A few seconds passed with no one lifting their hands. However, no one confirmed that they sided with Sergi either. It was still hanging in the air and it only made Sergi more and more desperate.
“Don’t even think about it, you bastards! Are you really hesitating?! He’s a goddamn mo-“
“Ok, ok, shut the hell up,” Arthur said as he pressed his foot on the man’s face. “I don’t need you to start crying like a baby now. They are thinking about your life too. You can get rid of me now, but you will only end up food to the monsters lurking in the river.”
“…”
The reality was that their lives were the most important thing to them while Sergi didn’t care much about his life. He only wanted to see Arthur dead and if that meant sacrificing himself, then so be it.
So, when he saw his friends hesitating, he felt extremely outraged. He couldn’t believe they would also betray him and side with Arthur. It felt like someone had plunged a knife right into his chest.
“I’m sorry, Sergi…” Finally, one man spoke as he looked down. “We have to go back home. I can’t afford to leave my wife and kids alone.” Saying that, the mercenary slowly lifted his hand.
That simple gesture was a catalyst for the rest of the mercenaries to lift their hands up. One by one, they gave up resistance and accepted reality. It didn’t feel good, but for the greater good of the entire squad, they had to side with logic and not feelings.
Arthur looked at each one of them with a small smile on his face. “Good, I’m glad you all still had some level of common sense.”
Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire
“YOU BASTARDS!!! I WILL NOT FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS!!! I WON’T FORGET THIS BETRAYAL!!!” At that moment Sergi completely lost his mind as he started shaking and yelling while drooling. His eyes became bloodshot from excessive anger.
“Calm down, big guy,” Arthur replied calmly as he yanked his arm even farther behind his back, threatening to break it. That made the man stop yelling and start screeching from pain.
“Release him, Arthur,” Deka said.
“Release him? I’m tying him up. He won’t be of any help and he clearly doesn’t even want me here. Hey, you, get me some ropes.”
“Arthur…” Deka looked at the boy again with a pleading expression. “Please… I will make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” Her tone was low and soft, trying to find the kindness within Arthur’s heart to release Sergi.
The boy noticed that and froze for a moment. He then pursed his lips and looked down at the man. ‘Sigh, should I really listen to her? She doesn’t seem like she’s going to control him well enough. But, I have already pushed it a little too far.’
“Ok, if that’s the case then it’s on you. However, I will tell you this, if he dares to do anything remotely stupid, then I’m going to kill him without any hesitation and no pleading will stop me. Understood?”
“… Understood.” The woman nodded her head.
So, Arthur stood up and pulled his leg away from the man’s face, releasing him from the chokehold he was in. When he did that, the man finally moved and started coughing audibly. Holding his neck, he coughed and coughed till his lungs almost stopped working.
“Ugh… I will… kill you…” Through his tearing eyes, he glared at Arthur with deep hatred in his eyes.
“No, you won’t. Don’t jeopardize your own life, Sergi. He had spared you because I asked for it, don’t test your luck anymore.” Deka sighed as she grabbed his arm and dragged him up. “Let’s go inside, I want to talk to you.”
After that, without letting the man even voice his thoughts, she pulled him into the room, leaving Arthur alone outside. The other mercenaries decided to also go back to work, trying to fix the damages on the ship from the battle that ensued.
That left Arthur alone on the deck in the complete darkness of the night. Standing there, he dazedly looked left and right before he finally sat down to rest. Exhaling a long, tired breath, he looked at the sky again.
“What a stressful trip, for God’s sake. How is it turning out to be this hard?” He muttered to himself.
Aside from the fact that he was being antagonized by the mercenaries, there was also the fact that he didn’t get rid of the monster that attacked the ship. It was still lurking somewhere underwater, perhaps ready to strike again. The first time might’ve been quite light, but the second strike might truly become a huge problem for Arthur.
‘I need to figure out a way to counter that woman’s abilities before she appears again. There is no way she’s completely invincible. Everyone makes mistakes, and she won’t be any exception.’
Arthur knew that every ability had its flaws. Even his own abilities have many flaws that could very much make him lose against the right opponents who can use those flaws. That was why he focused on becoming as strong as possible as fast as possible. If he was strong enough, those flaws would simply become irrelevant because he could simply overpower any person in a battle and win.
So far, no player can even speak to him in terms of power. His points had been constantly increasing and making the gap between him and the second place bigger and bigger. The waves this idea sent through the player base and the entire world were only growing stronger and stronger.
Arthur tried to ignore that and focus on himself, but he knew that the moment he stepped out of this island, the world would relentlessly chase him till they found him. The biggest tech giants and billionaires see him as the biggest gold mine of the century and they would do anything to get him.
However, the boy didn’t care about any of that. All he wanted to do now was find a way back to the settlement.
‘Whenever I pull that off, I will think about other… things.’
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!