Radiator on the Cliff's Edge

The Black Base was terrifyingly empty.

It was desolate and cold, with only Sophia's whimpers echoing.

Seeing the Instant Kill light on the opposite side, Luis felt his body go weak, knowing that the last person in his squad was also dead.

At this point, only he and Sophia, two Radiators, remained in the entire Black Base.

The prosperous scene of nineteen people just before was gone.

What a tragic situation? Just a few minutes ago, they were sure of victory, how did it turn around so quickly and collapse completely?

Too many things had happened in a short time.

Luis had intended to cooperate with the White Faction in the fourth round to eliminate Sophia's group first.

Sophia, who had known this all along, was preparing to eliminate Gaoxin first, disrupt the White Faction, and then deal with Luis's group in the fourth round.

Both sides were preparing for a big showdown in the fourth round, but they never expected that this round would turn into a stage for a Glass Person.

He had almost wiped them out.

First, he impersonated a Gladiator and lured a Black Vest to their death, then in the fourth round, he grasped the true essence of this game and used a Glass Cannon to kill another person.

Even more outrageous, he was still impersonating a Gladiator! Preferring to let the White Faction lose a drop of blood again...

With a confidence that could only be described as insane, he had deceived them.

Why wasn't he a Gladiator? It didn't make sense.

Looking at the empty base, the two of them suddenly understood.

That's right, it would be even more disgusting if Gaoxin wasn't a Gladiator.

It meant he could time it perfectly to create an Instant Kill trap!

They had all been so enraged by Gaoxin's trickery that they chased him out, but this move by Gaoxin was truly meant to take all their lives.

Compared to that, if he had actually become a Gladiator, he wouldn't have been able to kill all six of them.

Because he was still just a Glass Person, even with the Glass Cannon effect, as long as the Radiators didn't give him an opening, he couldn't kill them.

Besides, they weren't stupid. It was a calculation of whether it was worth being ground down and killed, or sacrificing one person. They could figure that out, they just couldn't decide who would sacrifice themselves at that moment.

So, if Gaoxin had become a real Gladiator, the final outcome would have been one of the Radiators taking him down with them.

How could so many have died like this?

The entire process was a chain of events, playing them like puppets.

Sophia and Luis reviewed the entire process.

For a moment, a sense of fear washed over them.

They had been completely, utterly toyed with.

By a Glass Person!

With a madness that could be described as insane, he had killed five people in one round.

Looking back, they realized that out of a total of ten Radiators, eight had been killed by him, one after another.

The remaining two were also severely injured.

"Ah! Ahhhh!"

Sophia screamed, her Steel Arm pounding the floor.

Luis, enraged, smashed his Big Hammer against the wall!

However, the game continued.

"Round five, Black Base attacks. Send Duel Invitation within ten minutes."

The two of them stood up and walked to the round table.

"I'm going to kill him. Idiot, let's stop fighting each other," Sophia said fiercely.

Luis nodded heavily. "We were too careless before."

They had treated each other as their greatest enemies and never considered the Glass Person a serious threat.

They never expected that there would be such a terrifying Glass Person who could bring them to this point, let alone have the guts to do so!

"Next, we'll kill him!"

As they spoke, they began to edit the invitation.

But suddenly, both of them froze. They had thought of something else.

"If the attack is successful, who... who will fight?"

Sophia and Luis looked up and met each other's eyes.

"You'll fight, of course," Luis said.

Sophia's face darkened. "Heh, don't think I don't know... you're White Faction! You were incited to defect in the first round!"

"If I go into battle, you just need to close the door and leave me to die outside..."

"The White Faction will surely win!"

Luis said coldly, "What can be done about it?"

"You said it yourself, I'm part of the White Faction. If I, as a Gladiator, win, it'll be at the Black Faction's expense! Are you happy about that?"

Sophia's face was drained of color. She finally realized that the Black Faction was standing on the edge of a cliff.

All the Black players, except for him, had defected to the other side... and they were all heavily injured NPCs.

For the White Faction, killing everyone meant that only she would remain as a Black player in the entire game!

If she died, everyone would be White.

Of course, the game wouldn't end just yet; it only ended when one side's HP dropped to zero.

But with everyone on the White side, ending the game wouldn't be difficult. They could play however they wanted from then on.

It would then be up to Luis to negotiate the distribution of benefits with the other side.

"I won't go into battle! I absolutely refuse to!" Sophia declared firmly.

Luis frowned; he also dared not go into battle.

Granted, he was on the White Faction's side, but he and Gaoxin from the opposing side were sworn enemies.

The other side definitely wouldn't accept him into their base, and Sophia, feeling that someone from the White Faction might betray her at any moment, would surely close the door on him when he went into battle, leaving him to die outside!

This way, Sophia would have a base all to herself.

While seemingly outnumbered, she would actually be more secure.

She wouldn't have to worry about backstabs. Her single vote would count as everyone's vote, putting her base into absolute defense mode!

Thinking of this, Luis realized that Sophia might very well kill him.

He immediately said sternly, "I won't go into battle either, absolutely not!"

At this point, both of them stared at each other, a murderous intent brewing between them once more.

They weren't on the same side!

One of them had to die!

Meanwhile, inside the White Base, cheers erupted.

Especially the NPC Glass People, who were weeping tears of joy.

They had narrowly escaped death and arrived at the White Base.

Everyone here was a Glass Person, and Gaoxin had promised them that he would help them all survive.

He hadn't just said it; he had done it!

Single-handedly, he had rescued them from the Radiators.

This was done at the risk of his own life, a gamble with death itself.

If even one of them had touched Gaoxin at that moment and failed to trigger an Instant Kill, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Gaoxin would have surely been torn to shreds by the enraged Radiators.

At this moment, Han Qing understood everything. His eyes instantly turned red, and he knelt down, excitedly kowtowing to Gaoxin.

"Ababa! Abababa..."

Han Qing kowtowed frantically, overwhelmed with emotion.

His emotional journey had been a rollercoaster...

As an NPC Glass Person, being sent to an intermediate-level game had already dampened his spirits considerably.

Glass People already had a high mortality rate, and as an NPC, he was considered expendable, with virtually no hope of survival.

Then, during the game, Gaoxin and the others had contacted him, telling him they would save all the Glass People, including them.

At that moment, he saw a glimmer of hope, and he cooperated fully with their subsequent actions.

But after they emerged, Gaoxin had approached him, grinning sinisterly as he knocked him down and dragged him into the Black Base, saying that he was also a Gladiator and they would enter Glass Cannon mode.

Han Qing had thought he had been deceived, used... and that he was doomed.

Thus, anger, unwillingness, fear, pain, despair...

All sorts of emotions tormented him, driving him to the brink of madness.

Yet, Gaoxin's subsequent actions had actually saved him, even telling him that the deathmatch was fake and using that to kill a horde of Radiators.

Suddenly, the situation had turned around, and they had survived against all odds.

Such a dramatic turn of events had driven Han Qing to the verge of madness. Naturally, he kowtowed desperately now, the sound of his head hitting the floor echoing loudly.

The other NPCs were much the same, deeply moved. They all knelt down to express their gratitude for saving their lives. No one cherished life more than they did.

"Alright, alright..." Gaoxin waved his hand.

He was severely injured. Dongfang Yi was by his side, applying medicine and bandaging him. He could only signal Sule to help everyone up.

"Benefactor... Baba... I, ababa!" Han Qing got up and gestured to Gaoxin.

After a series of gestures, he clenched his fist and patted his chest, as if to say that his life was now in Gaoxin's hands.

"Brother Xin Ku, I think when you went out, you should have just beaten him. You scared me... Why didn't you tell him your plan?" Sule said with emotion.

Gaoxin calmly replied, "To deceive the enemy, you must first deceive yourself."

"If I told him the truth, what if his acting wasn't good enough and he gave us away?"

"If you're going to play, play for real! My plan had a slim chance of success; it was a gamble with my life. I can lose my own life, but I don't want to lose it because of someone else's acting."

Xing Shiping nodded. Letting him defect to the other side earlier was also part of playing for real.

If not, and if he had said something wrong that made Sophia wary, they might not have had such a good opportunity.

Meimei looked at Gaoxin's chest and torso, which were wrapped in blood-stained bandages, and pursed her lips. "Brother, it was really too dangerous. Since you were playing for real, you should have become a Gladiator and created a true Glass Cannon."

"It's just... saving one less person."

Han Qing looked up, his eyes teary.

He thought the same thing, which made him even more touched.

Gaoxin said faintly, "It doesn't matter, it's all the same. It's all a gamble with our lives anyway..."

He didn't explain in detail, but Dongfang Yi understood that the risk for Gaoxin, whether he was a Gladiator or not, was not significantly different in the recent action.

If they really wanted to kill him, it wouldn't matter if he was real or fake; the result would be death anyway. It was just a matter of whether he could trade for another life.

But if they didn't dare to touch him, then Gaoxin would be invincible. What difference would it make if he was a Gladiator or not? As long as they believed it.

In fact, from the perspective of the opposing side, Gaoxin had to be a Gladiator; otherwise, it would be too outrageous.

So, there was no need to actually become a Gladiator; acting was enough!

Of course, if it were real and triggered an Instant Kill, it would be more stable, but the reward would be lower.

Dongfang Yi sighed, "Your acting was so convincing. If you had shown even a hint of hesitation, you would have died."

"When you were blocking the door alone, and I looked back to see the axe swing towards your head, I really thought you were dead."

"What were you thinking at that moment? Did you really think you were a Gladiator, ready to trade one for one?"

To his surprise, Gaoxin nodded. "Yes, I did."

"..." Dongfang Yi shook his head and smiled. "I'm convinced, Boss Gao... You're a genius at acting!"

This was the first time he had called him "Boss Gao."

Clearly, the courage and strategy Gaoxin displayed had earned his respect.

Some crazy strategies, he could think of them, but he might not dare to execute them.

But Gaoxin dared. He would gamble with his life when necessary, possessing a calm kind of madness.