Demons Beside You

Chen Zhao received a lot of information from Winry, who remained with Raymond afterward.

Chen Zhao spent six hours in Hell. Raymond and Beelzebub were similar in power, but their statuses were still different.

Beelzebub was like a feudal lord with a couple of acres of land. Raymond was a bachelor who lived by himself.

Of course, they were both better off than the Silly Twins. At least, Raymond wouldn’t go hungry and he ruled over the Endless Bottomless.

There was an endless supply of souls in the surrounding desert. If he was hungry, he could go over and have a meal. When he was tired, he could go lay down at home and sleep for a few years. His days were comfortable. He never had to worry about going hungry or if he could survive tomorrow.

On the other hand, the Silly Twins were truly homeless demons. If Chen Zhao hadn’t summoned them, they’d probably still be living their hard lives.

The sun hadn’t risen yet, so Chen Zhao went to sleep.

In the morning, Chen Zhao heard the sound of the door opening and saw Fali enter in his daze.

“Chen, you came back last night?”

“Yeah.”

“Where did you go?” Fali pressed. “Did you go somewhere mysterious? Are there a lot of people like you?”

She was extremely curious about Chen Zhao, because he’d disappeared right before her eyes last night. She couldn’t sleep at all. She needed to get an answer from Chen Zhao.

“Yes, but I can’t tell you where it is.”

“Is your group secretly protecting Earth? Stopping evil from invading?”

“Since you guessed it, don’t say it out loud.”

“Really? You’re a guardian of the Earth? Are there a lot of people like you?”

“Actually, I’m the only one on Earth. I’m responsible for protecting it.”

“You protect Earth alone? Are you an alien?”

Chen Zhao pursed his lips. He didn’t continue because he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to keep bullsh*tting. You needed 1,000 lies to make up for one lie. That saying was completely true.

Faced with a curious George like Fali, Chen Zhao felt even more troubled.

“You can’t tell me? Alright, I’ll stop asking.” A moment later, Fali continued, “Being a doctor is just your alias, right?”

“It’s my job,” Chen Zhao said, rolling his eyes.

“Do you need an assistant? I suddenly feel like being with you is more meaningful than with the Coastal Rescue Team.”

“I don’t need an assistant. Please, being with the Coastal Rescue Team is meaningful too.”

“But I want to protect Earth like you.”

“Earth doesn’t need me to protect it. If aliens invade someday or a meteorite falls, then it’ll need me. I just need to be a good doctor right now.”

Fali was about to reply, but Chen Zhao waved his hand. “Don’t ask when aliens will invade or when a meteorite will fall. I don’t know.”

“Uh…okay.” Fali obviously wanted to ask that question.

Chen Zhao suddenly regretted exaggerating like this. Once the truth was exposed, it would be really awkward.

Breaking free from Fali, he rushed out without eating breakfast.

…

Seeing Chen Zhao, Gaia walked out of the office.

“Chen, how are you today?”

“I’m fine. Why?”

Chen Zhao loosened up his muscles. He’d only slept for four hours, but he was clear-headed.

“I told you yesterday that I’ll give you a small test. Did you forget.”

“If I say I’m in a horrible shape today, can I delay the test?”

“No,” Gaia said emotionlessly. “Go put on the protective gear. The people I invited are almost here.”

Chen Zhao put on his gear. A while later, the skilled fighters that Gaia invited arrived.

Some were amateur enthusiasts, some were professional fighters, while others had practiced medium weight boxing before.

Gaia introduced everyone to Chen Zhao. This was a test, not a competition, so everyone put on protective gear and gloves. This way, no one would accidentally get hurt while fighting.

People that Gaia thought were skilled would definitely be skilled. This was why Chen Zhao took things seriously. The five fighters were serious as well.

They were very familiar with Gaia and all five of them had been invited at once to test one student. This showed how much importance she placed on this.

“Chen, we’re coming.” The five fanned out and stood around Chen Zhao.

Chen Zhao walked out first. Waving his fist, he went for a black man. The other four snatched the opportunity to attack him at once. In a blink of an eye, he was hit three or four times. It hurt even with the protective gear.

“Chen, get it straight,” Gaia called from under the ring. “You’re facing five people, not one. Don’t attack at random.”

Even with Gaia’s reminder, it was still hard to counter all five fighters. They weren’t hooligans from the streets. Each of them could take on three opponents at once. It was unavoidable for Chen Zhao to get beaten up while the other five were untouched.

Gaia kept giving him reminders from below the ring—what to do, how to attack, and how to defend.

Twenty minutes later, Chen Zhao finally hit someone, but it was only one punch. When he walked out of the ring, it felt like his bones were about to fall apart. It felt like when he’d gotten beaten up on his first meeting with Gaia.

Chen Zhao tossed his gear down and fell onto the ground. “So, you’re really disappointed, right?”

At that moment, the black fighter came down too and patted his shoulder. “You did good.”

“I was beaten up by you guys the entire time. That’s good?”

“There’s five of us and one of you. Isn’t it good enough that you could last for 20 minutes? When I got tested last time, I faced three guys and got flattened in less than ten minutes. It was Fate, Joma, and Apace. I just covered my head the whole time and was too scared to even punch.”

“How about it?” Gaia looked at Chen Zhao. “Do you still think you’re bad?”

“Are you saying that I’m powerful now?”

“Not that powerful, but at least you’re undefeatable in taking hits. Even if I go up, I won’t be able to last more than ten minutes.”

“So I’m powerful.”

“If it was me, I wouldn’t let myself get hit for ten minutes. I’ll take care of the fight in ten minutes.”

“I don’t want to compete with you monster. It’s too damaging to my self-esteem.”