"Why?" Richard responded mildly to Hulk’s words, "I think the ’seal that no one knows where it ca from’ in my hand is enough. After all, without it, the Ancient Relics can’t be opened, let alone explored."
"You!" Hulk’s eyes reddened a bit, clenching his fists as he stepped closer, speaking with a threatening tone, "Kid, according to you, if I snatched that thing from your hand, there’d be no need to cooperate with you, right?"
"That’s indeed the logic, but there’s one issue: Are you sure with your own abilities, you can really snatch the Blood Seal from ?" Richard smiled and asked.
"Hmph, maybe I can’t, but I have companions, and together, it’s another story..." Hulk said aggressively.
As he spoke, Hulk’s eyes grew wider, seemingly ready to strike at any mont.
"Hulk, stand down!" Just then, Moli sternly reprimanded and stopped Hulk, slightly bowing towards Richard as she said, "Mr. Richard, I apologize for the rashness of my subordinate. Perhaps offering you one-ninth of the spoils really is a bit low, but half... really impossible, after all, my subordinates need so incentive to explore as well. How about this, you take one-fifth, and we take four-fifths?"
Richard listened, first glanced at the burly Hulk, then at the long-haired woman Moli, unable to hold back a smile in his heart.
What’s this? One plays the bad cop, the other the good cop? Asking for the sky, then settling for less?
The performance is rather obvious, surely they don’t think I’d fall for such a ploy?
Taking a light breath, Richard looked towards the long-haired woman Moli, unwilling to entangle further, he said bluntly, "I don’t see anything to discuss here; from the beginning, my bottom line hasn’t changed — since I have half the key to the Ancient Relics, I deserve half of the exploration gains from the Ancient Relics.
Earlier, your subordinate said that if they snatch my seal, they can explore the relics alone. I actually don’t mind, and you don’t have to apologize because it’s the sa for ; I could also snatch the other Blue Seal from you and explore independently. But considering many factors, I’ve abandoned this thought and chose to cooperate with you. I hope you can show the corresponding sincerity."
The long-haired woman Moli’s expression stiffened slightly, her lips pursing, her eyes slowly turned as if in thought.
Seconds later, Moli looked over, her frosty pink lips slightly parted to say, "Mr. Richard, you ntioned that you had considered stealing our Blue Seal to explore the relics alone. Does that an you’re very confident in your own strength?"
Richard: "I know each of you is strong, but I’m not weak either. If there was no choice, I’d have to do that. But if there’s a choice, I prefer cooperation — it all depends on your attitude."
The reprimanded Hulk couldn’t help but stand out again, glaring and saying, "Kid, you an, if we agree to your terms, you’ll cooperate with us; if not, you’ll resort to robbery?
Hmph, fine, if you’re truly capable, show your power. If you can beat with overwhelming strength, I’ll agree to your terms, otherwise, take back your bragging."
Richard listened, looking at Hulk but didn’t imdiately respond.
The reason was simple, he was thinking, thinking of how to respond.
The current situation wasn’t as simple as it appeared. At first, the long-haired woman Moli, when introducing the burly Hulk, emphasized that his temper was very volatile, a bit true, and also laid groundwork — preparing for a situation like now.
The burly Hulk was undoubtedly pushed out as the ’good cop’, if he really accepted Hulk’s challenge and acted, losing would naturally give the opponent the upper hand, and even if he won, he might not gain any benefit. After all, Hulk stood out as an individual, not representing Moli’s team, by which ti, Moli could completely backtrack.
Moreover, if he really went heavy on Hulk, injuring him badly, it wouldn’t be easy to handle the aftermath; to continue cooperation with Moli, he might have to give up so interests.
So then...
After thinking for a few seconds, Richard made a decision in his heart.
He looked up, not at the burly Hulk, but directly at the long-haired woman Moli, spoke out, "Miss Moli, I think using battle to demonstrate strength is too blunt and direct, and it’s not good for either side if soone gets hurt. If you want to test my abilities, how about a ga of hide and seek?"
"Mm? A ga of hide and seek?" Moli responded, slightly confused, "What do you an?"
"It’s simple." Richard explained, "You have eight people, and I am one. In a mont, I will hide — possibly anywhere, and you all, eight people, co to find . As long as soone finds my trace within a minute, I lose, and I’ll give you the Blood Seal for free, allowing you to explore the relics independently.
If you can’t find , letting win the ga, then you agree to my terms, cooperate to explore the Ancient Relics, and we’ll split the gains evenly."
"This—" Moli seed hesitant, slightly tilting her head to look behind her.
The white-haired old man Xizhe wearing a Black Iron Mask nodded slightly.
With her gaze set, Moli turned back her head and said, "Alright, let’s go with that, hope you won’t regret it. When does this hide and seek ga of yours start?"
"I won’t regret it, and I hope you won’t either." Richard said, "As for the ga, it can start now."
With his words, under Moli and her party’s watchful eyes, Richard’s body quickly twisted and vanished without a trace.
"Strong wind!"
Moli reacted quickly, shouting out aloud.
The thick-lipped woman Su with a limp heard and with no fuss, waved her hands, causing the air within dozens of ters to ripple, turning into a whistling gale that swept across hundreds of ters surrounding them.
Anything invisible or hidden within the range of the wind’s impact would be found.
But...
Seconds later, the limp woman’s face changed slightly as she reported to Moli, "Captain, he’s not nearby."
"Expand the search area!"
Moli said in a deep tone.
"Yes." Su responded, waving her hand as four gray marks flew out, landing on the ’One-eyed’ in a red robe, the shivering ’Ice Cube’, the rough-skinned ’Wood’, and ’Cal’ with a humpback.
"You all choose a direction and move at full speed. I will let the breath of the wind follow you. That guy can’t hide quickly, if you approach him, I’ll sense him and root him out, acquire the Blood Seal."
"Okay." The four marked individuals wasted no words, quickly leaping away, each picking a direction to fly off.
Su sat on the ground with closed eyes, fully sensing.
The old man Xizhe wearing the Black Iron Mask also sat down beside Su, pulling out a ten-centiter gray stick from his sleeve, planting it in the soil in front, muttering as if casting a special spell.
The small stick jerked, tilting in one direction, then crazily spun in place.
Perplexed, Xizhe grasped the spinning little stick, took a deep breath, and reinserted it into the soil, chanting again to correct it.
As captain Moli’s face grew stern amid others’ bustle, her eyes sharply scanned the surroundings as if she intended to see through sothing, but found nothing.
In the scene, Hulk was the only one who was idle, looking around at this and that, finding no role to play, helplessly sighed, found a stone to sit on, and patiently awaited the outco.
Then one-second, two seconds, three seconds... Ti quickly passed...
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