Chapter 292: Brother Li

The Fire God Team arrived at their quarters relatively early. As the true god of Mars, Wolf King Basta is a super idol. At this moment, they were holding a team meeting. Only Basta was seated, while everyone else had to stand. This was not because Basta was arrogant, but because this was simply the rule on Mars.

Basta's body gave the impression of being very sturdy, but he was not the type to be particularly massive. His neck was very short, and his entire person sat there as a single, solid unit. Even when he had no expression, he possessed a fierce aura.

Although they only took second place in the Mid-Season Tournament, no one dared to underestimate Basta. Although he won the god-sealing battle of S8, Basta was left with hidden injuries, and the hard struggle during the S9 year meant those injuries never fully healed. He had been recovering for these past two years, so Basta did not exert his full strength during the Mid-Season Tournament; to him and the Fire God Team, that held no significance.

Full strength must be reserved for the S Tournament, especially this year; there could not be any negligence.

The reason Fire God was strong was not just Basta, but also the team members, who were all former members of Apocalypse. This was also the reason they were able to take S8. It was just that the S Tournament was truly too difficult, and with the addition of that troublemaker Titan, the Martians' progress in the S Tournament was very arduous. Basta had also summarized the problem: keep a low profile, endure, and wait for the opportunity for a fatal blow. This was also a reason for his silence over these two years. One must give up enough things to make opponents think he was just so-so. To be the target of public criticism is to court death.

Knowing how to give up is a form of wisdom.

S11 was an opportunity. The Moon had now become the target of public criticism, and Mars's Romero had also attracted enough attention. It was time for him to complete his miracle. He personally believed his chances were as high as seventy or eighty percent, but he never expected that the two great nightmares of that year would both return to the S Tournament, directly muddying the waters.

He had originally wanted to refuse this exchange tournament; after all, he had endured for so long. But thinking of Xilian's personality, if he missed this, he might miss quite a lot, because Xilian's greatest opponent was not him, but that person.

"Boss, given the grudge between those two, there is definitely no room for maneuver. Why would Xilian invite him?"

"I am also puzzled. If not for that person, it might be the era of Xilian dominating the world right now. But it feels like he has changed into a different person."

"I watched his interviews and some reports. I can't see any killing intent on him. Both of them have changed a lot."

Upon arriving at Hailong Academy, they had yet to see Xilian. Basta knew that, deep down, apart from that person, Xilian looked down on everyone, even him, who had won the S Tournament. Maxis and Fan Liweite were the same, and this attitude deeply provoked them. Humans have five basic needs: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Because of their age and experience, they were basically all at the fourth stage.

Literature has no first place, martial arts has no second. Now, they had returned to the state of competition from back then. The Martians rose in the cracks of the infighting between the Hunters and the Shadow Sentinels by relying on strategy, and it was the same now.

Five years later, the arrogance of these two had not diminished. In fact, with their personalities, how could they have changed?

"I will handle Xilian's side. What you need to do is restrain yourselves. If you cannot endure small things, you will spoil great plans," Basta said.

"Boss, should we stir up some trouble for them? Xilian was almost beaten to death back then. It feels like one poke and it will explode."

"Do not make any stupid moves, and do not take it for granted that you can manipulate anything. The reason we succeeded back then was because Xilian and Nangong Yuhang both felt they had victory in their grasp. Small tricks are useless. Wait for them to make their own mistakes," Basta said, but no ease could be seen on his face.

Such childish emotional tactics would be mocked, and both Nangong Yuhang and Xilian had made mistakes, but that person had not—never. He didn't even know what this person's weakness was; subconsciously, he avoided it.

Nangong Yuhang had ambition, and ambition blinds the eyes. Xilian had arrogance, but that person?

Desire, ambition, greed, fame?

The weaknesses that could be targeted or exploited in a normal person could not be found in him; he didn't even know how to target him.

Moreover, every time he wanted to do something, he would feel a hair-raising sense of crisis. This was the feeling that person gave the Martians back then. Five years later, when this guy came up with a Puppet, Basta was actually happy, because this kind of seeking mystery and attention represented desire and needs. Once shackled, it wasn't something that could be undone just because one wanted to. He was like this after he won the S Tournament back then, and then his fortune changed. So he played it steady for two years, accumulating and settling himself, waiting for an opportunity again.

But just when he thought that person had gone astray, he discovered that the person didn't care about this matter at all. But why would he do this then?

The motive was completely unclear. It felt like he was doing a mission, just messing around, playing for fun.

This made people feel very desperate.

"When is he arriving?"

"Arriving at three in the afternoon."

"Very good. We will go welcome him together when the time comes."

The team members were stunned for a moment, and were a bit unhappy. "Isn't that giving him too much face?"

Basta's fierce face settled, and a curve appeared at the corner of his mouth. "He is the King of Apocalypse, after all. This face must be given."

"What about Romero's side?"

"He understands better."

A wolf can endure anything for the sake of its prey!

And a wolf pack has an unimaginable tacit understanding for a common goal. What could be done back then can still be done now. In fact, Romero was even more proactive.

The Hailong Team was actually somewhat mysterious to the students of Hailong Academy. They didn't know that Xilian had enrolled long ago; he just hadn't shown himself until he suddenly made a name for himself. The members of Hailong were all specially recruited and had been unknown before; it was said they had been in a special preparatory class.

In the team room, Li Xiangshan had been waiting for a long time. The others arrived one after another. Clearly, the others didn't take this exchange tournament seriously at all.

After Dawa Lishi arrived, he sat there without saying a word. He had autism and rarely spoke. Usually, he looked like a zombie and only showed some vitality when fighting, but no one was willing to make eye contact with him; he had a pair of eyes that could see through people's hearts.

Xila was listening to music; he was a loyal fan of Arths and also didn't speak much. He was the all-rounder of the Hailong Team. Li Xiangshan knew very well that this "all-rounder" was truly all-around.

Klein was playing with knives, one in each hand, playing at sparring, stabbing away with great interest, a playful smile always on his face.

Li Xiangshan was also a member of the Shadow Sentinels and was no stranger to them, but for these five years, they hadn't been together. Clearly, Li Xiangshan had gradually become a normal person, while these core Shadow Sentinels were walking further and further down another path. Li Xiangshan could clearly feel the "killing aura" from them—the ferocity that only comes from having been stained with enough blood.

Suddenly, all three raised their heads. After a while, footsteps sounded. Anlita arrived, still as elegant and charming as ever. Seeing Li Xiangshan, she smiled. "Brother Shan, the boss ordered that we must welcome the Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team this afternoon."

Li Xiangshan nodded. Outsiders would find it strange, but they didn't feel anything was amiss. Once someone from Apocalypse appeared around them, especially when the number reached a certain level, everyone would automatically return to their Apocalypse state. Sometimes they would even feel a bit dazed about which reality was real.

"Do we need to mobilize?" Li Xiangshan asked. Within the Hailong Team, Anlita was responsible for internal and some special affairs, while Li Xiangshan was responsible for external matters. The other three didn't care about anything.

"No need. Li Ge doesn't like that kind of superficial stuff either. I've been missing him these past few years." Anlita licked her lips, her eyes actually carrying a dangerous anticipation. This "missing" was not that kind of missing.

"Do you want me to test him first?" Klein laughed.

Li Xiangshan frowned slightly. This wasn't Apocalypse anymore; some illegal methods were not quite appropriate.

"Don't court death. The boss has already tested him. Do you think the boss is really so idle that he would personally run to Earth? Besides, your old friend is also coming. You two can have a good reunion," Anlita laughed.

"Hehe, I really miss that guy. Just thinking that he isn't dead yet makes me laugh in my sleep."

Back then, Klein's entire skeleton had been shattered in over a hundred places, and it took more than two years just to recover. Just thinking about it made him hurt so much he couldn't sleep.

"Dawa, don't touch the little fatty in their team. Leave him to me," Anlita suddenly said.

The zombie-like Dawa Lishi opened his eyes, which seemed to have a bit more color. He looked at Anlita, seemingly expressing confusion.

"If you're bored, you can mess with the others, but this person cannot be touched for now. Also, the boss said, be careful when you act. You are all proper students now. Have some student-like behavior. Don't act like a maniac. Learn from Klein, smile a little. Come on, learn from me, smile..."

Anlita looked at Xila and Dawa Lishi. Xila was a bit better, but Dawa Lishi...

Anlita felt a chill. "Forget it, just keep your mouth shut."

The prosperity of the Moon's spaceport was breathtaking. Dense swarms of spaceships were constantly entering and exiting in an orderly fashion. The impressive thing about the Merifis Family was that Xilian actually had his own private docking bay. This was no longer a question of having money; it also showed the infiltration of such great families into the NUp system. Of course, this hadn't changed much in several hundred years.

The entire journey was very comfortable, so comfortable that Ma Long and the others didn't want to get off. They took the VIP channel the whole way. Gradually, everyone sobered up; they weren't here for a vacation.

Sheng Man and the others were still very happy, laughing and talking the whole way. No girl could resist such a trip, and Zhou Naiyi was no exception. Li Hao and the others saw Zhou Naiyi's relaxation and felt that the busiest person in the Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team was Sister Yi. Besides improving herself, she had to run around busy with everything. After all, there was a hands-off manager; if she didn't care, the team would be in chaos.

But once they were outside, Zhou Naiyi didn't care anymore. She knew this was Li Wu's world.

(Dear bosses, Little Li is about to start acting cool again. Is it time to turn up the intensity?)