Sheyan’s words hit Curry and Azsa right in the guts. Their face twitched, but they could not find any words to retaliate.
That’s because what Sheyan had said was the truth. Faced with the truth, Curry and Azsa could not refute even if they were furious and embarrassed.
The others were understandably shocked at Sheyan’s attitude. On a planet with such a harsh environment, Sheyan actually dared to stand up to the two MTs and slap them in the face! It showed that he was not just bargaining, he was actually ready to flip the table! Those who were quick-minded immediately thought of a crucial problem:
Why did he dare to do that?
After Sheyan had shocked the crowd, he stood in place and spread his hands, saying, “Seems like the two of you agree with I said. Since the relationship between us is a fair, cooperative one, why should I bear this loss?”
Seeing the current situation, Ronnie immediately stood up. He held his dagger behind his back, his eyes shining with a venomous and hateful light. Curry also stood up with his face flushed red and his fists clenched. Azsa continued to sit by the fire without any expression on her face, but Vassily, Azsa’s supporter, appeared hesitant. He took a few steps back.
Sheyan took all these things into his eyes as he smiled unconcerned. “What? Don’t you want to negotiate? When things don’t go your way, you instantly want to start a fight? Drill this into your brain, Ronnie. If I hadn’t gone to your rescue this afternoon, you would’ve become a pile of beast sh*t fertilising the plain right now. And now you turn back to bite me. Remember this, Paul, Pokan, this is what comes of saving them.”
Aldaris’ figure had turned a little transparent. Those who were familiar with him would be able to tell that his real body was already gone without any warning, leaving behind an illusionary image. His mouth curled into a scornful sneer as he spoke, “These fools are just bluffing, Seaman. Azsa’s arms are as good as crippled, so she’s useless right now. Ronnie’s a fool that had his ass kicked by a mere Ferocious Wolverine; he’s nothing to worry about. Curry’s just a big, clumsy bear whose eyes are still half blind. Vassily’s good at defending, but unfortunately for him, we’re now inside his defensive perimeter. As for the rest, I don’t think they’ll risk a fight to the death with us; they won’t make any moves.”
Aldaris’ biting remarks showed his supreme confidence. Well, he was someone who could escape the pursuit of seven One-Horned Flying Ants by himself, so his confidence was justified.
Sheyan, meanwhile, turned towards Pokan who had been his travel companion on planet Uplos.
“Are we going to continue our fight here?”
Pokan snorted. “Dream on! You want me to fight you at this distance? Do I look like an idiot? In my opinion, since this is a negotiation, then we should negotiate. If we can’t come to an agreement, then we should sit down and negotiate further. I didn’t come to this planet for a Bloody World mission, I came here for a promotion! I disapprove of this fight. So, I’ll remain neutral.”
Although Daldanian’s crushing extractor was taken by Aldaris, he had also been rescued by Sheyan. After a moment of silence, he said, “I’ll remain neutral too.”
Paul stared at Sheyan, seemingly in deep thought. This man was a heavy schemer himself, as was evident from the huge profit he made in remodelling the spacecrafts.
By his reckoning, the reason Sheyan had no fear of offending the MTs was probably because he had a powerful summoned creature.
Paul’s misjudgement stemmed from his high evaluation of Sheyan’s grown creature, Ramtas. Little did he know that the biggest card hidden up Sheyan’s sleeve was the fact that he was an MT. Sheyan had shown a high level of skill in mixing, so Paul thought that it would not be unusual for Sheyan to have a strong summoned creature too.
Not only that, his thoughts had even gone one step further. He had already considered the possible situation that would arise if Sheyan and Aldaris were killed or driven away.
If that really did happen, the two MTs and their supporters would no doubt become the most powerful faction in this team. Paul had made a lot of money in his spacecraft modification business, so he was undoubtedly a target of envy. What was happening to Sheyan and Aldaris right now had a great chance of happening to him too!
Therefore, Paul chose to stand together with Sheyan and Aldaris. He shrugged and said, “I’m sorry, but I think Seaman is right.”
Sheyan never expected Paul to side with him. The human mind was truly the most complex thing in the world. No matter how calculating one was, one could never completely grasp the thoughts of others!
The expressions of both Hedi Curry and Azsa changed. Sheyan’s words had truly embarrassed them, but they were also aware that the main reason for their previous failure was because they were short on hands!
If they split up here, the team that were left with only 10 people would have 3 less. The same thing that occurred before would just occur again! And to defeat those three without any casualties would be absolutely impossible. If two or more people on their side fell in this fight, then there was no longer any need to stay here. They could just pack up and take the Wasps back to base.
The situation was in a deadlock with both sides having no way of backing down. At this moment, a quiet contestant, who had remained silent all this time, stepped forward.
“How about this? We all know that being an MT is a high-risk job that requires standing in the front line, so it makes sense to subsidise them with some of our resources. We should share the cost of the consumables that they use, like the ‘Power of Lizard’ potions. The MTs should also be given priority in loot distribution. As for other matters, we’ll go by the usual. All of you have been in the realm for a long time. Do you still not get the principle of putting interests above all else?”
This contestant was called William. He was usually very quiet and low-key, but he was in fact a formidable sniper. During the previous battle, at least six One-Horned Flying Ants had fallen to his rifle. Among the people Sheyan had met, purely in terms of offensive power, even MCDH was not his match. He probably belonged in the same tier as Aziz.
William’s words were reasonable. Not only did he give face to Curry and Azsa, he had also removed the terms that were obviously unfavorable to Sheyan. He had given both sides a chance to step down.
In truth, none of them were willing to break the team up right now. It’s just that Curry and Azsa were used to having their way and they did not expect Sheyan to take such a hard stance.
Therefore, after hearing William’s proposal, Curry immediately agreed to it to prevent the team from breaking up. “Okay. I think it’s a good plan.”
Right now, all eyes were focused on Sheyan. Sheyan smiled and said, “All I ask for is fairness. I’m not someone that can’t be reasoned with. I have no objection.”
And thus, the team avoided an implosion crisis. However, an undercurrent was already surging below the surface. Sheyan had a domineering attitude, and so did the two MTs. This was the first dialogue between them, and it certainly would not be the last.
***
After the meeting, Paul naturally joined Sheyan and Aldaris’ side. The aggressiveness shown by the two MTs after joining hands was really threatening, so William, Dardanian and Pokan, the three neutral contestants, also formed a faction of their own.
The night on the plain was not that quiet. Although the One-Horned Flying Ants had marked this area as their territory, it could only deter the big, powerful creatures from coming here. Weaklings such as the Cockatrices Sheyan encountered before still roamed free within the area.
Fortunately, the automatic defence system laid out by Vassily was very strong. From time to time, the machine guns could be heard going off, repelling or killing the creatures that wished to attack their camp. Vassily’s defensive ability was really quite powerful. With him here, it was like having several turrets in one’s base in Warcraft. The contestants could all rest easy.
After an hour of sleep, Sheyan suddenly coughed and spoke.
“Actually, I find tonight to be a great opportunity.”
“What kind of opportunity?” asked Aldaris doubtfully.
“You mean the mushroom rock?” asked Paul.
Sheyan sat up and said, “Exactly! The One-Horned Flying Ants are a kind of mutated ant, but their living habits should not be too different from the ants we know. There should be something like the queen ant among their population which exists for reproduction purposes. There are definitely profits to be made. More importantly, I think the damage to the ant colony must be a lot more serious than we originally thought. Otherwise, Curry and the other two could never have survived. What they did was akin to poking the hornet’s nest after all.”
“And the reason I find tonight to be a great opportunity is that, after tonight, the news of the ant colony’s decline will most likely spread, so some strong creatures will probably take the opportunity to come here to either feed on them or seize more territory. Plus, I’ve always thought that the mushroom rock has an unusual-looking terrain. Maybe the interstellar officials asked us to meet up in that place because they suspect there are some high-purity Pi ores there.”
