The weak cries for help got drowned out by the loud argument at the shore.
“Don’t you love saying brain over brawn? Well, here’s your chance! Go on! Cook up some way for us to save him!”
“If you would just shut up and let me think!”
“That’s what you said ten minutes ago! By the time you think of something, he’ll be buried six feet deep! Heh! So much for smarts!”
“Oh yeah? Well, if you’re so powerful, why aren’t you putting those muscles of yours to good use? Go on. Nobody’s stopping you from being a hero!”
“Yeah! Boss Kwan is right!”
“You blind, Four-eyes?! Does it look like I can reach?!”
“Give it a try. You never know.”
“Aeeeuuh?! How about I throw you in to give it a try?!”
“Hold it! Hold it! Brother Tae, calm yourself. There’s no need to let your anger get to your head over these people. Let’s be civilized and talk it out. Everything can be discussed slowly…”
“Hmm. I like talking to smart people. But little cleverness won’t get us anywhere.”
“So, what do you have in mind, Mister Kwan?”
“Hmm. From my standpoint, it’s always better to unite as one. More brains, more power.”
“Oh? You mean…”
“Aeeeuhh? What nonsense are you two going on about? Speak clearly! What are you two scheming?!”
“Haha! No, no. Brother Tae, you’re overthinking. We were just saying, if we bring more people together, it’s easier to solve problems.”
“Yes, Mister Kim is correct. We always welcome more friends to join us. What say our new friend?”
At that, the group of four all turned their eyes to the newcomer.
Yu Zhiye met their scrutinizing gazes and analyzed their profiles.
On one side, we have this surnamed Kwan who looks like an upright CEO of a legitimate company, but...
Like they say, looks can be deceiving.
Regardless, since he can rally two lackeys to his side, his means and mind must not be simple.
Meanwhile, the opposing side seems to revolve around the muscular baldie surnamed Tae.
But for Yu Zhiye, the most interesting character was the surnamed Kim standing besides the baldie: the same pot-bellied uncle he chanced upon in the aisles earlier.
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This Mister Kim is not simple at all. Slick in both bribery and mouth. Definitely an old hand.
More importantly, he seems to have some ties with the muscular baldie, enough to make him listen at least.
Definitely a strong contender.
Yet, instead of vying for leadership, it looks like he’s backing up the Baldie Tae.
But under the hood, it sounded like this Mister Kim and the Four-eyes Kwan actually wanted to form some sort of alliance?
Woah. So much undercurrents.
Nothing is set in stone yet, but the leaders were obvious.
But are these good leaders?
In Yu Zhiye’s opinion, they were the typical “all talk no action” type.
The type he personally wouldn’t want deep ties with, lest he gets thrown under the bus as a scapegoat.
Well, just keep things strictly professional and follow his plan to make an impression…
Yu Zhiye kept his face straight and didn’t mince his words. “I didn’t come here to argue. I only came to see if I can be useful.”
“Oh? Useful?” Four-eyes Kwan squinted and gave him a once over. “You sure you’re not here to make things worse?”
“Yeah.” Baldie Tae folded his thick arms. “Just look at those arms of yours. What can those toothpicks even do?”
“Now, now, Brother Tae, be nice.” The pot-bellied Mister Kim smiled like a wily old fox. “No harm letting him take a look, right? What if our young friend here really has something up his sleeves?”
“Oh? The system’s gift?” Four-eyes Kwan gave his glasses a nudge. “Hmm. Then go ahead. Please broaden our horizons.”
The two teams parted to make way, letting Yu Zhiye get a look at the situation up ahead.
At a glance, Yu Zhiye locked onto the man who had half his body buried in the sand.
It was one of the loners he saw back at the store, the timid one with messy emo-hair. Dunno his name, so let’s call him Mob Character A.
Now, that timid face has gone pale and the man was still like a statue.
Yet, his body was still sinking ever so slowly into the flowing quicksand.
His death timer was ticking. Even if he doesn’t sink six feet under, as long as he’s stuck there, he’ll get roasted by the hot desert sun.
“H-Help me… help… please...”
Well, time to show his hand to establish his value.
A single thought later, the wooden fishing rod appeared in his hands.
“Hmm?” Four-eyes Kwan’s glasses flashed with interest. “A system prop? Interesting…”
Baldie Tae scoffed. “Che. Looks like a regular stick to me. What can it even do? It’ll snap like a twig.”
“Ohoho, Brother Tae, I wouldn’t underestimate a fishing rod if I were you, especially if it’s from that game…”
Yu Zhiye and Baldie Tae exchanged a knowing glance. Fellow gamer!
But neither of them bothered to explain. Just let the rod talk.
A swing of the rod and the line got cast out. Kerplunk!
Seeing the bobber landing in the sand nearby, the timid guy came alive like seeing hope for the first time and lunged for the life-saving straw!
As soon as Yu Zhiye felt the tug on his rod, he reeled it back.
To everyone else, it looked like Yu Zhiye’s thin muscles won’t even have the strength to lift the rod, let alone pull the human-weight fish out.
But to most of their surprise, the guy stuck in the quicksand actually got pulled out like a radish!
Not only that, the line even reeled him a tenth of the distance closer to the rod before dropping him back down with a plop!
This was the
Yu Zhiye took a few steps back. Then another reel of his rod dragged Mob Character A back to the normal sand shore.
The moment he landed in safety, the timid guy clawed at the sand like a drowning man and crawled out like his life depended on it.
When he made it to their feet, the timid guy quickly kowtowed repeatedly to Yu Zhiye.
“T-Thank you for saving me! Thank you! Really, thank—!”
“Dumbo! That’s enough! Quit embarrassing yourself and scram over here!”
Hearing Baldie Tae’s growl, the grateful boy went stiff. But he didn’t freeze for long.
Like a dog, he quickly scurried over to stand behind the muscular man and meekly bowed his head, turning into a true blue background mob character.
Nobody bothered paying attention to him anymore.
Instead, they all stared at the fishing rod like it was made from gold.
Once a treasure gets put out in the open… how will it end?