AZI Volume 3 Chapter 34

"Captain, do you trust me?"

"I-"

Before Ye Chen can answer, Long Hua adds—

"My mentor taught me—that the stupidest thing an individual can do, is to entrust their life to someone else. I must agree with that."

Although Long Hua's goal is to obtain a storage pouch, so that he can use his openly in the future, he doesn't trust these individuals to be able to steal a pouch from the Ashen River Hall.

Taking this opportunity, Long Hua figured that he may as well be honest, and get an awkward matter out of the way.

"I'll be honest with you, surnamed Ye. I don't trust my back to anyone here."

Following Long Hua's words, tension manifests in the air, as he and Ye Chen stare at each other in silence.

(This surnamed Long, is he really planning to flip face here and now?)

A bead of cold sweat rolls down the side of Qing Yue's head.

Ever since Qing Yue had seen what Long Hua is capable of, she has been expecting this to happen; however, she never thought it'd happen this soon.

(Shit, if this surnamed Long goes off, and acts independently, my own chances of survival will be lowered. The best-case scenario would be to stick to him like glue…)

Understanding that these ancient ruins were built with the technology of the Immortals, Qing Yue knows that her odds of survival would be higher if Long Hua was willing to stick around.

Shrugging a shoulder, Long Hua says—

"You're not very different from me, surnamed Ye. Other than the vice-captain, you don't really trust us either, do you? Hence, you attach military ranks to our names."

"…"

Hearing this remark, Li Xue constricts her eyes.

Was there ever any trust between Ye Chen and her, when she had openly declared—that she would kill him in the past?

"…"

Looking past the sunglasses, and into Long Hua's azure eyes, Ye Chen's expression turns solemn.

Indeed, just as Long Hua had said, Ye Chen doesn't trust anyone beside Li Xue with his back.

As ironic and strange as Ye Chen's trust towards Li Xue might be, the latter knows to focus on survival when needed, and wouldn't just blindly make attempts to kill him at every turn.

The matter of trust between squad-mates, this is something that Ye Chen had wanted to resolve over the course of five years—while they were all in the same office; however, the situation at this time, simply won't allow that to happen.

If they head off into the desert in this state, the odds of them being able to survive till the end are very low.

The desert's heatwave will be the least of their concerns in this situation. Although Shao Tianming had said—that the storage devices are pre-filled with supplies, the supply itself isn't infinite.

Under these circumstances, prevention of in-fighting over food supplies and water should be their focus—as out of desperation, a person would do anything to ensure their own survival.

"…"

Glancing behind him, Ye Chen sees a few individuals walking up to Shao Tianming's group with the intent to sign that parchment.

Closing his eyes, Ye Chen raises a sigh before opening them, and answers—

"I've said this before, but I look forward to seeing you three make it through your first year alive. Surnamed Long, if you think you're able to raise the odds of us acquiring a storage device by being in the steal group, then… Be my guest."

Smiling faintly, Long Hua replies—

"I'll be the first one to make a move in a bit."

"Teng Hao, is that fine with you?"

Looking between Ye Chen and Long Hua, Teng Hao didn't really know what to say.

Momentarily, Teng Hao nods his head, and replies—

"Hopefully, this doesn't come back to bite me in the rear later…"

"Right, we've wasted enough time as is. Position yourselves accordingly later."

Having said this, Ye Chen looks to Long Hua, who gives a nod back before walking into the crowd.

As they approached Shao Tianming and the others, the two path-opener groups split themselves off to the side.

Upon reaching the front of the crowd, only Long Hua, Ye Chen, Teng Hao, and Shen Le were left of their group.

Having hidden his fishing rod behind him ahead of time, Long Hua draws in a breath of air, and asks—

"Surnamed Shao, how many pouches does your group even have?"

"…"

Narrowing his eyes, Shao Tianming looks to Long Hua's group for an instance—before making a gesture towards his own group.

"…"

"…"

Simultaneously, Li Zi Xiang and the others took out more storage pouches, and raised them high into the air—for all to see clearly.

In the same instance, Shao Tianming says—

"It's not enough for everyone, but I think most groups should be able to get at least one—assuming you're willing to sign the contract."

Hearing this, the panic level of the crowd rises, and just as a few are thinking of dashing up to the front, Long Hua asks—

"How much time will each pouch's supply last per group?"

Feeling something amiss, Shao Tianming asks—

"Surnamed Long, what are you…-?"

"…"

Pressing the red button on his fishing rod with his thumb, Long Hua swings his right arm, and casts his line out.

As the fishing rod extends to its full length, time seems to slow, as the hook flies through the air, and—