Infinite Gods Reign Supreme

Chapter 102 - Team Atmosphere Needs to Be Lively

Si Ming did something inappropriate.

Because when he threw one 'ball' at Valentina, she happened to have another 'ball' in her hand. And naturally, in order to catch the second 'ball,' the human would simply put down the first 'ball.'

A certain 'beep' was very unhappy about this.

She made a noisy noise, which was a rather shrill scream.

"You don't want me anymore! You've done this and that to me, making me feel like I can't live without you. And now you're going to throw me on this dirty ground!"

If she had hands and feet, she would definitely be crying and making a scene. The other reincarnators' eyes twitched; some played with their fingers, others looked up at the sky, trying their best to turn their heads away from her. However, to everyone's surprise, Yu Zhiwei's daily erratic behavior struck a nerve with Valentina.

"I clean my boat every day! Four times a day! And you say it's dirty!"

Valentina has a mild, or rather, targeted, obsessive-compulsive disorder related to cleanliness. This information has only now been revealed to the other reincarnators traveling with her.

Yu Zhiwei's face turned deathly pale in an instant. She hurriedly put on an apologetic expression and was about to beg for forgiveness from Valentina, who had suddenly entered a state of rage.

"Wait! I was wrong, wait—"

"Get off my ship!"

High in the sky, the Millennium Falcon suddenly opened its gates. A fierce gust of wind rushed in, unable to shake the center of the fully formed reincarnators, but it was just right for Yu Zhiwei in her 'sphere' form.

"I was wrong—oops—LAAAAA—"

A proper kick.

Valentina, at this moment, truly demonstrated the high quality of her Argentinian ball-handling genes. Yu Zhiwei, in ball form, was launched in a straight line far into the stratosphere above the clouds with a sonic boom. No one knew where the unfortunate child would land.

"Hmph!" Valentina slammed the door shut in a huff. Holding the faded dragon pearl in her hands, her flushed face returned to normal the instant she turned her head. She reverted to her usual capable and rational demeanor. Behind her, the gentlemen, silent as cicadas in winter, exchanged unspoken glances.

Luo Yinglong: [In the future, if you see me about to provoke Valentina, please remind me immediately. I'm a Chinese national football fan and can't stand her kicking like that.]

Song Tian: [Don't worry, I'll make a billboard about your liking for the national football team and put it in the square.]

Luo Yinglong: [Ah, that's really unnecessary... Wait, you watch the national football team too?]

Song Tian: [What kind of weird joke are you talking about? I'm not watching the Chinese national football team at all!]

Luo Yinglong: [How would you know how bad the Chinese national football team is if you don't watch it? Abroad, nobody even knows China has a team that can play football!]

Jacob: [Uh... what are you guys doing, exchanging glances? When did our team open a chat channel I don't know about?]

Luo Yinglong and Song Tian: [This guy's eyes are so weird, is he thinking something strange... Damn, I can't understand foreigners' eyes!]

A moment of chaos ensued.

Si Ming pretended not to see the three guys exchanging glances.

His gaze swept over Valentina, who was sensing the Dragon Balls, and Almaria, who had been staring blankly out the porthole from the corner. His attention finally settled on a flip-top trash can in the corner, which hadn't yet been filled with garbage.

The lid was gently lifted, revealing Yu Zhiwei's tiny head emerging from the shadows—her two newborn hands carefully resting on the edge of the trash can, casting a pitiful glance at Valentina.

“Hmm…” But Valentina’s attention was only on the Dragon Ball in front of her.

"It seems unusable. But... I have a feeling that it might be usable."

Si Ming blinked.

He looked at Valentina's head. This girl's head didn't even look pointed, so why was she spouting this nonsense about having a pointed head?
"How do you feel?" So he asked another question.

"Yeah, it's like you can put something in there and it'll work... Ah, I mean, a battery. It's like when my phone runs out of battery and I'm looking for the battery!"

She was an Argentinian born in 2007. Cell phones of her time had removable batteries and universal chargers with pulleys.

"Is that so..." Si Ming nodded, having roughly understood the situation. "So, when he fought Bragi earlier, he used too much force, draining all the energy from the Dragon Ball before killing that evil dragon? Or did Bragi steal the Dragon Ball through unorthodox means, causing it to lose its sentience when it transformed into a dragon?"

It's most likely the latter, because according to the original movie, the Dragon Ball should also contain the will and soul of the Dragon-Striped Girl—in the original final battle, the Benevolent Python successfully swallowed the Dragon Ball and transformed into a dragon with the help of the Dragon-Striped Girl's soul. But now, in the hands of the Celestials, this Dragon Ball is simply an ordinary, large pearl.

Si Ming thought for a moment.

"Ranger, can you sense the location of the 'battery'?"

"...It's a bit difficult, but I do have a vague feeling. It should be in the south of this land, but I can't be sure exactly where in the south." She shook her head.

“It should be South America, Brazil, the rainforest,” Jacob suddenly spoke, interrupting his and Rossini’s misunderstanding. “Don’t forget, the Serpent of the Highest Good is the king of serpents. It has a serpent clan that it rules over. And on this land of America, the only place suitable for giant serpents to live is there.”

“The Amazon rainforest.” Si Ming nodded. “The Anaconda disaster. The main god removed extra interfering factors, so we probably won’t find the Blood Orchid from that movie. But if there are giant anacondas in this land, they can only hide in that place to avoid being captured by modern information civilization.”

“And the land that can support a giant python clan must hide a place where high energy converges.” Valentina nodded. She put down the Dragon Ball and casually closed the trash can lid. The creature hiding inside let out a cry of pain; its slender fingers, which had been resting on the edge of the can, were immediately pinched and swollen.

Pretending quite well.

A certain 'beep' hidden in the trash can emitted a mournful cry.

Valentina shook her head helplessly.

"It's filthy." She scoffed and kicked the trash can. "Go wash yourself clean before you get on my boat!" The trash can then quieted down.

Beyond the Millennium Falcon, a series of thunderous thunderbolts and lightning suddenly erupted from a cumulonimbus cloud in the stratosphere. The sudden surge of intense winds triggered massive rainfall. While the water in the rain cloud was certainly not very clean, the high temperature and cleansing effect of the lightning would presumably completely erase any remaining impurities.

The spaceship thus began its southward journey.

They hadn't flown far when a crisp knocking sound came from outside the spaceship.

Si Ming sighed, too lazy to pay attention to Yu Zhiwei's stress-relieving antics or Valentina's cooperation with her kindness. He nodded to Jacob and Rossini, then walked towards the other porthole.

He knew that something was wrong with Almalia.

But he knew it wasn't a physical problem, and that psychotherapy needed the right timing—the commotion behind him started up again. Meanwhile, Si Ming's gaze drifted through the porthole towards the southern horizon.

The cleanup of Yu Zhiwei's situation took longer than expected. Before Yu Zhiwei regained consciousness and gradually awoke, the reincarnators spent a considerable amount of time clearing away the lingering effects of the evil dragon and the Western Sea team. Unfortunately, they gained nothing of value.

They only killed some monsters that scattered and fled.

They rescued some survivors who were trapped under the collapsed building or who were injured by the negative energy impact to the point of unconsciousness, as well as their relatives and friends.

This took the Celestial Team about a day. And that long day was enough for the entire world to react to the anomalies occurring on North America—the hostility and vigilance of various nations were confirmed at that time. However, for the time being, they dared not, at least not, send troops to probe the Reincarnators.

Whatever.

Si Ming's attention quickly shifted away from those unimportant objects. After all, the Reincarnation Team primarily dealt with another Reincarnation Team. And since that was the case…

—The West Sea team should still have survivors. Our final, decisive strike wasn't enough to finish off Reinhardt. And the Arctic team, who disappeared from the start…

—Could they be in the jungle where the python clan lives right now?

He thought. The spaceship beneath his feet, along with several military satellites that Valentina had temporarily hacked, was heading towards the South American rainforest. It would take a little more time for the equipment to be in place and arrive there. And he had a premonition that the ill-fated relationship between the Celestial Team and the Western Sea Team would come to an end there, along with the main storyline of this world.

Maybe.

At the same moment, thousands of kilometers away, deep in the Amazon rainforest, the last survivors of the Arctic team found themselves in an unprecedentedly dire predicament.

"No, this can't go on." Liesel clutched her head, leaning against a large tree, gasping for breath. Her head had been throbbing terribly ever since the day before... ever since the battle with the West Sea team. And now, she couldn't use any of her mental abilities.

“That vampire from the West Sea team has been chasing us for hours… Three of the giant pythons have already been taken down, and Ethan is unconscious… We must launch a counterattack. Otherwise, we’ll definitely be dragged down here.”

She looked at her companions; among the veterans, only Gungnir, who had exchanged for the Frost-Frost Fruit, remained, and he had even lost an arm. As for the other newcomers besides Gungnir, they also looked exhausted, but they were still able to fight.

Two giant snakes guarded them, constantly moving through the rainforest. One of them was wounded, while the other carried the unconscious protagonist, Ethan, and cautiously surveyed their surroundings.

Six hours ago, Reinhardt of the West Sea team found and attacked them, killing all the other veterans except for the two of them. In the rainforest, neither side could easily rely on external forces.

“We can’t win. That monster is too strong, too strong…” Gunnir shook his head, his face grim. “If Liesel, your mental scan were still usable, perhaps we would have a chance to win. But now… what do we have to win?”

Liesel opened her mouth, but a sharp headache choked her speech. She could only shake her head and sigh dejectedly. "I'm sorry... there's nothing I can do."

She gritted her teeth slightly; she had one last chance to summon a Stand. So…

—I can stay behind to cover the rear.

These words hadn't even left his mouth yet.

Because just before that, a seemingly calm newcomer behind her had already spoken.

“No, there’s still something we can do.” He bore the marks of battle, having used firearms against the vampire’s offspring during the earlier ambush. “Mr. Ethan told us that if we could reach the Serpent’s Nest in time, we would be able to survive. And now, we should have covered about three-quarters of the distance.”

"We just need a little time, a little time that can be bought. As long as someone buys this time, the rest of us will definitely survive."

He changed the subject, pointing to himself. "This person must be capable of fighting, ideally not be of much help to the current team, and ideally have some attraction to that monster—and I think I am personally very suitable for this responsibility."

As he spoke, his gaze inadvertently swept over Liesel. Behind him, the large group of newcomers began to murmur their objections.

"What are you talking about, Mr. West?" "We need your protection." "You're such a good shooter and run so fast, the slower ones should stay behind." "We new recruits can't do without you."

The injured giant snake silently watched the quarreling little people without intervening.

Even with her head throbbing, Liesel was already aware of the implied meaning behind the song.

“Gonnil…” she looked at her only companion.

The baby-faced young man with the missing arm gritted his teeth and looked up at her. Behind him, the newlyweds, armed with protective gear, stood together.

Now, the newcomers are stronger.

"The captain has treated us well..."

“Yes, I know.” Liesel pursed her lips, gazing into the distance. “I owe the captain my life. I will protect what Mr. Jori is determined to protect no matter what. The Arctic Team will not perish here.”

She waved goodbye, no longer looking at her former comrade. The wounded giant snake stayed behind, keeping her company.

"Go, and lead more people to survive. I can't run anymore, and the rebuilding of the Arctic team still needs you."

(End of this chapter)