246: Chapter 246 Fateful Encounters

At this moment, Gu Fan was surrounded by more than twenty Spirit Beast Girls, each with distinct appearances and temperaments.

They were all beings who had established a Soul Contract with him; they had come only to see him off and were not official team members.

With their chirping voices and graceful figures, the scene was truly spectacular.

For his trip to the secret realm this time, he only brought six Spirit Beast Girls with whom he had official contracts.

Another person was Wu Yuyang, a twenty-eight-year-old young man, who was also handsome.

But unlike Gu Fan's delicate refinement, he possessed a more mature and steady temperament, with the distinctive openness and optimism of the Sichuan-Chongqing region between his brows.

He came from the Wu family, the fourth-ranked Beast Tamer family in the Dragon Kingdom, which had a profound foundation.

Three years ago, he had crushed the competition to win the Beast Taming Contest, proving himself to be a true veteran prodigy with unquestionable strength.

The third person was Zhao Xin, a man around thirty years old.

In stark contrast to the idol-like styles of Gu Fan and Wu Yuyang, he looked a bit travel-worn, wearing a plain combat uniform, with even a bit of stubble he had just trimmed on his face and slightly weary eyes.

But only those who had truly been on the battlefield and experienced life-and-death struggles could sense the dense, lingering aura of blood and killing intent on him.

It was a terrifying aura that remained calm even after slaughtering countless magical beasts.

And in fact, that was indeed the case.

Zhao Xin belonged to the Dragon Kingdom's top special combat unit—the Dragon Soul Special Forces.

This unit gathered the nation's top combat-type Beast Tamers, specifically responsible for dealing with powerful Beast Kings or Demon Emperor Rank threats that appeared in the wild and were difficult for conventional troops to handle, with a one hundred percent mission success rate.

The reason he looked travel-worn was that he had just been urgently deployed this morning to take care of a Tier 7, Stage 3 Beast King causing trouble at the border, and then rushed over without stopping.

Coupled with Chen Yi, Gao Wenyu, and Leng Wuhen, these three outstanding members of the new generation, the team dispatched by the Dragon Kingdom this time could be called a dream lineup!

Netizens jokingly called it the Galactic Battleship!

Seeing the assembly photos and videos released by the officials online, people were even more excited, with all kinds of bold words flooding the screen.

"Holy crap! This lineup! I'm just asking, who else is there!"

"Big Shot Yi Chen in the center position! This is what you call showing off!"

"God Gu Fan is so handsome! God Wu Yuyang is so stylish! Big Shot Zhao Xin looks reliable at a glance!"

"Long live the Dragon Kingdom! This trip will surely return with a full load and spread our national prestige!"

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Seeing Chen Yi arrive, Wu Yuyang and Zhao Xin both enthusiastically took the initiative to greet him.

Wu Yuyang smiled heartily and extended his hand: "Brother Chen Yi, I've heard so much about you! I am Wu Yuyang. On this trip to the secret realm, please take care of me!"

His attitude was very friendly, with none of the airs of a veteran prodigy.

Zhao Xin walked up, patted Chen Yi's shoulder hard, and said in a loud voice: "Kid, you did well! Seeing you deal with the Lin family and that scum Bai Song previously made me feel great! I am Zhao Xin, from the Special Forces. If there's a chance, let's go slay some magical beasts together!"

Chen Yi also held a certain respect for these two seniors with good reputations, nodded slightly, and replied politely: "Senior Wu, Senior Zhao, hello! I am Chen Yi. On this journey, I still have much to learn from you two seniors."

The three of them exchanged a few pleasantries.

Chen Yi could feel Wu Yuyang's sincerity and Zhao Xin's boldness, and he felt a bit more approval for these two teammates in his heart.

After a brief exchange, Chen Yi did not linger, and under the guidance of the staff, prepared to board the Airship and enter the luxury cabin.

However, just as he turned to walk towards the boarding corridor, a subtle malicious gaze instantly landed on his back!

Chen Yi frowned slightly and looked back abruptly.

The source of the gaze was none other than Gu Fan, who was surrounded by a group of women and had just finished his kissing farewell ceremony!

At this moment, the elegant smile on his face had long since disappeared, replaced by an expression of displeasure.

"Why does it feel... like the scent is off again?"

"Could it be... because Black Rose chose me again, so this guy is unhappy? And now he's going to play dirty behind my back?"

Chen Yi was speechless inside.

First, there was Qin Shousheng, who developed murderous intent because he couldn't pursue Lin Mengxue;

Then there was Bai Song, who fell into the demonic path because of Chu Feiyu's matter and bit like a mad dog;

And now, another one, Gu Fan?

"I feel like I'm fated to clash with these so-called prodigy Beast Tamers; I always inexplicably anger these guys who think too highly of themselves..."

"Damn it, the matter of male-female contracts is all about mutual consent; no one is forcing anyone!"

"But there are always these self-righteous, heaven-defying men who think that The girls they fancy are naturally their private property. If anyone else even gets close, it's considered not giving them face, or stealing their things, and they want to fight to the death."

"It's just utterly ridiculous!"

Chen Yi complained crazily in his heart, and the whole person was speechless.

Anyway, it's still the same saying: if others don't offend me, I won't offend them!

If someone insists on courting death, then he wouldn't mind getting more blood on his hands!

The girls did not notice this abnormality, still immersed in the anticipation of the secret realm, happily following behind Chen Yi and boarding the Airship.

However, Black Rose, who was walking at the very back of the group, just before stepping into the Airship cabin...

A faint, familiar aura surged into her heart without warning!

She stopped abruptly, turned her head suddenly, and her gaze instantly locked onto the source of the aura—it was Gu Fan, who had just finished kissing The girls in the send-off group one by one and was preparing to walk onto the boarding corridor!

"This is... the aura of the Black Soul Jade? Could this guy be..."

Black Rose's pupils shrank, and a stormy sea surged in her heart!

The so-called Black Soul Jade was the source of the strange power that Bai Song had previously obtained!

It was a special item that required beings like them, at the Demon Emperor Rank, to personally serve and use their original demonic energy as a guide to fuse with a Beast Tamer.

After fusion, even if the Beast Tamer's awakened talent was not a combat-type talent, they could gain terrifying power comparable to an SS-rank combat talent!

Since Gu Fan was exuding the aura of the Black Soul Jade, didn't that mean... he was also a member of the Sect?

"Could it be that the higher-ups think my efficiency is still too slow, so they secretly planted Gu Fan as another piece?"

"When necessary, they can let him take action and forcibly take Chen Yi away?"

Black Rose suddenly felt her mentality collapsing.

"Doesn't this clearly show that the higher-ups don't trust me? Doubting my ability?"

"I have clearly worked very hard, not hesitating to lower my status, and even... even possibly really... for him... Why do they still treat me like this?"

"Last time it was because of an emergency, that trash from the Lin family messed it up, but this time... there won't be another emergency I don't know about, right?"

A strong sense of unease, grievance, and irritability wrapped around Black Rose's heart.

She felt like a pawn that could be sacrificed at any time, summoned at will and dismissed at will.