Chapter 23: Tide’s Interview

Dongfang Jiang stood by the window of the Badan Family Mansion’s reception room.

The afternoon sunlight cast mottled light and shadows on the floor through the stained glass.

Yisela sat on the sofa beside him, holding a cup of black tea, occasionally glancing at him.

Pandana sat on the other side, wiping stains off Swamp Moon with a wet cloth.

The butler pushed the door open and bowed slightly.

“Mister Dongfang, a young lady who calls herself Xi Fritz is here to see you. She says Miss Douglas introduced her.”

The matter with Kaxiu had just ended.

The Badan Family was very cautious about this suddenly appearing Miss Fritz.

After repeated checks confirming there was no issue, and only after Duke Yigenaxiu personally gave the order, was she brought in by the butler.

“Let her in.”

Dongfang Jiang nodded.

The biggest problem with this interview was still Yigenaxiu’s attitude.

Since Duke Yigenaxiu had agreed, he naturally didn’t have many issues.

Not long after, Xi followed the butler into the reception room.

She had changed into clean clothes, her long blue hair tied into a neat ponytail.

Hanging from her neck was a press pass, and she held a leather notebook and a fountain pen.

Her eyes sparkled with professional acuity, but the moment she saw Dongfang Jiang, she clearly paused.

“You are Mister Dongfang?”

Xi quickly stepped forward and extended her hand.

The adaptability that came with being a journalist came in handy at this moment.

“That’s me.”

Perhaps sensing Xi’s momentary pause, Dongfang Jiang forced a smile as best he could and responded to Xi in front of him.

“I am Xi Fritz, former journalist for Gray Tower Daily. Thank you for agreeing to this interview.”

Dongfang Jiang shook hands with Xi and gestured for her to sit.

“Pandana told me about your situation. The interview is fine, but I have one condition.”

“Please tell me.”

“Don’t write me off as some hero. I’m just an ordinary person, lucky, and have reliable people around me to help.”

Dongfang Jiang said this very seriously, staring at Xi.

On the one hand, if the report really went through, it would bring him a lot of unnecessary trouble.

On the other hand, he truly felt that Yisela and Pandana were the ones who had done the heavy lifting.

“I can’t guarantee that,” Xi blinked, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. “I know better than you what readers like to see. But… I’ll try to be objective.”

She pulled out something resembling a voice recorder from her bag, placed it on the table, and pressed a button.

A pale blue light emanated from the device, indicating it was working.

“Let’s begin then. First question, and the one everyone wants to know: how did you defeat Kaxiu, the bearer of the Valen Ring?”

Dongfang Jiang leaned back in his chair, thought for a moment before speaking.

“To be honest, Kaxiu wasn’t defeated by me alone.”

Dongfang Jiang glanced at Yisela and Pandana beside him.

“If we have to divide the credit, Yisela gets forty percent, Pandana gets forty percent, and I get at most twenty percent.”

Yisela heard this allocation, put down her teacup, and couldn’t help but curl her lips.

“Hey, why do you think that?”

“Specifically… when Kaxiu attacked the Badan Family, Yisela used Illusion Magic to stall him, buying me time to recover. Later in the battle, Yisela’s Illusion Magic also made Kaxiu lose his judgment and exhausted all his subordinates. As for Pandana, after the ground battle ended, she pursued the fleeing Kaxiu and killed him in a face-to-face confrontation.”

Xi quickly recorded in her notebook, the nib almost tearing the paper.

“So you consider this the result of teamwork?”

“Of course. If I faced the Valen Ring alone, I doubt I’d last ten minutes.”

Dongfang Jiang answered without hesitation.

Xi paused her pen before continuing to ask.

“Then what specifically did you do?”

“I… tanked damage? Kaxiu’s main attacks were all aimed at me. I was responsible for drawing fire, giving Yisela the opportunity to cast Illusion Magic. Then I engaged Kaxiu head-on, draining his energy. After I beat him down, I left the rest to Pandana.”

Xi stopped writing, looked up at Dongfang Jiang, a hint of amusement in her eyes.

“So in this operation, you played the role of… bait?”

“Not quite bait. It’s mainly that the other two’s combat power is too strong. Me? I just need to draw fire.”

Pandana burst out laughing on the side, and Yisela covered her mouth with her hand, shoulders shaking slightly.

Xi wrote a few lines in her notebook, then asked the second question.

“Then how did you meet Yisela Badan, the young lady of the Badan Family?”

Dongfang Jiang looked at Yisela, who nodded generously at him, signaling he could speak freely.

“That’s a long story.”

Dongfang Jiang took a sip of black tea to moisten his throat.

“After I arrived at Gray Tower, I gathered enough information and learned that in the artificial lake in the Noble District, there was something I had lost. So I snuck in to go to the artificial lake to find the ring. But when I passed by the Badan Family Mansion, I heard sounds of fighting coming from inside.”

He paused.

“I saw a large hole blasted in the mansion wall, and several types of Sun Energy colliding inside. I immediately realized this was the same situation as what had happened with the Jones Family. So I charged in.”

“You just charged right in like that? Didn’t you know how many enemies were inside?”

“It doesn’t matter. None of them could beat me.”

“That answer…”

“Really has Mister Dongfang’s style.”

Hearing Dongfang Jiang’s answer, both Yisela and Pandana teased him, and Xi also nodded.

From Yisela’s reaction, Dongfang Jiang’s strength was not as simple as he made it out to be.

“I see… One last question, and it might be a bit personal.”

Xi’s lips curled with a mischievous smile.

She looked at Yisela, then at Dongfang Jiang.

“What is your relationship with Miss Yisela?”

The reception room fell silent for a moment.

Dongfang Jiang instinctively looked at Yisela.

Yisela was holding her teacup, expression calm, but her fingers gripping the cup were slightly tense, the knuckles white.

“Relationship…”

Dongfang Jiang averted his gaze, thought for a moment, and after a while gave his answer.

“We are comrades who fight side by side. She saved my life, and I saved hers. She is a very important Guardian to me, and I am very grateful that she is willing to follow me.”

“That’s it?”

Xi raised an eyebrow.

She could see that Yisela’s attitude toward Dongfang Jiang was off, but Dongfang Jiang didn’t seem to notice.

“Yeah, that’s it. I think our relationship is pretty good.”

He was lying.

Dongfang Jiang actually knew to some extent.

Yisela put down her teacup and let out a light hmph, but said nothing.

Pandana added a remark.

“Mister Dongfang is a bit dense in this regard, Miss Fritz. Even if you ask further, you won’t get anything out of him.”