Chapter 344: Chapter 344

The air inside the airplane suddenly grew tense, and an instant silence fell.

Jing Shu was actually curious about her companions for this trip to the United States. The stronger their abilities, the higher the chances of success, which meant greater safety. Of course, this also meant she could be less of a burden and avoid constantly needing rescue, unlike Tang Seng, who always cried, "Wukong, save me! Bajie, save me!" After all, this mission is half-public, half-private, so everyone might have different objectives, but powerful teammates are always a necessity.

Naturally, she would cooperate if possible, but if not, Jing Shu was prepared to go it alone.

The first to approach their group was an incredibly muscular man, over two meters tall. Most striking were the copper wall and iron wall-like wrist and knee guards he wore. Each step he took made the airplane floor go THUD, THUD, THUD, and his powerful muscles looked ready to burst through his clothes. Despite this, he carried two iron balls connected by a chain, walking at the very front.

The muscular man nearly blocked everyone else from view. He glanced toward the back cabin, frowned, and turned his head to say, "There’s not enough room back there."

Just then, the man who had left a deep impression on Jing Shu stood up. He wore a shit-green jumpsuit and an orange hat—an incredibly eye-catching, almost impossible-to-miss combination. But his most striking feature was his tongue!

Jing Shu had lived for quite some time, yet she’d never seen anyone with such a long tongue—it stretched out a good eight or nine centimeters!

The crucial part was that he could flick it out like a snake tongue. He quickly flicked his ’snake tongue’ twice, then patted the equally stunned Monkey on the shoulder with a smile, saying, "You guys go sit in the back. There isn’t enough room for the five of us here."

Strangely, despite his long tongue, his speech was completely normal! What’s more, his voice was magnetic and very pleasant, which couldn’t help but remind Jing Shu of Orochimaru’s tongue from Naruto.

The front cabin of the private plane was spacious, equipped with a four-person sofa, a dining table, and a bed. The back cabin, however, only had two individual seats, a smaller dining table, and a three-person sofa.

The spot where Jing Shu was sitting was indeed comfortable and much more spacious than the back cabin.

"First come, first served, bro," Monkey said. "I’ve already put my luggage away and don’t want to move it. Besides, there are five seats in the back too." Just as he finished speaking, something shocking happened. The long-tongued man swiftly darted out his tongue and licked Monkey’s face a few times. Monkey and Ah Huang, who was beside him, instantly went into a combat stance. Tension flared, and both sides looked ready to draw their swords and crossbows.

Jing Shu saw some unidentifiable liquid on Monkey’s face.

Yang Yang stood up. "Let’s go to the back. It’s true there isn’t enough room for all of them here."

This made it evident that Yang Yang was likely the team leader from Wu City for this mission. Otherwise, Monkey and Hao Yunlai wouldn’t have stood up so readily to move to the back cabin without a word of protest.

It was then that a young man Jing Shu hadn’t noticed before spoke up. He casually patted the tall, muscular man and the long-tongued man on their shoulders and said calmly, "We’ll sit in the back. First come, first served."

Compared to the first two, with their rather distinctive features, this young man was only about 1.7 meters tall. He had short black hair that covered his eyebrows, giving him a cool yet very clean appearance. He looked to be only in his twenties—too young, Jing Shu thought.

Her first impression was that he was ordinary: ordinary all-black clothing, ordinary height, an Asian male who wouldn’t stand out in a crowd. Chapters fırst released on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⟡𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚⟡𝘯𝘦𝘵

But upon closer observation, Jing Shu was surprised. His eyes were pure and clear. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. Monkey’s eyes always radiated flamboyance, the muscular man’s eyes were filled with ferocity, and the long-tongued man’s eyes held provocation and frivolity. But in this young man’s eyes, there wasn’t a trace of emotion. His expression was neither sad nor joyful. His way of speaking was declarative, almost a command.

Jing Shu sensed that this ordinary-looking, clean-cut young man with short black hair was actually the leader of the Imperial Capital’s team. His presence was too overpowering! It was like the Demon King, reigning over the world, utterly indifferent to all living beings.

Indeed, with just a few calm words from the black-haired young man, the escalating tension vanished instantly. The muscular man and the long-tongued man turned and walked to the back cabin.

A girl in a short skirt followed quietly behind them without saying a word. The long-tongued man then extended his hand with a bow, "Beautiful Miss Ling, please join me at this two-person table for a delightful rendezvous."

The girl’s cheeks flushed. She quietly declined and quickly sat down in a corner of the sofa, remaining silent. The long-tongued man flicked his tongue twice more and then sat down beside her.

At that moment, the black-haired young man turned to Yang Yang and said, "Once we’ve stowed our luggage, we can discuss the plan for this mission."

Yang Yang nodded. Jing Shu and the others returned to their original seats. Hao Yunlai could now go back to sleep. Lucky him, Jing Shu thought.

Jing Shu stroked her chin, her interest in these companions for the trip to the United States growing. She had a feeling that everyone on this trip was either outstanding in some specific aspect that would clearly benefit the mission, or they possessed formidable firepower and individual strength.

The Imperial Capital team had indeed brought a lot of luggage. The last person to board had to make several trips back and forth. Since the private plane’s cargo hold was too small, they ended up piling all the luggage inside the cabin. This made the originally spacious and comfortable area feel much smaller, cramping everyone together.

The plane finally took off again. Once the Imperial Capital team had settled in with their luggage, all nine people gathered around the large dining table. Yang Yang took out a map and pointed to a location in the United States.

"Our first destination is Sacramento in the United States, a city on the border with Mexico. We’ll start from this border city and gradually move inland. Our second stop will be Austin, the capital of Texas, and so on. Besides our two teams, another team will enter from the Saska side. We will all rendezvous later to complete the mission."

Yang Yang continued, "The direct flight to Sacramento is estimated to take twelve hours. This gives us twelve hours to discuss the mission objectives, detailed plans, division of labor, and procedures. But before all that, we need to understand each other’s abilities and our respective roles within the team. This will help us better leverage our collective strength to complete the tasks assigned by our superiors. What do you all think?"

The black-haired young man nodded. "We are a team. How we compete against each other back home doesn’t matter. Abroad, we must be united. Let’s start with me. I am Zhen Nantian, the leader of the Imperial Capital team for this mission. My role is ’All-Rounder,’ and my current rating is S-level."

It was a brief introduction, yet it left Monkey and the others dumbfounded. Even more surprisingly, the long-tongued man started to say with a smile, "Captain, you’re being too modest. Why not..." But he abruptly fell silent because Zhen Nantian had merely glanced at him.