David finished collecting the materials and led Ming towards the well city, "The leader of Zone 31 is already waiting for you in the well city. Let me give you a brief introduction: his name is Perugia, a Gladiator, calm and collected, and someone with a great sense of the bigger picture."
"Alright," Ming nodded, receiving the information. "Is he waiting for me?"
David explained, "Well, you see, during our promotion, you were a crucial part of it. We claimed that you are as strong as Ming since all we see on the leaderboards are nicknames. We don't know your nickname, let alone theirs, right? I almost told them that you are Ming."
"You're clever."
"I can't speak for other things, but I'm confident when it comes to promoting you. Mainly because you're strong enough; I wouldn't dare brag this much for anyone else."
While talking, David took out a blue psychic power bracelet and handed it to Ming, smiling, "It's all for the sake of the zone. I feel bad for pushing you forward like this."
"It's fine. You know I'm a very selfless person," Ming put on the bracelet, "It fits quite well~"
"Yes, yes," David thought to himself - the Doomsday Store's standard psychic power bracelets fit anyone perfectly. He then handed Ming a green psychic power bracelet, "This is the money from selling the puppet last time."
Ming took the bracelet and put it on his wrist. By this time, the two had reached the city wall.
A man and a woman were standing there, smiling and greeting them upon their arrival. The man had a square face with some stubble, and short hair, and wore a suit of armor with plates covering it. He had two swords hanging from his waist.
The woman beside him was about 172cm tall, with a nice figure and short, neat hair that framed her somewhat round, oval face. A delicate little red mole was just above the corner of her mouth, and her phoenix eyes contained a hint of laughter.
Ming glanced at them: Man - Perugia, Level 35: Gladiator, Weakness: Please move on to the next one…
Woman - b, Level 35: Mage, Weakness: She can't escape even if she wants to…
"…"
Ming smiled; this weakness detection was getting less and less serious.
"Hello, I am Perugia." The man extended his hand.
"Hello, I'm Gute Man."
"Pleased to meet you!" Perugia gripped Ming's hand firmly, with a simple purpose - to test the strength of Zone 109's leader. It was a man-to-man showdown.
In the next instant, Ming pulled his hand away, smiling and looking at the woman, "Hello, I'm GutMann~"
"…"
Perugia stood there dumbfounded, with an extremely ugly expression on his face. He had already used all his strength, yet his opponent had withdrawn so effortlessly!
So strong! David was right; this guy might be as strong as Ming.
Ming glanced at Perugia, Why did this guy not seem as calm, collected, and strategic as David had described?
He seemed not very smart, after all, as a leader of a zone, how could he test another zone upon first meeting? Wasn't that a blatant provocation and display of distrust?
Ming felt there was a problem.
"Hello, I'm Eve," the woman extended her hand.
"Hello~"
Ming reached out his hand as well. At that moment, their two clean hands clasped together for 0.01 seconds above the well city before each withdrew, nodding and smiling at each other.
In the next moment, David and Perugia both stared in astonishment as Gute Man moved closer and whispered in Eve's ear. What shocked them, even more, was that she didn't avoid it; instead, she whispered back in the same manner.
Perugia thought, what a bold man!
David laughed, Gute Man was a bit impressive. With just one sentence, he had seemingly won her over. Truly a leader.
Ming whispered softly in the woman's ear, "You're the real leader of Zone 31."
Eve also whispered back, "Although I didn't want to admit it so soon, I'm curious to know how you found out."
Ming replied, "Your bodyguard."
Eve smiled, "I see."
The two then simultaneously took a step back.
Two minutes later, David left with Perugia, feeling quite uncomfortable knowing that the woman was actually the leader of Zone 31.
As an outstanding businessman, making such a mistake was unbearable!
He looked at Perugia, smiling and putting an arm around his shoulder, "Let's go. Let them talk first. I have something to discuss with you."
Perugia looked back at Eve, and after getting her permission, followed David.
He asked with a smile, "What do you want to discuss?"
David smiled, "You're my good brother, of course, it's good news!"
In the well city, a man and a woman walked side by side down the corridor.
"I'm a cautious person. I'm sorry about what happened just now. I hope you can understand why I did that."
"As you've already noticed, I'm a very straightforward person when it comes to identifying and pointing out problems."
"A straightforward person…"
Eve looked at Ming and smiled, "Yeah, the girls in our zone don't know what's gotten into them. They've become proactive when they see you and even want to help you cut fish. Isn't that strange?"
"…"
Ming smiled awkwardly and said, "Well, there's nothing too strange about it. They might have been touched by my personality."
"…"
Eve laughed, Marie was right, you're good at charming people. She said, "Today is the first time our two zones face shared monsters after merging. I hope you can set an example for our people, showing them that my decision was right."
"I promise to help you with this," Ming smiled. It seemed that the people of Zone 31 liked to help others, which would make things much easier for him in the future.
"Thank you~"
"Save your thanks for later."
"Alright, I hope our two zones can get along harmoniously."
"No, we're already family."
"…"
Eve smiled, finally understanding Marie's warning not to talk too much with Gutmann.
A little later, more people gathered in the well city. Ming and David went to the eastern wall side by side.
Eve and Perugia headed to the western wall.
"Eve, how did he know that you were our leader?"
"It's because of you!"
Eve glared at the man beside her.
"Because of me? I didn't do anything! I just said hello and shook hands. How could he figure it out from that?" Perugia felt wronged.
"Did you do something else when you shook hands with him?"
"Well… I used a bit more force, trying to arm wrestle him… Isn't that a common thing? What's the big deal?"
"Isn't that enough?" Eve sighed, "How many times have I told you? You just needed to act calm and collected. Marie also said that he may seem a bit unreliable on the surface, but he is also a smart man. You just met him, and you wanted to arm wrestle him right away. Tell me, would a calm, strategic person do something like that?"
"Eve, you know me. When I encounter a strong person, I want to compete with them. Let alone someone as strong as Guttman, who is as powerful as Ming. I couldn't control myself." Perugia looked bitter and wronged.
Perugia asked, "Since you shook hands and arm wrestled, did you find out his true strength?"
Perugia scratched his head, "Well… his hand was too soft and smooth. When I tried to grip it, it just slipped away…"
"…"
Eve's face darkened, wondering if he was trying to joke around with her. She glared at Perugia, then sighed, "Never mind, this incident actually proved that he's a reliable person. I feel a bit more confident in the decision to migrate."
Perugia asked again, "What were you doing with David just now?"
"I did some business with him."
"You did business with him? What kind of business?"
"David said that this kind of business can't be known to a third person."
"You... stay away from that David guy in the future. Sooner or later, he will fleece you."
"No, we are good brothers."
"You..."
Eve had nothing to say, already feeling that he had been fooled.
On the other side, David asked Ming curiously, "How did you know that woman is the real leader of District 31? I can't believe I was deceived."
Ming laughed, "I guessed it. Do you believe me?"
"I don't!"
"You doubt me, huh?"
"I believe you."
At that moment, Hawkins stood at a high place, holding a megaphone, shouting, "Everyone, get to know the people around you and familiarize yourselves. When it's time to cooperate, don't be caught off guard and yell 'Hey, you!' Also, some people, don't take this opportunity to find a date. Wait until the battle is over!"
