Qi Xu had originally intended to go straight for the kill. Slaughtering all four members of the sneak-attacking Asian country's team would have been doable — Endless Longevity had lured two of them away, and even if the remaining two were strong, they could have been overpowered with sheer numbers.
But... Wang Buyu noticed that the Nordic team of five had left one person behind in hiding. Though she couldn't sense this person's psychic energy, she had passively picked up his inner thoughts.
That was why she deliberately let those two go, and put on a performance to prevent the balance from being shattered too soon.
This Asian country's team — having lost one member to poison shortly after entering the secret realm, and now having been tricked into losing two more — was bound to be the most tense and most desperate to turn the tables.
Qiuqiu had already mentioned that the final overall rewards were tied to each team's surviving headcount. To get more out of this, they would inevitably try to bring down the numbers of other countries.
Better to keep things lively. Besides, Qi Xu had some special ideas in mind.
"Third brother," she said. "I remember you can shapeshift into other people's appearances and body proportions, right?"
Threeking blinked for a moment before realizing that Invincible Black Whirlwind was talking about him.
Endless Longevity giggled along. "Honestly, 'The Third' sounds way better. 'Threeking' sounds like some edgy, try-hard teenage boy."
Threeking gave an awkward grimace. As if I didn't know 'Wolf Warrior 003' sounds even better!
"Yeah, I can do it," he said. "But there are limits. I can only transform once per day, and the change lasts up to twenty-four hours at most. It's only appearance and body shape though."
Qi Xu nodded. "That's enough. Remember those two who ran off with Endless Longevity? One man, one woman. Think you can change into the man and infiltrate their group?"
Threeking frowned slightly, thinking Invincible Black Whirlwind was being a little too idealistic. Infiltration was not that simple.
But as she laid out the full plan step by step, all he could do was want to shout one word: "Respect."
After Threeking finished his transformation, even the clothing and every accessory detail were perfectly replicated. Qi Xu's eyes lit up. "Did your skill get upgraded? Last time it wasn't this high-end."
Especially the energy fluctuation emanating from Threeking — it was so faint that unless someone deliberately focused and probed, they wouldn't notice it at all.
To be safe, Endless Longevity also dragged the dead original body back over so everyone could take a good look at it. After fine-tuning a few details and confirming there were no flaws, Endless Longevity also gave him a rough rundown of the dead man's abilities. Only then did Qi Xu step in and beat Threeking up — making it look miserable but leaving nothing fatal.
Bad Ball nearly blurted out several times, worried both that Invincible Black Whirlwind might actually kill the guy, and that their own "child" might just throw in the towel and bail. Oh, the anxiety...
Thankfully... Invincible Black Whirlwind stopped. She just shot an extremely provocative glance up at the sky.
Bad Ball instantly felt a wave of relief: "At least Invincible Black Whirlwind knows when to show restraint." As for holding grudges? Over what? Invincible Black Whirlwind had already been very considerate! At least she hadn't actually killed the guy.
What's a few injuries? Everything is about the bigger picture. Even sacrificing his own life would be worth it, as long as they won in the end.
Threeking staggered off in the direction the two escapees had gone, with the others chasing behind him, faking a pursuit.
The two who had barely escaped were already badly wounded and unhealed. After getting beaten once more during the group fight, the moment they reached a safe distance, they could no longer hold on and had been lying in the grass, dead to the world.
When they'd first heard the secret realm rules, they'd thought it sounded too easy — just survive three days.
Only now did they understand... three days. Seventy-two hours.
It had only been two hours, and they'd already lost three teammates. A truly crushed start.
The two of them lay on the ground without even the strength to exchange a word. Just as they'd recovered a little, they heard rapid, heavy footsteps again, and their bodies tensed back up.
They scrambled to their feet, ready for another round of running — but when they turned to look...
"Shi Yu! You're alive!"
None of these people had spoken a word during the whole encounter, not even before launching the ambush. It was only now that Threeking learned these people were Korean.
Threeking had done infiltration work countless times. Naturally and seamlessly, he slipped out a line: "살려주세요!"
Modern special forces had to learn a bit of everything — or at least, a team had to have people skilled in all areas. Threeking not only mastered six languages, he also happened to be good at disguise.
At the very least, his two teammates had zero suspicion. They were just concerned — his injuries looked severe — but at least he'd made it back. That was what mattered.
In the end, every team's surviving headcount would be counted. One more person meant one more bit of hope.
"Sorry," one of them said. "When you didn't come back, we thought you were dead."
"Not... not dead. But I definitely couldn't outrun them. I escaped — they were about to chase me, but then got ambushed by the Nordic five. That one small-eyed guy, remember? The Nordics killed him. That's when they forgot about chasing me.
There's no time to explain more now. The Nordic team is going to catch up soon. They're way too strong — we can't beat them. Run!"
Threeking's command of the language wasn't just classroom textbook Korean — he had actually spent two years living in Korea, deliberately studying mannerisms and speech. His vocabulary, tone, and accent were indistinguishable from a local's.
Though his phrasing differed slightly from Shi Yu's, the situation was urgent. The other two had no time to second-guess. Hurriedly, they hooked their arms under Threeking's on both sides and dragged him forward as fast as they could.
They only slowed once no further sounds came from behind.
The frantic sprint had drained all three wounded people. Their chests felt like they'd been stuffed with scorching hot cotton, and every breath came with tearing pain.
Threeking hung between the two of them, his steps so unsteady he nearly dragged along the ground. Blood mixed with sweat trickled from his temple, blurring his vision — yet he gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, glancing back with a hoarse voice: "Did... did they catch up?"
The girl beside him bent over, hands on her knees, too winded to speak in full sentences. She just shook her head. The other man wiped the sweat from his face, quickly scanned behind them, and said with a trembling voice: "Let's — let's find somewhere to hide. It's not safe here."
The three of them stumbled and fell their way into the bushes, collapsing there in complete silence — the only sounds being each other's ragged, panting breath.
..........
