Counterfeit Hero

”Father!” Cosmo pleaded hoarsely, ”Let me go!”

”No!” Old Smith turned his head and stared at Cosmo, ”You have more important things to do than this match! Take them and find that person. That’s what you should be doing! Not letting your father wither away in sorrow and despair.”

Turning his head to avoid Cosmo’s eyes, which were ashen, Old Smith said to the disciples, ”I’ve carried the burden of the Phantom Stream all my life, now it’s time to pass it on to you. I can die in the arena, not on a bed. You should be happy for me!”

Just as Old Smith finished speaking, the door was suddenly kicked open. A group of people swaggered into the hall of the Fighting Arena.

”Tai Sect people!” All the disciples were filled with rage, clenching their fists.

One disciple, unable to control his temper, shouted, ”What do you want?”

”Get out!”

Ignoring the dozens of fiery gazes from the Griffin Knight Manor disciples, Kubo, who was leading the group, clapped his hands and said, ”Quite lively here. Didn’t expect to see such a touching father-son display the moment I arrived. Very moving, made me shed tears.”

As Kubo clapped, the people following him mocked and clapped loudly.

”Mr. Kubo, how honored we are for your presence...” Old Smith stopped the excited disciples and smiled, ”What advice do you have for us?”

”Advice? Hardly.” Kubo smiled lightly, ”In a few days, this place will belong to me anyway. I was just passing by and thought I’d check out my property. That’s not too much to ask, is it?”

If this isn’t too much, what is?

The eyes of the Griffin Knight Manor disciples turned red.

”Nice, nice.” Ignoring all the Phantom Stream disciples present, Kubo, with his hands behind his back, led six robust men and seven or eight Tai Sect disciples, wandering around the hall with interest, ”The house is fine, but these griffon sculptures are really annoying. We’ll have someone knock them down later.”

”Knock your mother’s!” In a fit of rage, Thomas, standing behind Cosmo, was about to rush forward.

”Stop right there!” Old Smith shouted angrily, ”Everyone, stay put!”

”What’s the matter?” Kubo smiled broadly at Thomas, ”Want to fight me?”

”A guest is always welcome.” Old Smith laughed heartily, ”Mr. Kubo, feel free to look around.”

Saying this, Old Smith turned his head and lowered his voice, ”Kubo is here to provoke us. He wants a conflict. You need to leave Free Port. Right now, we can’t afford any trouble. If we start a fight, he’ll have enough reason to keep you all here! At that point, nobody can speak for us.”

”Old sly fox.” Kubo slowly walked in front of the Phantom Stream group, staring at Old Smith, ”You’ve prepared your exit route before challenging me.” Suddenly, he turned his head and spat on Thomas’s face, ”Aren’t you itching to fight me? Come on.”

The hall fell into a dead silence.

Humiliation and anger burned each member of the Griffin Knight Manor. Old Smith, Cosmo, and all the elders and students turned pale.

Everyone knew that if they fought today, the Sect Federation and major powers would immediately restrict all Griffin Knight members from leaving the country. Kubo came here to provoke, aiming to uproot the entire Phantom Stream. Fighting would play right into his hands.

But, if they didn’t fight... Watching Thomas’s face being spat on, everyone’s teeth ground loudly... How could they swallow this insult?

Kubo and the arrogant Tai Sect members glanced unkindly. They waited for the dozens of trembling Phantom Stream disciples to rush forward. Six robust men were already prepared. Without their Mechas, these Mech Knights were just a group of weak chickens in their eyes.

”Excuse me...” A timid voice came, ”Do you accept students here?”

The tense atmosphere suddenly seemed to release, as if a breach had been opened.

Everyone turned to look. A pale and flabby Fatty slowly walked in from the door, nodding and bowing, ”I want to learn Mecha. Do you accept students?”

Seeing this Fatty, Cosmo felt a rush of blood to the head. He trembled involuntarily, turning to see Thomas wiping the spit from his face, exchanging a look of stunned joy.

”Learn Mecha!” A henchman beside Kubo cursed, annoyed that his plan was disrupted by the Fatty, ”Get out.”

”Are you the director here?” The timid Fatty blinked.

”Who cares who I am? I said get lost, didn’t you hear?” The henchman squinted, his gaze cold.

”Sorry, sir.” Old Smith said, ”He’s not one of our Mechanical Armor Hall members. I am the director here. But we have some matters now, it’s not convenient to accept students. You should check out other Mecha schools.”

”Oh.” The Fatty realized, glanced at the henchman, and sneered, ”Pretending so well, I thought he was the director. Turns out he’s not even a student... what’s he acting all high and mighty for?”

”You...” The henchman, who had been trying to scare the Fatty away, was stunned by the Fatty’s obliviousness and disdain. He suddenly felt dizzy with anger.

”Haha.” Seeing the Tai Sect members rendered speechless, the Griffin Knight disciples burst into laughter.

”Don’t you know Phantom Stream is close to extinction?” A Tai Sect disciple glared at Fatty maliciously, ”If you offend our Tai Sect, I guarantee no sect will take you in Free Port!”

Though the Tai Sect disciple’s words were exaggerated, no one could refute. Tai Sect was indeed overpowering now. Ordinary sects dared not accept students they wanted to ban. The two leading sects above Tai Sect would never accept such a plain-dressed, bulky plebeian.

”If you’re smart,” The Tai Sect disciple sneered arrogantly, ”You’d hurry up and leave!”

”What’s Tai Sect?” Fatty looked puzzled and dumbfounded.

Cold smiles froze on the Tai Sect disciples’ faces. Even Kubo’s forehead throbbed with veins.

Fatty scratched his head, ”What kind of crap are you talking about? I don’t know what Tai Sect low-class nonsense, hurry up, don’t waste my time for registration.”

What kind of crap!

All the Tai Sect disciples turned blue. This might be the worst insult Tai Sect had faced in years.

”Say that again!” Kubo stepped up to Fatty, clenching his teeth.

”You’re a dumb ass?” Fatty looked at Kubo with wonder, ”You actually want to hear insults again? Are you masochistic?”

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. (To be continued. For more chapters, please visit www.qidian.com, support the authors, read legal copies!)