Chapter 3005: You Want Me to Step onto the Field Personally? You Think You're Worthy?!

Looking at Zhang Lin, he let out a chuckle upon hearing Wang Wang Canghai's question.

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 that, I'll willingly stick my neck out for the slaughter? Or just hand over the secrets from back then? I can tell you, responsibly, that if you're entertaining that kind of thought, it's absolutely a pipe 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 Cang 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 doomed to be in vain; he hadn't even realized until now that Zhang Lin had actually dug another pit for him.

Zhang Lin, upon hearing this, merely chuckled and didn't care in the slightest what Wang Cang 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 left. 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 Slaves King, to keep him from killing you!"

"Or else you'll end up in a fate worse than death. But if you don't tell me now, what you'll face is the Ten-Thousand Slaves 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 a portion of his troubles ahead of time.

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

Including when Zhang Lin gave him chance after chance to live, he should have spoken up then—but Wang Wang Canghai had kept his lips sealed the whole time.

Given this premise, no matter how the current situation changed, Wang Wang Canghai would absolutely not alter his choice. Zhang Lin was quite certain of this.

And the reason for saying all this wasn't to produce any direct effect, but entirely to take an indirect approach, forcing Wang Wang Canghai to act of his own accord.

Zhang Lin's goal was to get Wang Wang Canghai to move 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 more direct, rather than the enemy remaining unseen the whole time.

Of course, if Wang 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 had already thought up corresponding excuses.

Sure enough, upon hearing Zhang Lin say this, Wang Wang Canghai laughed out of extreme anger, and that intense fury drove him toward another extreme: his surface was calm, but his heart was in turmoil.

Wang Wang Canghai was heard grinding his 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. 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 now that I've taken over, I'll have to do it myself!"

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

Zhang Lin, upon hearing these words, gave a contemptuous smile. He had, in fact, considered this point before.

But he had never paid it any mind. The key was that the current Wang 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 Wang Canghai move out personally was also key to seeing whether the Ten-Thousand Slaves King could be drawn out in advance, or whether once Archaeological Team One entered Tiangong, Wang Wang Canghai's interference might instead allow them to gain some unexpected harvest—that was the outcome Zhang Lin wanted.

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

"Me stepping onto the field to play this round with you? If from the very beginning you had harbored such thoughts, then naturally I would have kept you company, 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 used these words to mock Wang Wang Canghai without any mincing.

Looking at the other party, however, he gave a cold laugh. Though resentful 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 a word from him, many people would rush forward one after another, even to die for him.

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

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

Perhaps it really was, as the other party said, all his own doing—what the common folk call karmic retribution. But even seeing this, Wang Cang still didn't accept it; he didn't believe such retribution would fall upon his own head.

All the efforts he had made over the years were meant to avoid this so-called retribution, to place himself at the true summit, where no one could threaten his life—including the Ten-Thousand Slaves King, who might be revived in the future.

But if what Zhang Lin said was true, then what did all Wang Cang's efforts over these years amount to? Three hundred years was nothing but a fleeting dream—whoever it was couldn't accept such an outcome. This was why the current Wang Cang was more certain than anyone that he absolutely had done nothing wrong, and could not have done wrong.

It was just that Zhang Lin had acted more decisively than him. At the beginning, he hadn't taken the other's strength seriously, leading to one wrong step and then every step wrong, finally ending up in such an awkward predicament. This was the thought Wang Cang currently harbored.

In fact, even without asking Wang Wang Canghai's specific thoughts, Zhang Lin understood that this was what he must be thinking in his heart. This was also why Zhang Lin felt that Wang Wang Canghai was truly hatefully pitiable!

Although this person was utterly detestable, when Zhang Lin first crossed hands with him, he had still assumed that, having operated for so many years, the man would surely employ all kinds of unfathomable methods at every moment to create trouble for him.

But in the end, facts proved it wasn't like that at all. This was also why Zhang Lin was truly disappointed in Wang Wang Canghai. If Wang Wang Canghai could really match him fifty-fifty, then this time Zhang Lin would indeed have stepped onto the field personally to have a bout with him—but he had already stated his thoughts just now.

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