Gathering Manpower

"If you don't make a profit, you're operating at a loss."

For someone from a business background, that was practically a lesson carved into instinct.

But being able to assess the situation was just as essential a quality.

After hesitating for a while, they ultimately could not bring themselves to tear off all pretense and force their way through. After throwing out a few harsh words, the pack of "hyenas" grudgingly retreated again, opening up a greater safe distance while stubbornly lingering at the edge of the others' watchful sight.

"Since they still don't dare make a move, they'll probably wait for more people to arrive. Bai Shan, stay alert."

As Chen Ruiping sat on a rock beside him and retightened some bandages that had come loose during the recent action, Raven gave several reminders to his colleagues maintaining the "artificial checkpoint."

There was clearly no chance of settling this peacefully, especially judging by how those people in the distance kept skulking about and refusing to leave.

For now, they either had to find a way to take away that "big thing" they had dug up, though the difficulty of that was obvious—or they had to continue forcibly researching it on the spot nearby, bearing both the petrifying effects and the risk of harassment from these people.

They were somewhat caught between advancing and retreating—but they could not bear to give it up, either.

Still, all of that hinged on one clear issue: manpower.

Those guys on the other side were waiting for more people to gather around, and so were they.

Laser disco balls scattered broken patches of light across the packed dance floor in a riot of colors. The air was hot and murky, mixed with the smell of sweat, perfume, and the cloying sweetness of evaporating alcoholic