Just as the atmosphere became awkward, Li Chonglou suddenly threw away the pistol in his hand, shrugged, and said.
"Is this okay? Come on, let's have a fight."
As he spoke, he stretched his bones as if he were a master. At first glance, he even had the demeanor of a senior expert.
The blonde man and his companions looked at him, their foreheads covered in black lines, thinking that this was not how one should show off. Who would risk their own life to show off?
They were quite confused by Li Chonglou's suicidal behavior.
The other party, on the other hand, felt completely mocked and immediately became enraged.
"Number One, let me handle this guy, damn it! How dare he look down on you!"
"Let me! I can't stand such arrogant people!"
"All of you, step aside. I'm Number Two, so I should go first according to the queue."
The few people clamored to go first, unaware that the bald man was already sweating profusely and involuntarily swallowing a few times.
Li Chonglou, however, stared at him, his eyes constantly giving signals.
Finally, just as everyone was about to make a move, the bald man spoke.
"What's the point of fighting someone like this? Let them go. Fighting them would dirty our hands."
After speaking, the bald man ignored everyone's reactions and quickly leaped back onto the giant rock. He lay down, closed his eyes, and assumed a posture of indifference.
It was as if he were saying, "Do whatever you want to me, but don't bother about me."
This left the other party completely bewildered.
What was going on? What did Number One just say? The few people couldn't react in time; they couldn't understand why Number One wasn't fighting.
But since it was a fait accompli, they could only explain it by Li Chonglou's shameless act of taking out his pistol.
Perhaps Number One had some kind of germophobia?
Everyone thought silently and retreated to the side. Since Number One wasn't participating, there was no point in them fighting.
Now it was the blonde man and his companions' turn to be confused. So, it was settled? They didn't have to fight?
In the end, it was only at Li Chonglou's urging that the blonde man and his companions hesitantly followed him forward.
It wasn't until they had safely left that the Muay Thai woman thoughtfully said, "Do you think that bald old man is just a paper tiger?"
"You mean they were all fooled by him?"
The blonde man's brows furrowed, clearly not agreeing with this statement.
However, Number Three also chimed in, "I think that's likely the reason. Otherwise, why would he stop fighting as soon as Number Five made a move?"
Li Chonglou, finding it a bit unbearable to listen, interjected.
"Um, couldn't it be because I'm too strong?"
Everyone rolled their eyes in unison and looked away. If they weren't teammates, they would have already couldn't help but correct him.
You, how strong can you be?
Although none of them said this out loud, it was essentially written on their faces. Li Chonglou silently shifted his gaze.
Indeed, acting low-key occasionally was the best way to maintain anonymity.
A life-or-death duel was thus resolved. Everyone felt a little unaccustomed to it, and it wasn't until half an hour later that they finally put the recent events behind them.
Afterward, they resumed their normal shifts of scouting. However, since Li Chonglou was no longer the one scouting, the speed had slowed down by more than ten times.
But the group didn't pay much attention to it. The further they went, the more dangerous it became, wasn't that normal? On the contrary, Li Chonglou was quite frustrated by this.
With them doing this, when it was his turn again, he wouldn't dare to increase his speed too much. If it was like this every time it was his turn, it would definitely arouse suspicion.
However, besides the decrease in speed, the attacks they encountered also gradually increased.
What used to be one wave of enemies every half an hour gradually became an ambush every ten minutes, then every five minutes.
The blonde man quickly canceled the scouting, and the group formed a small team formation, walking slowly through the forest.
At this moment, everyone had only walked one-third of the way through the Devil's Valley.
At this point, the little girl reminded them, "After reaching the halfway point of the Devil's Valley, there will be all sorts of strange creatures. You must be careful."
The group did not show any surprise at this. This was because they had encountered such creatures in the Iron Forest competition before. Although they were called strange creatures, they were actually monsters created by those insane scientists.
The content of the Iron Forest competition had never been prohibited from being disclosed. Although there was still very little information circulating outside, most participants would have learned about the situation in previous years.
For example, the most famous monster in the Devil's Valley was a chimera with the head of a lion, the body of a tiger, and the tail of a scorpion. This creature was known as the king of slaughter among past participants, and it was rumored that very few people could survive its claws.
Those who knew its appearance and characteristics were merely survivors who had not been discovered by it.
It also had a majestic title: The Claw of Death.
So, even though the group was not surprised by the little girl's warning, the blonde man still reminded them.
"No matter what, someone must scout ahead. If we really encounter the Claw of Death, signal immediately and retreat. Don't confront it directly."
After speaking, the blonde man added.
"Don't rely on luck. Also, if we cannot survive this stage together, you will absolutely not be able to pass the next stage alone. I hope you all understand this principle!"
If the previous scouting was driven by the fear of the scout dying, then the subsequent scouting was driven by the fear of the scout running away first.
This was because the pressure from the Claw of Death far exceeded the pressure from other participants and death row inmates, as this creature was a summary of the lives of countless predecessors.
Hearing the blonde man's words, everyone nodded silently. Only the Muay Thai woman occasionally glanced at the Japanese man.
Then, at this moment, gunshots suddenly rang out from ahead. The group quickly dispersed and found cover behind various objects to hide.
This was already the fourth wave of attacks from the death row inmates. The group was no longer surprised. However, just as they were signaling to discuss who would go and deal with it, the gunfire in front suddenly ceased.
Then, several disheveled figures appeared in their sight.
There were three men and one woman, all foreigners, with blonde hair and blue eyes, looking handsome and beautiful.
However, at this moment, their faces were filled with terror, and even their movements of escape appeared very flustered. They kept looking back and forth.
The blonde man frowned and, after the three approached, jumped out to block them.
"Brother, did something happen up ahead?"
When the blonde man jumped out, the three were startled as if they were startled birds. After he spoke, the panic on their faces slightly subsided.
At this time, the woman directly said.
"Let's go, forget about this competition. Those who are lucky enough to pass have passed. It's impossible to get through there now!"