Chapter Forty-Six: I Admit There Was an Element of Gambling

"I'll give you one last chance. Answer me now and hand it over. Our lord wishes to see you!"

This time, Number Two clearly showed a desire to use force.

"...We'll hand it over."

Huang Weiyang sighed, choosing to compromise.

There was no other way. Sometimes, he had to admit, numbers truly did prevail...

"If you had done this earlier, we could’ve skipped all the drama. I really thought you were that tough, ready to take on ten of us at once," Li Hang said with disdain, though for some reason... this act of leveraging someone else's power felt oddly satisfying.

Their hands were quickly forced behind their backs, and like prisoners, they were escorted away.

Soon, they found themselves facing Colin and the others, shrouded in mist.

After bringing them over, Number Two, Li Hang, and their group whispered a few words to Colin before departing.

Huang Weiyang couldn't help but glance at the woman in the white robe with gold trim, but recalling something, he quickly looked away, not daring to resist.

He'd already heard from Li Hang that it was this special character, summoned by a card, who had turned the tide against them.

Then his gaze shifted to Colin, but before he could get a good look, a voice rang out from ahead.

"Open your backpack and let me see."

Let him see? As if it was that simple?

Weren’t they already handing over their very lifeblood?

Huang Weiyang's face darkened. From the faces of the other unfamiliar survivors behind Colin, he saw only schadenfreude.

Was he really supposed to put up with this?

His face flushed red—proud by nature, he felt this was no different than being stripped naked.

At that moment, his pant leg was kicked. The same guy who had earlier asked him for racy pictures signaled with his eyes to look off to the side.

A quick glance revealed several corpses piled on the ground—clearly not aberrations. Any anger he had quickly drained away.

Fine, fine. The most important things—the sheepskin scroll, the synthesis box, the lantern—had already been taken.

If he’d already lost his underwear, what difference did his pants make?

Trying to comfort himself, he opened his backpack, and with each precious item taken, his heart bled a little more.

"Oh, and hand over the rights to your servants as well," Colin said with utter indifference.

A capitalist had once told him that exploitation should never be rushed—it had to be done step by step.

...

On the other side, another team encountered Colin's group.

Surprisingly, several among them had also fused with "ordinary tainted blood," and there were quite a few of them.

Clearly, there was only one reason for them to come to this barren land.

The saltpeter mine.

"Hand over the sheepskin scroll, lantern, and synthesis table, and come with us. Otherwise, you can stay here forever," Number Two said fearlessly, facing three lords and their dozens of followers.

"Your lord? Hah, interesting..."

The leading survivor looked at the lanterns flickering all around, at the hundreds of people in the light, and took a deep breath.

Then he glanced at Li Hang in the crowd, observed briefly, and sneered, "So you’re not their lord after all."

It was easy to tell; servants always showed a natural fear or respect toward their lord.

No one here looked at him that way.

Li Hang only shrugged in response, "Brother, if you’re going to surrender, do it quick. Spare us the attitude, or you’ll be the one crying in a minute."

"Heh,"

The lord swept his gaze around, unfazed by the gleaming axes, and sneered,

"Has your cowardly lord never told you that some people can't be beaten by sheer numbers? Not everyone is as weak as you think. There are strengths and weaknesses among lords, too."

He was confident, as if holding a trump card that could change the situation.

"Oh, I love tough talkers. Makes breaking you in all the more satisfying."

Li Hang smiled, unbothered by the taunt. Since he had chosen to "serve" Colin, he was prepared to give it his all, never underestimating an opponent.

After all, he'd just paid the price for being careless with an enemy.

The next moment, several servants from each team appeared, each carrying a barrel as tall as a man.

Without hesitation, Li Hang pulled out a small piece of wood, lit it, and flicked it to the ground. A flash of flame erupted, filling the air with a sharp, acrid stench.

The fire rapidly spread toward the feet of the survivors.

Only then did the lead survivor notice something buried not far ahead.

The buried line was slanted, aiming right at them...

With Colin's cheat-like "map hack," fighting others was as easy for Li Hang as playing cards with x-ray vision.

The area was completely rigged with explosives!

"Want to bet our barrels aren't filled with gunpowder?" Li Hang stared him down.

"You... you've got guts!"

The confident survivor's eyes darkened, listening to the sizzle of burning gunpowder. He shot a cold glare at Li Hang, clenched his fists, and after a brief pause, finally said, "Fine... I surrender."

No more words—he tossed out his survivor’s triple-core set. The other two, seeing this, reluctantly followed suit.

The flames were extinguished.

No one here ever treated this "game" as just a game. Everyone knew the price of death and was unwilling to die needlessly.

Without the explosives, he might have had a shot at winning, but with black powder in play, it was a different story.

Even without guns or cannons, if they charged in with barrels of explosives for a suicide attack, the outcome would be the same.

Everyone knew by now that a servant’s life was the cheapest currency.

No one could believe that a lord hiding behind the scenes would have any affection for these men.

So in their eyes, the only result would be their own deaths, after which that coward behind the lines would finally show himself.

To die like that, without ever knowing who the enemy lord even was—what a bitter end.

"Smart move," Li Hang breathed a sigh of relief.

"Doesn’t seem like you’re that loyal after all..."

At the taunt, Li Hang’s expression didn't change. "I admit there was some bluffing, but you lost, didn’t you?"

"You did alright. Perform well, and maybe you'll get the chance to be sent out as a 'consultant' like me by our boss."

"By the way, what's your name?"

Li Hang was always warm—gleefully so—toward new "comrades" who had surrendered.

"Li Chou."

"Same surname, huh? Nice to meet you. My surname’s Li too. Want me to put in a good word so you won’t have to go mining?"

"Heh, there are about a hundred million Lis out there."

"True enough. Open your backpack—let’s see what you were counting on for a comeback. Huh, 'Flesh Mushroom'... I thought you’d have something better..."

Li Hang curled his lip. "Is that it?"

"You’ve seen it before?"

At those words, the survivor who called himself Li Chou narrowed his eyes, casting his gaze downward, a barely noticeable glint flashing in his eyes.