Qi Xu thought to himself that by now, the explanation was perfectly clear and straightforward.
Endless Longevity, being sharp-witted, vaguely caught the drift. Invincible Dark Whirlwind must have gotten some special intel through certain channels, or had some backup plan in store! So he stopped pressing the issue and followed along with a few coughs.
“Earnings or no earnings, it doesn’t really matter, heh heh... I mainly trust Boss Whirlwind. I’m willing to follow you, completely won over by your personal charm...”
Wolf Warrior 005 nodded at Qi Xu and also stepped forward, using his actions to show his choice.
The remaining group—Subway Line 5, HandsomeBoyMe188, Shadowkill, Instant Noodle Hair Flower Fairy, and... Master Huixin—stood still without moving.
Everyone looked solemn, quietly weighing things in their minds. Would splitting into two teams of five actually bring in more gains?
True, the monster was strong, but... with twelve people earlier, things had been way too easy. The upcoming high-intensity chase would be tougher, but with only five people, fewer monsters would be drawn in. More monsters would definitely be attracted to Invincible Dark Whirlwind’s team, since the others held more energy cores.
This might actually be the smarter, safer path.
Besides, these few took a careful look around and figured the five who rejected Invincible Dark Whirlwind’s new plan could still coordinate well together.
Subway Line 5 could tank up front, HandsomeBoyMe188 could both tank and grab energy cores at range. For mental attacks, they had Instant Noodle Hair Flower Fairy, Master Huixin maxed out on defense, and Shadowkill was all-around, with strong offensive power...
This lineup wasn’t weak at all.
Shadowkill hesitated for a moment, especially after seeing even someone as sly as Endless Longevity take a stand behind Invincible Dark Whirlwind. It felt a bit uneasy.
So he asked Qi Xu again, “Whirlwind Boss, I still want to follow you, but the distribution plan you mentioned just now is too vague and uncertain. Could you elaborate a bit more? How much more do you want to take from each of us? If it’s acceptable, I’ll come over to you.”
Qi Xu shook his head. “I don’t know what hasn’t happened yet, so I can’t make promises ahead of time.”
Shadowkill let out a resigned sigh. “Alright then. May good luck smile upon us all.”
Qi Xu replied with a warm, open smile, “No problem, let’s all do our best! We’re all China server players. I hope every one of us gets stronger.”
Instant Noodle Hair Flower Fairy muttered softly, “Then why not just split the rewards evenly? We were doing fine, and you had to go and break up the team...”
Qi Xu ignored her, but glanced in her direction.
The moment their eyes met, the muttering subsided, and she quickly forced an awkward smile. She’d almost forgotten, in the face of Invincible Dark Whirlwind’s easygoing manner lately, just how ruthless she could be when provoked.
Instant Noodle Hair Flower Fairy was already pinching her own thigh quietly.
Qi Xu kept his hands in his pockets, standing still—not moving, not even bothering to take a step.
Master Huixin looked at Qi Xu with a hint of disappointment, finally shaking his head with a sigh. “Any benefactor willing to team up with this humble monk, please come here. We’ll still fight monsters together and share the rewards equally.”
The other four didn’t waste time thinking. For now, their only options were Invincible Dark Whirlwind or Master Huixin. Going solo wasn’t possible—they needed at least a four-person team to successfully get the energy cores—so they naturally banded together.
As Master Huixin was about to say more before leaving, Qi Xu raised her hand directly. “Monk, go on your way. Spare me the speech.”
With such a blunt rejection, the five of them gave up insisting and turned to head off in a direction they hadn’t traveled before.
Just as Master Huixin’s group stepped away, Qi Xu turned back to the six who remained to emphasize herself once more.
“I’ve said it before: I need absolute control over the reward distribution. No matter whether the haul is big or small, I’ll decide how it’s split. I’m laying it all out now. If anyone’s not okay with it, you can still catch up to Master Huixin’s team right now. That team isn’t weak—you might even come out with more over there.”
Wolf Warrior 005 nodded very seriously. “Understood. Copy that. Agreed.”
Wang Bu spoken took a small step sideways, making sure Qi Xu could see him. He was a bit shy looking up at her, but he nodded firmly as well.
Xie Shaoning crossed his arms and scoffed. “Tch, enough let’s move out, let’s get going. Just watching those bastards makes me sick. Hmph if it weren’t for following you and your orders, we couldn’t have gotten the energy cores so easily! And now they forget all favors as soon as the danger’s over!”
Endless Longevity clutched his stomach, trying to hold back a laugh. After a few more coughs, he finally choked out, “Boss Whirlwind, Xie Shaoning just called you a donkey...”
Startled, Xie Shaoning shook badly. Shadowkill, Huixin, and HandsomeBoy—they were all gone now. If I pissed off Invincible Dark Whirlwind at this point, I’ll be stuck with all the dirty work!
He shot back loudly, “You fake-frail cougher, stop trying to stir shit! I was using a metaphor! You get what a metaphor is? Huh?”
“Oh, I get it. You metaphorically called Boss Whirlwind a donkey.”
Qi Xu’s face darkened completely. Could you two pick any other topic to argue about?!
“If no one’s leaving, we’re moving out. Brother Xie, keep the aloof act like you had before, and stop running your mouth so much.”
“Mmh.”
Xie Shaoning let out a single grunt from his nose, refusing to say another word, and swore to himself, “Before this pro meetup ends, I’m not speaking again. Or may I be Changelimpy’s third driver for life.”
Cheese Milk Cap Eight Percent Sugar widened his eyes dramatically. “Huh? What does this have to do with me? Did I annoy you? Did I provoke you? But nah, I’ve got a full self-driving system. I don’t need a driver at all.”
With that, he darted straight to the front, right beside Qi Xu’s shoulder.
Endless Longevity had his eyes darting around. Felt like I just stumbled on a little secret. So interesting... that kind of... flirty vibe.
Long time since I last felt or experienced this. Even if it’s just wanting something out reach... if it could stay like this forever, it wouldn’t be so bad. The survival road feels more alive.
What nobody noticed—how everyone’s mouth curled a little, including Qi Xu’s. Yep. Including all of them.
Unlike the perfect atmosphere in Qi Xu’s group, Master Huixin’s team was already seething with tension underneath. Everyone was fighting for leadership.
After all—the right example had just been shown by Invincible Dark Whirlwind. What was there not to try and copy?
Shadowkill, thinking he was the strongest overall among the five, didn’t mince words. “Everyone listen to my command from now on out.”
Flower Fairy Behind Frowning asked immediately, “Think you can handle it, don’t you?”
Shadowkill shot back without hesitation. “And you’re saying? You think you’d do better?”
Instant Noodle Hair Flower Fairy nodded straight away. “That’s right. I’ll be blunt. I’ve got the confidence. My psychic strength is higher, I can sense the attack patterns first, and my noise-cancellation abilities slow down and disrupt monster assaults. So team command in fights—it naturally falls on my lap.”
