Chapter 72 – A Reliable Deputy Commander

If a person doesn’t want to lose weight, even if Sister Lotus herself came to give a live demonstration post-weight loss, it wouldn’t make a difference. They would mobilize every cell in their body to build an impenetrable defense system, and no vision of a slimmer future could sway their heart that loves food and hates exercise.

But if someone truly wants to lose weight, or if they’ve found a stable source of motivation deep down, then even if their body resists, a little external push can help them get going. This push can come in many forms—silent companionship, sharp-tongued encouragement, persistent morning calls… Of course, if it’s a combination of all these, even better.

Naturally, for a lazy fatty lacking willpower, a single morning call isn’t enough—

“Hey, what the hell are you doing now?!”

“Don’t stop, keep running.”

“Which fucking eye of yours saw me stop?!”

“Do I need to see? The fact that you can still talk smoothly tells me everything.”

“……”

“And if you were still running, you’d definitely be bragging, ‘Laozi’s running just fine, no need for your meddling!’ Right? That’s exactly what you’d say.”

“……When have I ever been that smug?!!!”

“Yeah, you never give me a chance to be wrong.”

“……”

This guy is a demon! No—he’s the demon of demons, the devil among devils!!! TAT

Under the morning sun, a certain figure on a tree-lined path in a small city started jogging again. To other early-morning joggers, this pace might not even count as brisk walking, but for a fatty just starting to exercise, it was commendable.

Under the morning sun, in a certain quiet street of a mid-sized city, inside a certain gym—

“Of course I’m running with you. My steady breathing is just a natural difference in physical condition… Hold on.”

Lu Yue watched as his childhood friend walked over—well, more accurately, walked over to the treadmill he was using—then held his phone near the machine for a few seconds before bringing it back to his ear and asking the person on the other end, “Hear that?”

What the other person said, Lu Yue didn’t know. He only saw his friend soon break into a satisfied smile: “Twenty more minutes, and you’re free… Yeah, mutual encouragement.” Then he tossed his phone aside, bent down to pick up the dumbbells from the floor, and continued his workout…

Having witnessed the entire exchange, Lu Yue pressed the pause button on his treadmill and leaned on the handrail to ask his friend, “Hey, is it fun tricking people like that?”

Meng Chudong continued his workout while seriously considering the question: “Yes.”

Lu Yue nearly slipped off the handrail. After knowing this guy for over twenty years, he still couldn’t understand his bizarre sense of satisfaction!!

But there was no doubt—this guy was definitely in love.

Evidence?

There was too much of it.

When someone who only ever paid the bare minimum phone bill suddenly ran out of credit.

When a perennial hermit suddenly asked you to help him get a gym membership.

When a nocturnal creature suddenly started going to bed early and waking up early.

When a guy who was perpetually expressionless suddenly smiled so often his teeth might as well tan from the sun…

No, he had to correct himself—this wasn’t just love. This was full-blown infatuation!

Lu Yue found himself embarrassingly jealous. TAT

Usually, such emotions manifested as gossip—

“Chudong, tell me, how did you two meet? And what does he look like? Got any photos?”

How did they meet? The Deputy Commander barely needed to think about it—the memory was as clear as yesterday: “He tried to kill me. Then I killed him instead.”

……That was, without a doubt, the most brutal meet-cute he’d ever heard of!

“Wait,” Lu Yue frowned, “He still took a liking to you after you killed him? Don’t you gamers hate being PK’d the most?”

Meng Chudong smirked, as if recalling something amusing.

Lu Yue silently turned his head away—the glint of those canines was blinding. =_=

After a while, Meng Chudong seemed to finish reminiscing before leisurely replying, “He hasn’t taken a liking to me yet.”

Lu Yue was stunned for a second before understanding. “You’re the one with a crush?!”

Meng Chudong thought for a moment, then nodded honestly. “Yeah.”

Lu Yue facepalmed and sighed. “Look, I’m not gonna lecture you. But you’re the one with the unrequited crush here, and you’re still complaining he’s fat, making him run and lose weight? Shouldn’t you focus on winning him over first?”

Meng Chudong’s smile faded. He did a few more reps with the dumbbells before answering calmly, “I never said I minded.”

Lu Yue frowned. “Then why’s he torturing himself with this daily running routine? And why are you supervising so seriously?”

Meng Chudong didn’t stop his workout. “Other people mind.”

Lu Yue’s eyes widened. “So you’re helping someone else raise their future wife?!”

This time, Meng Chudong took a long time to think. The answer he finally gave was: “I don’t know.”

“Do your best and leave the rest to fate” had always been Meng Chudong’s motto. He believed that as long as he did everything he could, he could accept any outcome, good or bad, without regret. That was how he treated Xuanyuan—if not for the Five Peaks Pavilion incident, maybe they would’ve progressed into the real world, maybe some opportunity would’ve turned Xuanyuan gay. But now, dwelling on “maybes” was pointless. The reality was they’d gone their separate ways. It wasn’t an outcome he liked, but he could accept it calmly.

Coming out was the same—he explained everything he could to his parents, but since they still couldn’t accept it, he moved out. He’d go back for holidays, though the result was always being kicked out again. But there was always time, and he never found it too hard to accept.

Yet the moment those three words—”I don’t know”—left his lips, Meng Chudong suddenly realized that one of the two possibilities hidden behind them was something he couldn’t accept. It wasn’t about raising someone else’s future wife—it was about raising Fang Zheng into someone else’s wife.

For the first time in his life, Meng Chudong couldn’t calmly accept the outcome of fate after doing his best. Just the thought of it was unbearable.

That was his Legion Leader.

Having woken up too early, the healer went back to his apartment after exercising and took a nap—pathetic, yes, but at least it meant skipping breakfast. When he woke up again around noon, he stepped onto the electronic scale he’d bought off Taobao for forty yuan with trepidation.

The numbers stabilized, showing he was 0.23 kg lighter than at the same time yesterday. Rounding up, the healer happily decided to report to Polly—he’d lost another half-kilo!

He whipped up a simple stir-fry with vegetables and rice—though with way more veggies than rice, it looked more like stir-fried greens with a few grains mixed in. But Fang Zheng was hungry, so everything tasted good. After finishing, he was still peckish and munched on two cucumbers before finally feeling satisfied. Then he sat down at his computer to check on Milk is Mom, who’d been AFK all night.

Most of the materials he’d listed for sale had been sold. They weren’t worth much, but little by little added up. Just as he was about to pack up and return to the Legion Hall, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure passing by. Fang Zheng quickly opened the Legion Channel and, sure enough, besides Polly, another name was lit up.

Fang Zheng’s heart skipped a beat. It had been days, and though he’d subconsciously believed the other would return, every time the members asked, “Mad Lad, where the hell have you gone?”, he’d wavered, secretly wondering—what if the guy really didn’t come back? Or worse, quit the legion? How would he explain it to everyone?

[Local] Mad Lad: Yo, you’re alive. Thought you’d be AFK vending till nightfall.

Amidst his chaotic thoughts, Mad Lad circled back, bouncing around Fang Zheng like a hyperactive kid.

[Local] Milk is Mom: Where the hell have you been these past few days? One more no-show and you’re getting kicked, got it?!

[Local] Mad Lad: Like I wanted to? The mining site had issues right at the end. I’ve been running around playing the obedient little bitch all week. Fuck!

Jiang Yang playing the obedient little bitch—Fang Zheng tilted his head, imagining the scene, and found it endlessly entertaining.

[Local] Mad Lad: Got anything to do? If not, let’s go PK some noobs.

Fang Zheng bit his lip. Despite how natural things seemed now, deep down, he still didn’t really want to be alone with Mad Lad.

While hesitating, a new whisper popped up—

[Whisper] Polly: Flower-Fruit Mountain, Water Curtain Cave. Coords XX,XX.

Polly, you angel. TAT

[Local] Milk is Mom: Polly’s calling me to grind mobs at Flower-Fruit Mountain. Wanna come?

[Local] Mad Lad: Nah. What, the three brothers waiting for their master to pick them up?

[Local] Milk is Mom: Still missing the White Dragon Horse then.

[Local] Mad Lad: Five Peaks Pavilion’s got that Nicknamed White Dragon Horse guy.

[Local] Milk is Mom: Are you trying to poach their Deputy Commander? =_=

[Local] Mad Lad: With Your Sister in our legion, forget poaching a Deputy Commander—we could probably snag their main leader too.

[Local] Milk is Mom: Why stop at poaching people? Let’s just poach the whole legion! Then we’ll be the number one elite squad in the god-tier server, hahahaha~~~~~~~~

Mad Lad facepalmed. This guy was starting to sound like Dongfang Bubai, ready to dominate the martial world for all eternity.

But after the facepalm, he secretly sighed in relief. Sure, he’d been busy these past few days, but that inexplicable awkwardness was also a factor. No matter how naturally they acted on the surface, there was still some lingering discomfort between them. He didn’t deny it, but he also didn’t want to drag it out into the open. Pretending everything was fine and laughing it off like this was actually pretty good.

Jiang Yang rarely regretted anything. Most of his personal life was driven by impulse, but he felt he had the capital for it—he could afford to be impulsive and shoulder the consequences. Online chemistry with offline awkwardness wasn’t new to him, and it wouldn’t be the last time. But strangely, this was the only time he actually felt a little regret.

Fang Zheng was different from the others he’d met before—people he’d just wanted to hook up with. That realization only hit Jiang Yang after meeting him in person. This guy wasn’t just some online buddy—he was a comrade, a Legion Leader, even one of the closest people in his life over the past six months. Losing an online friend to a failed meetup was no big deal, but losing Milk is Mom would mean Mad Lad would be homeless again, wandering the game killing randoms until he got bored and switched to another game, repeating the cycle.

Somehow, he’d truly joined the legion—not just in name, but in heart.

Fang Zheng didn’t have as many thoughts as Jiang Yang. Or maybe he was too preoccupied with the Deputy Commander’s summons, because after leaving the Marketplace, he headed straight for Flower-Fruit Mountain. This was a level 65 map, and the only mob here was—yep, monkeys again. But compared to Mount Emei, these monkeys were harder to grind because they jumped around unpredictably. Maps like this—difficult mobs with low XP—were usually deserted, so when Fang Zheng arrived at the coordinates and saw a dazzling light show of skills erupting a dozen meters away, he was surprised.

Polly stood precisely at the given coordinates, completely unfazed by the chaos behind him.

[Party] Milk is Mom: What are they doing?

[Party] Polly: World boss.

[Party] Milk is Mom: Whoa, this place has a world boss too? So you called me here to steal it?

[Party] Polly: Just the two of us?

[Party] Milk is Mom: Alright, fine, we’re here to grind monkeys. You and your monkey obsession…

[Party] Polly: ^_^

Fang Zheng facepalmed and was about to roll up his sleeves and start monkey-slaughtering when the group fighting the boss noticed them—

[Local] My Blood for Xuanyuan: Polly, can you lend a hand? The four of us might not be able to hold out.

Fang Zheng froze—he’d only glanced earlier and hadn’t realized it was someone he knew. It seemed like four people had stumbled upon the boss and decided to take it on, only to find it tougher than expected.

In situations like this, unless you were really close, no one would help someone else reap the rewards—what, defeat the boss, then step aside and watch them divvy up the loot? Not happening. But if it was Xuanyuan…

[Party] Polly: Help?

Of course Polly would soften up!

Fang Zheng mentally cursed his Deputy Commander a hundred times before grudgingly replying—

[Party] Milk is Mom: They asked for help, and they’re acquaintances, so fine.

[Local] Polly: If gear drops, priority goes to the matching class. Non-class-specific items are rolled for. If that’s fine, add us to the party.

[Local] Harry Porret: Damn, you’re ruthless! You watched us struggle for over ten minutes and now you’re swooping in to steal the loot?!

[Local] Polly: Your wording’s off. It’s only stealing if I’m the only one rolling. This is equal opportunity.

[Local] Harry Porret: Then why don’t you contribute equally to the DPS?!

[Local] Polly: If you’re really that bothered… I can keep watching you wipe. No problem. ^_^

Deputy Commander, I misjudged you~\(≧▽≦)/~