Chapter 123 The Wolves and the Shadow Sentinels

The Ares team arrived at their base relatively early. As the God of Mars, Wolf King Basta was a super idol. He was currently holding a team meeting where only Basta was seated while everyone else stood. This wasn't because Basta was arrogant, but because it was the custom on Mars.

Basta gave off a sturdy impression, but he wasn't particularly huge. His neck was very short, and he seemed to be a single entity when sitting. Even without much expression, he exuded a fierce aura.

Although they only got second place in the Mid-Season Tournament, no one dared to underestimate Basta. In the S8 season, his apotheosis battle was victorious, but Basta sustained hidden injuries. The all-out fight in S9 prevented his injuries from fully healing. He had been recovering for the past two years, so Basta didn't exert himself during the Mid-Season Tournament. For him and the Ares team, it wasn't meaningful.

He was saving his full strength for the S-series, especially this year. He couldn't afford any carelessness.

Ares was strong not only because of Basta, but also because of the team members, all of whom were former members of Apocalypse. This was why they were able to win S8. However, the S-series was too difficult, and with Titan, the troublemaker, the Martians' progress in the S-series was very difficult. Basta also summarized the problem: be low-key, patient, and wait for the chance to deliver a fatal blow. This was also one of the reasons for his silence over the past two years. He had to give up enough so that his opponents would think that was all he was, because being the target of public criticism meant certain death.

Sacrifice was a science.

S11 was an opportunity. The moon was now the target of public criticism, and Mars' Romero had attracted enough attention. It was time for him to complete the miracle. He believed his chances were as high as seventy or eighty percent, but he never expected that the two nightmares from back then would return to the S-series together, directly stirring up the waters.

He originally wanted to refuse this exchange match, after all, he had endured for so long. But thinking of Shirian's character, if he missed it, he might miss out on a lot, because Shirian's biggest opponent wasn't him, but that person.

"Boss, given the grudge between the two of them, there's definitely no room for reconciliation. Why would Shirian call him here?"

"I also find it strange. If it weren't for that person, Shirian might be dominating the world now, but it feels like he's changed."

"I've seen his interviews and some reports. There's no hint of killing intent on him. Both of them have changed a lot."

Having arrived at Hailong Academy, they hadn't seen Shirian yet. Basta knew that from the bottom of his heart, Shirian looked down on everyone except that person, even him, who had won the S-series. The same went for Maxis and Fan Liweite, and this attitude deeply stimulated them. Humans have five basic needs: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, the need for respect, and the need for self-actualization. Because of their age and experience, they were basically at the fourth stage.

There's no first in literature, but there's no second in martial arts. Now, they had returned to the old game. The Martians relied on strategy to rise up from the conflict between the Hunter and the Shadow Sentinel, and it was the same now.

It had been five years, and their arrogance hadn't diminished. In fact, given their personalities, how could they change?

"I'll handle Shirian. What you need to do is restrain yourselves. Impatience spoils great plans," Basta said.

"Boss, should we stoke the flames? Shirian was almost beaten to death back then. I feel like he'll explode if we poke him a bit."

"Don't do anything stupid, and don't try to manipulate anything. The reason we succeeded back then was because Shirian and Nangong Yuhang both thought they had everything under control. Small tricks are useless. Wait for them to make mistakes themselves." Basta said, but there was no ease on his face.

Such childish emotional tricks would be laughed at. Moreover, Nangong Yuhang and Shirian had both made mistakes, but that person hadn't, never. He didn't even know what that person's weaknesses were, and he subconsciously avoided him.

Nangong Yuhang had ambition, and ambition would blind his eyes. Shirian was arrogant, but what about that person?

Desire, ambition, greed, fame?

The normal weaknesses that could be targeted and exploited in a normal person couldn't be found, and he didn't even know how to target him.

Moreover, every time he tried to do something, he would feel a chilling sense of crisis. That was the feeling that person gave the Martians back then. Five years had passed, and when that guy created a puppet, Basta was actually happy, because this kind of mysterious grandstanding represented desire, represented needs. Once shackled, it couldn't be undone so easily. He was like that after winning the S-series, and then his luck changed. That's why he had been steady and accumulating himself, waiting for another opportunity.

But just when he thought that person had gone astray, he realized that that person didn't care about it at all. But why was he doing it?

The motive was completely unclear. It felt like he was doing a task, just messing around, playing around.

That was what made it so despairing.

"When will he arrive?"

"Three o'clock in the afternoon."

"Very good, we'll welcome him together then."

The team members were stunned and a little reluctant. "Isn't that giving him too much face?"

Basta's fierce face settled, and a smile curled at the corner of his mouth. "After all, he is the King of Apocalypse. We have to give him that much face."

"What about Romero?"

"He understands even better."

A wolf will endure anything for its prey!

And a pack of wolves has an unimaginable tacit understanding for a common goal. What they could do in the past, they can still do now. In fact, Romero was even more proactive.

The Hailong team was actually a bit mysterious to the students of Hailong Academy. They didn't know that Shirian had enrolled long ago, but he had always kept a low profile, and then he became an instant success. The Hailong team members were all specially recruited and had been unknown before. It was said that they had been in a special preparatory class.

In the team room, Li Xiangshan had been waiting for a long time. The others arrived one after another. Obviously, the others didn't take the exchange match seriously at all.

After Davarish arrived, he sat there without saying a word. He had autism and hardly spoke. He usually looked like a zombie, and only showed a little energy when fighting, but no one wanted to make eye contact with him. He had eyes that could see through people's hearts.

Xila was listening to music. He was a loyal fan of Arths and didn't talk much either. He was an all-rounder in the Hailong team. Li Xiangshan was very clear that this all-rounder was truly all-rounded.

Klein was playing with knives, one in each hand, playing ambidextrously, stabbing happily, with a playful smile on his face.

Li Xiangshan was also a member of the Shadow Sentinel, so he wasn't unfamiliar with them, but they hadn't been together for the past five years. Obviously, Li Xiangshan had gradually become a normal person, while these core members of the Shadow Sentinel were going further and further down another path. Li Xiangshan clearly felt a "killing aura" from them, a kind of ruthlessness that could only be obtained by shedding enough blood.

Suddenly, all three of them looked up. After a while, footsteps sounded, and Anlita arrived, still so elegant and charming. She smiled when she saw Li Xiangshan, "Brother Shan, the boss instructed us to welcome the Tianjing Mech team this afternoon."

Li Xiangshan nodded. Outsiders would find it strange, but they didn't feel anything was wrong. Once people from Apocalypse appeared around them, especially when the number reached a certain level, everyone would automatically return to the Apocalypse state. Sometimes they even felt a little dazed, wondering which was real.

"Do you want to mobilize them?" Li Xiangshan asked. In the Hailong team, Anlita was responsible for internal and some special affairs, while Li Xiangshan was responsible for external affairs. The other three didn't care about anything.

"No need. Brother Li doesn't like this kind of superficial stuff either. He's been missing him all these years," Anlita licked her lips, her eyes actually carrying a dangerous expectation. This missing was not that missing.

"Do you want me to try him out first?" Klein smiled.

Li Xiangshan frowned slightly. This wasn't Apocalypse anymore, and some illegal methods were not appropriate.

"Don't be suicidal. The boss has already tested the waters. Do you think the boss is really free to make a trip to Earth? Besides, your old friend is also coming. You can have a good time together," Anlita said with a smile.

"Hehe, I really miss that guy. I can laugh in my sleep just thinking that he's still alive."

Back then, more than a hundred of Klein's bones were broken, and it took more than two years to recover. Just thinking about it was enough to keep him awake at night.

"Dava, don't touch the little fatty on their team. Leave him to me," Anlita suddenly said.

The zombie-like Davarish opened his eyes, seeming to have a bit more color, and looked at Anlita, seemingly puzzled.

"If you're bored, you can mess with the others, but you can't touch this one for now. Also, the boss said to be careful when you make a move. You're all proper students now, so you have to act like students. Don't act like crazy demons. Learn from Klein, smile a little. Come on, learn from me, smile..."

Anlita looked at Xila and Davarish. Xila was a little better, but Davarish...

Anlita felt a chill, "Forget it, just shut your mouth."

The prosperity of the Moon's spaceport was a sight to behold. Countless spaceships were constantly entering and leaving in an orderly manner. The amazing thing about the Morifis family was that Shirian actually had his own private berth. This wasn't just about having money, but also showed the penetration of this kind of big family into the NUP system. Of course, after hundreds of years, this hadn't changed much.

The whole journey was very comfortable, so comfortable that Marlon and the others didn't want to get off. They had VIP access all the way. Gradually, everyone woke up. They weren't here for tourism.

Sheng Man and the others were still very happy, laughing and talking all the way. No girl could resist such a trip. Zhou Nayi was no exception. Li Hao and the others also saw Zhou Nayi's relaxation and felt that the busiest person on the Tianjing Mech team was the team leader. Besides improving herself, she also had to busy herself with everything. After all, with a hands-off boss, the team would be in chaos if she didn't take care of things.

But when they arrived outside, Zhou Nayi didn't care about anything. She knew that this was Li Wu's world.

(Dear bosses, Xiao Li is about to start showing off again. Do you want to turn up the heat?)