Noon.
On a wide expanse of green grassland, two groups stood facing each other some twenty meters apart, in silent confrontation.
Tan Xiao lay on the ground, more dead than alive.
Bai Youwei sat in her wheelchair, chin resting on her hand, watching Ye Chong.
Shen Mo and Yu Chaohui stood to her left and right. Behind them were Ashalina, A’Long, and Zhang Yu.
Ye Chong grabbed Tan Xiao by the back of his collar and hauled him up. The drag of gravity made Tan Xiao let out a groan of pain.
Ye Chong held him up and said to Bai Youwei: “Look. Still alive.”
The offhand casualness of his tone was as if he were commenting on a fish he’d picked up at the market.
Bai Youwei heard a creak, creak sound — it was Yu Chaohui cracking his knuckles.
Shen Mo’s expression was equally terrible.
This kind of provocation and humiliation was intolerable.
But Bai Youwei’s face remained expressionless throughout. She quietly watched Tan Xiao, and after a moment spoke in a flat tone: “Even though I value my companions greatly… your demands are a bit too outrageous. You’re not only asking us to stop attacking your drones — you also want to trade a leopard for an elephant. Am I the one who’s gone mad, or have you?”
“What would you prefer to trade for, then?” Ye Chong smiled. “A wolf? A cat? Or a mouse? Our side has already lost the elephant, so there’s no urgency to deal with the mouse. Besides, low-tier animals like those — we can eliminate them on our own. Why go through the trouble of a trade? If we’re going to make a deal… there should be something in it for us, shouldn’t there?”
“But why should I use one teammate to swap for another?” Bai Youwei said languidly. “What’s the difference between that and cutting off my right hand in exchange for my left? Here’s what I can offer — to get him back, I’m willing to make some concessions. But you shouldn’t naively believe my concessions have no limit.”
Ye Chong narrowed his eyes slightly, sizing up the people around Bai Youwei, apparently considering which one, if traded, would bring him the greatest advantage.
Bai Youwei spoke again, utterly at ease: “I notice your team members all look rather pale… have they been eating and drinking properly these past two days? It seems in this game, the only way to restore stamina is by eating the food the drones provide…”
Ye Chong’s expression shifted slightly.
He released his grip. Tan Xiao immediately dropped to the ground, and blood surged again from the wounds on his body.
Even Bai Youwei, composed as she was, couldn’t suppress the involuntary flicker in her eyes.
Ye Chong said: “I’ve been thinking it over carefully. Apart from the elephant, eliminating other animals is of limited use to me. Take the leopard on the ground, for instance — it would only take me one second to make him…”
His White Glove hand held flat above Tan Xiao’s body.
Bai Youwei appeared calm on the surface, but inside her heart was hammering. She took a slow breath and said: “How about this — you want the elephant, and I can’t bear to give up the elephant. So you choose yourself. Whoever among my subjects you pick, I’ll have that person eliminated. How does that sound?”
Ye Chong narrowed his eyes, looking at Bai Youwei with interest: “You’re letting me choose?”
“That’s right.” Bai Youwei hooked a smile, her eyes fixed on him with a dark intensity. “You want to eliminate my elephant — but first you have to know who the elephant is before you can eliminate them, don’t you…”
A provocation.
But it worked on Ye Chong.
He barely hesitated. After sweeping a look across the group, he raised a hand and pointed at Shen Mo: “I want him eliminated.”
Yu Chaohui’s brow instantly furrowed. He couldn’t help saying: “Our high-tier animals are already fewer than theirs! If we eliminate another one…”
“You can eliminate me.” Shen Mo cut Yu Chaohui off, his tone composed. “Someone has to be eliminated. To get Tan Xiao back.”
He finished, then turned to look at Ye Chong and asked: “You’re certain you’re choosing me? You won’t change your mind?”
Ye Chong gave a light smile and shook his head.
Shen Mo asked again: “Then how do we confirm that after I’m eliminated, you’ll return him to us alive?”
Ashalina stared at Ye Chong with undisguised revulsion and said coldly: “Exactly. How are we supposed to trust you? Once their elephant is gone, who’s to say you won’t pull out some more of your weapons! Someone like you going back on your word wouldn’t be surprising at all!”