172: Chapter 172 Infamy Spreads Far and Wide

Leading them was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, his eyes carrying a hint of arrogance.

With his hands in his pockets and his head tilted, he swept a critical gaze over the miserable coalition of the three factions, as if inspecting goods, a mocking curve forming at the corner of his mouth:

"Heh... hehe."

"I say, Jian Xue, Zhao Ming, Brother Cheng, you three are supposed to be prominent figures on this beach, so how did you end up in such a sorry state?"

"Just what kind of 'tough nut' could force you to pay such a steep price and come begging to us, the Azure Alliance?"

"You really are... useless."

Although he had accepted money to do a job, the young man, Situ Baichuan, did not mince words, mocking them to the fullest.

The faces of Jian Xue and the others darkened further, but since they needed help, they could only suppress their anger.

Jian Xue said coldly: "Situ Baichuan, enough talk! You took the money, so do the job! Get rid of them quickly!"

"What's the rush?"

Situ Baichuan picked at his ear, looking impatient, but he still turned around to face Qi Yun directly, his frivolous expression slightly restrained:

"Hey, pretty boy over there, are you their leader? Fine, don't blame me for not giving you a chance. If you have any last words, say them quickly. Once you're done, I'll send you on your..."

Before he could finish the word "way," his gaze inadvertently swept across the crowd behind Qi Yun.

Then, his gaze suddenly froze on a woman who had been standing quietly in the back row.

That figure was tall and cold, her ink-black hair like a waterfall, her deep purple eyes calm and motionless.

The mockery and arrogance on Situ Baichuan's face instantly melted away.

In its place was a sense of extreme shock, bewilderment, and bone-deep terror.

He blinked rapidly and even shook his head forcefully, as if trying to dispel the hallucination before him.

No... impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

It must be someone who looks like her! Yes, just looks like her!

That terrifying woman, the BOSS known as the "Disaster," who had toyed with them like ants in the island dungeon and left countless newcomers from the Land of Beginning with lifelong psychological trauma.

How could she possibly appear here?! And standing in a Tribe?!

The immense fear made his legs go weak, but he forced himself to steady them, clinging to a final shred of hope—perhaps he had seen wrong, perhaps it was just a similarity in demeanor...

He suppressed the urge to turn and run, his throat dry, and looked at Qi Yun again, trying to mask his guilty conscience with an even more arrogant tone: "Hey! Hurry up and say your last words!"

Qi Yun looked at the leader of the reinforcements, whose aura had suddenly weakened, feeling a bit puzzled, but he still smiled calmly:

"Why are you people from the Land of Beginning all so confident?"

His tone was flat, yet it carried an indifference that looked down upon ants.

Under normal circumstances, Situ Baichuan would have exploded by now.

But at this moment, he was being frantically eroded by increasingly clear, terrifying memories.

He could feel the cold sweat on his back already soaking through his clothes.

Just then, a team member behind him, also from the "Azure Alliance" and more senior, seemed to notice Li as well.

His face turned deathly pale in an instant, and he leaned into Situ Baichuan's ear, trembling, and said in a low voice that sounded like he was about to cry:

"Cap... Captain... that... that woman..."

"She looks... like the Disaster."

The two words "Disaster" shattered the last shred of hope in Situ Baichuan's heart. He had been hoping that it was just a mistake due to a distant memory and that this woman only shared a similar temperament!

But even his own companion said so—could it really be her?

That killing god! That nightmare!

Countless images flashed through Situ Baichuan's mind:

In the island dungeon, the scene of his companions dying miserably with a mere wave of her hand;

The despair of being unable to move, waiting for death, just from a single glance of hers;

Situ Baichuan's heart was pounding in his chest as if it were about to burst, and the cold sweat dripping from his forehead slid down his temples.

Two voices in his mind were engaged in a fierce battle: one was the hopeful "it's just someone who looks like her," and the other was the fearful "it is her."

He had to confirm! If it really was her... Situ Baichuan's Adam's apple bobbed, then today he had truly kicked into the gates of hell.

He took a deep breath, looked at Li's figure, and shouted:

"You! What are you looking at? I'm talking to you!"

"Get out here!"

Jian Xue, Zhao Ming, Brother Cheng, and their subordinates all looked in the direction Situ Baichuan was pointing, puzzled.

They didn't understand why this powerful reinforcement they had hired was suddenly targeting a woman who looked excessively quiet.

Li had originally been standing quietly a little distance behind and to the side of Qi Yun.

Qi Yun had an agreement with her that unless the Tribe was in extreme danger, she would try not to intervene, leaving opportunities for battle and growth to the other girls.

However, an agreement was an agreement.

When someone used such a disrespectful posture and tone to call her out by name...

The situation was different.

Li moved.

She took a step.

Step by step, she walked slowly out from the crowd behind Qi Yun.

She walked to a position slightly in front and to the side of Qi Yun and stopped.

That cold voice sounded:

"Oh? ant..."

"Are you talking about me?"

This familiar, condescending tone and address, viewing all living beings as mere grass...

"Boom—!!!"

Situ Baichuan's brain was struck hard by a thunderbolt!

All hope, all doubt, all his posturing, shattered completely at this moment!

It was her voice! It was this voice! This tone! This gaze!

It couldn't be wrong! Absolutely not!

It was the "Disaster"!

Damn it! This is game over!

If I had known this ancestor was on the other side, even if you put a knife to my throat—no, to my brother—I would never have stepped onto this beach! I wouldn't come for any amount of money! No, I'd pay to run as far away as possible!

Extreme fear overwhelmed everything. What mission, what reward, what face—all of it was bullshit in the face of survival!

Situ Baichuan made a move that left everyone present stunned, including the team members he brought, Jian Xue, Zhao Ming, Brother Cheng, all the kneeling "newcomers" and remnants, and even some of the girls behind Qi Yun (such as Xia Ran), making them doubt if they were experiencing a collective hallucination—

His legs went weak,

"Thump!"

A dull sound.

Under the gaze of everyone on the beach, this captain of the "Azure Alliance," Situ Baichuan, who had been arrogant and overbearing just a moment ago, knelt straight down before Li.

He knelt down cleanly and without hesitation.

On the beach, there was dead silence.

Only the sea breeze continued to blow tirelessly, stirring up a faint smell of blood, and... boundless absurdity.

Jian Xue, Zhao Ming, Brother Cheng: "...???"

The reinforcements we paid a fortune to hire... the first thing they do after arriving is kneel to the enemy?!

Kneeling newcomers: "...???"

What's going on??? Are the big shots from the Land of Beginning this cowardly? Kneeling just like that?

Qi Yun: "...?"

Kneeling already? I haven't even started showing off yet!

Qi Yun glanced at the kneeling Situ Baichuan with some surprise, then, as if sensing something, looked at Li.

He seemed to understand something.