Ye Ye followed the route on the navigation system. Since he liked to goof off, he spent the journey playing around as he went, and it took him a whole month to reach Heaven Dou City.
Ye Ye entered the city. It was even livelier than Nuoding City. After all, it was the capital of an empire. The streets were lined with all kinds of vendors, and there were plenty of people about.
Curious, Ye Ye wandered around and did some shopping.
"Hurry up and check in. Don't forget that's why you came."
Ye Ye said, "I almost forgot Unscrupulous Navigation was still here." The navigation system immediately started cursing him again.
"Xiao Ai, mute Unscrupulous Navigation for me."
Unscrupulous Navigation fell silent.
"Finally, some peace and quiet." Ye Ye happily went back to browsing the shops. (Why do I feel like I'm making Ye Ye sound more and more like a girl? I'll have to make him more manly later and give him something to do.)
And so Ye Ye spent the day playing around.
"Ah! I almost forgot to check in! Unmute it!"
"I ***** damn ******** you******* mother****"
As soon as Ye Ye unmuted it, Unscrupulous Navigation started cursing.
"Stop! Quit cursing. I was wrong, okay? Just give me directions already."
"No way. I refuse. Go by yourself. Check in at Heaven Dou Imperial Palace. This concludes your navigation. Goodbye."
"Holy crap, how am I supposed to get there now? Xiao Ai, look at this. Her service attitude is awful."
[You got yourself into this mess. Deal with it yourself.]
"..."
If she won't guide me, I'll go on my own. I know I'm supposed to check in at Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, anyway, Ye Ye thought.
But he'd overestimated his sense of direction. As it turned out, Ye Ye was hopeless at finding his way around. Without the navigation system, he couldn't even tell north from south.
It grew dark while Ye Ye was walking, and he still hadn't found Heaven Dou Imperial Palace. Even if he found it now, was he supposed to spend the night inside the palace?
Ye Ye had no choice but to find a hotel. He came across one called The Most Serious Hotel. The name sounded perfectly respectable, so he went inside.
Seeing a customer arrive, a staff member hurried over to greet him. She was a very pretty young woman. "Sir, are you looking for a room?"
Ye Ye looked at her and said, "What else would I do at a hotel if not sleep?"
"Oh, it's ten Gold Soul Coins for one night."
Ye Ye paid and was about to leave when the young woman noticed he'd come alone, without a female companion. Their hotel was so obviously a "respectable hotel" that he must have come looking for someone. So she stopped him.
Then she leaned close and whispered, "Sleeping alone at night gets lonely. How about I find you someone to keep you company, big brother? Ten Gold Soul Coins for the night, and you can do whatever you like~~~~"
Ye Ye got out of bed, aching all over. (Ye Ye: "Don't get the wrong idea.") The bed was simply too soft for him. He preferred hard beds and was used to them, so the softness had left him sore.
The previous night, he'd heard a woman shouting nonstop in the room next door. Ye Ye figured some man was beating his wife. He'd wanted to step in, but then thought it was someone else's family business and he had no reason to interfere. So the sounds had continued until the early hours of the morning.
As Ye Ye stepped out of his room, he happened to see a woman leaving the room next door. She was covering herself with clothes that had been torn to shreds, and he could see whip marks on her body. From her unsteady steps, it was clear she'd suffered terribly the previous night.
The woman hadn't expected a man at their hotel to get up so early. Was he really that healthy? But then she remembered that no sound had come from his room the night before. Maybe he had some kind of problem in that department.
Her eyes filled with pity as she looked at Ye Ye. After all, how painful it must be for a man to be impotent. Then she remembered how powerful the man from last night had been and hurried away.
Ye Ye was puzzled by the pity in her eyes. He thought she was acting strangely, but didn't ask her about it. She was still half-dressed, after all.
Ye Ye went downstairs to the lobby and saw the receptionist giving him a resentful look. She hadn't expected him to turn her down the previous night. She'd also thought someone would come looking for him, but no one else had shown up.
The receptionist also figured Ye Ye had some kind of problem in that department. Maybe he was even a eunuch. After all, he was dressed all in black and looked downright ominous. Her eyes filled with pity.
"?" Ye Ye thought everyone at this hotel was acting weird. Why were they all looking at him like that?
Ye Ye left the hotel and continued searching for the palace.
He still couldn't find it, so he stopped at a teahouse, ordered a pot of tea, and began drinking.
Then Ye Ye overheard a few customers nearby chatting.
One of them said, "Hey, have you heard? Heaven Dou Imperial Palace is recruiting three new guards: two squad leaders and one unit leader."
Another replied, "Yeah, I heard. Look, those two over there are the likeliest candidates for unit leader."
Ye Ye looked in the direction they were pointing and saw two men. They were twins. He realized they were going to the palace to sign up as guards, so if he followed them, he'd reach Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
When they left, Ye Ye followed. After a while, he found himself at the palace gates. The problem was that he didn't know how to get inside. The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace didn't even have a Titled Douluo, so it couldn't stop him if he were discovered. But if he revealed his strength like that, he wouldn't be able to get by in Douluo Continent. He had to keep a low profile.
Ye Ye thought of a great idea: he could apply to become a guard and enter openly to check in.
Just then, the captain in charge of recruiting guards called out from the makeshift arena inside the palace: "There are only three guard positions available. The minimum requirement is Soul King. The rules are simple: Soul Fighting. The top three will pass."
"So that's how it works." Ye Ye was determined to become the unit leader this time.
"All right, who wants to go first?" The Soul King requirement immediately discouraged the onlookers who had hoped to try their luck.
"I'll go first," said Benboba. Ye Ye looked over and recognized one of the brothers from the teahouse.
Another man stepped out of the crowd. "Let me take you on." Then he jumped onto the arena.
"Both of you, release your Martial Souls," the captain ordered.
"Benboba, level 58 Battle Soul King, Martial Soul: Shrimp Soldier. Please instruct me." His Martial Soul was a giant shrimp, but he held a long spear in his hand.
"Da Congming, level 52 Battle Soul King, Martial Soul: Turtle. Please instruct me." His Martial Soul was a giant turtle.
"Ready. Begin!" the captain called.
Benboba attacked Da Congming first. Da Congming lived up to his name. His Turtle Martial Soul gave him powerful defense, and he blocked the blow, though its force sent him staggering back several steps before he regained his footing.
Benboba pressed the attack, driving Da Congming to the edge of the arena before kicking him off.
"Yow!"
"Good. Benboba wins this round. Does anyone else want to challenge him?" the captain asked.
Seeing how powerful Benboba was, no one dared to challenge him.
"Good. Then I declare Benboba through to the finals."
"Anyone else want to sign up?"
"Me," said Babengbo. Ye Ye looked over and saw that he was Benboba's younger brother.
He quickly won his match, too.
"Anyone want to challenge him?" the captain asked.
"I'll challenge him," Ye Ye said.
"Good! Both of you, release your Martial Souls."
"Babengbo, level 57 Battle Soul King, Martial Soul: Crab General." A giant crab appeared behind him.
"Isn't that just Shrimp Soldier and Crab General?" Ye Ye said.
"Ye Ye, level 59 Battle Soul King, Martial Soul: Godzilla." Godzilla appeared behind him.
Babengbo's Martial Soul was suppressed. "What kind of Martial Soul is that? It's suppressing mine!"
"Ready. Begin!" the captain called.
Ye Ye charged forward and used his first Soul Skill: "Tail Whip!" He sent Babengbo flying with a strike.
Babengbo was knocked through the air. After regaining his balance, he spat out a mouthful of blood, then charged Godzilla with his giant pincers raised.
"First Soul Skill: Crab Pincer!"
Ye Ye unleashed his fourth Soul Skill: "King's Aura!"
Babengbo was pinned to the ground before he could even get close. Ye Ye rushed over, ready to punch him.
Babengbo hurriedly unleashed his fifth Soul Skill: "Absolute Defense!" A shield appeared around him and blocked Godzilla's punch.
"Not bad. Let's see how you handle a few more punches!"
Ye Ye pummeled Babengbo. Before long, cracks appeared in the shield. Ye Ye landed one final punch and shattered it, then sent Babengbo flying out of the arena with a spinning kick. Babengbo hit the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Benboba rushed over and helped his brother up. "Little brother, I'll avenge you."
"All right, congratulations to Ye Ye for advancing. Next up is the match between Benboba and Ye Ye. Get ready," the captain announced.
"I'll make sure you lose," Benboba said, releasing his Martial Soul.
"Let's see," Ye Ye replied, releasing his own Martial Soul.
Benboba charged first and thrust the spear in his hand at Ye Ye. Ye Ye dodged to the side, grabbed the spear, and punched Benboba.
"Third Soul Skill: Super Defense!"
After blocking Ye Ye's punch, he didn't continue defending like Babengbo had. Instead, he launched a counterattack.
"Fourth Soul Skill: Unstoppable!"
His spear grew sharper, but Ye Ye blocked it with his body. Ye Ye's body was as tough as Godzilla's, so an attack like that couldn't pierce him.
Benboba stared in shock. "How is that possible? Even if he's one level above me, he shouldn't be able to block my full-force attack so easily!"
Ye Ye took the opportunity to charge his Electromagnetic Pulse.
"Second Soul Skill: Electromagnetic Pulse!"
The powerful energy sent Benboba flying. He crashed to the ground and lay there twitching.
"Good. Congratulations to Ye Ye for winning first place and becoming the Guard Team's unit leader. Benboba and Babengbo are appointed squad leaders," the captain announced.
"Now I can check in without worrying."
Then the captain took Ye Ye, Babengbo, and Benboba into the palace to report to Emperor Xue Ye.
[Ding! You have reached the sign-in location. Sign in?]
Ye Ye said, "Yes."
[Ding! Sign-in successful. Congratulations, you received...]
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