With a muffled thud, Garnish was sent flying. However, as Li Chonglou had already retracted half of his strength, Garnish managed to steady himself. He retreated four or five steps before coming to a halt.
Even so, Garnish's heart was in turmoil.
What kind of abnormal speed was this! And what kind of abnormal strength! Was this guy truly human?
Garnish stared at Li Chonglou in horror, his mouth agape, momentarily losing the ability to speak.
"Damn it, Old Ge, are you alright?"
Xi Wen quickly stepped forward to check on Garnish. The latter waved his hand, rubbing his numb arm.
"Old Xi, your subordinate is incredible. Damn it, I won't dare to speak loudly to you anymore."
Xi Wen was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, a smug expression on his face.
However, Li Chonglou was utterly bewildered. It was only then that he realized so many people had gathered here. But apart from a few familiar faces, he didn't recognize anyone else.
So, what exactly had happened?
At this moment, Xi Wen approached with a smile and explained, "They are guards from other strongholds of Iron Forest, here to help deal with the beast tide."
Li Chonglou suddenly understood, then asked with some confusion, "Didn't you say the beast tide would end once that异兽 was dealt with?"
A glint flashed in Xi Wen's eyes. He suddenly raised his voice and asked, "So, did you deal with that 异兽?"
"Killed it."
Li Chonglou was somewhat confused. However, Xi Wen suddenly grabbed his hand, raised it high in the air, and shouted to the crowd.
"Did you hear that! The source has been dealt with!"
The crowd immediately understood Xi Wen's meaning and hurriedly opened their lungs, letting out a unified, deafening roar that seemed to pierce the heavens.
"Brother Li is awesome!"
These four words were shouted with immense fervor, and every face was filled with admiration.
At this moment, Li Chonglou became the center of attention.
However, as the person himself, Li Chonglou frowned slightly. Such a ostentatious scene was not what he desired. Thus, he quickly whispered into Xi Wen's ear.
"Alright, Captain, I don't want to be too high-profile."
Xi Wen's expression suddenly froze. Seeing Li Chonglou's eyes, a hint of admiration grew.
"As expected of a master, untainted by fame. It seems I have much to learn from you."
Li Chonglou rolled his eyes, but luckily Xi Wen understood his intention and immediately shouted to the crowd.
"Alright, everything is fine now. Go back where you came from. Base personnel, hurry up and clean up the aftermath, and consolidate the defenses."
In reality, this order should have been issued by the base commander. But at this moment, Xi Wen, as the captain of the dare-to-die squad that successfully completed the mission, his words were perfectly fitting.
Meanwhile, Li Chonglou, while the crowd was busy, quietly concealed his figure and moved to the side.
At this point, Garnish suddenly walked up and introduced himself, "Greetings, senior. I am Garnish, the current general manager of Iron Forest."
His attitude now was completely different from when he spoke with Xi Wen and the others. He even placed himself in a lower position from the outset. Respect for the strong was a rule of the jungle that applied everywhere.
However, Li Chonglou had no other thoughts at the moment. Having successfully completed his mission, he only wished to return to the Dark Department as quickly as possible, find the old man, and ask him for the next stage of cultivation techniques for his脉潜.
Therefore, Li Chonglou merely exchanged polite pleasantries with Garnish until Xi Wen, who had finished arranging his work, walked over.
"Little Li, what are your plans now? Why not stay at the base? To be honest, our benefits here are far superior to those at the strongholds."
Xi Wen immediately extended an olive branch. Garnish, who was listening, quickly said.
"Senior Li, why don't you come with me to headquarters? With your strength, staying in Iron Forest isn't of much use. Headquarters is connected to the world, and our resources are many times richer than Iron Forest's."
"Damn it, Old Ge, are you trying to snatch him from me?"
Xi Wen was immediately anxious. However, Li Chonglou shook his head at the two of them and said, "Thank you for your kind offers, but I don't have any other plans for now. I just want to complete my mission and leave Iron Forest as soon as possible. Otherwise, I wouldn't have joined the dare-to-die squad for this mission."
The two of them were stunned for a moment. They then remembered that Li Chonglou was still a participant, not someone from the Dark Department.
"Senior, may I ask a presumptuous question? With your strength, why did you choose to participate in the Iron Forest competition as a contestant?" Garnish asked full of curiosity.
However, Li Chonglou didn't know how to answer this question. Should he say he wanted to improve his status in the country? If he really said that to the two of them, they would likely not understand, and might even pester him to join their organization.
So, in the end, Li Chonglou just shook his head and said, "Everyone has their own goals. I am just walking my own path."
Both of them showed a hint of confusion, then realized that Li Chonglou didn't want to elaborate on the matter. So, Garnish asked no further questions.
"In that case, I will take my leave. This is my contact information. If you ever need my help in the future, Senior, please don't hesitate to ask."
Garnish handed a card to Li Chonglou and then left with his people.
Xi Wen was not surprised by Garnish's hurried departure. As the general manager of Iron Forest, he usually had many affairs to attend to. If it weren't for the beast tide today, he would never have had time to come to the base.
"Little Li, so now you're rushing back to the Dark Department?" Xi Wen turned and asked him.
Li Chonglou looked up at the sky and shook his head. "According to the rules, I have to stay for a full day before I can return, so I'll leave tomorrow."
Xi Wen then remembered that Li Chonglou had come to the base as a punishment, and his expression immediately turned somewhat unpleasant.
"I say, Little Li, do you want me to bring people to kill that brat? With your strength, do you still need to sneak attack?"
"Forget it, let fate take its course. Since that's the rule, I'll just stay for a day and then go back. I don't want to cause any more trouble."
Li Chonglou refused Xi Wen's suggestion. Judging by the current situation, his time to leave Iron Forest wouldn't be too long. Moreover, he had a general understanding of the current situation in Iron Forest, so he didn't want to get too involved in their internal affairs.
Seeing Li Chonglou's determined expression, Xi Wen finally chose to respect his decision. However, since Li Chonglou could not leave the base for the time being, he pulled him along for drinks and merriment.