Chapter 87: Chapter 84: Martial Arts Hall Restoration
"Vendetta?" Lin Qi looked at Qin Mu and shook his head, "No, this is my first meeting today."
He crossed over and lived in the Abandoned Area all along. Not to mention interactions with martial artists, he hadn’t even had any encounters with forces related to martial artists.
Qin Mu observed Lin Qi’s genuine confusion and looked at the document in his hand, filled with bewilderment, "Then this task of yours."
"Is there something wrong with the task?" Lin Qi asked, puzzled by the task content on the document.
The task on the document was exactly as Qin Mu mentioned before, requiring the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to transport ten cartloads of supplies to Fenglin Town, over two hundred kilometers away, within a month. In the numerous towns under the jurisdiction of Chasing Light City, a distance of over two hundred kilometers was not the farthest, just an ordinary distance.
"The task itself is not a problem, at least not a few months ago," Qin Mu explained, "I have been to Fenglin Town a few times before, and it is indeed a bustling trade town. But recently, there has been some friction between our Chasing Light City and Star Tower City, with many gangs from Star Tower City raiding the roads."
"Under normal circumstances, such tasks are handled by the top ten ranked outdoor gangs. Especially since it is Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’s first time entering the rankings, they’d be assigned transportation tasks that do not involve conflicts with external forces."
"A task for one of the top ten gangs?" Lin Qi couldn’t help but frown slightly.
The strength of the current Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall had grown considerably, with both One Leaf Floating Cloud and Zhao Hu advancing to Advanced Apprentices in the past two days, and eight more Intermediate Apprentices joining their ranks.
However, even with six advanced apprentices like Luo Wushang who can contend against quasi-martial artists, the gap compared to the top ten ranked outdoor gangs was still enormous.
Lin Qi’s previous understanding of outdoor gangs came from Luo Qi, but after discussing with Qin Mu, he realized that even among outdoor gangs, there was a qualitative difference between different gangs.
Especially for the top ten gangs, as far as Qin Mu knew, any of these gangs had at least twenty quasi-martial artists and more than fifty extreme apprentices, with over six hundred apprentices.
Compared to the suburban ordinary gangs, there was not much difference, apart from the qualitative difference in the number of A6 grade battle armors possessed.
An A6 grade battle armor costs several million bits per set, and outdoor gangs have no idea how long they need to hustle before affording one, and even then, it’s second-hand.
Suburban gangs have their big companies, doing significant businesses with monthly revenues far exceeding that of outdoor gangs.
It’s safe to say that any ordinary suburban gang has at least fifty sets of A6 grade battle armors, which an advanced apprentice wearing can suppress a quasi-martial artist, and when worn by an extreme apprentice, they can overpower an extreme quasi-martial artist.
Such fifty sets of A6 grade battle armors are incomparable with those of outdoor gangs.
Of course, this was information Qin Mu learned through the Martial Artist Association a few days ago since he had passed the Martial Artist Association’s assessment, thus regarded as an external member and knew far more than an ordinary outdoor gang.
Currently, the transport route to Fenglin Town requires the overall strength of the top ten outdoor gangs that the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall cannot accomplish.
Moreover, even if players can manage to complete it with all their might, the supplies might suffer heavy losses, with the costs of these lost supplies falling on the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall taking the task. The current Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall doesn’t have that much money to compensate.
"Brother Qin Mu, can’t we change the task?" Lin Qi couldn’t help but ask Qin Mu.
"Do you think the association’s mandatory tasks are a free marketplace?" Qin Mu spoke with frustration, "The moment you took over the file, you accepted the task; there’s no room for negotiation on such mandatory tasks, not even that mentor can change it. I wonder how you offended Steward Feng Geling, to have him assign this task to you. If the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall cannot complete it within a month, it will lose its authority from the association and will never reach the top one hundred gangs."
"I haven’t offended Feng Geling, nor have I offended the Half-Scale Race," Lin Qi pondered and said, "If the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall offended anyone, it might be the White Feather Gang. But the White Feather Gang shouldn’t have enough influence to get Feng Geling to target us Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, right?"
"I don’t know about that either." Qin Mu shook his head and said to Lin Qi, "Now we can only find a way to complete this task within a month. If completed once, we can then use the reason of a new gang adapting to tasks to switch to other tasks. By then, I might discuss with that mentor, maybe it can be done. Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can persuade those old friends, and I’ll bring them along with you guys when the time comes. I’m sure we can complete this task."
"Thank you very much, Brother Qin Mu." Lin Qi thanked sincerely, understanding that Qin Mu was truly helping him.
If it weren’t for Qin Mu providing a wealth of information, the association task this time would demand unimaginable costs.
"No need to thank me, persuading those old guys will come at a price that you’ll have to cover," Qin Mu chuckled and said, "Anyway, I’ll head to the association to gather more intel on what’s truly happening."
After speaking, Qin Mu left the Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
"Steward Feng Geling, is it?" Lin Qi gazed at the distant flying car and slowly said, "I’ll remember this vendetta, and someday, I’ll repay it in full!"
Indeed, martial artists are powerful, but in Lin Qi’s eyes, they aren’t unreachable.
Currently, he is already an extreme apprentice, possessing strength of 877 kilograms, moving at 25.7 meters per second. With the First Layer Perfection of Shattering Stone Fist and Leopard Shadow Step, his actual combat power reaches the level of an extreme quasi-martial artist.
However, recently, the effects of entering the Second Layer of the Fitness Breathing Technique have decreased, likely only reaching 899 kilograms upon mastering the second layer. To break through to quasi-martial artist requires the third layer of the Fitness Breathing Technique.
But for someone with his system, becoming a martial artist is not difficult, especially today as the martial arts hall completes all repairs, he will receive a significant upgrade.
Meanwhile, in the flying car on the other side.
"Teacher Feng Geling, this time you gave a top ten outdoor gang task to Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Qin Mu, who knows the association well, is there and will surely notice. By then, there’s a possibility that Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall will hold a grudge against you?" The Half-Scale Race youth driving the flying car worriedly stated, "I heard that Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall has two genius apprentices; if they bear a grudge against you, won’t it be more trouble than it’s worth?"
"What does it matter if they know? Hold a grudge against me? Do they dare?" Feng Geling wore a scornful expression on his cold face, "They’re nothing but so-called geniuses elevated by ignorant ants; such geniuses are countless both in the suburbs and urban districts of Chasing Light City, yet how many ultimately advance to martial artists?"
"Even if Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall has the capability to advance an apprentice genius to a martial artist, they still cannot touch me as an equal martial artist. I also don’t rely on them from the human race; what could they do to me?"
"Moreover, this time I have gained three energy crystal stones from White Feather Gang, added to my previous accumulations, my five internal organs can undergo final enhancements. By then, my status in the association will no longer be limited to a Steward."
"Go back and inform the White Feather Gang to send over the remaining two energy crystals."
"Yes!" The young disciple driving the flying car nodded thoughtfully.
Once Teacher Feng Geling takes another step forward and completes the full transformation of the five internal organs, his strength and stature will undergo a qualitative change. Not only would a small outdoor gang, but even big suburban gangs would lack the qualifications to hold any grudge.
The sunset was gradually setting in the Abandoned Area of Chasing Light City.
Lin Qi stared intently at the mainline tasks column of the system, watching the progress bar of ’Fully Repairing Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall’ increase little by little.
99.6%...99.8%...100%...
System: Congratulations to the host for completing the ’Fully Repairing Black Obsidian Martial Arts Hall Task,’ rewarding a Coach B6-Type Training Machine, increasing the player limit by 40.
System: Congratulations to the host for achieving Level 2 Hidden Permission, would you like to unlock Level 2 Hidden Permission?