Chapter 2449: Want Me to Step onto the Field Personally? You Think You're Worthy?!

Looking at Zhang Lin, upon hearing Wang Wang Canghai ask this, he gave a light chuckle.

He then said, "Wang Wang Canghai, don't you understand even now? The reason these people keep betraying you isn't because of me — it's because you yourself handled things far too ruthlessly."

"Bullshit. Zhang Lin, do you think that just because you say this I'll willingly offer my neck to be slaughtered? Or that I'll just tell you the secrets from back then? I can tell you responsibly — if you're entertaining that kind of thought, it's absolutely a fool's dream! If you want to know those things, go investigate them yourself. Even if I die, I won't tell you!"

From the tone of his speech alone, one could tell that Wang Canghai had long since lost all composure!

He had tried desperately at first to calm himself down, but now it was clear all that effort was destined to be in vain — he hadn't even realized to this point that Zhang Lin had actually dug yet another pit for him.

Zhang Lin, upon hearing this, simply chuckled and didn't care at all about what Wang Canghai had said.

Instead, he went on speaking to himself: "Wang Wang Canghai, same thing as before — look out for yourself. Right now all your people are in my hands, and you have no choice at all. If you're willing to tell me about those things from back then, then what you'll need to do afterward is devote all your energy to hiding from the Ten-Thousand Slave King, to keep him from killing you!"

"Or else you won't escape a fate worse than death. But if you don't tell me now, what you'll face is the Ten-Thousand Slave King's pursuit and mine. Which is heavier, which is lighter — you should know perfectly well."

All these words were said by Zhang Lin deliberately. Of course, if this goal were truly achieved, it would mean Zhang Lin had resolved part of the trouble ahead of time.

But Zhang Lin was very certain that, given Wang Canghai's character, he would never tell him these things in advance — if Wang Canghai had wanted to do so, he would have had plenty of chances before.

Including the times Zhang Lin gave him chance after chance to live, the other man should have spoken up then. Yet Wang Canghai had kept his mouth sealed tight the whole time.

On this premise, no matter how the current situation changed, Wang Canghai would definitely not change his choice — this Zhang Lin was quite certain of.

And the reason for saying all this wasn't to produce any direct effect; it was entirely an indirect approach, forcing Wang Canghai to have no choice but to act on his own initiative.

Zhang Lin's goal was to make Wang Canghai move out personally. No matter which archaeological team he went to, Zhang Lin had a way to deal with it. That way, the crisis facing the archaeological team would become far more direct, rather than the enemy remaining unseen the whole time.

Of course, if Wang Canghai were truly exposed under the live broadcast camera, Zhang Lin would still cover for his identity at first, because the time to reveal it hadn't come yet — even though Zhang Lin Has Already thought up a suitable excuse.

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhang Lin say this, Wang Canghai laughed out of extreme anger, and that intense fury drove him to the opposite extreme — his surface was calm, but his heart was churning like a raging sea.

Wang Canghai was heard grinding his back molars as he said: "Zhang Lin, I warned you before — if you're unwilling to give me a chance, then you're cutting off your own retreat too. Since you want to play, I'll play along with you. All along I've been trying to get the Wang family to handle this matter, but since I've taken over, I'll have to do it myself!"

"When I spoke with you face to face before, you should have understood — if I take matters into my own hands, the archaeological team you care so much about won't have many people left standing, unless you're interested in stepping onto the field yourself to play this round with me."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lin gave a contemptuous smile — he had thought about this point before.

But he had never cared about it. The key was that the current Wang Canghai wasn't worth Zhang Lin dealing with in that most extreme way; the threat he could pose was far, far too small.

This time, letting Wang Canghai move out personally was also key to seeing whether the Ten-Thousand Slave King could be drawn out in advance, or whether once Archaeological Team One entered Tiangong, Wang Canghai's interference might instead let them gain some unexpected harvest — that was the outcome Zhang Lin wanted.

At the same time, Zhang Linye Society would, through his own guidance of circumstances, force the other party into making a choice, just like what Zhang Lin had done before.

"Me step onto the field personally to play this round with you? If you'd had such thoughts from the very beginning, then naturally I would have obliged — because I hadn't seen through exactly how much you weighed. But now what qualifications do you have to say such things to me?"

Zhang Lin bluntly mocked Wang Canghai with exactly these words.

Looking at the other man, however, he gave a cold laugh. Though resentment burned in his heart, from a practical standpoint he had to admit Zhang Lin was right.

Because now every aspect of the situation was controlled in Zhang Lin's hands — with just one word from him, Duorendou Society would charge forward one after another, even unto death for him.

Including the Wang family members he had taken in — in Wang Canghai's own understanding, he could only assume Zhang Lin had taken these people in.

Beyond that, there was no other explanation that could sort out the chaotic thoughts in his mind, even though Wang Canghai, up to this very second, still didn't understand exactly how Zhang Lin had done it.

Perhaps it really was, as the other man said, all his own doing — what the common saying calls karmic retribution. But even seeing this, Wang Canghai still wouldn't accept it; he didn't believe such retribution would fall on his own head.