Chapter 299: Either Stay and Fight, or Die!

"You…!"

Wu Kelin clenched his teeth, clearly enraged.

Intense shouting echoed through the cave.

The two stared each other down, neither willing to yield.

"That's Divine Forge Stone!" Ruan Wen roared, "You may never see another one in your life!"

"What good is treasure if you're dead?!"

Wu Kelin shot back.

"Coward! All of Ma Bian's people are cowards!"

"Fool! You're dragging everyone to their deaths!"

The argument reached a stalemate.

Neither could convince the other.

At that moment.

Siam's team captain, Song Pa, took a deep breath.

His mind was locked in a brutal inner struggle.

On one side, reason told him Wu Kelin was right.

Lin Mo was dangerous—extremely dangerous.

On the other.

Was the deadly allure of the Divine Forge Stone.

The shame he might face upon returning home.

If he went back now, his mentor, classmates, friends would know.

That he'd seen the Divine Forge Stone right on his face, yet ran away without even glancing at it, all because of some Dragon Country man.

He might never hold his head up again.

Song Pa closed his eyes.

His fists clenched tightly.

Seconds later.

He suddenly opened his eyes.

His gaze burned with ruthless determination.

"Wu Kelin."

Song Pa spoke slowly, rising to his feet.

"I've decided."

He walked over to Ruan Wen's side, standing beside him.

"I'm with Ruan Wen!"

Hearing Song Pa's declaration,

Ruan Wen's face broke into a satisfied smile.

"Good!"

"Brother!"

Ruan Wen clapped Song Pa on the shoulder.

Then he turned his head toward Su Xiluo, the Qiandao team captain, who had said nothing.

"Su Xiluo."

Ruan Wen pointed his dagger at him.

"What about you?"

"Will you join this coward and run like a deserter—or stand with us, and reclaim our glory and the Divine Forge Stone?"

All eyes fixed on Su Xiluo.

Su Xiluo swallowed hard.

He glanced at Wu Kelin, then at Ruan Wen and Song Pa.

Sweat beaded on his forehead.

He was torn.

He was a man who always followed the crowd.

But Ruan Wen's words had struck a raw nerve.

The lure of the Divine Forge Stone.

The humiliation of being driven off by a single man.

Su Xiluo gritted his teeth and sprang to his feet.

"Damn it!"

Su Xiluo cursed aloud.

"Fine, let's die then!"

"I've had enough of this crap!"

"Let's do it!"

"I'm going to face that Dragon Country man!"

"I don't believe he's got three heads and six arms!"

"I don't believe all of us together can't take down one single Dragon Country man!"

"Kill him!"

With Su Xiluo's declaration,

Wu Kelin stared at the scene, his face ashen.

He pointed at the three, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.

"Insane…"

"You're all fucking insane!"

Wu Kelin spat through clenched teeth.

"That Dragon Country man, Lin Mo, likely wiped out those three nations by himself!"

"You're walking straight to your deaths!"

"I won't join you in this madness!"

Wu Kelin spun around sharply.

"Ma Bian Country withdraws from the Four-Nation Alliance. Goodbye!"

Finished speaking.

Wu Kelin walked away without looking back, striding toward the cave entrance.

He intended to flee before Lin Mo arrived.

Yet.

Just as he took a few steps forward,

A blur of motion flashed.

Ruan Wen instantly stepped in front of Wu Kelin.

His dagger lay horizontally across his chest.

Blocking Wu Kelin's path.

"What are you doing?"

Wu Kelin frowned sharply, demanding angrily.

Ruan Wen smiled coldly.

"Leave?"

"Where do you think you're going?"

Ruan Wen's smile faded; his eyes turned icy.

"Wu Kelin, do you really think this is that simple?"

Ruan Wen turned his head,

and began to incite Song Pa and Su Xiluo:

"Brothers!"

"If he leaves now, isn't that weakening our strength?"

"We're about to face the final boss—and still need to watch out for that Dragon Country man!"

"His desertion is no different from stabbing us in the back!"

Ruan Wen turned back, locking his gaze on Wu Kelin.

"Besides."

"He's carrying twenty specialized weapons!"

"If those weapons are taken away and fall into Lin Mo's hands,"

"Aren't we arming the enemy?!"

Ruan Wen's dagger edged slightly forward.

"So."

"Today, you Ma Bian Nation must either stay and fight with us."

"Or..."

"Hand over all your specialized weapons!"

Upon hearing Ruan Wen's shameless words,

Song Pa and Su Xiluo exchanged a glance.

Then,

both drew their weapons and surrounded him with their men.

"Ruan Wen is right."

Song Pa said coldly.

"Wu Kelin, you may leave—but you must leave your specialized weapon behind!"

Su Xiluo added:

"You desert at the critical moment, stab us in the back, and still expect to walk away unscathed? Dream on!"

In an instant,

Wu Kelin was surrounded on all sides.

Swords drawn, tension thick.

Wu Kelin trembled with rage.

"You..."

"You bandits! Despicable cowards!"

Wu Kelin roared in fury.

But he was powerless.

He knew full well that Ma Bian Nation alone could never defeat this three-nation alliance.

He was no Lin Mo of Long Nation.

If they struck, Ma Bian Nation would die today without a doubt.

Wu Kelin stood frozen, his mind racing.

If he handed over the specialized weapons,

even if they kept their word and spared Ma Bian Nation's life,

even if they survived until the end of the Ten Thousand Nations Battlefield,

losing twenty strategic-level specialized weapons would mean his superiors in Ma Bian Nation would never let him live.

Wu Kelin clenched his teeth.

If he stayed to fight alongside them...

Eighty prodigies. Eighty specialized weapons.

Logically, that was indeed a force not to be underestimated.

What if, as Ruan Wen claimed, Lin Mo wasn't as strong as imagined?

What if Lin Mo was merely a lucky scavenger?

If that were true,

these eighty of them might actually kill Lin Mo.

It seemed he had no choice left.

Only this mad gamble remained.

Wu Kelin closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

After a moment,

he slowly opened them.

"Fine."

"I hope..."

"That you're telling the truth, Ruan Wen."

"I hope that Long Nation's man is truly just a paper tiger who survives by luck."

Hearing Wu Kelin's surrender,

"Hahaha..."

Ruan Wen burst into laughter.

He sheathed his dagger, stepped forward, and slammed his hand hard on Wu Kelin's shoulder.

"That's the spirit, brother!"

"Our four-nation alliance—so many, such a powerful force—would have been top-tier in any past Ten Thousand Nations Battlefield."

"Why fear a single man from Long Nation?"

Ruan Wen turned and gazed toward the open ground outside the cave.

His eyes burned with madness and greed.

"Go!"

"Take the Divine Forge Stone that belongs to us!"

"Today, let us end this Long Nation man's legend!"

"Kill!!!"