695: unexpected

“I'm not betting anymore! You play by yourself!” Ethan said suddenly after thinking for a long time. The Deputy Team Leader, who was following behind Ethan, blushed and didn't know what to do!

“Ethan? What? You're chickening out already?” B Group 03 laughed heartily at Ethan and said mockingly.

“What do you mean chickening out? What you said is a bit too much!” Ethan knew he had shot himself in the foot with this matter and didn't know who to vent his anger on, so he could only rely on his words to save some face.

“Ethan, I warned you before, I said Cui Qi's strength is very strong, but you didn't listen to me. As a result, when he raised the stakes, you disagreed? When you wanted to get serious, he didn't say anything at all!” The Deputy Team Leader said through clenched teeth.

“What? Not convinced? If you're not convinced, playing that video now isn't impossible!” Ethan was just looking for someone to vent his anger on!

The Deputy Team Leader gritted his teeth and glared at Ethan. He had indeed been coerced by Ethan before, but as an Officer Si of the Central Intelligence Agency, they held special respect for the members of the Special Case Team. The Special Case Team was both their role model and their leader. Therefore, when Ethan found the Deputy Team Leader with the video, the Deputy Team Leader didn't feel much resentment; instead, he felt that Ethan having found this video showed some capability.

He accepted his loss.

But now, not only was he threatened by Ethan, but even his most basic dignity was trampled upon.

“That's enough, Ethan, if you don't have the guts, stop putting on a show here!” Cui Qi saw that the Deputy Team Leader was enduring immense pressure, so he spoke up to help him out. Ethan glared at Cui Qi, wanting to retort, but not knowing Cui Qi's background, he didn't dare to speak easily.

“Is there still a need for me to talk to you now?” Ethan's mouth stretched into a wide grin.

“If you don't want to talk, then shut up. What kind of skill is it to threaten people with something you hold against them?” Cui Qi saw that Ethan was clearly wary of him now, but he also couldn't figure out what Ethan was planning.

It was clearly Ethan who came to challenge him first, but now he was the one backing down first.

Cui Qi couldn't figure out what game Ethan was playing.

“Yeah, you're the most upright, you're the most amazing. If I had connections with major organizations like you do, I could also say those high-sounding words, but I can't, I can only rely on my own strength. How awesome you are!” Ethan finished speaking.

Cui Qi finally understood what Ethan was being sarcastic about.

“Attention all participants, there are less than 4 hours left until the final stage ends, please hurry up!” Li Si's voice came through the loud broadcast speaker.

The people sitting in the grass had varied expressions.

Now Cui Qi clearly had the upper hand, and Ethan actually didn't dare to confront Cui Qi directly. The situation fell into a stalemate for a while.

The people following Ethan still hadn't defected to Cui Qi. The 5 people who were with Cui Qi before were still those 5, and the 4 people who were with Ethan were still those 4. There were also 3 people who hadn't even chosen a team, just standing casually on the edge.

“Has the competition stopped now?” The speaker was the strongest among the 3 people who hadn't joined a team, but his strength was still ranked behind Ethan in the overall ranking.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Cui Qi reacted quickly, found nearby cover, arranged the 4 people following him, and then paid attention to the plane's movements to see if bombing was the only attack method.

This final stage was far from simple.

Su Yue handed all the stages over to Li Si to design, and he was only responsible for overseeing the scene. This final stage was the one Li Si designed with the most care. He only told everyone that this tested leadership.

Everyone could imagine that at worst, there would be no winner, as long as no one submitted to anyone else. But Li Si didn't think that way; he was determined to decide the final winner.

So when half the time had passed, Li Si saw in the surveillance that the situation had fallen into a stalemate, and he naturally activated this part of his carefully designed plan. The plane circled in the sky, and everyone's first reaction was definitely a bomber.

Because the cunning Li Si specifically chose a bomber to carry out this mission, what actually dropped from it were various weapons and food.

Moreover, the weapons could eliminate other team members. As long as the remaining people all obeyed one person's command, or rather, listened to one person, then the winner would emerge.

If you feel you don't have this leadership ability, you can directly eliminate everyone else, and that's also fine.

Cui Qi watched the bomber circle continuously and found that it indeed didn't drop the expected bombs, but boxes of equipment instead. Cui Qi then understood Li Si's design and secretly sighed, “This Li Si, he's really cunning!”

Thinking this, he quickly took the remaining 4 people to pursue the equipment dropped by the plane.

Previously, when others heard the sound, they all thought it was a bomber and quickly hid themselves to avoid exposing their targets. So Cui Qi had seized the initiative, and no one had noticed for a while. Cui Qi originally thought that some people might stop following him because they were worried that the bombing would drop bombs.

But unexpectedly, these people followed him directly without asking a single question, not even a “why”.

“Now everyone start picking up equipment. D01 and B03 only take weapons and ammunition. A05 and C04 take food and water, especially water, take a little more. I will observe the surroundings to see if there are any more items dropping!” Cui Qi finished allocating the tasks in one sentence.

Everyone quickly bowed their heads and looked for things.

On the other side, Ethan and the other three finally discovered something was wrong. It seemed this bomber was just a facade! They quickly ran to where Cui Qi and his team were. The distance wasn't short, but because Cui Qi had given accurate instructions earlier, they quickly selected their equipment.

Cui Qi picked up a short gun and, while making them retreat, aimed at the Deputy Team Leader behind Ethan.

Not only because the Deputy Team Leader wasn't in Cui Qi's team, but also because the Deputy Team Leader was clearly seeking death. On the battlefield, the biggest taboo is to leave your back to the enemy, yet he kept looking back, hinting that Cui Qi could kill him.

Cui Qi held the gun and quickly aimed at the Deputy Team Leader.

“As you wished, I won't feel embarrassed.”

Ethan was stunned for a moment by the Deputy Team Leader's elimination. He had seen the Deputy Team Leader's strength with his own eyes; at this stage, it could be said he was no less capable than himself. How could he have been eliminated so quickly?

Before Ethan could figure it out, Cui Qi aimed at Ethan.

“Bang!” The clothes on Ethan's chest were hit by a white bullet, and the loudspeaker in the distance also reacted promptly and quickly.

“Ethan, Deputy Team Leader eliminated.”

After eliminating the two people, Cui Qi didn't continue moving. There was still time, no need to rush!

Cui Qi caught up with the four people ahead. The distance had gradually widened, and the people behind were completely out of sight.

“Cui Qi, tell us, what should we do next?” For some reason, D01 could always see the figure of his idol whom he admired in Cui Qi, which was the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency—Su Yue.

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“We don't have much time left. We haven't eaten or drunk for almost a day. Let's eat something first to fill our stomachs, and then I'll tell you the plan for the rest of the time.” Cui Qi distributed the food to the five people, and the water was also divided equally.

D01, having nothing to do, started chatting with Cui Qi: “Where were you when the mission was announced this morning? How come I didn't see you?” He originally wanted to stand with Cui Qi, but Cui Qi didn't show up.

“Ah, I had an upset stomach at that time, so I went to the restroom.” Cui Qi said lightly.

“Oh, okay then.” D01 was originally quite happy and wanted to talk to Cui Qi, but was dismissed by this sentence from Cui Qi.

“Have you all finished eating? Then I'll talk about our mission.” Cui Qi waited until everyone had finished eating, then distributed the weapons and equipment that D01 and B03 had obtained.

“This is what I'm thinking. We have five people now, and there are also five people left on the other side, so they will definitely form an alliance. We don't have an advantage in numbers, so we need to find the key to victory.”

“Does anyone have any thoughts?” Cui Qi asked the other team members.

D01 said: “I think since they are going to form an alliance, we also shouldn't act separately. Otherwise, if we get separated, we'll lose this little advantage we have. So our biggest advantage is staying united.”

Cui Qi nodded, agreeing strongly.

“What about the others? Any other thoughts?”

B03 continued: “I think we might not be able to defeat them one by one now. D01 is right, while we stay united, they definitely will too. For us, this isn't a big advantage.”

Cui Qi looked at D01, wanting to hear if he had any other ideas. D01 nodded and continued: “Indeed, but there's one difference between us and them. We all believe Cui Qi can become the final winner, but those five people might not think so.”

“That's why I said our unity is actually our biggest advantage.” Cui Qi nodded with a smile, “That's right, compared to them, we are more united, which means our breakthrough point is definitely in this area.”

“By taking advantage of everyone's desire to be first, we can achieve the final victory!” Cui Qi stated his idea.

“But we can't find this breakthrough point right now. They don't know where they are hiding in the mountains, and they didn't follow us after we left that grassy area.” A05 expressed his concern.

“That's right.” Cui Qi looked at A05 with appreciation. Finding an advantage is not difficult, but being able to identify problems with the plan while in a difficult situation is very rare. Fells and Deng Liduō also gained this valuable experience only after multiple confrontations with Su Yue.

“Based on the angle of the sun's refraction, and the previous reminder of 4 hours, we now have less than 3 hours left. They will definitely turn against each other at the end. We don't need to act first; we just need to wait until they panic at the last moment.”

Everyone nodded, feeling that Cui Qi was right.

“However, you rest here first, I'm going out for a bit. Pay attention to the time. If I don't come back in time, gather at the place where the mission was first announced. I will definitely meet up with you there.” After Cui Qi finished speaking, he left the cave.

Cui Qi actually didn't pay too much attention to the remaining five people. He communicated with them mainly to hear everyone's thoughts. The abilities of these people who survived to the end were definitely fine, and Cui Qi had no doubt about this.

As for the remaining people, let Cui Qi handle them himself.

“Finally waited for them!” Cui Qi had thought before that the strongest among those three people would definitely leave first, because finding their team might not be easy, so it was quickest to target them first, and it wouldn't be too late to pretend to look for their team afterwards.

This was also why Cui Qi greatly appreciated A05's ability to identify problems.

Even with an advantage, without the certainty of victory, any advantage, no matter how great, is useless.

Cui Qi didn't want to dampen their enthusiasm, so he chose to attack himself.

Cui Qi crouched far away from the strongest person. At this moment, he regretted not bringing a good gun, but regret was useless, so he could only continue to wait.

It was originally an organization of three people, but now two people suddenly appeared, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward. Cui Qi could see it from a distance.

“How did your Director die?” The strongest among the trio spoke first, asking the two people.

“Hit by Cui Qi, eliminated.”

“You two weren't hit?” The strongest person didn't expect that the one who died first was the one with the most say among them. He laughed contemptuously, and the disdain in his eyes made both of them very awkward.

“What? Can't stay any longer?” The contempt in his eyes wasn't enough; he directly spoke to humiliate them.

“Can't we just leave? We were just separated before, so we joined you. We didn't come here to be humiliated!” The speaker's attitude was not weak either, and he retorted directly.

“What? You're still not convinced? Even if Cui Qi doesn't eliminate you, I will eliminate you!”

“You... your words aren't that excessive, are they?”

“Alright, don't forget, Cui Qi already said it. You guys are only gathered together because Ethan has something on you. And you thought your group was so noble?”

“What's the point of you talking about us now? Besides, you three aren't together because you admire each other, are you? It's clearly because that team didn't want any of you, and you're still self-righteous, thinking that none of them are as strong as you, isn't that right?”

“You... what nonsense are you talking?” Cui Qi listened to them arguing and kept moving forward. His previous idea had indeed worked. Intentionally mentioning the video about them was to make the other two groups look down on each other.

This contempt, while seemingly harmless, in war, once people dislike each other, cooperation can never be achieved.

Cui Qi silently approached. At this moment, the others were completely unaware. The strongest person picked up his previous weapon and aimed the muzzle at the two people, “Since you two don't want to survive to the end, then I don't need to save face for you anymore.”

“See you back at the Central Intelligence Agency.”

Cui Qi stared intently at the strongest person. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Cui Qi decisively made his move, ending the life of this arrogant fellow.

The most terrifying are those who are self-righteous and cannot see the situation clearly.

“What's going on? What's the situation now? Did you two find help?” The remaining two looked at the two who were almost eliminated just now, with confused expressions.

“Where would we find help? To get you to take us in, we gave you all our weapons!”

“Then what exactly is going on now?”

“Did Cui Qi and his team find help?”

Cui Qi looked at them, like startled birds, his face full of disdain. He really wondered how they had survived the previous rounds. Without hesitation, Cui Qi directly eliminated the two who were allied with the person he had just killed.

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