ATAPOW Chapter 79
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Chapter 79: Do you know who I am?
“May I know what your identity is, sire? And where do you come from??” Alarm bells were ringing in the sentry leader’s mind as his hand made its way towards the hilt of his sword. The knights behind him had also realized that the atmosphere was amiss and had quietly surrounded him.
“This poor monk comes from the Tang Dynasty in China.” Ji Bai grinned and patted the shoulder of the gatekeeper knight at his side. He then pushed him into the knight leader’s embrace and slipped away by taking advantage of the knight’s momentary confusion.
“You scoundrel! How dare you come to the Sacred Martial Association and behave so disrespectfully?? All of you, chase after him and stop him from causing a disturbance!” After being stunned for a moment, the knight leader erupted into a fit of rage.
As his shouts resounded, his knights suddenly understood what was going on. Drawing their swords one after the other, they chased after the intruder.
“Hello?? — Peter, how did you guard the entrance? You actually dare to let somebody with no identification documents1 get in here! You must’ve been bored out of your mind, haven’t you??”
“Eeh… Ahh? W-Who’s shouting at me…?” Peter, still lying inside the knight leader’s embrace, rubbed his head. He then dizzily raised it as if he had just woken up.
The eyes of the tall and sturdy men met each other and confirmed the expressions behind them.
“…Eh?! L-Leader? Why am I in your embrace…? Erm, you’re progressing a bit quickly. I still haven’t prepared properly, don’t you think we should go through some sort of process first or something…”
The knight leader expressionlessly let go of him.
‘Crack.’
“Ahn! ♂” Peter fell to the floor and landed on his butt.
“I will settle the issue of your dereliction later. You should follow me and chase after him for now. You will be responsible if that fool escapes!” The knight leader drew his dagger, and joined up with a group of knights to chase after the mysterious man.
“Ooh… Seriously, didn’t I just nap for a short while? Why does he need to be this fierce?” Peter felt wronged as he scratched his head.
…………
Ji Bai was actually pretty familiar with the layout of the Sacred Martial Association; To him, coming to this place was the same as going back home. In fact, it wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say that he had memorized every single nook and cranny of the place.
One has to know that places like the Sacred Martial Association were where he used to take his strolls in the past. As the current Knight King, Ji Bai’s status had been countless times higher than those ignorant show-offs. Once he was done with his leisurely strolls, he would talk and crack jokes with the Immortal Knight.
The interior layouts in every Sacred Martial Association branch were virtually the same. Even though Ji Bai had never been in the Sacred Martial Association’s branch in Border Town, it was still a walk in the park for him to scuttle in its corner. The knights behind him were unaware of how far they were going to be thrown off their senses by him.
As he skillfully arrived before a room door situated on the uppermost floor, Ji Bai pushed it open.
“Who is it? Didn’t I tell you all to handle these small trivial matters among yourselves?” A series of impatient mumblings arrived.
On a seat inside the room, a middle-aged obese man moved the newspaper before him away while holding onto his cigar with his mouth. As he looked at Ji Bai wearing a crucifix helmet in front of him, he raised his eyebrows.
“You, which Chivalric Order are you from?? What have you come here for?”
That dubious attire he was dressed up in — The inferior helmet and the casual attire on his body — had somewhat flabbergasted the obese man.
He shot a meaningful glance towards the two knights by his side responsible for protecting him.
Ji Bai didn’t answer. Instead, he dragged a chair and sat down like he was meeting an old friend.
“How brazen! From which dregs of society did this lowlife climb out from to be this insolent! Men, subdue him and lock him into a prison cell!” Shouted the obese man furiously. After seeing how Ji Bai dragged the chair, his complexion had turned unsightly.
Looking at the knights closing in on him with dark intentions, Ji Bai revealed a calm smile, raised his legs and crossed them against one another.
“Are you really not going to have a chat with me, branch head?”
“Chat? There’s nothing to chat about with a guy of unknown origins like you! Now, I’m going to arrest you on the charge of trespassing in the Sacred Martial Association and interrupting official business!” Said the obese man in a cold voice.
“Of course there’s something to talk about. For example, I see that this chair of yours has quite the weight in it. Let’s find out where you bought it, shall we?”
The words that Ji Bai smilingly said had made the obese man shiver as he looked left and right at the two knights that were guarding him.
“What do you want??’ Said the Obese man with an unsightly complexion.
“Didn’t I say it earlier? Let us have a little private chat.”
“… You guys back out of the room, close the door and don’t allow anyone inside!” His complexion turning dark, the obese man’s face showed signs of a struggle as he forced out these words through his gritted teeth.
The two knights were astonished, yet didn’t say anything. After saluting, they sheathed their swords and walked out of the room.
“Bang.” The atmosphere in the room became heavy followed by the sound of a door closing.
“…Who are you and what did you come here for?” The obese man asked. He was the first one to lose his calm.
Ji Bai didn’t directly answer him. Instead, he stood up and knocked the back of the chair he had been sitting on.
‘Boom…!’ With a melodious noise, cracks began to speedily form on the surface layer of the chair. Like a layer of skin that had been coated on, it shattered into pieces as glittering gold light lit up the surrounding around it.
“Well done, branch head Rodo. Even a mere chair is made up of gold, you must have been doing pretty well these past few years…”
“You… How did you find out?” Rodo’s obese face was pale as he could no longer sit still like before.
“Because the quality is different? Wouldn’t one find out just by stretching out their hand and touching it?”
“You…”
“It’s not like I want to criticize you or anything, lil’ Rodo. But wouldn’t it be best to have a frame to cover it or something? You’ll be able to move them if you’re to leave one day. In ordinary times, it also can cover up the flaws of this chair and you wouldn’t have to be on guard so much. When all is said and done, this move of yours doesn’t seem to be pretty bright.” Said Ji Bai in a pretentious manner.
“…So, are you here to make a deal?” The obese man breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“Oh? How can you tell?”
“You didn’t expose me in the presence of those knights, which means that we still have some room to negotiate. You require my help, am I right?”
“Haha.” Ji Bai smiled, yet he didn’t give him a straight reply.
“Tomorrow, a delegation dispatched by headquarters will arrive for the trial. Additionally, one of the members from the local branch will be chosen to participate, am I right?”
“You are correct… So what do you plan to do?”
“Well, nothing much. I just hope that I will be the one being sent by the branch.” Said Ji Bai in a calm manner with his feet raised.
“Are you crazy?! What do you want to do if you go there… The two of us would be finished if someone were to investigate and find out you’re not a member of the Sacred Martial Association, right?!…” Rodo felt his heart skip a beat as he heard that.
“No, no, no. Branch head Rodo, I believe you have a way to settle everything before they get suspicious, am I right?” Ji Bai said as he flicked the chair’s armrest.
“…Are you sure you won’t be exposed??“
”Naturally.”
“Alright… But, you ought to tell me what you’re going to do there??”
“This has nothing to do with you. Also, after this incident has come to a close, I don’t want to see you in this position anymore. You should quickly resign and salvage whatever dignity you still have.”
In an instant, the slightly-relaxed face of the obese man started to turn purple.
“You!? …You better not go too overboard, young man! As the saying goes, to err is human. It’s better to spare someone whenever possible! I have already given you enough face by agreeing with your conditions! Don’t forget that this place is my territory. If you want to use this blunder to make me step down, you’re still not qualified!” Said Rodo in a threatening tone, as a vicious expression appeared on his face.
“Pfft… I’m not qualified?” Ji Bai laughed loudly.
“After being in this job for so many years, I see you have grown up quite a lot. I am guessing you have long forgotten who had raised you to become branch head back then with just one word, lil’ Rodo.”
“Wha…” Rodo froze instantly.
“Do you know who I am?” Ji Bai stood up from his seat.