Florida was far more domineering than Han Shuo wouldâve thought. He could feel a dangerous pulse of magic the instant he shut the door. Han Shuo immediately sprang backwards.
The door exploded with a tumultuous bang as the room wreathed itself in white light. Large pieces of wooden slats flew across the room as Floridaâs handsome face once again appeared in front of Han Shuo.
He still clutched the bouquet of fresh flowers tightly, with a strongly pulsating magic staff embedded with a red, blue, and yellow crystal in his right hand.
âI said, I want to see Phoebe. Didnât you hear me?!â Florida looked harshly at Han Shuo as he bit off his words.
At roughly 25 or 26, Floridaâs age was similar to the deceased Clark. The two of them had many similarities, both having the same high level of strength and charming exteriors.
However, although Clark was devious, he wouldnât flaunt it so boldly. He at least understood that his identity as a noble; conscious he had to conceal his emotions, he made his moves in the dark. On the other hand, Florida looked like a completely lawless person, with an even more brash style, seemingly having no reservations at all.
âAnd I said, donât disturb our rest!â Han Shuo snorted coldly and flashed to Floridaâs side like lightning. He raised a fist with magical yuan circulating within it and smashed it towards Floridaâs face.
Han Shuoâs sudden move was outside of the otherâs expectations as panic suddenly appeared on his face. He threw out the bouquet in his hands and swiftly backpedaled.
Han Shuoâs punch whistled through the air as it smashed the bouquet to pieces. Petals flew everywhere as a floral fragrance wafted through the air.
When this punch had obliterated the bouquet and seemed like it would land on Floridaâs face, a strong magic pulse suddenly burst from his body. A rainbow colored, glass-like magic shield suddenly enveloped him like an enormous light bubble.
Bam. Han Shuoâs fist connected with the shield. He felt like he was punching cotton candy as the shield distorted at the point of contact. The impression left by the fist deepened until Han Shuoâs blow stopped right above Floridaâs well defined nose, unable to proceed any further.
Completely flustered, Florida was forced back a few steps, bringing the force field with him and widening the gap between him and Han Shuo. Disarrayed, he looked at Han Shuo with an even more unfriendly glint, as if Han Shuo had become his mortal enemy.
âYou dared to attack first!â Floridaâs voice was as distorted as his expression as he roared furiously at Han Shuo.
Han Shuo shook his hand and retracted his fist, pointing at the shattered room door. He said coldly, âYou trespassed the moment you broke through the door. Iâm just defending myself!â
Nodding his head with a frosty smile, Florida cast a dark glance at Han Shuo. âVery good, youâve got some guts. However, you wonât get a chance to come near me again now that our distance has been increased. Let me see what youâre made of now!â
Florida once again stepped back after he spoke and raised the staff in his right hand, planning on facing off with Han Shuo. In response to Floridaâs move, Han Shuo solemnly brought out the Demonslayer Edge from his space ring and prepared to take Floridaâs attack.
As a light archmage, his strength was certainly uncommon. Han Shuo had tested him just now and had noticed that his reaction was swift and movements agile. It was obvious that heâd weathered hundreds of battles. Han Shuo hadnât even been able to harm him just now with that punch, despite their proximity. Now that they were separated, Florida would be able to deploy his advantage as a mage and would be difficult to deal with.
Hasty footsteps sounded at this moment and seemed to approach the room. Just as Han Shuo and Florida were about to really get into it, vice chief Harris from the Cairo mercenary band suddenly appeared with a few soldiers.
âIsnât this chief Florida? What are you doing here, creating a mess in territory thatâs under the Cairo mercenary bandâs protection instead of staying in yours?â Harrisâ voice was filled with obvious sarcasm as he maintained the same remote expression from earlier in the day.
The splashing sounds from the bathroom suddenly stopped. It seemed that after these disturbances, Phoebe had finally discovered something was happening outside after having her hearing affected by her shower.
The wildly posturing Florida looked back at Harris when he heard the latterâs voice. He put away the staff in his hand and said with an aloof expression, âI came to visit Miss Phoebe and hadnât expected to be blocked by some blind kid.â
âIf youâre here to be a guest, then I welcome you on behalf of the owner. However, I hope you donât try to start a fight here, or else our Cairo mercenary band will definitely get involved. You surely know the rules after being in the Valley of Sunshine for so long!â Harris snorted coldly when he saw Florida retract the staff in his hands.
âHumph! Today was your lucky day!â Florida said coldly to Han Shuo and turned to leave. He halted when he passed by Harris, saying with his back turned to Han Shuo, âIn the near future, I will definitely retake control of the valley. Then, I wonât be as polite to you as I am now!â
Florida laughed heartily after throwing down these words and walked out with large strides, not waiting for Phoebe to come out.
Harris had an ugly expression on his face and a vein began to throb on his forehead. He looked like he would go berserk at any time. In fact, Han Shuo knew that he was a berserker, It was said that a berserkerâs strength was quite astonishing. They were able to use a mysterious method to provoke themselves into a mad state, increasing their strength exponentially and giving them incredible destructive power.
Han Shuo rather wished Harris would go berserk as he looked at the latter. If Harris couldnât control the fury in his heart, he would immediately attack Florida until one of them died.
It was a pity that Harris quickly regained normalcy and Han Shuoâs daydreams didnât play out. Harris cast a detached glance at Han Shuo and said, âYou still need to pay for the door. Floridaâs group has great power in the Valley of Sunshine, so you need to be careful after offending him. You can come find us if thereâs anything you need from the Cairo mercenary band.â
Although his expression was still aloof, Harris seemed to have undergone a change in attitude towards Han Shuo because of their newly acquired common enemy. There were even traces of concern in his words.
Han Shuo hadnât planned on paying for the door because itâd been Florida that had broken it, but his thoughts completely changed after seeing Harrisâ attitude shift. He did still have need of the Cairo mercenary band to obtain the shop with the place of extreme water, so he laughed decisively and said, âNo problem!â
Nodding, Harris didnât say anything else and waved his hand, departing with his guards.
The room to the bathroom creaked open after Harris left and Phoebe came out wearing a bathrobe, like a flower emerging from the water. Her wet hair was plastered all over and a small expanse of reddened, fair skin was revealed at her chest. Her red lips were full and wet as she flicked her eyes towards the door. âTheyâre all gone?â
âAll gone. Whatâs going on with that Florida?â Han Shuo looked at Phoebe and asked unhappily.
Chuckling lowly, Phoebe hiked up the bathrobe a bit and wrapped her legs tightly. She walked up to Han Shuo and batted her wet eyelashes, looking at him with interest. She teased, âWhat, are you jealous?â
âYeah Iâm jealous! That kid doesnât look too bad and came looking for you with a huge bouquet! He even told me, the boyfriend, to get out of the way. Iâm very pissed off right now!â Han Shuo was quite direct as he looked irritatedly at Phoebe.
Her body softening, Phoebe sat on Han Shuoâs legs and chuckled softly. âI used to come to the valley a lot and had business dealings with the Rainbow Sickle mercenary band. But itâs always been him pursuing me, Iâve never had anything to deal with him.â
âAlright, alright, donât be mad. Iâll explain things to him next time so that he doesnât bother me in the future. Howâs that?â
âNo point in explanations, I donât think that brat is the kind to accept such things. I didnât like him from my first impression of him, but I think he thinks the same of me. I think our grudge has been well and truly formed!â Han Shuo shook his head.
âThen what do we do? The Rainbow Sickle mercenary band has great power in the valley and is second only to the Cairo mercenary band. Itâs said that theyâve been recruiting in recent times and have even hired a group of experts from the Church of Light. They seem to want to replace the Cairo mercenary band. It will be very troublesome to stay in the valley if weâve offended them!â Phoebe was startled and spoke with some worry.
âWeâll deal with matters as they arise. Heâs not the sole ruler of the valley, he wonât be able to do anything to me!â Han Shuo snorted coldly and spoke without fear.