Chapter 548 - 357: Disappointing, What a Bunch of Rabble

Chapter 548: Chapter 357: Disappointing, What a Bunch of Rabble

"We found the White-Scaled Drilling Rat and its lair first. The Spirit Stone Mine and everything else inside belongs to us."

"..." After hearing what Li Mai said, the members of the other Treasure Hunting Squads all narrowed their eyes and remained silent.

Seeing this reaction, Li Mai’s heart sank. Their expressions made it clear they had no intention of leaving and wanted a piece of the pie.

So he played his trump card, saying to the members of the Treasure Hunting Squads,

"We came here to find the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s lair on the orders of Young Master Zhao... If Young Master Zhao finds out you’re making trouble, I’m afraid he won’t be happy."

Li Mai’s trump card was quite effective. The Treasure Hunting Squads, who had been silent but clearly wanted a share, immediately broke into a commotion upon hearing him mention Young Master Zhao.

"I think we should just forget it!"

"If we offend the Zhao Family’s Young Master and he comes looking for trouble later, we’ll be in deep trouble."

"That Young Master Zhao is an extremely petty person. I heard someone provoked him once and ended up with their family ruined and their lives lost."

Li Mai’s backer, that Young Master Zhao, truly had a terrible reputation. Some of the Treasure Hunting Team members, who had elderly parents and young children to support, immediately thought of backing down for the sake of their families’ safety.

However, there were some exceptions who voiced their opposition.

"There are so many of us here. Even if we don’t give Young Master Zhao face this time and insist on a share, he can’t possibly retaliate against every single one of us afterward!"

"That’s right. With so many of us, Young Master Zhao would have to think twice before trying to get revenge.

Besides, we worked so hard for so long and finally found the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s lair. We’re on the verge of getting a share of the Spirit Stone Mine. If we let Li Mai scare us off with just a few words, and word gets out, how are we supposed to make a living in Dongwu City anymore?"

Voices of support and opposition became a chaotic mess, with neither side able to convince the other.

Seeing this, Li Mai couldn’t help but smile. Although his speech hadn’t made the Treasure Hunting Squads leave, their current squabbling had effectively divided their strength.

Unable to present a united front, his side now held a massive advantage.

Now, any Treasure Hunting Squad that wanted to step forward for a share of the Spirit Stone Mine in the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s lair wouldn’t dare to do so, their strength being too meager on their own.

"Let’s go. We’ll check the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s lair and see how many Spirit Stones it’s collected," Li Mai said to his men, looking at the squabbling Treasure Hunting Teams.

"Boss, I think there must be a lot of Spirit Stones in that White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s lair," one of his men said.

"And why do you think so?" Li Mai asked with a smile.

"Because that White-Scaled Drilling Rat resisted us so fiercely just now. If there weren’t many Spirit Stones in its lair, it wouldn’t have needed to do that," the man analyzed.

"You’ve got a point there..." Li Mai said. Then, he led his men toward the cave beside the pool.

In the distance, the bickering Treasure Hunting Teams saw Li Mai’s group heading for the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s lair and immediately fell silent.

But at this moment, not a single Treasure Hunting Squad followed them.

It was reasonable that the Treasure Hunting Squads who supported giving up and not offending Young Master Zhao didn’t follow. But it was somewhat surprising that those who had objected and wanted a share also stayed put.

"Weren’t you guys the ones objecting just now? Li Mai’s group is heading to the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s lair, so why aren’t you following them?"

A member from one of the Treasure Hunting Squads that had chosen to give up and not offend Young Master Zhao asked another squad that had held the opposing view.

"If you had cooperated with us, we could have gone up and argued our case to make them give us a share.

But now, with just our strength alone, it’s almost impossible to follow them and get a piece of the pie. And if a fight breaks out, we won’t come out on top," a member of the dissenting Treasure Hunting Squad said glumly.

Under a large tree in the distance, Lin Li, who had been watching the show while munching on dried fish, saw the crowd of Treasure Hunting Squads who had followed him into the valley. They outnumbered the other party several times over and were no weaker in strength, yet this was the outcome.

He couldn’t help but shake his head and mutter in disappointment, ’What a useless mob. Such a waste of numbers...’

If this treasure hunt had taken place on Blue Star, and other Exotic Beast Hunters had discovered the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s lair first, Lin Li, as a latecomer, would naturally have respected the first-come, first-served rule and not competed for it.

But this was the Spirit Realm. The people of this world clearly operated on the principle of "might makes right," and they even bullied others using their connections. That being the case, Lin Li naturally chose to do as the locals do.

Besides, he really couldn’t stand that fellow Li Mai. If the man had used his own strength to suppress the others and claim the White-Scaled Drilling Rat’s lair for himself, Lin Li wouldn’t have disliked him for it.

Bullying others by flaunting powerful connections—that was the kind of vile behavior Lin Li despised the most.

The waterfall roared. Li Mai led his men, laughing and chatting, toward the cave beside the falls, ready to reap a great harvest.

The members of the Treasure Hunting Squads watched Li Mai’s group with resentful expressions, but no one dared to step forward and confront them. It was utterly pathetic.

If things had proceeded normally, the bullying Li Mai and his group would have ended up with a pile of Spirit Stones, returned to Dongwu City as victors, and received praise and rewards from the Young Master Zhao they kept mentioning.

But the reality was... just as the members of the Treasure Hunting Squads were watching resentfully as Li Mai’s group was about to become the final victors, a figure walked past them and headed toward Li Mai’s party.

"???" All the Treasure Hunting Squads on the scene stared at the young figure in confusion. Soon, they realized this young figure was the same reckless kid from before.

"What’s that young man planning to do?"

"Can’t you tell?"

"You mean he’s planning to go argue with Li Mai’s group and try to get a share from them?"

"Of course! He dared to send the guy Li Mai posted at the valley entrance flying with a single kick. It’s only normal that he’d follow them now to argue for a share."

"Normal my ass! There was only one guy at the valley entrance before. Li Mai’s group has over twenty people now!

Going up there alone to argue with them for a share, isn’t that just asking for death?"

"That reckless kid is suicidal! I’ll go stop him." A kind-hearted member of one Treasure Hunting Squad wanted to step forward and stop Lin Li.

"Don’t go looking for trouble." The kind-hearted man had just taken a step forward when his companion pulled him back.

Their Treasure Hunting Squad wasn’t very strong overall. If their kind-hearted companion went forward to stop Lin Li, they might get dragged into the mess. If they angered Li Mai’s group, their squad would be in for it.

Persuaded by his companions’ words, the kind-hearted man gave up on the idea of stopping Lin Li.

After all, his companions were right. He had elders and children at home to provide for. If he got himself into trouble for trying to stop a stranger from getting himself killed, he would be acting irresponsibly toward his family.

And so, all the Treasure Hunting Teams on the scene focused their attention on Lin Li, eager to see what fate awaited this reckless kid.

One of Li Mai’s men glanced back and saw a young man walking toward them. He immediately stopped and shouted to his boss, "Boss, some blind fool is following us."

Hearing his man’s shout, Li Mai stopped and turned to look. Just as his man had said, a young man was indeed walking toward them.

The others also stopped and turned around, all seeing the same thing.

Some of the more hot-tempered men clamored to go and take care of this young man who didn’t know his place. But without an order from Li Mai, everyone restrained themselves and didn’t act immediately.

Lin Li walked over unhurriedly, stopping four or five meters in front of Li Mai’s group. With a calm expression, he looked at the men glaring daggers at him.

...