After telling Zheng Xun he would not give up the marked dungeon for 547, Xu Guan summoned the first team for a meeting that very night.
The conference room was brightly lit and utterly silent.
"Tomorrow morning at eight, we're entering dungeon 547 at White Tower No. 6."
Xu Guan stood with his back to the whiteboard as he addressed the four team members in the room.
The four consisted of three men and one woman. Wang Shutong, the only woman, was normally levelheaded, but she looked worried.
"Captain, isn't that too rushed? Whenever we've entered a marked dungeon before, we've spent at least three days preparing."
Yin Lexin, the buzz-cut team member sitting across from her, objected-
"Zheng Xun is already walking all over us. Are we supposed to let him snatch every marked dungeon our guild has?"
"That's not what I mean. I'm saying we shouldn't let Zheng Xun throw us off our pace."
"There's no time to hesitate. If we let him snatch another one of our dungeons, how can Azure Mist show its face?"
The two went back and forth, and just as their tempers threatened to get out of control, Xu Guan reached behind him and tapped the table, signaling them to quiet down.
Meng Yijia waited until they had turned away from each other and stopped talking before he spoke.
"Captain Xu made the right decision. Shutong, it's certainly good to be well prepared, but Zheng Xun is petty and won't let this go. He's already targeting our guild."
Meng Yijia had barely finished when the one male team member who had said nothing since the meeting began, and who had been nodding off, suddenly let out a laugh.
"What's your opinion, Mingxuan?" Meng Yijia asked with a frown.
Luo Mingxuan was one of the first team's veterans, having joined only a year after Xu Guan. If he hadn't been so laid-back and averse to taking on responsibility, Meng Yijia would never have gotten the vice-captain's position.
Meng Yijia had a problem with him, but since Xu Guan trusted him, Meng Yijia couldn't show his feelings too openly.
He always suspected Luo Mingxuan had spoken ill of him to Xu Guan behind his back, but he had no proof.
Meng Yijia had been given the vice-captain's position by the higher-ups. Xu Guan had merely not objected; the person he trusted more was Luo Mingxuan. Because of that, Meng Yijia often felt uneasy.
"Me? Of course I'll follow the captain and vice-captain," Luo Mingxuan drawled. "You're both right."
"Mingxuan," Meng Yijia said with a smile, though he was clearly dissatisfied with the answer, "you're a veteran of the first team. Your opinions and ideas would be valuable to hear."
"Oh, so what I say is that useful?" Luo Mingxuan sprawled across the table and stretched. "I thought it didn't matter whether I was here or not."
"You-"
"That's enough," Xu Guan said, smoothing things over. He didn't like seeing so much conflict within the team. "If Mingxuan doesn't want to speak, there's no need to force him."
Having gotten the short end of the stick, Meng Yijia leaned back in his chair and said no more.
It was always the same. Whenever there was an argument, Xu Guan appeared to mediate, but in reality he favored Luo Mingxuan.
Luo Mingxuan's words also carried a deeper meaning. Back when Huo Ziyan had injured Meng Yijia, he had been the only one on the team to speak up for Huo Ziyan.
Meng Yijia had heard him arguing with Xu Guan through a door.
"Huo Ziyan has talent. Are you blind, Xu Guan? The dungeons the first team enters are all high difficulty. If we fail, we'll die more horribly than anyone. If someone drags us down, the whole team will die without a burial! Xu Guan, are you really going to stand by and let such a promising talent go to waste?"
For most of the argument, Luo Mingxuan had been the one doing all the cursing and berating. The fact that he dared point a finger at Xu Guan and curse him out showed that they really were close.
It was a long time before Xu Guan spoke, his voice a little weary.
"That's enough, Mingxuan. You can vent in front of me, but once you walk out that door, you're not to say another word about this."
How could Xu Guan not understand the dirty dealings involved? He had only compromised to protect the other members of the team.
At the time, the guild's higher-ups were locked in bitter infighting, and Meng Yijia had a faction backing him. If Xu Guan hadn't played dumb and backed down, he would have pushed some members of the first, second, and even third teams into a pit of fire.
In the world of the White Tower, making someone disappear without a trace was all too easy.
The incident had ended with Huo Ziyan being demoted to the second team. Xu Guan had raised no objection, while Luo Mingxuan's personality had grown even more inscrutable, though he did not openly oppose Meng Yijia.
On the surface, harmony had returned to the first team.
Recently, however, there had been another shift among the higher-ups, which was also why Meng Yijia's mood had been fluctuating so much.
He could not allow any mishaps, whether they came from Huo Ziyan or Zheng Xun, who was far away at Songbird.
No one could shake his position.
The plan for dungeon 547 was already perfectly clear. Xu Guan was a man of his word and did not change his mind easily. He had gathered everyone for a meeting, but it was more of a notice than a discussion.
All that remained was to discuss the specific details and arrangements.
The meeting finally came to an end at nine thirty. Xu Guan told everyone to go back and get to bed early, stay off their phones, and conserve their energy.
As she was leaving, Wang Shutong hesitated and asked a question.
"Captain, Zheng Xun's personality... He doesn't seem like a petty person. Why is he targeting our guild so much?"
Wang Shutong was perceptive and observant. She also knew something about Zheng Xun, having carefully studied the replays of his three dungeon runs.
Especially the second one. He and Songbird hadn't had much to do with each other at the time, yet he had run the same dungeon dozens of times. Toward the end, he had visibly grown impatient.
If he hadn't wanted to save anyone, Zheng Xun could easily have given up on the spot. There was no need for him to risk his life entering it again and again.
Though his personality was strange, it was still clear that Zheng Xun wasn't bad at heart.
When Wang Shutong asked, Meng Yijia had just reached the door and heard her question.
He wanted to hear what Xu Guan thought, but Luo Mingxuan spoke first.
"You mean Zheng Xun?" He grinned, suddenly wide awake now that the meeting was over. "Now that's something I can stay awake for. You're right, little sister Shutong. With his personality, he wouldn't even bother picking up a fallen oil bottle, yet he went to all that trouble. I'd say it was our Azure Mist that offended him."
Hearing Luo Mingxuan side with an outsider, Yin Lexin took offense before Captain Xu could even get angry.
"Brother Luo, how could it be our fault? He's the one who was blind enough to touch our guild's property."
"So what? We can snatch his stuff too. If you can't do it, then keep quiet."
"Hey-"
Yin Lexin got a slap on the back of the head and felt terribly aggrieved.
With a friend of so many years, Xu Guan was less tense. He shot Luo Mingxuan a sidelong glance.
"He wants to rent Huo Ziyan."
"We can't allow that." Luo Mingxuan turned serious in an instant. "We can't let Little Huo go."
His next words were-
"But we can let Zheng Xun join us."
Wang Shutong couldn't hold back. She covered her mouth and laughed. Xu Guan gave him a helpless look.
"Dream on. If he joins the first team, will you give up your spot?"
"I'll give him my spot, and you can let me be captain for a while, Old Xu."
"Brother, you've been plotting this for ages!"
The words slipped out of Yin Lexin's mouth, making everyone laugh. Even Xu Guan's eyes filled with amusement.
Meng Yijia, who had heard the whole exchange, darkened and left without a word.
No matter how good the mood had been the night before they set out, once they actually arrived at the White Tower, every member of Azure Mist's first team-except Luo Mingxuan-looked serious.
One reason was that they were about to face a dungeon with who knew how many S ranks.
The second was that they didn't know whether Zheng Xun would show up, or how.
The Azure Mist Guild had a dedicated livestream room with professional moderators. An announcement had been sent out an hour in advance, and there were now two million people in the room.
After all, it was a major guild that had amassed a huge number of fans over the years. Every dungeon run drew everyone's attention.
Xu Guan led the team into the White Tower and began making arrangements for the dungeon run. Floating spherical cameras circled them, filming.
: Azure Mist is entering a dungeon?
: So suddenly!
: Azure Mist is usually cautious. They normally plan a week in advance and announce it three days ahead.
: This sudden dungeon run must be because Zheng Xun got to them.
: Surely not? Maybe Zheng Xun just got lucky last time.
: He's not blind. With the chat going that crazy, he was obviously pretending not to see it.
: What's the beef between Azure Mist and Erchui, anyway?
: Who knows?
: Erchui probably won't show up this time. Azure Mist is already here. He can't just snatch it right in front of them.
: How could he have the nerve to show up? He outright robbed them last time.
Azure Mist's livestream naturally had plenty of guild and team fans. Many took their side, and many called Zheng Xun a thief.
No matter how heated the chat became, it had no effect on the players' discussion.
During a pause as Captain Xu assigned tasks, a camera stopped to Luo Mingxuan's left. He winked his left eye at the lens.
: Ahhh, Mingxuan!
: Brother Xuan! Brother Xuan!
Luo Mingxuan had a large number of female fans thanks to his outstanding looks.
Yin Lexin stood to his left and shuddered twice in disgust.
"Brother, don't do that. You don't need to pull that with me."
Luo Mingxuan was just about to fire back when someone suddenly pushed open the White Tower's doors from outside, letting in a gust of cold wind.
"Oh!" A familiar voice rang out, one that made everyone in Azure Mist, from the team to the fans, grit their teeth with hatred. "You're all here. What a coincidence."
The five people inside the tower turned in unison and saw Zheng Xun standing in the doorway, backlit.
Yin Lexin asked through gritted teeth, "What are you doing here? Going to snatch something again?"
"Of course not." Zheng Xun shook his head, looking utterly harmless.
"Then what are you here for?!"
"I'm here to accompany the team." Zheng Xun waved the work ID hanging around his neck. It bore the words "embedded reporter." At the same time, a black-and-gold spherical camera bearing the general association's emblem flew to his side. "Fully credentialed, honest with young and old alike."