Chapter 132: Silly Boy

Chuantian felt a sudden wave of goosebumps all over his body. Being hugged around the thigh by a grown man over nine feet tall, who was simultaneously crying and snotting while begging to become his student, was simply unbearable for anyone.

"Shak, what are you doing!" Gatter was losing face completely. After all, this silly boy was brought by him, and any embarrassment fell squarely on him.

"Commander Gatter, he is..." Chuantian wanted to shake off the giant simpleton, but despite trying for quite a while, he couldn't budge him at all.

"This is the bandit who tried to rob Davis last time!" Gatter explained.

"Oh, it's him!" Chuantian remembered. Last time, this foolish lad had been used as a pawn by Gatter and taught a lesson by Davis. Yet he was quite lucky; in such a massive melee, he hadn't suffered even a scratch.

"Expert, I want to be your student! Please take me in!" Shak held onto Chuantian for dear life and refused to let go. "I want to take down a Gold-rank swordsman in one blow too!"

After struggling a few more times, Chuantian realized that this foolish fellow's strength was truly immense. Even with a body modified by the Dragon Emperor's blood, he couldn't break free.

"Shak, get up!" Gatter grew somewhat irritated. He grabbed Shak's shoulder, attempting to haul him to his feet.

"I'm not getting up!" Shak wiped a trail of snot onto Chuantian's trouser leg and gripped tighter. "If you don't take me as your student, I won't get up!"

"Bastard!" Gatter flew into a rage from embarrassment. Putting strength into a single arm, sky-blue battle qi surged over his limb as he tried to forcibly yank Shak up.

"Commander Gatter, don't use force!" Chuantian panicked. Shak was clinging to Chuantian's thigh, and if Gatter tried to yank Shak up, Young Master Chu would undoubtedly suffer along with him.

"Hey, why do you want to be my student?" Chuantian gave up struggling and asked helplessly.

"You're an peerless expert, so I want to be your student!" Shak gazed foolishly at Chuantian and said, "My brother said, as long as you can become the student of a peerless expert, you won't have to worry about food for the rest of your life!"

"As long as you let go of me, your meal expenses for the rest of your life are on me!" Chuantian was utterly out of options when dealing with such an idiot. On a busy, bustling street, what kind of spectacle did it make for two grown men to embrace like this?! Already, quite a few onlookers had begun to gather around the pair, judging by their expressions, seemingly appreciating some twisted homosexual romance.

"You're not tricking me?" Shak asked in a daze, his grip loosening considerably.

"Commander Andy, are you really going to pay for his meals?" Gatter asked abruptly, the smile at the corner of his mouth looking very much like someone who had just scored a massive bargain. "Right, Shak hasn't officially joined our mercenary group yet, so he can just follow you from now on!"

"Discuss the specifics with Shak! I must take my leave now; there are still plenty of matters in the group waiting for me to handle!" With that, Gatter waved a hand and departed with his subordinates.

Chuantian suddenly felt like he had been scammed. Judging by Gatter's expression, he had simply dumped a massive burden onto his own hands. "Hey! Your name is Shak, right? Let go of me right now!"

"Then you have to promise me that you'll give me food in the future!" Shak stared at Chuantian and said earnestly.

"I promise you! I promise you!" Chuantian had a splitting headache. Where on earth did such a fool come from?

"Hehe, I won't starve to death!" Wiping his nose with his sleeve, Shak finally let go of Chuantian.

Having finally been released, Chuantian let out a long breath, then mustered all the strength in his life to leap fiercely onto his giant wolf mount! "Run!"

Like a streak of lightning, the giant wolf bolted away in a panic with Chuantian on its back. Perhaps the wolf clan's strength couldn't match a mammoth's, nor its endurance a unicorn's, but in short-distance sprints, it was unquestionably the fastest on the mainland!

In the blink of an eye, Chuantian raced back to the mercenary group's headquarters. Leaping off his mount, Young Master Chu said with lingering fear, "I finally shook off that silly brat!"

"Expert! You run really fast!" A muffled voice sounded from directly behind Chuantian. "I almost couldn't catch up!"

"Praise the Goddess of Life!" Chuantian nearly collapsed to the ground. He turned around and began to survey the foolish lad with deep depression.

***

Shak was very tall, nearly a head taller than Chuantian. His physique was lean yet sturdy, appearing well-proportioned. He wore a set of ragged clothes covered in patches, sported messy yellow hair, a dirty face, and on his back, he carried a massive axe!

"Let me see your axe!" Chuantian seemed to have discovered something interesting, his eyes narrowing into a smile.

"Oh, here you go!"

Boom—the giant axe was tossed right in front of Chuantian, leaving a deep crater smashed into the ground.

Chuantian carefully examined the weapon and clicked his tongue. This was no ordinary axe; at the tail end of a shaft taller than a man was mounted a millstone-sized hammer head, and on both sides of the hammer head, two crescent-shaped axe blades were embedded.

Not only could it hack people to death, but it could also smash them to pulp. This was quite literally an ultimate tool for murder, looting, and mugging innocent young men!

"Haha, quite heavy indeed!" Chuantian laughed awkwardly, because despite using all his strength, he hadn't managed to lift the giant axe. Yet he was even happier; being able to chase down a Tier 4 giant wolf while carrying something this heavy meant this silly boy wasn't entirely useless!

"Come inside with me! You'll live here from now on!" Chuantian decided to take the fool in.

"Hehe, I have a place to stay!" Shak followed Chuantian and stepped into the headquarters.

"Commander, how did it go!" The old butler, Terry, spotted Chuantian's return and hurried forward. "The king didn't give you a hard time, did he?"

"Everything is fine!" Chuantian motioned for the giant wolf to find a spot to lie down, then said to Terry, "Go call back all the brothers who dispersed. From now on, no one in the principality will dare cause us trouble!"

"Brilliant, I'm right on it!" The look Terry directed at Chuantian instantly grew much more respectful. To mercenaries, a commander who could bring them benefits was a good commander!

"Shak, listen to me. I'll feed you, but I won't take you as my student!" Chuantian said to Shak with a solemn expression. Young Master Chu's students weren't just anyone; only a genius youth like Dio was qualified. In fact, Chuantian had another reason for not accepting Shak: what on earth could he even teach him? Ancient sacrificial arts? Shak probably couldn't learn them. Ancient thief arts? Chuantian himself didn't even know them yet!

"Deal! As long as you can keep me full, it's a deal!" Shak nodded honestly, then shrank his neck, rubbed his hands together, and asked with embarrassment, "Um... can you tell me... what does a student actually do?"

***

"Commander, don't let him eat anymore!" Terry looked with a pained expression at the twenty-odd scrofa carcasses that had been reduced to mere skeletons. "Right now, scrofas on the market cost thirty silver coins each!"

One hundred silver coins traded for a gold coin, meaning twenty-odd scrofas were worth nearly ten gold coins. Shak's meal just now had cost no less than ten gold coins. If this kept up, Shak would devour thirty gold coins a day, and over ten thousand gold coins in a year!

Yet in the Storm Mercenary Group's best years, their annual profit hadn't even reached one hundred thousand gold coins. Damn it, Chuantian finally understood why Gatter hadn't wanted this muscle-bound freak.

"Why won't you let me eat?" Shak patted his still-unsated belly, suddenly dropping to his knees again and grabbing Chuantian's thigh. "No way, you promised me you'd let me eat my fill!"

"Keep eating then!" Chuantian waved his hand helplessly.

"Wuwu!" Spotting Chuantian's miserable plight, Xiao Bai sighed, shook its head, and covered the jar of wine by its mouth, implying that times were tough now and they needed to save a bit of money for Vladinu...

"Shak, where is your home?" Chuantian asked.

"I don't know!"

"What about your parents?"

"I don't know!"

"What about the friends who robbed people with you that day?"

"I don't know!"

"Then what do you know?"

"I know... I haven't eaten my fill!"

***

After countless questions, Chuantian gave up. It seemed that aside from eating, Shak knew absolutely nothing else.

"Once you're finished eating, go find some water to take a bath, and then pick a room to sleep in yourself!" Having given his instructions, Chuantian picked up Xiao Bai and walked away. For such a blockhead, he truly had no solutions.

***

Early the next morning, the Storm Mercenary Group officially reopened for business.

Everyone began to bustle about; even Julia and Xiao Bai ran here and there to help. As for Chuantian, he remained his usual hands-off boss.

Even with Grand Duke Rorl looking out for them and Gatter's mercenary group staying away, Chuantian's business remained miserably slow. A mercenary group without powerhouse fighters could never truly make a profit.

To make matters worse, half a month later, Chuantian received a notice from the Mercenary Guild demanding a demotion of the Storm Mercenary Group's rank!

The Storm Mercenary Group had originally been a Level 6 mercenary group, but that was back when Davis and a large number of intermediate powerhouses were around. Now that Chuantian, a Level 3 thief, had become the commander, they naturally no longer matched the standards of a Level 6 mercenary group.

Left with no choice, Chuantian thought of Davis the Grand Magus. The man was still in Kevin's hands; if he could get Davis back, the mercenary group's situation would improve significantly.

Just as Chuantian was planning to make a trip into the mountains to retrieve Davis, Kevin unexpectedly sought him out first.

The communication stone chimed, and Chuantian heard Kevin's voice. "Haha, Brother Andy, how have things been lately?"

"Don't even mention it!" Chuantian sighed. "Between the mercenary group's affairs, I've nearly been worked to death!"

"Oh right, Brother Kevin, is that Davis still with you? Can you return him to me?" Chuantian asked.

Kevin clearly hesitated for a moment. "Brother, we'll talk about Davis's matter later. Do you have time right now to come over to my place?"

"What's the matter?" Chuantian caught the gravity in Kevin's tone.

"A friend of mine wants to see you!"

"Haha, it wouldn't happen to be that you want me to treat their physical condition, would you?" Chuantian assumed one of Kevin's magical beast friends had fallen ill and needed treatment.

"No!" Kevin suddenly burst into hearty laughter. "Haha, just come over. It's good news!" With that, the communication stone disconnected.

Good news? Hehe, then I'll make a trip!

Anyway, Chuantian didn't have to worry about the mercenary group's food supply at the moment. Tidyed up, he once again mounted his giant wolf and ventured deep into the mountains.