Wang Buyu focused all of her attention on the Nordic woman who had entered last—the leader—the one whose thoughts she couldn’t read, the one who had directly repelled her mental probe.
Even though she couldn’t hear the woman’s inner voice, she could still piece together her behavioral intent from the thoughts swirling through the minds of the woman’s companions.
With no worries behind them, occasional boosts from Wang Buyu’s abilities, and Endless Longevity covering the rear, the three fighting up front brawled with extraordinary ferocity.
The Asian-faced four-person team was visibly fighting far more aggressively than before.
Out of the four teams present, only this one had lost a member right at the start—now, at least they shared that misfortune with someone else.
That woman who kept stirring up trouble looked strong, with top-tier skills and power, but her team had a sickly one who kept coughing blood and another woman whose combat ability looked laughably weak.
Two dead weights who couldn’t even survive two punches—nothing to worry about. Could even pick them off with a cheap sneak attack if it came down to it.
Endless Longevity, through Wang Buyu’s relay, learned she was being written off as a sickly burden. She was so thrilled she deliberately sidled off to a new spot—
making it easier for that person to attempt a sneak attack later. She even praised herself inwardly: You’re just too considerate...
The four big men who had lost a teammate no longer dared to hold back. They went all out, using every trick they had, focusing on escape first and defense second, desperately trying to break through the encirclement.
But there was no way out.
Everyone who had made it here was the top-ranked fighter of their respective nations.
There might be gaps in strength, but those gaps were never huge. If the other three nations hadn’t been so fractured, still testing each other and wary of backstabs, those four would already have fallen.
At the last resort, the leading man shouted, “Jerry, you stay back and cover us!”
Jerry shot a resentful glare at his three teammates but didn’t dare argue.
Jerry, like a Yang Jian who had just activated his ultimate form, suddenly tripled in size, with both attack and defense massively enhanced. That abrupt transformation genuinely stunned the three-way, fractured coalition into a brief daze.
Taking advantage of that, Jerry’s three teammates slipped away.
Qi Xu didn’t chase them. Instead, he cursed furiously with barely contained rage, turned on his heel, charged back at Jerry, and with full force ripped off one of his arms.
The others quickly piled on as well, and together they completely subdued Jerry.
Just then, that Asian-faced four-person team turned in perfect unison, heading straight for Endless Longevity.
Endless Longevity, startled half to death, spun around and bolted, her coughs painting a trail of blood on the ground. But she was still fast enough that she soon disappeared into the dense, primeval-looking forest behind them...
Qi Xu, Threeking, and Shadowkill intercepted two of them, but the other two had already broken out to the left and right—they had no intention of lingering there. All they wanted was to catch up and put Endless Longevity down.
The Nordic five-person group paused for a few seconds, weighing whether to join the fight or leave, before choosing to simply watch the show...
An idea struck Qi Xu. Skinny Monkey, the lanky guy on the Asian team, had a skill for piercing damage. So Qi Xu deliberately adjusted his positioning, huddling near Shadowkill to create a blind spot.
Only at the last second did he reveal himself, forcing Skinny Monkey’s attack to land right on a Nordic fighter. It didn’t do much damage, but it carved a gash so deep you could see bone on his face. If a man took a hit like that without retaliating, he wouldn’t have survived this far anyway.
That tipped the whole thing into total chaos.
But the leading woman still held back. Qi Xu found that regrettable—figures. Only idiots made it this far, and none of them were dumb.
Still, he wouldn’t push it. Getting this many advantages in the opening round was no small feat. He’d established his persona as strong but hotheaded and impulsive, and Qi Xu was confident that won him dividends later.
As all three forces clashed, the Nordic five were also wary of the three escaped fighters coming around for a flank. So they pulled out first.
They retreated without a second thought. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed leader merely raised a hand and called out in a low voice, and all four others—including the one with the wounded face—obeyed without hesitation.
And even as they fell back, their order was flawless. Without so much as exchanging a word, two took point, one covered the rear, moving in perfect sync. That last one cast a brief glance toward Qi Xu’s direction, didn’t linger, and in moments, the five were reduced to silhouettes swiftly fading into the distance...
Qi Xu clicked his tongue a few times. He’d bet on the wrong horse—the strongest group was that Nordic five, or more precisely, their leader.
She was gorgeous, sure, but her methods were likely ruthless. Why else would the other four be trained so perfectly, like dogs, unwilling to even take a breath without checking her reaction?
He let out a sigh. The advantage of starting over had all but evaporated by now.
Every new encounter was a fresh challenge, and everyone had already figured out the most important rule of this survival game: absolute cohesion, zero infighting.
The four teams that had entered the cross-server treasure map were all unified and disciplined, capable of functioning as single organisms.
Qiuqiu’s “brilliant” provocation had instead come across to everyone else as more of a warning. Not a single person fell for it—in fact, it only sharpened their alertness.
The little scoundrel’s tricks were still too low-level. When they got back, if the chance arose, Qi Xu planned to have a one-on-one chat with it to design something together.
High-level scheming needs no wasted words. Qi Xu had written so many novels about scheming, betrayal, and the human heart—he’d thought he’d never need all those underappreciated tricks again. Yet here he was, resurrecting his old trade. All that remained was whether Qiuqiu could hold up its end.
With the Nordic five rapidly gone, Endless Longevity came back—but she came back alone, still looking fragile, coughing blood with every second step as if she might drop dead from sheer bloody sputtering without anyone lifting a finger against her.
The two would-be interceptors blinked in confusion, then quickly realized—wait, where were the two teammates who chased after her? Were they pigs? Two against one sickly woman and they still failed? Did they run off? Did they die?
A dozen questions flooded their minds, and any will to fight evaporated on the spot.
Qi Xu had Wang Buyu relay his words: “Let them walk free. Don’t make it obvious.”
After an awkward standoff, the poor pair finally scrambled away. Qi Xu, meanwhile, began cursing his “teammates” at full volume—words sharp, expression deadly serious—and even threw a punch or two...
After swearing nonstop for a full five minutes, he finally kicked a rock to pieces in fury and called it there.
“Are they gone?”
“Gone. Northwest direction. Can’t hear any footsteps now.”
“That’s fine. This is only the beginning. There’ll be more fun to come.”
...........
