Chapter 172 - Li Ling Is Confident

The answer to that question was already as clear as the sun in a summer sky. 

Li Ling simply nodded as he spoke up, "That's why they have been attacking us so eagerly. Haven't you noticed it?" 

Zhihao had indeed noticed it, but he simply thought that it was because of something else. He thought they attacked them because they were humans and Alvi was a bot. 

Li Ling, "This Ribot gemstone is the only way Laura can save herself now." 

Zhihao couldn't help but be a little stunned as he heard this.

He immediately understood why Li Ling had shot her so ruthlessly. After he realized why Li Ling had shot her like that, it wasn't hard for him to put the pieces together and guess what Li Ling's plan was. 

He really planned on throwing Laura into an open battlefield and made it impossible for her to run away from it..

In order to save herself right now, she would have the Ribot gemstone implanted in her body and as soon as she has it implanted in her body, she would also become just like Captain Burn and Captain Liv. She would become a Ribix magnet and if she attracts their attention towards her like that, it would become impossible for her to avoid the war. 

It was such a simple plan that could possibly work. Well... As long as Laura didn't decide to go cuckoo on them, the plan would work. 

However, there was still a question that Zhihao just had to ask, "What's the worst-case scenario?" 

Li Ling smiled thinly as he leaned towards Zhihao's ears and whispered, "Worst case scenario: She decides to kill me for shooting her and setting her up." 

"..." 

There was no way Zhihao would let something like that happen. 

Leyah looked at Li Ling curiously as she asked, "Captain Liv, if your plan works... Do you think we'll be able to win this war for sure?" 

Li Ling proudly nodded as he heard this question, "We'll win this war. Don't worry about it." 

Zhihao also nodded as he joined Li Ling in reassuring and brainwashing this girl, "Since we are here, there's no way we'll lose the war. However, we still need to find the 2X and 3X Ribots quickly. If we don't find them, it's better not to fight this war at all and directly surrender in front of their armies." 

"You're right!" Leyah sounded enthusiastic, "W-we need to move fast!" 

Li Ling patted Zhihao's shoulder as if telling him that he did a good job. 

"The faster we can gather them all together, the faster we can get this war done and over with." 

Leyah nodded as she looked at her white-suited soldiers but as soon as she saw them, there was a small frown on her face, "But..." 

She was worried that her soldiers wouldn't listen to her anymore. 

Well... It wasn't like they were her soldiers, to begin with. They were all given to her by Laura and she was made to believe that she was their leader. 

Li Ling seemed to have already guessed the reason for her hesitation and it made him chuckle as he spoke up, "Just try it. I'm sure they'll listen to you. Even if they belong to her, she still ordered them to fight the war with you." 

After having heard this, Leyah got some confidence as she looked at a particular soldier and softly instructed him, "Help me locate down all the 2X Ribots." 

The soldier took a second to react but he still took a step forward, sternly replying, "Understood!" 

There was a sense of relief washing over Leyah's face as she heard this. 

Zhihao immediately recognized this soldier to be the one that had discovered them escaping from the confinement cell and arresting them to be presented in front of their leader, Leyah. 

Now that Leyah was sure the soldiers still listened to her commands, she didn't hold back at all as she shouted out one command after another, "Track down all the 3X and 2X Ribots. Send out groups of five soldiers to collect them. Bring them over to the central mall." 

The other soldiers also moved forward and nodded as they bowed and went away to carry on with the assigned duties given to them. 

She turned her head over to look at Zhihao as she spoke, "Captain Burn, For whatever happened years go... I deeply apologize. I'm thankful that you're still here to help us even when we abandoned you." 

Zhihao couldn't help but question, "Abandoned me?" 

Leyah looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows as she asked, "You don't... remember?" 

Zhihao suddenly feared OOC and chuckled as he scratched his neck before responding, "I guess the drugs in Utopia worked or something... We have missing memories. The last thing I remember is fighting those vicious creatures and... Next thing I know: I woke up in an empty amusement park." 

Leyah's face dropped colors as she heard this, "It's her..." 

"Huh?" 

"She probably made you forget everything," Leyah answered, "Of course she would do that. If you guys knew everything that happened, you would probably never want to help us." 

Zhihao frowned as his eyebrows drew together and he questioned, "What are you talking about? What are we supposed to not remember?" 

Leyah shut her mouth close and shook her head frantically, refusing to answer his question. 

"..." 

"I'm not telling you!" Leyah unsealed her mouth to say before muttering a small "Sorry..." and sealing her mouth shut once again. 

Li Ling who saw this couldn't help but chuckle as he spoke up, "You don't need to tell us. If you think we'll run away after hearing whatever it is, then it's better for you to just keep it to yourself. I can't ask you to trust us one hundred percent. But I can assure you that we won't run away no matter what. It's your choice if you want to trust us and tell us or hide that secret forever in fear of something that may never happen." 

Leyah gulped as she looked at him for a minute before pondering over it and speaking up, "Then I'll choose not to say anything." 

"..." 

Although Li Ling had said all that, he still hoped that she would fall for the trick and tell them everything she knew. 

But then again, it wasn't like he was that curious. 

They would eventually find out about it so what was the hurry? 

Zhihao sighed but said nothing. 

"In any case," Leyah was about to say something but the ground beneath them started shaking once again. 

It was an earthquake. By this time around, Zhihao had already realized that these frequent earthquakes were definitely not natural. 

When the ground finally stopped shaking, Zhihao looked over at Leyah and questioned, "You don't want to tell us about what happened. That's alright, but at least answer this question. What's up with mother earth shivering every now and then?" 

Leyah gulped as she straightened up and answered, "It's the war." 

Zhihao looked at her curiously and waited for her to continue. 

"The earthquakes get more frequent when the war is near. It's not natural, it's caused by a monster on their side." 

"A monster?" Zhihao frowned. 

Leyah nodded as she responded, "A monster that lives beneath the ground. Way beneath Utopia. It can sleep for years and only wakes up in time for the war." 

Zhihao couldn't help but be a little curious as he unconsciously looked down and muttered, "What type of creature is it?" 

Leyah shook her head, "I don't know what it looks like. I've never seen it, but I've heard that it's big. It's powerful enough to shake the ground so it would naturally be pretty huge." 

Zhihao nodded as he also guessed something like that to be the case. Actually, in his head, he couldn't help but think of an old movie named Godzilla. It was a story about something like this. A huge creature that lived in the depth of the ocean but came up to attack human civilization. This situation was just slightly different because they didn't know what the creature looked like and it was the depth of the ground and not water that hid this creature. 

Zhihao couldn't help but feel a shiver go down his spine as he imagined their future. They would definitely have to fight that creature causing so many earthquakes. 

Li Ling shrugged his shoulder as he stated, "Doesn't matter what size it is," He hooked his arm around Zhihao's neck as he added, "As long as we are here, that creature is nothing more than an overgrown earthworm." 

It sounded like an overconfident statement but didn't seem too out of place since it was coming from Li Ling's mouth. 

Zhihao was also a bit worried about this unknown creature, however, he had no doubts about their win. No matter what it was, they would still be able to win against it. 

Why was Zhihao so confident? 

Because this was Mastermo! 

If he can't even beat an overgrown earthworm, he might as well just change his name and become 'NoobMo'