Chapter 66: Chapter 66 Difficult Admirer
When we arrived, what we saw was a small, temporary encampment made up of simple plank houses. In the open space in front of this camp, about a dozen mercenaries were crowding around an impassive little loli, whose face, devoid of any expression, told me—a person who knew her well—that Pandora was already quite impatient.
I had already heard about the whole incident from Sandora.
Simply out of an instinct to eradicate the power of the Abyss, Pandora had killed the demonized creature that appeared before her and incidentally saved the lives of those dozen mercenaries. However, she clearly did not expect the enthusiasm of these mercenaries. Being a profession that deals with death year-round, mercenaries know the value of life more than anyone. As a result, the members of the Fire Blade Mercenary Corps were extremely grateful to Pandora for saving their lives and were completely subdued by the great strength she exhibited. They hero-worshipped her to the point that they enthusiastically invited Pandora to visit their camp—despite the fact that their place was hardly better than a slum.
What Pandora dislikes most is wasting time on such meaningless social activities. In dealing with these enthusiastic admirers, her patience was gradually worn down to the point of physical confrontation.
According to Pandora’s usual character, she would not care how enthusiastic these people were and would simply turn and walk away—that was her first thought. However, someone had specifically designed a development plan for her which included this phrase: “Always be polite to people.” Pandora always treated that person’s words as if they were sacred, so for once, the little loli uncharacteristically decided to accept the invitation of these boring carbon-based life forms.
But now, Pandora was beginning to regret her decision…
Just as Pandora was about to explode, I appeared, and that spared the mercenaries from a beating.
Without hesitation, Pandora left those mercenaries behind and ran quickly towards me, then with a swoosh, she slipped behind me.
I had never seen Pandora react so flusteredly before.
I must say, to force the ice-cold Pandora to this extent, those mercenaries could be considered a formidable force in their own right.
“I never imagined that the humans of this world would worship the strong to such an extent,” Sandora, who had appeared next to me at some point, said with a smile relishing the misfortune, “After being rescued, those mercenaries became die-hard fans of Pandora. Right now, they are crying and shouting to be the little guy’s servants—now she’s really in for a headache.”
When did Sandora start using these expressions anyway?
At that moment, the middle-aged man leading the others approached us. He performed what seemed to be a salute specific to mercenaries, then asked, “May I ask, you are…”
“I am Pandora’s brother,” I replied with a smile. Then pointing at Qianqian and her sister, I said, “This is my fiancée, and this is my sister.”
Qianqian swiftly pinched me hard on my waist and whispered, “Since when became your fiancée?”
The mercenaries opposite us, hearing my introduction, immediately grabbed my hand, their faces filled with excitement and said, “So you are Miss Pandora’s brother? I am Reck, the leader of the Fire Blade Mercenary Corps. Your sister is our lifesaver, her benevolence and strength have deeply subdued us. As mercenaries, following the strong is our highest ideal. We hope you will allow us to become followers of your sister. We can swear to God to be her most loyal soldiers…”
Dingdang “whooshed” in front of them and said in a gentle voice, “Alright, go ahead and swear!”
“Stop causing trouble!” I accurately grabbed Dingdang’s wings and set her back on my shoulder, then turned to Reck and said, “Clearly, my sister is not interested in having you as followers.”
I could guess what these mercenaries were thinking. Worshiping the powerful and expressing gratitude for being saved were certainly reasons, but more importantly, they were looking for a strong backer to rely on. It’s obvious that Pandora possessed great power; even though she looks like an inconspicuous loli, in this dangerous world, only strength is truly reliable. As long as someone has enough strength, even if they are a loli, they will be revered. This mercenary corps was clearly not doing well, already on the verge of disbanding. For these mercenaries, who had nothing but a bit of fighting ability, without such a haven, their future would be very bleak, so they urgently needed a strong figure to rely on, and Pandora naturally became their target.
This plan was not wrong per se—everyone has moments when they need to consider their own survival, especially since their primary reason was to repay the life-saving kindness they had received.
Unfortunately, no Imperial General would be interested in playing such boring games with a few small mercenaries, just like no god would befriend a mortal over a lollipop.
Dingdang flew past me holding a lollipop…
Cough cough, in any case, Pandora would never agree to such a trivial matter.
Upon hearing my words, the middle-aged man named Reck quickly responded, “Then please allow us to follow you. You are Miss Pandora’s brother, and we would also like to be your followers!”
The legendary curve-saving strategy?
“I don’t need followers,” I shook my head, “I don’t think Pandora saved your lives for a reward. You can keep your gratitude to yourselves and pass on Pandora’s kindness by helping others when you can.”
Look, look, how well said! Such a perfect image of a wise and just elder brother!
Lin Xue despised me mercilessly on the side: “Keep pretending, just keep pretending!”
“Is it because our strength is insufficient that you refuse to accept us?” Reck clearly didn’t want to give up on this opportunity to rejuvenate his mercenary group. “Our strength is indeed lacking, unable to compare with Miss Pandora, but we will definitely try our best to enhance our strength, and I myself am a fifth-tier warrior, I believe…”
Pandora, standing behind me, dismissively commented. Then, a ring of transparent ripples appeared around her, and from bottom to top, a towering Xyrin Warrior in heavy armor materialized out of thin air.
This most ordinary heavy soldier of the Xyrin Empire lifted an arm, and a single soldier particle cannon appeared on his shoulder. As a blinding white light flashed by, a huge rock in the distance turned into a cloud of dust.
I shrugged and said, “You see, even the most ordinary soldier under my command has the equivalent strength of a human seventh-tier mage, so we don’t need you.”
I knew Pandora was getting a bit angry now. Because Reck had proposed to become my follower, in Pandora’s heart, this position was hers alone, and she wouldn’t agree to anyone else taking it. So, I had already made up my mind to quickly get rid of this somewhat troublesome group of mercenaries.
Staring dumbfounded at the rock turned to ashes in the distance, Reck instinctively licked his dry lips and said, “Powerful…”
I thought these mercenaries would give up by now, but surprisingly, they became even more fanatical.
In this chaotic and turbulent world, people’s admiration for the powerful far exceeded our imaginations, especially when these powerful beings had even the slightest connection with them. Reck and his subordinates followed us with astonishing persistence, hoping not only to become our followers but also to gain that powerful ability to instantly kill powerful demonized creatures under our guidance.
What a pity, the technology of the Xyrin Empire isn’t designed specifically for carbon-based life… Uh, perhaps Alaya’s mystic system powers and their magic battle energy are somewhat similar?
Just as I was still troubled by these tenacious mercenaries, Sandora managed to shift my focus with an explosive piece of news…