Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 502 Conversation
The next day, early in the morning.

Soft light fell from the top of the maze where tree roots were entangled. On the dome, one could see pure white flowers shaped like orchids gradually blooming, emitting faint light, bringing a slightly dim daylight to the maze shrouded in darkness before one's eyes.

Is he... just drunk?

On the cliff, Xin Lailai slowly opened his eyes, looked at the light that fell into his eyes and the gradually brightening vision, and subconsciously turned his head to look at the side:

I saw Dao Ji disappeared at some point in the open space on the side, leaving only a wine bowl emitting a strong sword intent.

"As for Daoji, he went to practice swordplay after drinking. It seems that he has gained some new insights in swordplay. He can have sudden enlightenment just by drinking. It turns out that the gap between people is bigger than that between people and dogs."

A frivolous voice came from the side. Xin Lailai turned her head and glanced at Yamu who was lying on the cliff like her, then moved her gaze to the maze dome that was emitting soft white light.

"Did I say anything when I was drunk?"

"Nothing. He just kept drinking. His energy almost scared Daoji and me."

Yamu lay on the cliff with his hands behind his head and legs crossed, looking at the scene in front of him with his eyelids slightly drooping.

"Is it……"

After hearing the other party's answer, Xin Lailai didn't say much. She just responded simply and closed her eyes lightly, as if enjoying the breeze blowing across her face.

Everything around seemed to have suddenly become quiet, leaving only two men lying on the cliff, like a frozen painting.

After an unknown amount of time, Yamu's voice sounded again:

"To be honest, at the beginning, I didn't think highly of you..."

Yamu looked at the scene in front of him with his eyes slightly narrowed, and suddenly said something, which made Xin Lailai's lightly closed eyes move.

"Although Black Four World Time 04296 told me about your situation, in my opinion, your upper limit is probably only the super-top echelon."

"But your performance at the end of the Black Four World surprised me. At that time, I wanted to kill those two mutants as soon as possible, and then rush over to support you and kill the abyss creature before you died. But you killed it directly, which was beyond my expectation at that time."

"And then your performance in the God Eater world and your actions in the Black Bullet world made me realize that I actually had a misunderstanding of you."

"You... no, to be exact, it's you, Xin Lailai. You really surprised me. I thought you were someone like your leader, but later I found that it didn't seem to be the case. Although you and the "Fate Master" are very similar in style, you are completely different."

"It may be difficult for you to understand what I said. After all, from your perspective, you probably received a lot of help from him. But if you learn more about your leader's past deeds, you may understand that being a companion to such a person may bring good benefits, but it is not suitable for close friendship."

"Honestly, your situation really surprised me. It's so unexpected that I'm a little envious."

Yamu said as he sat up from the ground, supported himself with his hands, leaned back slightly, looked up at the scene above his head, turned his head to look at Xin Lailai who had opened his eyes at some point but had remained silent, smiled, and said:
"I know what you're thinking. It's hard to believe that I envy you, right?"

"But this is the fact. The choice you made when facing the abyss, the decision you made when facing the execution ground, and the state you are now in as one with your lover, all of these make me envious."

"When I see you guys, I sometimes even wonder, if I had just..."

As Yamu spoke, his eyes unconsciously moved to the false sky, then he shook his head and said self-deprecatingly:
"Forget it, you don't need to care too much about what I said, just treat it as some of my personal problems."

"What you want to talk about is your background?"

At this moment, Xin Lailai's voice suddenly came from the side, which made Yamu startled. He looked at Xin Lailai who also sat up, paused for a while, shook his head, and laughed:

"So you already knew that?"

"I asked around a bit, mainly out of curiosity as to how you ended up being the editor-in-chief of Paradise Express."

"This is really... How much did that guy 04296 tell you?"

"Not much, just the story of how he picked you up with that other guy."

"Tsk, if I had known I would have included this in the contract..."

Xin Lailai said. Upon hearing this, Yamu sighed and took out a pack of cigarettes with the emblem of the Elemental God from his arms. He took out a cigarette and held it in his mouth. Then he handed the cigarette box to Xin Lailai and said in a somewhat unclear tone:

"Want one? And help me light it."

Seeing this, Xin Lailai glanced at Yamu, took out a cigarette, held it in his mouth like Yamu, and snapped his fingers. Two beams of fire flashed across the cliff.

After a while, two sparks rose from the cliff, and finally the two men exhaled at the same time, blowing out two smoke rings of obviously different regularity.

"Tsk, it's almost like a wave. Does that mean you really don't smoke at all normally?"

"I don't have that habit."

Xin Lailai looked at the slowly expanding smoke ring in front of her, blew a breath to disperse it, then flicked the cigarette between her fingers, letting a few sparks fall and hit the corner of her clothes with the breeze.

"That's right. After all, it's not suitable for you to have such a habit as a person with a family."

Upon hearing this, Yamu shook his head slightly, no longer caring about this little thing, but looking down at the scene below, looking at the vibrant deep green forest, squinting his eyes, and said:

"Honestly, sometimes I really think it's a miracle that a guy like you can exist in Paradise and make it all the way to Pioneer."

"Unfortunately, I think so too."

"Well, I guess so. After all, you are a bit too self-conscious."

Yamu shrugged and complained, then looked at Xin Lailai who was sitting next to him, and after taking a deep look at the black-haired young man, he said:

"Xin Lailai, do you know what the biggest difference between you and us is in my opinion?"

"What is it?"

"Proportion."

Yamu stared into the eyes of the black-haired young man. His sharp features were reflected in his golden pupils. He lowered his eyes slightly and said:

"Perhaps all this seems insignificant to you, but if you have seen the relationships between other pioneers, you will understand how incredible it is that we can get together peacefully like this."

"Who do you think deserves the credit for this?"

Yamu asked back. Upon hearing this, Xinlailai smiled, spread his hands, and said jokingly:

"Do you think you will still fight if I'm not here?"

"That's not the case. Our status as pioneers gives us an innate basis for cooperation. Even if you're not here, we will probably form a team like other pioneers and conquer this world, right?"

"only--"

Yamu shrugged and said in a nonchalant tone, but the next second he suddenly changed the subject, a deep look flashed across his eyes, and he said in a deep voice:
"That's all it is, becoming teammates and working together, and that's it."

"In the final analysis, these pioneers are all outliers. To put it nicely, their style is too extreme. To put it bluntly, they just don't know how to do things properly."

"Think about it yourself. If you weren't here when you first entered the world, what would the discussion of the plan be like in the end?"

"Given the character of the Death Holder, she won't give Daoji and me any face. If our plan doesn't make sense to her, she will most likely not bother to say anything and just do what she wants." "Daoji is the same. Without someone like you here, with his extremely straightforward character, do you think he could withdraw? There's no doubt that he will fight his way to the 70th floor and wait for our support there. He might even leave us alone to fight on if things go wrong."

"..."

"It's the same for me. Although I think I have some interpersonal skills, I can't incite all the adventurers in Orario with just a few words like you do. I can't make people feel like spiritual support wherever I go. I don't even bother to care about how those adventurers feel. I'm a businessman, and businessmen are always short-sighted. This is the reality."

After hearing what Yamu said, Xin Lailai did not answer immediately. Instead, he took a puff of the Elemental God's specialty cigarette in his hand, exhaled lightly, glanced at Yamu, and said with some surprise:

"I didn't expect you to be quite good at comforting people?"

"This is not to comfort anyone, I am just stating what I think is the truth."

Upon hearing this, Yamu smiled and shrugged, narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Xin Lailai in front of him, and said:
"Personally speaking, this is why I chose to sit here, and this is also the biggest difference between you and Meimu in my opinion."

"That fortune teller is really too rational, even to the point of being intimidating. In comparison, you personally give me a much more real and solid feeling than him."

"What if I'm faking this?"

"Well, I can only accept it. After all, being able to pretend to this extent is a skill."

"To put it bluntly, I don't feel uncomfortable getting along with you. That's why I stayed. I believe that the Death Bearer and Dao Ji must think so too."

Yamu glanced at the sword-intentioned wine bowl that was gradually disintegrating on Xin Lailai's left hand, and said casually.

"..."

Xin Lailai looked at the blond young man in front of him, looked at the cigarette in his hand, and fell silent.

Finally, he closed his eyes, took a long breath, then opened his eyes again and smiled helplessly.

"Are you feeling better?"

"I can't say I feel good, but after hearing what you think of me, Brother Yamu, I suddenly feel a little comforted for some reason."

Xin Lailai shook his head and said with a smile, then looked towards the forest below. Just as he was about to say something, a hearty voice suddenly came from behind:
"My two Taoist friends, are you sober? My Taoist friend the Dead asked me to tell you that it's time to get ready to leave!"

Dao Ji was seen coming from a distance on a sword. When he saw the two people sitting on the edge of the cliff, he stopped and shouted loudly.

Xin Lailai heard this, turned around, and when he sensed Dao Ji's sword intent, his eyes moved, and he smiled and said:

"Thank you, Brother Daoji, for informing me. By the way, congratulations to Brother Daoji for making further progress in the way of swordsmanship after not seeing you for a night!"

"Haha, Daoist Fellow Black Sword, you are too kind. It's just a small gain, not a big deal. But Daoist Fellow Black Sword, after not seeing you for a night, your sword skills are much clearer than before. This is a good thing!"

Dao Ji laughed loudly upon hearing this, his robes fluttering with the sword intent around him. Finally, he bowed to the two of them and said loudly:

"Since both of you are awake, why don't you go together?"

"nature."

"Hey, can you two stop being so pretentious? I really can't learn from you..."

Yamu looked at Xin Lailai, who had easily integrated into Dao Ji's conversational style, and a hint of helplessness appeared in his eyes.

"Haha, Brother Yamu, you don't have to force it. Just follow your heart."

"That's right, Brother Yamu, there's no need to worry too much about these trivial details, just be casual."

"..."

Yamu looked at Xin Lailai with a smile on her face, and suddenly felt regretful for what he had just said about his envy of her.

"You two, shall we go?"

"Let's go together."

"…Forget it, as long as you are happy."

Finally, three people were seen, one flying a sword, one spreading wings, and one turning into thunder. Three sharp explosions were heard in the air, and they turned into three afterimages that instantly flew across a distance of hundreds of meters and landed in front of the camp in the forest.

"Look, the Tyrants are coming!"

"Is that a sword maniac? It feels like there's no way to get close to him?"

"I heard from them that Sword Maniac seems to be stronger than the three of Tyrant combined?"

"real or fake……"

As soon as the three of them landed in the camp, the more than 140 adventurers scattered throughout the camp suddenly became lively.

The one who attracted the most attention was Dao Ji, who was standing at the front. His flowing white robe, sharp and handsome features, and his unique way of flying by walking on a sword had already attracted a lot of attention. In addition, the stories told by the two Amazon girls from Loki's family in the camp after they got drunk last night had already aroused the expectations of all the adventurers in the camp for the rumored "sword maniac".

"Brother Daoji is truly extraordinary. He hasn't even opened his mouth yet, but he's already attracted so much attention."

Xin Lailai, who was standing behind Daoji's right side, looked around the scene in the training camp and chuckled and teased.

"It's just an empty reputation. Fellow Daoist Black Sword, please don't kill me. I can't command so many people with my personality."

Dao Ji heard this, shook his head and smiled, then stepped back and stood behind Xin Lailai.

Seeing this, Xin Lailai didn't say much, just nodded, looked at the adventurers in front of him calmly, took the initiative to step forward, and said:

"Everyone, let's save the small talk for later. As for now..."

Boom——! !

Xin Lailai waved his arm, his robe fluttering, and several black shadows fell from mid-air and landed heavily on the ground. They were the alchemical earth dragons he had created before.

"Everyone, the expedition has begun!"

Powerful words rang out from the camp. Upon hearing these words, the adventurers in the camp put away the relaxed expressions on their faces, stood up one after another, and picked up their weapons. The mage adventurers quickly climbed onto the earth dragon according to the drill, and the offensive adventurers lined up on both sides, with the heavy-armored adventurers distributed in the front and back positions. In less than a minute, they had formed a rough formation.

——The drills conducted during the subjugation of the black dragon began to show their true value here.

Xin Lailai looked at the well-organized team in front of him, didn't say much, just nodded slightly, took out Yuan Mo from the storage space, and smashed it on the ground.

Boom!
A dull sound rang out from the forest, like the sound of a war drum before a march.

"set off!"

The next second, the earth shook and smoke began to rise from the forest, like smoke signals from a marching army.

Target, 70th floor!
……

(End of this chapter)