Chapter 168: Main Continent
On the main continent, within Uhtred’s territory...
A small group of men stood in a loose circle, their laughter loud and mocking.
"Today is the day, isn’t it?" one of them jeered, crossing his arms and grinning down at an old man sitting on a bench nearby. "The System said one month. One month is up today. Where is your ’great’ Uhtred now?"
The men snickered. Another stepped forward, leaning in with a sneer. "Face it, old man. Your boss is dead. He got wiped out in those trial grounds just like the rest of the fools who thought they were special. Which means that little agreement of yours? Null and void. This place belongs to us now."
Minh Quan sat entirely still. His face was unperturbed, but beneath his calm surface, a spark of anger flickered deep in his eyes.
One of the men caught the look and grinned wider, taking a step closer to intimidate the old Vietnamese veteran.
Before he could reach Minh Quan, however, someone stepped up from behind.
It was John Allen. He didn’t say anything, but the deadly look on his face was enough to deter the man trying to cause trouble.
The man stopped. He looked between John Allen and Minh Quan, his smile souring into a bitter scowl. He knew he could not get past John without starting a fight... a fight that he had no chance of winning.
"Tsk! Enjoy your freedom while it lasts," he spat, backing off with a wave of his hand. "Once the day ends and Uhtred doesn’t show up, we’re taking this dungeon over completely, and then you two... hehe."
He left the rest unsaid, but his meaning was clear.
However, despite the clear threat, Minh Quan couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, as if he had heard the funniest thing in the world.
The man turned back, opening his mouth to fire off another insult, but he quickly swallowed his words when his companions tapped his shoulder.
A new figure had just stepped into the territory.
The presence of the newcomer radiated a heavy air of authority and power. He was a high-level ascender for sure. And not just that. From the looks on the faces of the men, the newcomer looked to be their superior too.
They all bowed deeply, then turned and immediately headed for the dungeon entrance without delay. Only two remained outside, manning the entrance for their boss out of respect.
The boss, however, did not head for the dungeon first. Instead, he headed in Minh Quan and John Allen’s direction, a lazy, playful smile tugging at the edge of his lips.
Minh Quan visibly tensed the moment the man drew near. Instinctively, his left hand reached across to brush against his right arm where his hand should have been. Now, however, there was only a blunt stump.
"Apologies for my men, Minh Quan," the boss said smoothly, stopping a few feet away. His accent was heavily Italian, and his tone was casual, almost friendly. "You know how boys get when they are eager for progress. Don’t take their little jokes to heart."
"Vanezzi," John Allen cut in, speaking in Minh Quan’s stead and diverting the topic. "We agreed that only a hundred of your people would be allowed inside the dungeon. Yet every single day, you bring a completely different set of a hundred men. You’re violating the terms of the deal."
Vanezzi chuckled, shaking his head slowly. "Now, now, John. Is that my fault or yours? Neither you nor Minh Quan specified that the hundred slots had to belong to the same people every day. I haven’t broken a single rule. If I choose to rotate who takes those hundred slots, isn’t that just smart management?"
John Allen’s jaw tightened. It was not the first time they had gone over this. Both he and Minh Quan had raised their objections repeatedly ever since they had resolved the dungeon issue with Vanezzi and his mafia goons, but Vanezzi always brushed them off with the same technicality.
In truth, neither of them had clearly defined that particular term, so Vanezzi was not actually violating the agreement. The agreement was enforced by the System itself. So, if Vanezzi was truly breaking any terms, the System would have intervened. The fact that it hadn’t simply meant everything was within the bounds of the agreement.
"Let’s not waste our breath on such trivialities," Vanezzi said, waving his hand dismissively. "More importantly, your boss is arriving today, right? The trial is ending? But how come I don’t see him anywhere yet?"
The look on Vanezzi’s face was smug and goading. He seemed delighted as he watched Minh Quan and John Allen clench their jaws, clearly struggling to hold back their retorts.
"Why are you so happy?" Minh Quan blurted out in a biting tone. "The day is still young. It is not even noon yet."
Vanezzi laughed.
"If I were you, instead of blindly hoping, I would prepare myself for what comes next when he doesn’t return. Our agreement becomes irrelevant once he fails to return, remember?"
Without waiting for a response, he strolled casually past Minh Quan and John Allen, heading toward the dungeon entrance where his men were waiting for him.
However, before he could take more than a few steps, a blinding light suddenly flashed into existence directly in the center of the territory, forcing everyone to squint. A large circle of shifting hieroglyphics and spell structures materialized, warping the space above it. As the distortion rippled, several figures appeared within the light.
Vanezzi froze immediately. The calm, relaxed expression on his face shattered, replaced by a clear look of dread. He quickly forced his face back into a neutral mask, trying to maintain his composure as a leader, but his entire demeanor very visibly changed into one of fear.
Meanwhile, for Minh Quan and John Allen, looks of pure excitement and relief broke across their faces.
Their eyes were trained on the materializing figures. Roughly a hundred new people were stepping out of the teleportation circle, strangers whose origin they could not begin to guess. However, neither Minh Quan nor John Allen paid them any mind.
Instead, their eyes searched for the one figure they needed to see alive.
And right there at the forefront of the teleportation circle, he materialized...
Uhtred.