Internal Strife

Under the curious gazes of the crowd, Zhang Meng glanced at the person who had spoken first.

The man’s name was Chang Feng, though Zhang Meng couldn’t tell whether he had simply asked out of curiosity or had some ulterior motive.

After all, who in this battlefield wasn’t curious about Liu Xuan?

The problem was that Liu Xuan himself didn’t want to deal with too many people.

So Zhang Meng smiled and said to everyone, “Liu Xuan has always been a firebrand, even back when he played games. He sets very clear goals. Once he makes a plan, he immediately finds a way to carry it out.

“That’s why he finds socializing troublesome and doesn’t want to reveal his identity. But he isn’t some cold, heartless guy. He’s actually quite easygoing. Once he has the time—or once this battle is completely over—I’m sure he’ll be happy to meet everyone.”

There was nothing wrong with what Zhang Meng said. In the games he had played in the past, Liu Xuan hadn’t always acted as a lone wolf.

He often took other players through dungeons, too.

Most of the people didn’t think much of it after hearing Zhang Meng’s explanation.

He was the ace, after all. It was normal for him to be a little aloof.

As long as he could carry them to victory, that was all that mattered.

But since someone had brought up the subject today, he clearly had no intention of letting it pass so easily.

Another man named Shen Zhou immediately chimed in. “Does the ace really not want to meet anyone, or is there someone who doesn’t want him to meet anyone?”

The moment he said this, the atmosphere turned cold.

Quite a few people looked at Shen Zhou in surprise, their hearts tightening.

Zhang Meng couldn’t help frowning. “Shen Zhou, what exactly do you mean by that?”

The latter shrugged carelessly. “Nothing in particular, Zhang. It’s not that we don’t believe you. Everyone just wants to meet the ace and broaden their horizons.

“We want to get to know Legendary Liu Xuan. Putting everything else aside, surely we can at least thank him in person and raise a toast to him, right? Don’t you all agree?”

An easygoing man nearby gave an awkward laugh, trying to defuse the tension. “Haha, Shen Zhou, this is a battlefield. Don’t bring that drinking-table nonsense in here. It’s a bad habit.”

The others laughed along, hoping to let the matter die.

But Shen Zhou refused to back down. “We don’t have to drink, but there shouldn’t be any problem with meeting him, right? I heard that just today, Legendary Liu Xuan took quite a few people to the logging camp to level up, and every one of them made it past Level 10. The auction house is now flooded with equipment because of it. Everyone can see that.”

Zhang Meng let out a cold laugh. “Doesn’t that prove exactly what I just said? He takes whoever he wants, does whatever he wants. No one is stopping him from meeting people, and no one can control him even if they wanted to.”

Shen Zhou laughed loudly. “Brother Zhang, you may have misunderstood me. What I’m saying is that Legendary Liu Xuan might not know what the rest of us are thinking. After all, he’s never communicated with us, and no one has passed our message along to him.”

By the end, Shen Zhou was staring pointedly at Zhang Meng, clearly implying: You never told Liu Xuan what everyone wants.

By now, Zhang Meng had more or less figured out Shen Zhou’s objective. Instead of getting angry, he folded his arms. “Then what do you want to say to Liu Xuan?”

Shen Zhou didn’t answer his question. Instead, he stood up and looked toward the other squad leaders, stirring them up. “Everyone, you want to meet the ace too, don’t you?”

“Uh…”

They did, of course. Who wouldn’t want to meet Liu Xuan?

But it wasn’t as if they were desperate to see him.

When no one voiced their support, Shen Zhou could only grit his teeth and continue.

“I’m not saying Brother Zhang has done a bad job. But look at everyone’s expressions. Clearly, they respect Legendary Liu Xuan more. So shouldn’t he also take part in making decisions on the battlefield? That way, we could speak to him directly whenever we had a request.”

Zhang Meng stood there with his arms crossed, sneering coldly.

So this was what Shen Zhou was really after.

“Your last sentence is the real reason, isn’t it, Shen Zhou? You’re jealous of all the equipment, materials, and skill books Liu Xuan has put up for sale. You’re jealous that he’s helped people level up?”

Shen Zhou’s face stiffened slightly, but he quickly recovered and argued, “I never said that.”

“Your excuses are meaningless!” Zhang Meng snorted. “I’m announcing this now: from this moment on, you’re no longer a squad leader.”

Shen Zhou completely lost his composure. He shouted angrily, “What right do you have to remove me? You’re running a dictatorship!”

Zhang Meng glared at him. The ferocity in his eyes frightened Shen Zhou into stumbling backward several steps. He nearly fell over.

“I think you—and certain others—have grown complacent after enjoying a few comfortable days. You’ve started treating this place like a game, haven’t you? You’re beginning to scheme against each other over a few scraps of profit, just like those game guilds, aren’t you?

“Let me make one thing clear. This is different in my eyes! I regard this as a battle that will determine the fate of thousands of people on this battlefield, and may even decide the future of Huaxia! Anyone who tries to push this battlefield in a direction unfavorable to us—I will kill them!”

By the end, he glowered fiercely at Shen Zhou.

Terrified, Shen Zhou dropped heavily onto the ground, unable to utter another word.

“Um…”

Chang Feng, who was standing nearby, still wanted to speak up for Shen Zhou as a neutral party. But Zhang Meng merely glanced at him.

“You too. Get lost.”

“…”

Chang Feng was even more timid. One look from Zhang Meng was enough to frighten him into dragging the struggling Shen Zhou away.

The people left behind exchanged glances, but no one felt that Zhang Meng had done anything wrong.

Their living conditions might have improved now, but hadn’t they all once huddled inside the farm, trembling with fear?

No one knew how long this battle would last. No one knew whether they would eventually face opponents from other countries—or even other worlds. There was no guarantee that any of them would survive.

Was it really appropriate to start worrying about personal interests already?

Still, some people remained uneasy. One of them asked Zhang Meng with a frown, “Brother Zhang, do you think those two will cause trouble?”

Zhang Meng fell silent for a moment, secretly studying the expressions of the others. When he saw the unease on some of their faces, he shook his head.

“I’ll keep an eye on them.”

…

Once the two of them were outside, a blast of cold wind swept over Shen Zhou, and he realized that his entire back was drenched in sweat.

After the fear came an even more intense wave of humiliation. He had been frightened into collapsing from a single glare in front of so many people. When had Shen Zhou ever suffered such disgrace?

Chang Feng, meanwhile, looked utterly miserable. “Shen Zhou, what happened? Didn’t you say that as long as we voiced our demands, everyone else would rally behind us? Why didn’t anyone support us?”

Shen Zhou ground his teeth. “They’re all a bunch of cowards! They had such a good opportunity and still refused to join in! Once we got to meet Liu Xuan, all we would have had to do was apply a little moral pressure. He would’ve been forced to hand over plenty of benefits.”

Chang Feng was speechless. “You didn’t exactly look much better just now… You fell right under the bench.”

Shen Zhou: “…”

How was I supposed to know Zhang Meng’s eyes would be so terrifying?

Whenever Shen Zhou recalled how Zhang Meng’s glare had left his entire body limp and made him collapse onto the ground, his anger only grew.

“What do we do now?” Chang Feng felt deeply troubled. “You heard what Zhang Meng said just now. He wouldn’t really have us killed, would he? Maybe we should go apologize and admit defeat?”

Shen Zhou struggled with the idea for a moment. But when he remembered how pathetic he had looked just now, his hatred for Zhang Meng grew stronger and stronger.

“Damn it, we’re dead either way. We might as well go all out against them!”

Chang Feng was startled. “What are you planning to do?!”

“Remember that newcomer who was assigned to our squad just yesterday?”

“You mean Wang Dafu?”

“That’s right. He introduced me to a very profitable opportunity. Let’s take out Liu Xuan!”

“Wait, what?”

Chang Feng was dumbfounded.

Shen Zhou’s face was filled with hatred as he said, almost as if venting his anger, “We don’t necessarily have to kill him. As long as we can slow down his progress, that’ll do. Of course, killing him would be even better. Wang Dafu said that, apart from Huaxia, the United States is the furthest ahead in progress. As long as Huaxia slows down, once the United States wins, the entire Blue Star will become part of the United States, and our good days will begin!”

Chang Feng still looked confused. “Huh? Really? But we’re Chinese. Wouldn’t it be better if the entire Blue Star became part of Huaxia instead?”

“You’re fucking stupid! What does Huaxia winning have to do with us? If the United States wins, we’ll be heroes. Just think about how many benefits we’ll get! Besides, we offended Zhang Meng today. Even if he doesn’t kill us, once the war ends, all he has to do is tell people what happened, and we’re screwed. Think about how our country treats deserters!”

As he spoke, Shen Zhou grabbed Chang Feng by the collar and said coldly, “We can only go all the way down this road now!”

“B-but how could we possibly be a match for him?”

Shen Zhou wore a confident expression. “Have you forgotten that our men explored the battlefield in every direction before and discovered a mountain in the east filled with high-level humanoid monsters? I tried to pry some information out of the village chief, but he refused to say anything. He only told me that my level was far too low and that the place was extremely dangerous. I estimate there are monsters close to Level 20 in there! All we have to do is find a way to lure Liu Xuan over there. Heh heh.”

Liu Xuan had taken quite a few people into dungeons, so strictly speaking, his abilities were no longer much of a secret.

However, those people owed him a debt of gratitude, so naturally, they wouldn’t go around spreading the details.

Therefore, even though Shen Zhou and the others were squad leaders, and some of their subordinates had joined Liu Xuan’s team, they still hadn’t managed to find out Liu Xuan’s attributes.

All they had said vaguely was that he was unbelievably powerful.

But exactly how powerful, Shen Zhou had no idea.

If they knew Liu Xuan’s health points and fighting style, they wouldn’t have dared to entertain this idea even if someone beat them to death.