Chapter 353 : Attending the Engagement Ceremony
Chapter 353: Attending the Engagement Ceremony
As night fell, the bustling activity at the Yunhai Base Airship Terminal had finally come to an end. At that moment, the duty supervisor was busy discussing the meaning of life with his secretary.
However, the sudden blaring of an alarm instantly interrupted his good fortune, causing his previously majestic bearing to wilt on the spot.
Before the duty supervisor could even react, loud knocks rang out on the office door.
"What happened in the middle of the night?"
His expression turned livid after being interrupted, and he barked toward the office door.
"Supervisor, an airship is requesting a temporary landing."
"So what if it's landing? Do I have to direct it personally?"
Hearing that such a trivial matter had disturbed him, the duty supervisor's anger immediately flared. He had already decided to fire the person tomorrow.
"Supervisor, it's the private airship of a Transcendent Master. They're here to attend the engagement ceremony of the Duanmu Family's young master."
The moment he heard his subordinate's report, the duty supervisor—who was halfway through putting on his trousers—felt his legs go weak.
"I'll be right there! Notify everyone to remain at their posts immediately!"
The anger in his heart instantly disappeared as he hurriedly dressed at the fastest speed of his life.
Although the Airship Terminal was directly administered by Alliance Headquarters, that was hardly enough to offend a Transcendent expert.
If anything went wrong, not only would he lose his job, he might not even live to see tomorrow's sunrise.
The Airship Terminal, which had already quieted down, once again became lively because of Zhou Ming's arrival.
At the same time, after receiving the news, the Duanmu Family immediately dispatched people to welcome Zhou Ming.
More than ten minutes later, the airship landed steadily at its designated berth.
As the hatch opened, Zhou Ming stepped out with Aina and the others.
"Welcome, Lord Zhou."
Under the bright lights illuminating the night, both the Duanmu Family members and the Airship Terminal staff had already lined up neatly to welcome Zhou Ming.
Zhou Ming had long grown accustomed to such scenes.
He directly led Aina and the others toward the Duanmu Family representative.
"Elder Duanmu, thank you for coming to receive us so late at night."
The one who had come to receive Zhou Ming was none other than Duanmu Hengfeng, the father of Duanmu Lingyan.
Back then, at the Jinque Building, Zhou Ming had knocked Duanmu Lingyan unconscious and had even left the auction early out of caution toward the Duanmu Family.
Who would have thought that only a few short years later, the other party would be respectfully standing here to welcome him?
"Lord Zhou, you're too courteous. The Family Head is busy preparing tomorrow's engagement ceremony for Young Master Lingyuan, so he was unable to come personally. I hope you won't take offense."
"It's fine. Tomorrow is Scorpion-Lion's big day. I wouldn't want to ruin his celebration."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhou Ming followed Duanmu Hengfeng into the Duanmu Family motorcade and departed from the Airship Terminal.
Not long afterward, the Duanmu Family convoy passed through the lively and prosperous streets before arriving at the Duanmu Family estate under the watchful eyes of countless pedestrians.
Inside the reception hall, Zhou Ming and Aina met Scorpion-Lion, who had successfully advanced to become a War Knight.
Three years had passed since they last met.
Scorpion-Lion still wore the same cold and aloof expression, although a trace of helplessness could now be seen in his eyes.
It was obvious that he had no desire to accept this marriage.
Unfortunately, the matter was beyond his control.
After all, it was an agreement personally made between Duanmu Ruibo and Mu Tianqing.
As the Vice President of the Hunter Guild, Mu Tianqing possessed strength at the peak of the high-stage Transcendent realm.
With the Duanmu Family's current influence, they simply were not qualified to break the agreement.
Moreover, the marriage alliance brought considerable benefits to the Duanmu Family.
Even after advancing to Transcendent Master, Scorpion-Lion could only accept it.
"Haha, congratulations, Scorpion-Lion. You're about to get yourself a wife."
Facing his good friend, Zhou Ming's usually expressionless face revealed a teasing smile.
"Hmph. I'll count what happened on the Polar Ice Plain as a favor I owe you."
Although Duanmu Hengyue had invited Zhou Ming by using the favor Zhou Ming already owed the Duanmu Family, Scorpion-Lion still regarded the matter as a personal debt.
As for his own marriage, he had no desire to discuss it further.
Instead of continuing the conversation with Zhou Ming, Scorpion-Lion turned his gaze toward Aina.
"Congratulations, Miss Aina, on successfully advancing to Transcendent."
When Scorpion-Lion had previously visited the Snake King Fortress camp, Aina had still been serving as its little cook.
He had never imagined that the next time they met, she too would have become a Transcendent expert.
Although she was nominally Zhou Ming's maid, as someone of the same rank, Scorpion-Lion naturally would never truly regard her as one.
"Thank you, Young Master Duanmu."
Although they were both Transcendent experts, Aina knew that Scorpion-Lion was her master's closest friend, so she responded with great courtesy.
After briefly greeting Aina, Scorpion-Lion resumed chatting with Zhou Ming.
Most of their discussion revolved around future cooperation between both sides, as well as recent developments involving the Alliance and the foreign races.
……
The following day, the Duanmu Family estate was filled with a lively and festive atmosphere.
As the number one force in Yunhai Base, Scorpion-Lion's engagement ceremony was exceptionally grand.
It was there that Zhou Ming finally met Scorpion-Lion's fiancée.
To his surprise, they had actually met once before.
She was the long-legged woman from the Blue Star Academy group he had encountered in the Endless Forest Sea.
She was a direct descendant of Mu Tianqing and had already successfully advanced to the high-level Professional Rank.
According to Scorpion-Lion, her name was Mu Xiuzhi.
At the engagement ceremony, besides Scorpion-Lion, who was naturally the center of attention, Zhou Ming also attracted an extraordinary amount of notice as one of the honored guests.
The reason was, of course, the catwoman Aina standing beside him.
For most of the guests attending the engagement ceremony, this was their first time seeing a member of a foreign race, making them naturally curious about Aina.
Of course, the most important reason was her breathtaking appearance.
However, both Zhou Ming and Aina had already advanced to the Transcendent realm.
As a result, no one dared to behave disrespectfully during the ceremony.
Nevertheless, many of the men present secretly envied Zhou Ming with a mixture of jealousy and resentment.
After the lively engagement ceremony concluded, Zhou Ming gathered with the other Transcendent experts who had come to attend Scorpion-Lion's celebration.
Through this gathering, Zhou Ming learned two confidential pieces of information.
The first was that as Tamu World accelerated its devouring of Blue Star, Blue Star had, in a sense, entered the final countdown toward destruction.
This had already created the conditions necessary for the birth of undead creatures, and the frequency of Spirit-type Creatures appearing would increase dramatically.
The second piece of news was that the Alliance's upper echelons intended to recruit independent Transcendent experts.
However, this recruitment would not be mandatory.
Instead, the Alliance would offer its accumulated foundations as rewards, including various treasures capable of helping one break through bottlenecks.
These rewards would even include Legendary profession materials, as well as the Alliance's treasured Legendary Potions.
The situation was similar to when the Giant Race had descended upon the Panlong Mountain Range.
As for how these treasures could be obtained, the answer was simple—only by completing Alliance bounty missions.
However, Zhou Ming did not pay much attention to either of these matters.
Instead, another piece of news revealed by the Duanmu Family completely captured his interest.