Threeking said in a hoarse voice, "This isn't going to work. We have to find another team to ally with, or there's no way we'll survive to the last day."
"Are you kidding me?" the girl in the group scoffed in disbelief.
"Jin Songshan, don't let your emotions talk! Everyone's trying to think of something."
Threeking saw that his two teammates couldn't agree, but he didn't rush to snap back. He waited until everyone had calmed down.
In the end, it was Jin Songshan who spoke first. "The three burly guys in matching outfits who left first—they're the smallest team besides us. They're too arrogant, they look down on everyone, and they were already ganged up on by the other three nations. There's no chance we can work with them.
The Nordic group still has five people, and they're the strongest. Going to them on our own is basically suicide. And the Asian team? We were the ones who attacked them first. So tell me, who exactly are we supposed to ally with? Shi Yu, can you please stop talking like an idiot?"
"I'll say it again—communicate properly, don't bring emotions into this, or we're not far from death."
Another man had a far friendlier attitude, but Threeking could clearly feel that he had just cast a curious glance his way.
He wasn't sure if some detail had slipped and aroused suspicion, so he had to sidestep and steer the topic. "Then what do you suggest? Just hide here and wait to die?"
The man thought for a moment, then spoke. "Which team do you think is the weakest right now?"
Jin Songshan answered without hesitation, "Definitely the Asian team. Only the leader can really fight; the rest are all average."
After saying that, she shot a dissatisfied look at Threeking.
Two of them went after one sickly guy, and he still took one of them down before being killed.
"Shi Yu" slammed the ground in frustration, "She's a trickster! Her ability is spatial teleportation, and she wasn't even hurt—she was deliberately luring us into attacking!"
"Shi Yu, then you tell me which team is the weakest."
"I also think it's the Asian team. Even though they have four left, they're worse than the all-male group."
"So we approach them for an alliance."
Threeking sneered inwardly. He wasn't worried at all now—both of their reactions were exactly what Invincible Black Whirlwind had predicted. Just from the few fragments of detail passed on by Wang Buyu, he had already deduced both their personalities and the general direction of events.
It was no surprise that Invincible Black Whirlwind held the number one spot on the server leaderboard. They didn't even need Plan B. No matter whether the guy suspected him or not, he was the best possible teammate.
Jin Songshan frowned deeply, clearly not convinced this was a good idea, but the best teammate kept pressing on.
"Even though we attacked them first, we didn't cause any real damage. That fierce, hot-tempered woman challenged the all-male group, and then the Nordic group killed one of her teammates. From their perspective, we're the only viable partners."
Jin Songshan and "Shi Yu" nodded silently, thinking it over.
"But there's still one person who has to take a risk—go talk to them and lay our cards on the table."
Jin Songshan and the "best captain" exchanged a knowing look, and finally both turned their gaze to "Shi Yu."
"Shi Yu" shook his head vigorously. "No way, not me. I'm the most wounded out of all of us. If they don't want to ally and decide to kill me, I won't even have a chance to escape!"
Jin Songshan said bluntly, "You're the one who brought up the alliance first."
"Since I proposed the idea, shouldn't he whom they call the final executor go do it instead?"
"Shi Yu, if you and Songya hadn't botched that ambush, we wouldn't be in this passive mess right now."
The "best teammate" landed another assist, and Threeking was inwardly ecstatic.
After going back and forth with the trio several more times, The Third had no choice but to accept the mission, and even grandly demanded a priority pick of the dungeon rewards.
The other two thought it over for a while, then agreed anyway.
After all, surviving this 72-hour stretch was the most important thing right now; everything else was too far off.
"You two have to be within 100 meters of me as backup. Otherwise, might as well call it a total loss for all of us."
"Fine. Everyone well rested? Can't drag this out any longer. Let's move."
"Alright."
Threeking was a little puzzled—how could the two of them be so sure they'd find the others just by setting out?
But he was smart enough not to ask, so he wouldn't slip up at the final stretch.
No more than three seconds passed before Jin Songshan said in surprise, "They're not far from us! And they're heading this way."
"The noise we made when we left was too loud, and we used skills in the middle too. I figure they picked up on the psychic energy fluctuation."
"That's right, Shi Yu. Go now, we'll follow behind you."
Threeking hesitated and performed a dramatic display of reluctance before finally moving out. But the moment he saw Invincible Black Whirlwind and the others, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Invincible Black Whirlwind understood immediately, and teleported straight over in a single movement, slashing a pink mist blade right at The Third's neck.
Threeking stumbled back in terror, and when he sensed his surroundings, he found that those two teammates of his were real bastards—they pulled back faster than he did.
So he quickly raised both hands in surrender and shouted, "Hold on! Alliance! Alliance, okay?! The three of us, plus your four, we won't have to fear the other two teams at all. We can even go on the offensive! Ambush, encircle, take them all out!"
Invincible Black Whirlwind finally called off the attack. "With trash strength like yours? You think you qualify?"
"Strength comes in numbers."
Threeking said through gritted teeth, feeling like he really wasn't destined to enjoy the good stuff in life. He'd finally managed to get into Invincible Black Whirlwind's group, and not long after joining, here he was—working undercover again! Was he born to be a spy?
He hadn't even mooched a single meal! He could only think of Second Sister to ease the frustration in his heart.
Qi Xu was a little surprised that The Third was so committed to the role. Those two teammates were so far away, there was no need to lay the acting on so thick—why was he performing so convincingly?
Jin Songshan nudged Da Jiong with her elbow. "Think Shi Yu can pull it off?"
"Not sure. If he does, maybe we get a chance to survive—at least temporarily. If he fails, we'd better be quick when we make a run for it."
"No worries, with me leading the way, nobody can catch us." Jin Songshan had plenty of confidence in that, which is why she dared to stay put rather than bolt the moment Invincible Black Whirlwind made his move.
..........
