Chapter 367: I have no reason to refuse
Chapter 367: I have no reason to refuse
"Have me fight for the Nightmare corps?" Mike hesitated, saying with a troubled expression, "I'm just a student with a D-rank talent, how could I possibly be qualified to fight for the Nightmare corps? Besides, who's the Nightmare corps' opponent in this tournament? The Valor Sword Corps?"
Kaelum chatted with his nephew for a bit more, getting a clearer picture of the situation.
"Mike, I've got it all figured out!" Kaelum said excitedly.
Mike put on an attentive listening posture.
"The Guardian Shadow and the Nightmare corps are having a tournament, and it's said to involve a huge amount of funding allocation!"
Kaelum thought for a moment and, pushing the limits of his imagination, said, "Probably more money than you could ever spend in your lifetime! You can eat hamburgers every day, as much as you want, and achieve hamburger freedom!"
Mike gasped in astonishment.
"That amazing?"
"Yes, that amazing!"
Kaelum grew more and more excited as he spoke, gesturing wildly with his right hand.
"Because the funding involved is so huge, this tournament is being taken very seriously! My nephew said they'll spare no expense to have Ace represent the Nightmare corps. Mike, you're also one of the invitees, to join the Soldier tier tournament!"
"Well..."
Just as Mike was about to seize the opportunity to raise his price, Shadow Three's voice rang in his ear.
"Fourth Bro, Shadow Nine told me to remind you of something if necessary before he left." Mike nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.
Shadow Three recounted, "Shadow Nine said that Thor's greed has been noticed by many people, so you need to be more restrained in the real world."
Mike immediately understood the implication.
Now, the human powerhouses all knew that Thor, besides his powerful lightning abilities, was also very fond of wealth. Shadow Nine knew that Thor's greed stemmed from his desire to improve himself as quickly as possible and become a Supreme Being sooner, but others obviously didn't understand.
If Mike displayed the same traits as Thor, his true identity would be easily exposed!
In other words... Mike had to maintain a... non-greedy persona!
Mike's lips twitched, and he forced himself to refuse, suppressing his heartache.
"Kaelum, it's not that I don't want to help the Nightmare corps. You know my situation. My instructor is a powerhouse from the Guardian Shadow, I can't participate in this tournament without his permission. Besides, if I help the Nightmare corps fight against the Guardian Shadow, wouldn't that be a betrayal?"
After speaking, Mike sighed heavily, his heart heavy.
To maintain his persona, he had to force himself to refuse.
"I've always been indifferent to fame and fortune, appearance fees and such mean nothing to me. The main reason is that Shadow Four doesn't recommend it, otherwise, I'd be willing to go to the tournament and experience it, spar with all the experts."
"I understand, I understand."
Kaelum nodded repeatedly, convinced by Mike, and didn't try to persuade him any further.
Kaelum also felt it was a pity and said regretfully, "My nephew said the minimum appearance fee for this tournament is 500 Lord merits!"
"Forget it, don't think about these useless things..."
With that, Kaelum sent Mike's reply to Joseph, and the matter was settled.
500?!
Mike took a deep breath, he had lost 500 Lord merits, worth 50 million hamburgers!
...
On the other side of the communicator, Joseph received Kaelum's reply and frowned slightly.
"Mike, a student of Shadow Four?"
"He can't fight for the Nightmare corps because of Shadow Four?"
"This Mike, he's interesting."
Joseph casually opened a file and started looking through Mike's profile.
The more he learned about Mike, the more Joseph felt that this young man's identity was not simple!
"He gave a [Windstride Slash] to his friend Cain, free of charge, and still refuses to accept any payment?"
Joseph nodded slowly. The skill book for Windstride Slash wasn't cheap, worth tens of millions of dollars.
Before coming to the summer camp, Mike was already so generous to his friends, which showed his character.
Kaelum also spoke highly of Mike, saying that he was indifferent to fame and fortune, a great philanthropist.
Plus, Joseph himself had a good first impression of Mike.
However, Joseph didn't jump to conclusions.
"The file says that Blaze Morrow had a lot of contact with Mike?"
Without hesitation, Joseph immediately contacted Blaze Morrow and asked him about Mike.
"You're asking about Mike?"
On the other side of the communicator, Blaze Morrow said truthfully, "I've been observing him for almost a month. It's a pity he already has an instructor, otherwise, I would definitely take him as my student!"
"Mike is very intelligent, calm and collected, generous and righteous..."
Blaze Morrow's character was well-known among the corps.
After asking around, Joseph's evaluation of Mike was maxed out. The more he looked at Mike, the more pleasing he found him!
"He's a talent!"
Clearly, in this era of Supreme Power, Mike would definitely become Thor's right-hand man!
Joseph made up his mind.
"I must have Mike represent the Nightmare corps in this tournament!"
"If his instructor doesn't agree, I'll talk to Shadow Four directly!"
Without delay, Joseph immediately set off for the Forest of Truth to find Shadow Four.
...
Forest of Truth.
The arrival of a Nine-Star Lord surprised Shadow Four.
He led Joseph to a pavilion and invited him to sit down.
"Mr. Joseph, are you here about the tournament?"
"Not entirely."
Joseph chuckled. "Do you have a student named Mike?"
Shadow Four's expression remained unchanged, and he nodded slowly. "Indeed."
At the same time, his fingers, which had been behind his back, tapped twice.
A shadow silently approached them.
Shadow Four asked with a smile, "Are you here for Mike?"
If it was about Thor, then things were a bit serious.
While chatting and laughing, Shadow Four had already summoned Shadow Two.
If Joseph said a single wrong word, Shadow Four and Shadow Two would attack
simultaneously and subdue him!
Of course, Shadow Four alone was enough to subdue Joseph, Shadow Two was just a
precaution.
"Yes."
Joseph admitted frankly, his expression sincere.
"I want to invite Mike to be a seeded player, representing the Nightmare corps in the tournament! I've already asked Mike, and he said he can't agree without his instructor's permission, so I took the liberty of visiting you."
Without giving Shadow Four a chance to speak, Joseph continued, "Master Shadow Four,
Mike can't stay under the protection of the Guardian Shadow forever. Forgive my bluntness, but the Nightmare corps is the best choice for Mike's future, the place where he can grow the fastest. Representing the Nightmare corps in the tournament would only benefit Mike, there
are no downsides."
Shadow Four could only smile wryly, not knowing what to say.
Having Mike represent the Nightmare corps to fight against the Guardian Shadow in a
tournament...
There were so many things wrong with this, Shadow Four didn't even know where to begin!
"Also, I know that Mike values righteousness over personal gain and is not concerned with trivial matters. Giving him an appearance fee would be an insult to him, he would never do
such a thing."
Joseph came with full sincerity, taking Mike's feelings into consideration, and naturally had a
solution in mind.
"How about this, the Nightmare corps will donate 5,000 Lord merits to the Guardian Shadow in exchange for Mike representing the Nightmare corps, how does that sound?" This proposal showed the Nightmare corps' sincerity and allowed Mike to fight for them, the Guardian Shadow would receive 5,000 Lord merits, and Mike wouldn't be caught in a difficult
position.
Everyone would have a bright future.
Shadow Four smiled and could only nod.
"Since you've put it that way, I have no reason to refuse."
After accepting the 5,000 Lord merits, Shadow Four patted Joseph's shoulder and praised,
"Vice-captain Joseph, you have a good eye!"
"Then it's settled!"
After reaching an agreement with Shadow Four, Joseph left the Forest of Truth in high spirits.
Watching Joseph's retreating figure, Shadow Four remained silent.
Only after Joseph was far away did Shadow Four speak.
"Shadow Two, you can put your weapon away now."
Shadow Two, who was hiding in the shadows, revealed himself.
Bad Man sighed regretfully.
"I thought I could kill a Nine-Star Lord for fun."
Shadow Four had no choice but to accept Shadow Two's morbid sense of humor.
The top three of the Guardian Shadow were all transcendent beings.
They only listened to Shadow Nine.
Even though Thor was now in charge of the Guardian Shadow, their relationship with him was
only one of cooperation, not a true superior-subordinate relationship.
However, Shadow Two wouldn't have dared to say such things when Shadow Nine was
around.
Kill a Nine-Star Lord for fun?
If Shadow Two dared to be so arrogant in front of Shadow Nine, Shadow Nine would dare to
kill Shadow Two for fun.
Ultimately, the many negative consequences of Shadow Nine's departure were starting to
show.
The human race without Shadow Nine was weakened in every sense! From Apollo to Shadow Two, everyone relied on Shadow Nine's silent contributions.
Yet, for the plan he had been plotting for years, Shadow Nine resolutely abandoned everything and entered the Supreme Abyssal.
Whether Thor could handle it was still an unknown.
This was a heavy test.
He had to face the top three powerhouses of the Guardian Shadow, any one of whom could
step into the realm of Ultimate Lord at any time, beings who held significant weight in the
war between the two races.
Thor could only succeed, not fail.
Failure might result in the loss of top-tier combat power for the human race and the
emergence of many powerful enemies.
Most importantly, it might even affect Thor's growth! Delaying the time it took for him to become a Supreme Being.
That would be a huge loss. However, Shadow Four had faith in Thor.
Or rather, he was willing to believe in the person chosen by Shadow Nine.
Bad Man yawned and suddenly said, "I finally understand!"
Bad Woman quickly asked, "What do you understand?"
It seemed like Shadow Two was talking to Shadow Four, but in reality, he was talking to
himself.
Bad Man's eyes gleamed, and he said confidently, "I know why Shadow Nine told us to learn how to be human from Thor!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Why?"
This time, even Shadow Four was curious.
"Look, Thor is incredibly greedy, while Mike acts like a philanthropist, what does that tell
you?"
Shadow Two was as excited as if he had discovered a treasure.
"It means Fourth Bro also has schizophrenia!"
"You bad thing, you've become smarter! I'm going to eat half your brain!"
In front of the dumbfounded Shadow Four, Shadow Two let out a creepy laugh and walked
away.
Their muttering echoed through the forest.
"Hee hee hee!"
"Ha ha ha!"
"Bad Woman, you learn from the indifferent-to-fame-and-fortune Fourth Bro, I'll take the
loss and learn from the incredibly greedy Fourth Bro!"
"Go to hell, you bad thing! I knew you were up to no good!"
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