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Chapter 637: In Search of News

"How wonderful—we\'ll have a meal immediately after that journey."

Red Comet began slicing up the rhinoceros. Zhang Lie broke off a chunk of flesh and noticed to his relief that the granite rhinoceros was thankfully not made of pure granite. He had Red Comet cut up the rhinoceros meat into smaller pieces to be roasted.

The youth who had been chased finally reacted. He broke free from his stupor and bowed down to Zhang Lie in thanks. "I thank you for my life."

Zhang Lie waved a hand, indicating that he didn\'t much mind.

The youth continued, "My name is Jie Jiuquan, and I\'m the ninth son of the king of the realm."

"King of the realm?"

"That is indeed my father."

This world had a king of the realm? That was impressive. So-called "kings of the realm" were recognized by the will of the world and granted authority over a small part of the realm. They were responsible for protecting their territory and maintaining order within it.

In other words, they were akin to masters of the realm, with powers that superseded common sense. Even a strong hunter wouldn\'t dare offend a king of the realm needlessly.

Zhang Lie scrutinized the other party carefully. Among humanoid aliens, he was rather beautiful. Except for a few scales by his left arm, he looked almost indistinguishable from a human. He was on the young side, about thirteen or fourteen years old.

Zhang Lie nodded to himself, but he didn\'t much care as to the alien\'s status.

Suddenly, however, the ninth son of the king of the realm knelt down on the ground. "Please, accept me as a disciple!"

Zhang Lie glanced at him. "Well, you\'re certainly curious. Why should I believe that you\'re the ninth son of the king of the realm? And even if you are, why should I take you as a disciple?"

"I have a token to prove my identity—though I have no means by which to induce you to allow me to become your disciple save my identity."

"Hmm." Zhang Lie glanced at the young prince appraisingly. "Do you know how to make a fire?"

The ninth prince nodded. He hurried off in search of some dry branches. This was clearly his first time carrying out such a task in practice, but he did have the theory down—in the end, he succeeded on his first attempt.

Zhang Lie skewered the rhinoceros meat and left it above the fire to roast. "As a prince of the realm, how did you end up in such straits?"

The ninth prince sighed. "Some of my guards betrayed me and lured a few third-level beasts over. The guards that were loyal to me fought to their deaths, and I was forced to flee. If I hadn\'t met you, master, I would have perished to these beasts."

These third-level beasts that the prince made reference to were clearly superior-grade lifeforms.

"Why would you want to be my disciple? As a prince, you hardly need martial strength—so you\'re simply interested in my protection, aren\'t you? More accurately, you\'d like a bodyguard and escort rather than a master—or perhaps more than that."

The ninth prince countered, "Wouldn\'t you benefit from my status?"

"I\'m not interested. You do seem intelligent and interesting, so I\'ll send you to the nearest city once we finish our meal, but that\'s as far as I\'ll go."

Zhang Lie had no desire to stick his nose into trouble, no matter how much he admired the prince. ?Not only had the prince been able to make his request with composure despite his near-death experience, he was even able to treat Zhang Lie calmly and naturally despite the strength that Zhang Lie had demonstrated.

For a child in his teens to accomplish that much was certainly impressive, but even that wasn\'t enough for Zhang Lie. He was the king of Limit, and he had seen countless geniuses from all over the galaxy when the Zenith Dojo recruited new talent.

At his level, his interest in students was far more important than their own talent. The members of Team Zenith, Jun Jiuxiao, and Ye Xianchen couldn\'t strictly be considered geniuses, but his guidance was enough to elevate them over the common hunter.

The ninth prince replied seriously, "When I become king, I\'ll give you anything you want, Master."

"Haha, you?" Zhang Lie glanced at the child, his face still caked with dust and mud, and couldn\'t help laughing.

He divided the roast meat among the two people and three beasts. "I\'m satisfied with my life. Why should I go along with you just for your fantasies?"

The ninth prince puffed up his chest. "Are you looking down on me, Master? When I become king, I\'ll own this entire piece of the realm—heaven and earth alike!"

Zhang Lie sighed and shook his head. "Believe what you will. Finish your meat and I\'ll send you to the nearest city. You\'ll find a large bed there where you can dream whatever you like."

The ninth prince glanced at him in worry. "Master, if you send me back to the city, you\'ll be sentencing me to death."

"What\'s the matter?"

"My guards\' betrayal had to be planned by my brothers, and if they were to find out that I\'m not dead, they surely won\'t let me go. An assassination attempt on one of the princes is no trifling business. My brothers have no choice but to continue with their plan, and they won\'t let me get back to the capital safely."

"In other words, you desperately need a bodyguard." Zhang Lie nodded. "Well, you\'re interesting enough, and I\'d rather you not die so quickly."

The ninth prince\'s eyes widened. "You accept, Master?"

"That depends on whether you have a reward that would satisfy me," Zhang Lie replied.

The ninth prince earnestly announced, "As long as you can guarantee my safe return to the capital, Master, I\'ll give you as much gold and jewels—"

"Enough, enough! I\'m not interested in those trifles."

"How about beautiful women, Master?"

Zhang Lie coughed as he spat out the meat in his mouth. "Do I look so desperate?!"

"I apologize, Master. My mother—the empress—told me that any man who didn\'t like gold or jewels was interested in women, or otherwise in men... Master, are you fond of men?"

Zhang Lie clutched his head. "Just what did your mother teach you?"

The ninth prince smiled. He wouldn\'t repeat his mother\'s actual words, of course—"Most men want gold or women. Those who want neither are the most dangerous."

Zhang Lie replied, "Well, I don\'t want women or men. Do you have any information on the human race?"

"The human race?"

"Those of my kind."

"I apologize, Master, but aren\'t you a scaleman like me? I don\'t know anything about these \'humans\', but I\'m sure the royal study has the records you need."