Chapter 184 - Li Ling Is A Competitor Too.

"Wait..." Zhihao muttered as he saw the scene in front of him. 

His eyes went wide in panic as he immediately jolted up. 

"You!!" 

Li Ling only smiled as he put his pocket knife back in his inventory and shrugged his shoulder with a proud and mischievous smile plastered on his face. 

"You destroyed it!" Zhihao cried out in disbelief.

Li Ling chuckled as he raised his hands up high, "You said it was okay to cheat." 

"What the hell was that thing?" 

Li Ling tilted his head in confusion as he asked, "You mean the developer's knife?" 

Zhihao frowned as he heard this, "The developer's knife?" 

Li Ling's eyes widened slightly as he realized that he had said something he wasn't supposed to. 

Zhihao thought about it for a minute before questioning out once again, "Something like that... Shouldn't it be with the developer?" 

Li Ling chuckled awkwardly as he tried to save his slip of the tongue, "It's an item that a lot of people have." 

Zhihao looked to be even more confused as he heard this, "What do you mean?" 

"It's like a cheat code given to a lot of Omelas employees." Li Ling lied through an honest face. 

Zhihao looked at Li Ling with suspicion and for a second there, Li Ling almost thought he was going to be found out, but when Zhihao opened his mouth again, Li Ling could once again sigh in relief at how dense this man was. 

"If you had such an item with you, why didn't you tell us?! Beating this ribix army would have been so easy!" 

Li Ling sighed before smiling as he responded, "We can't." 

"Why?" 

"It has a one-use per day limit. After one use, we'll have to wait another twenty-four hours to use it again." 

Zhihao's expressions got even more complicated as he looked at the man and cried out, "And you could've used that one strike to destroy the ribix army!" 

Li Ling shook his head as he replied, "It doesn't work like that." 

"..." 

Li Ling suddenly chuckled as he pointed down at the creature that had lost all its legs and eyes, "Captain Burn, we can talk about the details later. That thing down there is still not dead." 

"What?!" Zhihao was thoroughly shocked as he looked down at the creature that should've long been dead by now. 

Li Ling chuckled as a response, "That's a ribix. Cutting off its limbs is not enough to destroy it completely."

"Then how do we kill it?" Zhihao questioned. 

Li Ling simply smiled as he shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not telling you anything. It's your turn, you can try killing it in whatever way you'd like. If you fail to give the finishing blow, don't worry. I'll be sure to do it for you." 

Zhihao chuckled as he heard this, "Are you challenging me? It's not like we are competing or anything."

Li Ling smiled mischievously as he heard this, "What do you mean we're not competing? Captain Burn, we might be a team fighting together but there is still competition among us." 

"Is there?" Zhihao tilted his head as he asked. 

Li Ling nodded his head as he answered, "There is." 

Zhihao chuckled as he got ready to attack the creature, "Then what is the competition between us about?" 

Li Ling smiled as he answered honestly, "The top player of T.I.A.D." 

The amused smile on Zhihao's face seemed to falter as he squinted at the man, "What?" 

Li Ling nodded his head as he repeated himself and informed Zhihao that he had indeed not heard anything wrong, "We are competing for that grand prize, are we not?" 

Zhihao's muscles tensed up as he heard this. 

Sure, this whole game was about that prize. That one million dollar cash prize, however, since Zhihao was already at the top of the leader board, he had never really considered the others as his competitors. Even if he had, Li Ling was probably the last person who he would consider as his opponent. 

Li Ling simply smiled innocently as he gestured for Zhihao to continue attacking the creature, "Even if I love you, it doesn't mean I would stand aside and let you win that prize." 

Of course, he won't. It was simply Zhihao's dumb mind thinking up such a thing all on his own. 

Even if they were in the same team right now, by the end of this game, when they were in the final level fighting for the grand prize, Li Ling would also turn into a competitor who would play against Zhihao. 

When Zhihao thought about the future that lied ahead for them, he couldn't help but gulp. He didn't want to fight against Li Ling. He really didn't, but he didn't want to lose this game either. 

He had come too far and to back off because of his personal feelings and relationships now was not something Zhihao would ever do. 

Li Ling suddenly chuckled as he spoke up, "Don't worry about it now. Even if you win or lose, it won't affect our relationship." 

Zhihao sighed as he felt that there was some honesty in Li Ling's words. It wasn't like anything between them was going to change so why should he worry too much about it? 

"You're right," Zhihao chuckled out, "I look forward to seeing you trying to snatch my position." 

Li Ling smiled in amusement as he heard this, "Don't worry, Mastermo. I 'Will' snatch that position. Look forward to that." 

For some unknown reason, when Zhihao saw this, he suddenly felt as if Li Ling looked rather hot while he tried to challenge Zhihao. 

Zhihao nodded his head as he shifted his focus back to defeat the creature that lay on the ground with no legs and no eyes. 

Although Zhihao had said he looked forward to something like that, in his heart, he couldn't deny the fact that he was a bit afraid to hear something like that. He didn't want to fight against Li Ling because he was afraid that Li Ling would definitely beat him. 

It was natural to be insecure and afraid of an opponent you knew was stronger than you. Zhihao had observed Li Ling well and he knew that this man was hiding a lot of things. He was hiding his skills and there was a time when Zhihao asked himself what the reason could be. 

Why would Li Ling try to hide his skills? 

The only answer he could come up with to that was something that sent a shiver down his spine.

Li Ling wasn't hiding his skills. He was saving it for the end. He was waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When nobody considers him an opponent, nobody would try to make things hard for him. 

If that happened, he could simply pull out the joker card on everyone and show them how big of an idiot they had all been. 

If Zhihao and Li Ling were to one day face each other as opponents, the outcome of the fight was not something that people could easily guess. Even Zhihao wasn't sure if he would win or not, but he was sure that he would try to give his best. 

he would give his best and if he still gets beaten by Li Ling, he would accept the defeat with dignity and cheer on for Li Ling. 

Zhihao took the heaven-defying scythe from his inventory. This item was something Zhihao had hardly ever used. It was one of those items which were extremely powerful but would still rot away in your inventory because you never met an opponent strong enough to make you pull such a thing out. 

Zhihao's eyes seemed to change into a determined one as he swung the scythe down without any sense of mercy. 

He was aiming at the creature and trying to kill with a single blow but he was also trying to show Li Ling that he wasn't a person who could be easily beaten. 

If there was someone challenging you, you would naturally want to show them exactly what you were capable of. 

The scythe struck down on the body of the creature and for a single second, everything seemed to pause and what followed was an ear-piercing sound of the wind. The reaction was rather huge.

Since it was the first time Zhihao was using this thing, even he was shocked with how much power it had. 

The creature was completely destroyed and the scythe sent out an air pressure that knocked almost everyone off their feet. 

"Whoa!" Wang GuiYing cried out in amazement as he climbed up back to his feet and looked at Zhihao who had managed to put the whole war to a pause with his single blow. 

Zhihao heard Li Ling click his tongue, "Damn it... You got the final blow." 

He turned back to look at Li Ling who had a proud smile on his face. 

"That's the heaven-defying scythe, isn't it?" Wang GuiYing immediately questioned as he saw the thing clutched in Zhihao's hands, "How the hell did you get that thing?!"