101: Revealing each other's cards

"Again... finished again?"

It wasn't until evening, when Gu Qinghan had once again dealt with a batch of troublesome monsters, that the Professionals around them realized it was getting dark.

At this time, there weren't many people still around the square, at least far fewer than during the day.

Since the afternoon, the number of Professionals capable of attempting to challenge these monsters had been steadily decreasing.

It wasn't that they were lazy, but rather that the quantity, quality, and frequency of monster appearances exceeded their acceptable limits.

Zhao Mengling and two others gathered together, eating simple food, and said with some worry:

"The frequency of monster appearances today seems even higher than yesterday, and the highest level monster has already reached level 17."

The thick-browed uncle nodded, chewing half a betel nut, and said:

"I remember when it was first discovered two days ago, how long was the first countdown?"

"I don't know exactly, but at least a few hours."

They looked at each other, and then suddenly fell silent.

The shortest countdown today was eight minutes.

Although there were also countdowns of more than ten minutes two days ago, most of them were an hour or more.

And the longest countdown today was less than half an hour.

After a few days, both the upper and lower limits of the interval between monster appearances had shortened.

Suddenly, the loud-voiced man uncharacteristically spoke softly:

"I feel that with our strength, we probably won't be able to withstand the monsters appearing here for another day.

How about we leave tomorrow?"

Jiang Rui immediately frowned, glancing at the gate of calamity, which once again had a countdown of over ten minutes, his eyes filled with intense greed:

"Why leave? Our strength isn't that great to begin with. If we don't seize this opportunity, it will be even harder to catch up with others later."

Hearing his words, Zhao Mengling also hesitated slightly.

Although they were among the strongest few in this area, the strength of their subordinates was not very high.

Their current high levels were all accumulated by having their subordinates cripple monsters, and then they themselves dealt the killing blow to gain more experience.

This was unavoidable, as there were many gates of calamity in this area before, some even adjacent to each other.

It was extremely difficult for the Professionals in this area to find a safe leveling spot.

In such an environment, they could only create a few strong individuals before considering other matters.

Having finally found a relatively stable place to farm monsters, why would they easily give up?

Seeing the two of them silent, Jiang Rui spoke again:

"If you want to leave, then leave tomorrow. Anyway, I plan to continue staying here.

In less than three days, we've gained an average of one and a half levels. Where else can we find such a good place?"

His words made their slightly wavering resolve firm up again.

Zhao Mengling suddenly gritted her teeth and whispered to the two:

"I also lean towards staying here. Although the difficulty has increased now, the rewards are also more enticing."

She looked at Gu Qinghan, who was chatting with Chen Yuting, and suddenly made a certain decision.

"I propose that we drop our guard against each other and merge our three teams into one. Otherwise, all the good stuff will be taken by others."

Jiang Rui and Gao Shulin immediately felt a bit awkward. In fact, they had also realized this problem.

Throughout the afternoon, Gu Qinghan had taken action more times than all of them combined.

Firstly, his summoned creatures seemed to never tire and were exceptionally powerful.

Secondly, their three teams simply didn't dare to go all out.

They were all powerful individuals who had gathered some support and established their own factions, so how could they completely trust each other?

Zhao Mengling glanced at Jiang Rui and said:

"Jiang Rui, you subdued three level 15 elite puppets a while ago, don't think we don't know.

What time is it now? Stop guarding against us."

Jiang Rui opened his mouth, then suddenly pointed at the loud-voiced man next to him and said:

"Don't just talk about me, Gao Shulin isn't hiding his methods either, is he?

Don't you know that he dropped a skill book two days ago that perfectly matched his profession?

Have you seen him use it? This guy is very cunning!"

Gao Shulin silently took a sip of water, then turned his gaze to Zhao Mengling and said:

"The three of us are all the same, there's no need to pick on one and praise another.

Zhao Mengling, the explosive talismans you've accumulated by now should be enough to blow up all of us, right?"

The three of them revealed each other's hidden trump cards, and the atmosphere immediately became silent.

Zhao Mengling suddenly smiled at this moment, then confessed to the two:

"Forget it, since we've all come clean, I won't hide anything from you anymore.

Did you see the woman next to that guy? I can't see the vitality of the cat in her arms, so it's very likely his hidden method.

As things stand, let's cooperate as three teams, otherwise, we'll truly only be able to eat what others leave behind."

She proactively revealed the information she had previously concealed, then spread her hands and stated her opinion.

And Jiang Rui also stroked his chin, then suddenly laughed:

"Alright, I also think we should cooperate. That guy doesn't have our accent from here, so he's most likely an outsider.

As the saying goes, don't let fertile water flow into outsiders' fields. Our own stuff, the benefits shouldn't all be taken by outsiders."

Gao Shulin proactively extended his hand and said to the two:

"Cooperate, cooperate. I haven't slept well these past two days, just worried that you two would pull some tricks.

A Silver-grade gate of calamity! I can't even imagine how many good things there will be later!"

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Under the pressure from Gu Qinghan, their three teams were actually forced to choose cooperation.

At this moment, Gu Qinghan looked at the countdown, which had less than a minute remaining, and felt a slight anticipation.

Level 15 Elite Monsters: 2

Level 15 Black Iron Monster: 1

After a day of fighting, he was only a little short of reaching level 15.

Moreover, this was the first time he had seen a Black Iron-grade monster notification.

Throughout this day, although he had obtained many pieces of equipment, most of them were not very useful.

Fortunately, his luck had finally turned. After this battle, he would at least be able to obtain a Black Iron-grade item or equipment.

"Hey, friend!"

Suddenly, Gao Shulin's characteristic loud voice rang out again:

"Seeing how busy you've been for so long, you must be exhausted. For the monsters that appear next, how about we take turns?"

Gu Qinghan looked over with some surprise, and upon seeing that their three teams had already gathered together, he immediately understood.

He thought for a moment and said:

"Alright, but if a good item drops that the other party needs and we don't, we can consider an equivalent exchange."

"No problem, brother, you're straightforward!"

Just as both sides reached a consensus, Gu Qinghan's skeletons charged towards the appearing monsters.

Meanwhile, in another area of An City.

Inside a magnificent bathhouse, Hu Haoqiang was kneeling before a young man.

He was covered in cold sweat, and behind him lay one of his former subordinates.

This subordinate's arm was gone, the wound charred and emitting a strange scent of burnt flesh.

But even so, this subordinate dared not let out a single groan, only able to lie on the ground, gritting his teeth.

Because their entire original team had been slaughtered, leaving only two people alive!