Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 284: The Qi Barracks

The members of the hunting party all looked at him, and one even teased him about his appearance.
What the man could hardly have expected was that his remark had hit the nail on the head.

After all, Zhang Lie was notorious for dressing up in such a fashion.
Zhang Lie himself didn't try to hide his identity; there was a chance that he would have to be with the hunting party for half a year, and he surely wouldn't be able to hide his identity for so long.

“You mean…
you're Zhang Lie?!”

“Zhang Lie of Ning, the champion of the Void Cup?”

Everyone present was aware of Zhang Lie's fame, the newcomers who had just arrived at the second realm, and even the party leader in charge of looking over them.
The two hunters at the very back of the party reacted the most quickly: they turned around and stared at Zhang Lie's half-exposed face.

One of them, the one who had teased him, tried to remove Zhang Lie's hood in a moment of curiosity, but just as he reached out, Zhang Lie took a half-step back and removed his hood himself.

“I-It really is Zhang Lie!”

“I can't believe I'm in the same party as Zhang Lie! Haha, this is something I'll be able to brag about  for life!”

The two closest hunters both scrabbled for a writing instrument.

“An autograph!”

“Right, right, won't you give us an autograph?” the two of them requested, prompting the other hunters in the party to act as well.

They retrieved beast pelts, canine teeth, and all sorts of other items for Zhang Lie to sign.

“Surely we'll have plenty of opportunities to do that later—why don't we head to base camp now? We're in the same party, after all.
Don't you agree, team leader?” Zhang Lie couldn't bear the thought of signing more autographs after his nauseating session at the Blacksteel Inn, so he immediately appealed to the leader of this party for assistance.

What Zhang Lie didn't know was that the leader, Zhou Xiao, had likewise been rummaging through his bag in search of something that Zhang Lie could sign.
Only after Zhang Lie spoke did he recall his position and assignment, and he hurriedly stuffed the items back into his bag.

“Right, Mr.
Zhang Lie's exactly right.
We'll have plenty of time for that in the future.
Our priority now should be to get back to base.”

Although there was a little grumbling, everyone listened to the party leader.
Indeed, as Zhang Lie himself had claimed, if they were to be in the same party, then there would be plenty of opportunities for them to get an autograph from him.

The two hunters at the very end sidled up to him.
They might not be able to get his autograph now, but surely a story or two wouldn't hurt?

“Zhang Lie, won't you tell us about what happened during the Void Cup?”

“Right! We all heard that a high-ranking member of the winged tried to assassinate you—”

“Oh, that's old news! Can we hear about the disaster that just happened in the first realm of the dimensional world? I heard that, even before the disaster happened, you informed the military about the impending incident, and that you were the first to head into the dimensional world after the disaster.
What did you know about this incident beforehand?”

“And what happened during your three months of secluded cultivation? Apparently, you caused the Blacksteel Inn to collapse, and then the vegetation all around the settlement withered.
Did something happen to you in the meantime?”

By that time, all the other hunters had gathered around him, asking all sorts of questions. 

As he tried to fend them off, he gleaned quite a bit of information: his transferral procedure had lasted almost three months, and the destruction of the Blacksteel settlement did have something to do with him.

The party of hunters reached the army barracks in just a few minutes' walk.
By that point, the party leader Zhou Xiao had already informed his superiors that Zhang Lie was in his party, so the commander of the Qi forces, Su Hong, was personally standing outside the barracks to welcome him when they arrived

Su Hong was a scion of the Su clan of Ning; he was from a younger generation than Su Feng, and had heard quite a few tales about him from Su Feng when he returned home for a visit.
Su Feng had specially advised Su Hong to treat Zhang Lie politely if Zhang Lie were to arrive in the second realm at the Qi valley.

That was before the Void Cup commenced, so Su Hong had scoffed at Su Feng's request, but by now, he had relinquished all his pride.
After all, the hunter standing in front of him was the champion of the Void Cup, the only hunter of Earth who had managed such a feat.

Even the governor of Qi, who had been in secluded cultivation, was making his way over.

“I, Su Hong of the Qi barracks, welcome Dragonlord General Zhang Lie!”

 The party of hunters headed to the Qi barracks was stunned by the formation of hunters awaiting them.
Dragonlord General? When had Zhang Lie taken on such a title?

Even Zhang Lie himself had to think for a moment before recalling that it was the direct upgrade to his title of dragonsoul warrior.
Although it didn't grant him command over any of the army's forces, he was indeed to be treated as a general in terms of military affairs.

Su Hong was part of the military; even though they were in the dimensional world, and such etiquette could be ignored here, it wasn't improper for him to acknowledge Zhang Lie's title, either.

Su Hong had no choice, after all.
He was older than Zhang Lie, and in principle had the higher status, but the Su clan head himself had instructed him to treat Zhang Lie with the same courtesy as the clan head.
To reconcile these viewpoints, Su Hong had to appeal to military rank.