Evidently, after some discussion, the group realized that reporting the matter to the Reincarnator Association was not a wise course of action.
Setting aside whether or not Gu Ruilong had a countermeasure prepared, the very act of reporting would be a fatal blow to the Linjiang Reincarnator Association.
After all, Linjiang currently had at least two teams in the national competition. Compared to past years, this was already an excellent result.
If a report were actually filed, the first thing to be nullified would be the Linjiang Reincarnator Association’s results from this year’s regional tournament.
At this thought, everyone’s expressions turned grim.
When it came to fighting the contestants from Shanghai’s Mountain and Sea District, it was obvious that even if their entire group fought together, they likely wouldn’t be a match for a single one of their Evolvers.
Su Ruobing, however, quickly calmed down.
After a moment of thought, she looked decisively at Li Chang’an. "My guess is that Gu Ruilong arranged for us to face him in the first round of the national competition. His plan is to deal with you during the tournament. I don’t know his exact plan, but we can’t let him get his way..."
At this, Su Ruobing paused, then said with determination, "Our results from the regional tournament are already excellent, and we don’t have much hope of winning the national competition anyway. We might as well just forfeit in advance. Let Gu Ruilong’s punch hit nothing but air!"
In just a few short minutes, Su Ruobing had already found a solution.
Linjiang was, after all, just a second- or third-tier city. There was no shame in choosing to surrender directly when facing the elites from Shanghai.
After thinking for a moment, Caiyou gave a rare nod. "They’re incredibly strong. When that Tier Six Evolver attacked before, I was sent flying before I could even react. If we really face them in the tournament, Chang’an is probably the only one among us who could put up a fight. I doubt even Xiaowan would be a match for them..."
"Since our odds of winning were never high to begin with, forfeiting is indeed the simplest solution!"
Clearly, Caiyou was being very rational.
As for the Tier Five contestants, their strength could only be considered average at best.
They might have had a fighting chance in the regional tournament, but against contestants from Shanghai and Kyoto in the national competition, they would basically be crushed with no opportunity to fight back.
Among all the contestants present, Li Chang’an was likely the only one who could reliably defeat a single opponent.
Anything more than that was beyond what Caiyou could even imagine.
Zhao Xiaowan frowned. "I disagree. We should at least fight them first before deciding if we can win. What kind of sense does it make to surrender before even trying?"
Her personality was clearly very straightforward; surrendering just wasn’t her style.
Neither Su Ruobing nor Caiyou looked surprised by her response. After all, if Zhao Xiaowan had agreed, she wouldn’t be the "Reincarnation Fanatic" Zhao Xiaowan they knew.
But just as Su Ruobing and Caiyou were about to try and persuade her together...
Li Chang’an, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up. "Xiaowan’s right. We should fight first and see what happens. Gu Ruilong wants to deal with me? Well, I want to deal with him, too!"
He had a broad smile on his face as he said this.
But it was a smile filled with an icy chill that was impossible to ignore.
Upon hearing this, everyone present involuntarily turned to look at him in surprise.
If anyone else had said such a thing, everyone present would have assumed they were joking.
After all, the gap between small cities and large metropolises was a harsh reality—an enormous chasm that could hardly be bridged by mere talent and hard work.
Consequently, in every past national competition, it was always the major cities vying amongst themselves for the top spots.
Contestants from smaller cities, even the lucky ones, could at best hope to break into the top one hundred nationally.
And yet now, when Li Chang’an said he wanted to take on the Rebirth Evolver from Shanghai, not a single person present thought he was joking.
Because Li Chang’an had already proven his incredible strength to all of them.
Staring at him for a moment, Su Ruobing suddenly seemed to understand something.
She sighed and shook her head with a wry laugh. "So, Gu Ruilong anticipated what I was thinking. His repeated provocations before were all to deliberately infuriate you. After all that, it turns out *this* was the trap!"
Evidently, Su Ruobing understood Gu Ruilong far better than Li Chang’an did.
One could call Gu Ruilong insidious, cunning, and arrogant.
But one could never call him brainless.
His repeated provocations weren’t just because he was bored and looking for trouble; his real goal was to enrage Li Chang’an and achieve exactly this outcome.
Realizing this, Su Ruobing’s brow furrowed. "No. For him to go to such lengths to deal with you, his goal definitely isn’t as simple as just defeating you in the tournament. He must have some other ulterior motive. Now that we’ve seen through it, we absolutely cannot fall for this trap!"
The tournament was a virtual competition.
Logically, there was nothing Gu Ruilong could do to Li Chang’an in a virtual world.
So what if he actually managed to beat Li Chang’an?
Other than possibly annoying him, Li Chang’an wouldn’t suffer any real loss.
But if that was all, Gu Ruilong’s elaborate scheming clearly didn’t make sense.
The real threat Li Chang’an posed to Gu Ruilong and the Gu Family was in the real world: his factory and the military-grade weapon blueprints for the Super Electromagnetic Cannon and the Energy Particle Beam Cannon.
If Gu Ruilong wanted to deal with Li Chang’an, he should have done so in the real world.