Capítulo 137: Cooperação?

"Hiss!" Luo Kai and his team, hiding in the jungle on a nearby hillside and ready to strike at any moment, gasped upon hearing the voice over their communicators.

Even the [Great Wall Players] maintaining the formation felt their hands tremble. They nearly deactivated the formation entirely. Taking advantage of the fact that the Siren troops were still at a distance, the group quickly approached the valley from the hillside woods. Using their formation and [Skills], they crept toward the woman in white without making a sound.

The plan had been settled: Li Changhe would take the open path, and Teacher Wang would move in the shadows. They were to approach the woman in white together, one visible, one hidden.

However, Li Changhe’s actions left the [Great Wall] completely baffled. Wasn’t the plan to probe, then surround, and finally capture her for interrogation? Why on earth are you riding a bicycle over there to hit on her? Are you starring in a teen drama? Besides, your position and distance are completely unsuitable for an attack!

"Is that the core principle of your [General's Mountain]? Flirting?" Luo Kai looked at He Feng, completely bewildered.

He Feng inwardly cursed. Of course, he knew Li Changhe’s original intention was to negotiate. Given his personality, he might even tell the Siren a story about a mermaid. Maybe he could actually tease out a clue; at the very least, he could flex his muscles and intimidate the opponent. He was even supposed to wear his Mountain Pattern Armor at the start. Yet, for some reason, he had changed the plan, leading to this cliché attempt at a pickup.

"What are you doing?" Xiao Nan also asked through the [Friends] chat.

"I’m backing off... at a closer look, this is a Fantasy Species!" Li Changhe replied in the [Friends] chat.

From a distance, the woman in white looked like a human, and of course, up close, she still looked like one. But her ears were light blue fins that resembled wings. Just being near her evoked a sense of danger, or rather, oppression. The majesty of her evolutionary sequence was immense... it didn't even lose out to the [Sun Halo] Fire Man.

She was either a level 10 [Player] or simply a Fantasy Species [Player]! Or perhaps both! She was not an opponent to be trifled with.

A Siren... this was a true Siren of legend. What were those others before?

Snow-white skin, sea-blue eyes; if you ignored her ears, she was just a beautiful human girl. Of course... she was still inferior to Xiao Nan. Li Changhe scanned the woman in white and noticed she indeed had a pair of legs. That was exactly why Li Changhe and the others were so confused.

Was she a higher-order Siren? Or was it a change brought about by being a [Player]? Was she even the same species as the previous Sirens? This was not at all how the plan was supposed to go.

Li Changhe cursed internally. The original plan was to put on the [Great Wall Mountain Pattern Armor], draw his mechanical bow, and show her the true power of an archer. He and Teacher Wang were supposed to test her strength, and if it proved too difficult, they would try to pry some information out of her.

If necessary, Luo Kai and the others would launch a coordinated attack. After all, both Li Changhe and Teacher Wang had the ability to escape. But feeling that sudden pressure, Li Changhe felt that if a real fight broke out, it would be risky. There would definitely be casualties. Teacher Wang probably felt the same; he had stopped moving halfway through his stealth approach. He was likely intimidated too.

Li Changhe inwardly cursed again, suppressing his hostility. He coughed lightly and said, "To meet a maiden in such a beautiful setting as this—it must be fate! May I ask your name? And tell me... you can understand me, right?"

The Siren in white frowned slightly, looking up at the thick black clouds and the pouring rain. She wondered if there was a cultural divide between humans and Sirens. Did he really consider this a "beautiful setting"?

She felt no hostility from Li Changhe. However, when he drew closer, a sense of danger had emerged. She glanced at the Siren troops approaching from afar. Had he suddenly become afraid?

The Siren in white said in a low, resonant voice, "Human, you should not have appeared here. I do not wish for other tribes to acquire [Player] status as well."

"Other tribes?" A thought struck Li Changhe. Did this mean there were power struggles among the Sirens, or perhaps conflicts in the form of tribes? And "acquire again"? Had the previous two [Players] died at the hands of other tribes?

"Compared to letting them gain [Player] status, it would be better if I just killed you instead." The Siren in white gripped her two-meter-tall trident, preparing to strike.

Luo Kai and the others turned serious, each beginning to prepare their [Skills]. They were not far away, about a hundred meters. They could support or retreat at any moment. Twenty meters away from the Siren in white, Teacher Wang, hidden in the trees, also drew a long spear, ready to strike.

In their eyes, Li Changhe had failed the negotiation... it was time to switch to the assault plan! Seven against one—it shouldn't be a problem! As long as they finished before the Siren troops arrived.

"Wait! Before you act, I want to ask one thing," Li Changhe said, spreading his hands. "How about we cooperate?"

The Siren in white paused, taking a few cautious steps back with her trident held high. In that instant, she sensed multiple sources of danger. The human [Players] nearby were not limited to just the one in front of her! She had been surrounded!

The Siren in white felt a chill. With her strength, fighting multiple [Players] on land would be unpredictable, and there seemed to be one extremely dangerous presence among them! The woman in white could feel it vaguely. Furthermore... she had to be careful of more than just the [Players]. Whether it was the white mist or the Siren warriors rushing over, she could not afford to be careless.

If she fought these human [Players], not to mention her mission, she might not even survive. Fantasy Species [Players] were strong, but the opponents clearly had their own trump cards to deal with her.

"Cooperate? What kind of cooperation are you talking about?" The Siren in white stepped back slowly; she dared not rush into an attack now.

"Looking at my trench coat, you should know I am a [Great Wall Player] of humanity," Li Changhe said, patting his coat and shaking off a spray of water.

"Of course. A black trench coat, one of the strongest [Player organizations] of humanity. To you, we are just plot creatures. And the reverse is true as well!" The Siren in white sneered. "We are all human; there is no way we can cooperate with us Sirens."

"I know. We are all [Players], and there are conflicts even among our own kind, let alone between two different species. But you are different. You... you are just one faction, aren't you?"

Hearing this, Luo Kai frowned and whispered, "What does he mean?"

"That Siren in white mentioned other tribes earlier. That means this mission is a [Confrontation Mission] where they are competing against each other!" Xiao Nan replied. "If we start from this angle, we can extract more information."

"Can we trust her? She's a Siren. What if she joins forces with them to deal with us humans?"

"No one said we should trust her," He Feng replied with a low chuckle.

On the other side, the Siren in white narrowed her eyes, looked at Li Changhe’s silhouette, and whispered, "How do you want to cooperate?"

"Our human mission is to kill... five Siren [Players]," Li Changhe said, wiggling his fingers.

Seeing the Siren in white’s expression change slightly as she gripped her weapon tighter, Li Changhe smiled to himself.

"And before the [Mission] is complete, reinforcements will continue to arrive. I am the [Great Wall] reinforcement that arrived this time."

Li Changhe continued, "However, two [Players] on the human side have sacrificed themselves. They were captured by you Sirens, and their [Player] status was taken. Actually, there are seven [Players] in this [Mission]. This means the two Siren [Players] who were originally in the [Mission] might actually survive."

"Do you want me to provide their locations? And how can I trust that you won't attack me?" the Siren in white asked, watching Li Changhe.

Elsewhere, "Alright, it's confirmed that there are seven [Players] on the other side now," Xiao Nan whispered.

"Is... is this just a lucky guess?" Luo Kai was stunned.

"No, when Li Ba wiggled his fingers, he was already using his [Eagle’s Magic Eye] to observe the changes in the Siren’s expression. When he held up five fingers, her expression shifted," Xiao Nan replied. "This is cold reading."

[Skill: Cold Reading EX]