's situation, he probably…"
He didn't finish his sentence, but both of them understood what he meant. How could a mere newcomer survive in a beast den that had already erupted with a beast tide for a day?
Even if he wasn't sent in because of this matter, he would still receive more severe punishment for violating the rules. Therefore, in their opinion, no matter which scenario it was, Li Chonglou, who had been taken to the beast den, would surely not have an easy time.
Upon thinking of this, Fat Zheng's expression immediately improved. He snorted coldly and muttered, "He'd better die there. Otherwise, if he comes back, I'll definitely make him suffer!"
Lei Feng could clearly sense the resentment in Fat Zheng's words. However, unaware of the truth, he assumed Fat Zheng was blaming Li Chonglou for ambushing him and therefore didn't say much.
After all, to him, Fat Zheng was one of their own, while Li Chonglou was just a newcomer.
And so, everyone began to wait silently outside the trial area for the gates to open.
When noon arrived, the three, including Li Chonglou, also arrived at the trial area and found the Dark Department's team.
When Fat Zheng and Lei Feng saw that Li Chonglou was indeed still alive, their faces showed expressions of astonishment.
Yi Long, on the other hand, walked forward with a happy expression to greet him, "I knew you wouldn't die so easily!"
Li Chonglou managed a faint smile.
He had originally intended to return to the Dark Department to find the old man first, but since Chen Guang and Gao Shang were members of the Dark Department, they had to rush back to the trial area first. If he returned to the Dark Department alone, he wouldn't know the way to the trial area. Therefore, he could only follow the two of them to the trial area first.
Yi Long looked at Li Chonglou's expression with some confusion. However, his next words stunned Li Chonglou completely.
"Why do you look like that, kid? Hurry up and adjust your state. You'll be on stage this afternoon too." Yi Long said, patting Li Chonglou's shoulder.
"What? I have to go on stage now?"
Li Chonglou looked at him in confusion. According to the rules, as a participant, he was only required to play in the team matches. As for this one-on-one challenge, it had nothing to do with him.
Furthermore, almost all hunting teams would not let their participants compete at this time.
Firstly, it was an extremely risky affair. One had to know that the matches in the trial area could result in death. These were not child's play. The outcome of each battle was extremely important to the various teams, as it would affect their scores.
Secondly, Li Chonglou was a Sacred Beast holder. If he were to suffer any accident beforehand, it would mean that he and his Sacred Beast could not cooperate in combat later on, which would undoubtedly be very disadvantageous to any team with a Sacred Beast holder.
Therefore, Li Chonglou couldn't understand why Yi Long would have him compete at this time. Wasn't he worried that something would happen to him?
Yi Long seemed to see through his thoughts, suddenly winked, and leaned close to Li Chonglou's ear, whispering, "You can instantly kill Fat Zheng, so who are you afraid to go up against?"
Damn it, I forgot about that. Li Chonglou immediately felt a bit dejected. If he had known this, he wouldn't have told Yi Long the truth.