She then turned back to Fang Hong and said, "Let's go, Ade."

Fang Hong hesitated, knowing that he couldn't avoid it now, given how eager he had seemed about the competition's prize money earlier. Suddenly changing his statement was bound to arouse suspicion, especially since Luo Yu had seen his videos and might recognize him immediately.

Although he faintly felt that Atira and the others wouldn't harm him, the place was crowded and it was possible that someone else might notice something off.

However, in his urgency, he suddenly noticed a Papalarian lying asleep on a chair nearby, belly rising and falling. Hanging from the sleeper's belt was a sheathed short sword.

So, Fang Hong pretended to stand up and, seizing the moment, took the short sword.

With the long sleeves covering his actions, nobody noticed this minor movement.

Hiding the short sword inside his sleeve, Fang Hong followed Atira through the crowd. Meanwhile, he silently opened the craftsman menu, imagining the shape of a mask and adjusting its structure in the system before slipping it onto the short sword.

This was his first time crafting under such conditions, and he found how hard it was to connect structural points while distracted; he failed several times in just a short moment.

Fortunately, the short sword was well-crafted, originally made by a highly skilled forger, leaving many redundant structural points that allowed him to complete the crafting, albeit clumsily.

But, looking at the quality of the finished mask, it was barely above junk—fortunately, it was just a mask and wouldn't have been usable on a precise Flexible Construct.

Fang Hong was just about to put on the mask.

At that moment, Atira suddenly asked, "Ade, do you have a past with the people of Silver Forest Spear?"

"Ah?" Fang Hong was startled.

"When you encountered those two earlier, your reaction was much more alert than most, and you wore a hood because you didn't want to face them, right?" the Elf girl responded softly.

Fang Hong didn't expect Atira to be so observant.

But things weren't right.

He didn't know how to explain that his wariness stemmed from the incidents that had occurred at the Elf Ruins, making him instinctively distrust the people from Silver Forest Spear and Jiefulite.

And as for the latter, that was even more inaccurate—

But these were things he couldn't discuss, so he could only nod and play dumb.

"Don't mind, I'm not trying to pry," Atira then said, "I just worry that Fuli might not have realized this and could expose you."

"I didn't overdo it, did I?" she turned back, her emerald eyes gazing at Fang Hong.

Fang Hong was slightly shocked.

He was deeply moved, not expecting the Elf girl to think so thoroughly of his situation, filling him with a sense of guilt. He resolved to tell her the truth after leaving this place.

As they talked, they arrived at the registration point. A few Dwarf Goblins carrying a Xiangzi passed by, and before Fang Hong saw any staff member, he heard a conversation nearby:

"It's the military."

"How did they get involved in such a small competition?"

"Who knows, but it feels like there's more to this competition..."

A feeling of dread suddenly hit Fang Hong.

He looked up just as the crowd parted, revealing the scene behind—military personnel in black coats were setting up a barrier, and every competitor entering was meticulously checked.

Seeing this, Fang Hong almost blacked out and nearly turned to flee with Atira.

Unfortunately, it was too late, as the competitors ahead had already stepped beyond the barrier, and a young soldier had noticed them and motioned them to come over.

Compared to Atira's calm composure, Fang Hong felt as stiff as a mummy at that moment.

Noticing Fang Hong's odd behavior behind her, Atira whispered, "Don't be too nervous, it draws more attention. Look around, the Silver Forest Spear people aren't here."

Fang Hong felt like crying without tears.

He wasn't afraid of the cats and dogs from Silver Forest Spear at all.

Zhang Tianmiu, frowning, observed the young man before him—the tall Forest Elf girl was clearly a native and not his concern, but the other one, this guy, was wearing a half-silver metal mask.

Of course, wearing masks or enveloping oneself in thick cloaks was not uncommon in this New World, as Chosen could inevitably make enemies.

But such a flashy mask was indeed a first for him.

Fang Hong himself was actually very nervous inside; the Papalarian's short sword turned out to be made of mithril, a fact he realized only after donning the mask, explaining why there were so many redundant structure points.

A mithril mask—

Thus, it wasn't hard for him to understand why the soldier looked at him as if he were an idiot.

However, Zhang Tianmiu was not concerned about that trivial matter; he simply gestured to his deputy, "Come, check him."

The deputy walked over, glanced at them, took a Xiangzi from a Dwarf Goblin, and pulled out a Glow Device Fang Hong had never seen before.

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