A Bet

"Brothers, charge!"

Baili Pangpang shouted at the surging crowd, looking fired up.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Lin Qiye grabbed him and sprinted out of the training ground.

"Qiye, everyone else is going in. Isn't it kind of lousy of us not to join them?" Baili Pangpang scratched his head, feeling a little guilty.

"Join them, my ass!"

"First, we don't have weapons. Second, we know nothing about [Mask]. Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Lin Qiye tore into him, sorely tempted to kick the idiot away.

"But I have..." Baili Pangpang felt around in his pocket, but Lin Qiye gave him no chance to show what he could do.

"No buts. Wang Quan's sitting right there. You think you can even touch him?" Lin Qiye stressed. Even now, he still had no idea what Wang Quan's untouchable domain actually was.

"Oh, oh, oh!"

"Got it!"

"Then where are we going?"

"The warehouse!"

The two slipped away amid the chaos, unaware that Wang Quan had watched the whole thing. He said quietly, "Not bad. You're not idiots."

Just then, a hand reached toward [White-Cleaver]. The recruit's grin widened uncontrollably, and for a moment, he thought the legendary [Daybreak] wasn't so impressive after all.

I'm right in his face, and he's still getting distracted.

The next instant, the smile froze on his face.

His hand stopped in midair, just one centimeter from [White-Cleaver].

But that one centimeter, that single centimeter, was like an impassable chasm.

"You!"

"Pretty brave, aren't you?"

As the words fell, Wang Quan's sunglasses dropped, and his azure eyes suddenly lit up.

The recruit's legs went weak, and he dropped helplessly to his knees.

At that moment, he felt a majesty unlike anything he had ever experienced. It terrified him, made him tremble, and compelled him to bow in submission.

That was the aura Wang Quan displayed.

Throughout heaven and earth, he alone reigned supreme!

Only then did the recruit realize how foolish his earlier thoughts had been.

The recruits charging behind him had no idea what had happened, because this was what they saw-

That guy got one glare, and then he knelt?

Coward!

What else could he be?

"He's only one man! Don't chicken out!"

"Brothers, charge!"

Those words reignited the faltering crowd. More than twenty people surrounded Wang Quan from every direction, leaving no gaps.

Snap!

A crisp snap of the fingers filled the world.

In an instant, a ring of purple-gold ripples burst outward from Wang Quan.

An overwhelming repulsive force swept across everyone trying to approach him. A string of thuds rang out, and all of them went flying backward.

At the same time, something changed on [Mask]'s side as well.

A deep purple vortex bloomed in midair before the five members of [Mask], absorbing every attack in an instant.

Right behind it came a pink hammer two stories tall. It whipped up a fierce gale and swept through the air like a dragon swinging its tail, knocking away every airborne recruit.

[Mask]'s counterattack didn't end there. The purple vortex swelled to a certain size, then erupted.

Those still charging forward realized something was wrong, turned, and ran.

"Too late!"

"You're finished!" Vortex sneered.

Flames, lightning, earthen spikes... the recruits' own attacks came hurtling back like a violent storm. A series of explosions rang out, and the dazzling light eclipsed the blazing sun.

The shock wave blew the lollipop out of Wang Quan's hand. He shot Vortex a glance and cursed, "Get farther away! Don't hit me!"

"Brother Quan, that's not fair!" Vortex complained.

His words had barely fallen when five lollipops traced perfect arcs through the air, landing neatly in the hands of [Mask]'s members.

"My treat!"

"Whoa!"

"This is good stuff!"

Moon Ghost's eyes lit up as he exclaimed in delight.

Wang Mian peeled off the wrapper. Watching the fleeing recruits with perfect composure, he said quietly, "Moon Ghost, go cut them off at the warehouse!"

"Got it!"

Moon Ghost nodded, popped the lollipop into his mouth, and vanished with a flicker.

Less than a minute into the clash, the recruits had lost half their forces.

By the looks of it, this was a complete rout.

In the distance, Baili Pangpang swallowed hard as he watched his comrades flying back and forth.

"Are they even human?"

"Could they be cheating? Maybe they never lowered their levels!"

Lin Qiye shook his head and said seriously, "They don't need to. Those guys are just too stupid!"

"When you're facing opponents you know nothing about, you have to watch first."

"Let's go!"

"Okay!"

The two quickly left the training ground behind. Among the recruits, there were plenty of others who thought like Lin Qiye.

The recruits had been wrong from the start. Against truly powerful opponents, swarming them with numbers was useless.

Soon, only Wang Quan and four members of the [Mask] squad remained on the training ground.

"I'm so jealous of Brother Quan. He gets to sit around playing on his phone!" Vortex teased.

"What, you want to keep me company?" Wang Quan looked up slightly and asked, narrowing his eyes.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!"

"I'll pass!"

Vortex shook his head frantically, terrified.

"Come on, come on. We're moving out!" Rose glared at Vortex and hurried after their captain.

But Wang Mian suddenly looked back at Wang Quan and asked curiously, "Who do you think would win between the two of us at the same level?"

"Him!" Wang Quan answered without hesitation.

"Tch!"

"Couldn't you at least think about it?" The corner of Wang Mian's mouth twitched, his tone aggrieved.

"Oh!"

"Then I'll think about it!"

"Still him!"

"Let's bet!" Wang Mian said, his interest piqued.

"On what?"

"The loser washes the winner's stinky socks for a month!"

"No problem!" Wang Quan nodded.

Soon, the members of [Mask] disappeared from his sight.

Training Camp Underground Base.

The instructors sat before the surveillance screens, each holding a stack of documents, shaking their heads and sighing.

"Over a hundred went down in the very first exchange. This batch of recruits has terrible tactical awareness!"

"It's more that [Mask] is too strong. Besides, Chief Instructor Wang used [White-Cleaver] as bait. The temptation was too great. That was outright entrapment," another instructor analyzed.

"No! That's not right. They're at the same level, and the recruits have the numerical advantage. You can't call that bullying, can you?"

"You can't look at it that way. Their experience and coordination are worlds apart. And [Mask] has three ultra-high-risk forbidden ruins and a God's Agent."

"Most importantly, Chief Instructor Wang's forbidden ruins isn't even listed in the known forbidden ruins sequence. I heard the intelligence on his ability is top secret."

"All I can say is that this batch of recruits is really unlucky!"

The instructors offered all sorts of opinions, but most had little faith in the rookies.

"It's all right!" Yuan Gang, who had remained silent until now, spoke. "The ones eliminated were fools. The people who'll actually decide the outcome left long ago."

"Sir, are you saying the recruits can win?"

"No!" Yuan Gang shook his head, but a hint of anticipation flashed in his eyes. "But perhaps they'll lose spectacularly enough to impress us."

"What do you think, Chief Instructor Wang?"

There was a brief silence before Wang Quan's voice came through their earpieces.

"Maybe they might just win!"

"I've got a month's worth of stinky socks riding on my bet with Wang Mian!"

The instructors: (´-﹏-`;)