ATAPOW Chapter 28
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Chapter 28: Examination
“I have never seen such a shameless person before.” After seeing Ji Bai’s unexpected actions, Lin Tuo’s train of thought clogged up and stopped like a bunch of rusted gears. After a pause, he managed to utter this sentence with trembling fingers.
“Tch, you can say whatever you want. I can’t accept this errand.” Ji Bai turned his head away, he had an undaunted look on his face, like a dead pig unafraid of scalding water.
“Nyaa~ Nyaa…” Ke’er white cat-ears drooped as she heard his response. Dismay was evident in her amber eyes. Her small hands were wrapped around each other and a pitiful expression that would arouse the maternal instinct of anyone who would see her was written over her slumped face.
Only after waging a massive internal struggle within her mind, did she finally agree to Lin Tuo’s suggestion to wear this unknown, and yet indescribably embarrassing outfit. She had gathered up the last bits of her courage to be brazen enough and ask him to adopt her, even after everything she had gone through, all she received was just a ruthless rejection. She could only feel discouraged due to this.
‘Perhaps… perhaps he hates me…’
“Erm, actually…” Ji Bai wanted to say something but hesitated. He was somewhat begrudging his decisions, this was because he noticed that Ke’er was in the lounge emanating an aura of disappointment. Ji Bai may have quickly agreed to this matter if it happened a year ago. But as of now, he didn’t want anybody to approach him; People might misunderstand his intentions, but he simply just didn’t wish to harm anybody, thus, even if he was extremely helpless, he could only forcefully reject other people.
“…Oh my! Look at my forgetfulness, I almost forgot about official business.” Just as the scene was moving towards an awkward silence, Lin Tuo patted his head and exclaimed in a serious manner. His words had attracted the gaze of the silent Ji Bai and Ke’er.
“Wait… This isn’t official business?” Ji Bai asked suspiciously.
“Oh. Well, this is just something in passing. Alright! Let’s leave this matter behind us for now…” Lin Tuo intended to shove this matter behind them and settle it on a later date.
“No, Wait. Let’s talk it over first. I still say that…”
“Let’s not talk about it yet. It’s more important to settle the official matters on hand. The two of you should follow me.” Without allowing Ji Bai to explain his position, Lin Tuo forcefully interrupted his words and motioned them to follow him.
‘This guy’s doing this on purpose.’ Ji Bai raised his eyebrows and shot a profound glance at Lin Tuo while he and Ke’er followed after the culturized gangster’s footsteps.
“Say, how much space does this illegal orga— ahem, I mean, chivalric group of yours exactly occupy?” Ji Bai couldn’t figure out anything since the entrance, he was rather amazed as he stepped out of the hall’s passageway; It was a panoramic view of a spacious site with rows and rows of cement buildings springing out of the ground.
“You just tried to say ‘illegal organization’, didn’t you?” The corners of Lin Tuo’s mouth slightly twitched. “I’ve never really calculated how large it is specifically, however, if I am to harbor a guess, it should be enough to hold more than ten soccer matches simultaneously. With the audience seats accounted for as well.”
‘Tch! Tch!’ Capitalism is indeed evil.
As Ji Bai was clicking his tongue in wonder, a mild sense of disbelief swept past him. His eyes glanced over Ke’er, whose height difference when compared to him1 was extremely adorable.
“Nyaa? Nyaa~?”
“Hey, Lin Tuo, is it really a good idea to set a demon like this loose inside a human organization? You’re just having her walk around freely like this. If she’s discovered by other humans…” As he looked at Ke’er’s adorable face, Ji Bai realized that her harmless, playful, and cute personality had momentarily made him forget about her true identity as a demon.
‘Wouldn’t it be very eye-catching if this cat girl walked on the street?’
“You’re just making a big fuss out of nothing. Once you stay here for a few days, you will begin to realize… Forget it. As long as you understand that she’s absolutely safe in this area, that will do.” Lin Tuo had seemingly wanted to explain something but just stopped after thinking about it. He then continued to walk while bringing Ji Bai and Ke’er along.
“Is it really safe for her?” Ji Bai was still skeptical.
“Compared to worrying about her, you ought to watch over yourself first. You should do some preparation exercises or something and don’t get too nervous… Oh, that’s right, have you eaten breakfast yet? If you haven’t, then you should hurry up and eat. There might not be a chance for you to do so in the near future.”
“What do you mean? Why do I feel like I’ll die within 3 chapters just from your tone alone?” Ji Bai narrowed his eyes.
“Well, that’s why I said that this is official business.” Lin Tuo’s expression on his face was grinning, he turned his head and patted Ji Bai’s shoulder.
“I forgot to tell you this. But every probation member that enters our organization has two exams they need to go through. The first is a written examination, and the other…” As he spoke up to this point, Lin Tuo seemed to have thought of something funny. He looked at Ji Bai maliciously. “Mhm, a practical examination.”
“A practical examination? An exam for what? It isn’t necessary for a man to be handsome, however, it’s necessary for them to learn how to commit vehicle theft or something2?”
“No. No. No. The purpose of having a practical examination is to assess how well the examinee is able to combine their physical, response time capability, martial art, strength, and endurance altogether, it is also to test whether they can handle and use the said skills effectively.”
“Can’t you talk like a human being?” Ji Bai had roughly guessed what the serf named Lin Tuo was laughing about.
“Cough, cough. Mhm, to put it in common terms, you’re just there to be thrashed… Pfft, that came out wrong, to put it properly. You’re there for a battle drill.” Lin Tuo forcefully stopped the laughter in his heart as he replied in a serious expression.
While they were talking, the three had already reached a square-shaped building whose walls were constructed with glass.
“Get going! Get going! The newcomers that just entered the group are all ready and waiting. You’re the only one left. Once you join them, the whole group can go down for a beating.” Lin Tuo ignored the weird gaze that Ji Bai gave him, he impatiently pushed the glass door open. His heart was eagerly anticipating the beautiful scene of Ji Bai being beaten black and blue.
Ji Bai gave a faint smile. He could roughly tell what this pleb was thinking about just from his expression alone. As he stuck out his chest, he entered the building. On the other hand, Ke’er was still hiding behind Ji Bai’s back in a shy manner, almost as if she was Ji Bai’s tail.
The interior of the building was in a rectangular shape without any excessive ornaments lying about. In the middle was a rectangular pit surrounded by iron fences, below it was a true-to-form arena. As if they were intentionally trying to prevent anything being hit, the walls of the pit were wrapped up with various types of mechanical armor and lacquered wood chips.
While there wasn’t anyone on the upper layer, the bottom of the pit was currently very lively.
There were a group of teenagers wearing protective equipment like chain-mails, shoulder guards, and knee-guards. Longswords, spears, and various sorts of knightly weapons were clenched in their hands, they were trembling with fear as they saw the person that was at their opposite side. It was a big man wearing a set of full-body heavy plate armor, his head was the only thing that was exposed. Even though he was facing a large number of enemies on his own, the big man was rather carefree. Without looking at the nervous bunch of youngsters in front of him, he was minding his business and moving his joints as if he was stretching, imperceptibly emitting a sense of heavy pressure.
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- The most adorable height difference is a web incident when a couple took a group photo together. It stirred a huge debate as the woman was far, far shorter than the man who was very tall. I will let the picture speak for itself: https://baike.baidu.com/picture/10777165/13986741/0/78310a55b319ebc4414a47bc8026cffc1e1716e0?fr=lemma&ct=single#aid=0&pic=78310a55b319ebc4414a47bc8026cffc1e1716e0
- This is actually a play for the sentence ‘It isn’t necessary for a man to be handsome, but they have to be flirty”.