Saving Face (Fourth Update)

"What? Those laborers killed them?"

"Even rabbits bite?"

"What an utter humiliation!"

"How presumptuous!"

"Did they rely on the Penguin Merchant Guild’s power?"

"Hmph, what do they take us for? Some third-rate legion like Mermaid?"

"They must be taught a lesson."

"That’s right. Even if our people entered the core area of their headquarters, it would have been fine for them to punish them. Killing them outright was going too far."

"This is blatant provocation."

"Absolutely intolerable."

"Otherwise, how would the other legions view us, a dignified top-ten legion?"

"…"

In the virtual boardroom, Chairman Baptiste of French Credit remained calm as he listened to the directors’ voices.

Only after the discussion had quieted down did he speak evenly.

"Since everyone agrees, let us pass this resolution. Indeed, we must let the outside world know that we are not merely a financial institution."

"Then let us repay them using the same method they used last time. It will also help establish our France Zone’s reputation."

"Agreed!"

"I second it!"

"Agreed…"

"As China would put it, in the face of such provocation, we must crush them with the force of Mount Tai bearing down on an egg."

"That’s right. Although the Penguin Merchant Guild is not weak, as long as we field a sufficiently powerful lineup, they will retreat."

"This is France!"

"With the capabilities of Chinese legions, they are nowhere near our equal."

"They must feel the pain as well."

Ding~ French Credit has launched a Bloody Counterattack against your legion. Twelve participants, to take place three days from now. It has been approved. Please prepare your legion for battle.

Upon hearing the notification sent back by the space, Xu Yue, who had finished creating Hell Path Pain, could not help but smile.

It seemed those dead men had kept sending detailed information right until the end.

A Bloody Counterattack… Even though he had disregarded everything and used the headquarters zone to kill them, it still qualified under the Bloody Counterattack clause.

They had reacted quickly, too. They had specifically sent only twelve people. Approval for twelve people to retaliate against a legion of ten thousand had come quite quickly, and they had only given three days.

The Laborer Group was now the Penguin Merchant Guild’s French branch.

Since they were confident that twelve people could sweep through the Laborer Group under such circumstances, there was a strong chance that all twelve were top-tier experts from their legion!

Perhaps they were every major figure in the legion who happened to be free at the moment.

Were they trying to settle it in one stroke?

To directly compete in true hard power?

Under normal circumstances, that would indeed have been the "wise" choice…

For the French Credit legion.

Even if the Penguin Merchant Guild were truly powerful enough to have more than twelve free top-tier experts, there was no way they could all arrive in Europe within three days.

And even if they could make it, who would pay such a massive price for a mere Laborer Group?

To go head-to-head with twelve top-tier experts—did they know how much they would have to lose?

If they had sent only two people, they would have had to worry about Rothschild Bank’s people suddenly joining in with a large number of experts, allowing them to take out their own major figures without losses.

But with twelve people deployed, there was no need to worry at all. Even if they truly brought in an equal or greater number of top-tier experts, facing the desperate eruption of their twelve men, they would definitely gain nothing from it!

Every top-tier expert was precious. Losing even one would hurt terribly!

Deploying twelve people was a clear message: their intent to kill had been decided. Anyone with sense should get out of the way.

It was simply a contest of resolve, telling them not to misjudge the situation.

It looked reckless, but in truth, having invested so much merely over a group of laborers, the other side would be reluctant to gamble with the same stakes.

Meanwhile, they themselves needed to pay almost nothing to forcefully recover the reputation and face they had lost.

All things considered, it was quite worthwhile…

If things had gone according to the usual course, that was~

Bright lights adorned the night in Paris, France.

Under their glow, even the full moon in the sky appeared much dimmer.

Six carriages slowly traveled from the bustling streets toward the outskirts.

At the end of the road stood a large building surrounded only by a simple wall. It had a faint resemblance to a church, yet was far heavier and plainer.

Aside from the drivers, the two people inside each carriage had their eyes closed, quietly waiting for something.

"According to the intelligence, quite a few people have left the Laborer Group over the past three days. Heh, by the time we get there, there probably won’t be anyone left."

One gentleman in a carriage opened his eyes as they neared their destination and spoke to his companion opposite him.

"A wise choice. Anyone who stayed behind with wishful hopes would have something wrong with their head. People are the most important thing. They will probably change branches, though during the process of leaving and being accepted again, we can also pick up a few replacement cannon-fodder legions."

The person across from him responded in an icy tone.

"The Penguin Merchant Guild itself should not be weak. We suspect it was established under an alias by some large Chinese legion."

"We’re only giving them a warning, not fighting them to the death. There is no benefit in that for us."

"That’s right. As long as we destroy this Laborer Group’s legion base, it will be enough to make them lose face and understand what they must not do."

Just as the two were talking, the carriage came to a halt.

The six carriages stopped side by side before the entrance to the "factory," automatically triggering the applicable Bloody Counterattack clause.

The three-day preparation countdown had ended.

Bloody Counterattack initiated!

Sizzle~

With the Laborer Group headquarters at the center, a strange spatial distortion and transformation appeared, directly engulfing the twelve participants.

They were then transported into the Bloody Counterattack’s exclusive space—a dense forest.

"Bloody Counterattacks rarely occur. I have never participated in one either. Didn’t the intelligence say the environment was usually a desert? I didn’t expect such a vibrant forest."

A gentleman in a tailcoat and gold-rimmed monocle looked at the lush forest before him and could not help sighing.

"A desert?"

Another burly man, equally impeccably dressed in a suit and wearing a completely expressionless face, seemed to sense that something was wrong.

He lowered his head to look at the thick roots below, then stomped down and crushed them, revealing golden sand beneath.

Such a dense forest growing from desertified land?

Strange. What was this supposed to be…

Wait, if there were no enemies, shouldn’t victory have been determined immediately?

All that should be left was destroying the enemy headquarters.

So what was this now…

Flower buds began appearing atop the branches, then blossomed open one after another.

Bang~

Pollen scattered everywhere.

"Not good! There are enemies! Everyone, stay alert!"

All twelve present possessed considerable experience.

Although they had not noticed the issue immediately, once they realized something was wrong, they reacted quickly when the buds appeared.

Various anti-poison abilities and defensive barriers were deployed in succession.

Aside from one person who inhaled a little and staggered slightly, everyone else completely blocked this sudden attack!

"It would be so much less troublesome if everyone cooperated a little. Why learn to be so clever?"

With a sigh, the vines and branches within the dense forest came alive in an instant.

They surged toward the twelve people!

"It must be someone from the Penguin Merchant Guild! Be careful. According to the information from De Gaulle, he suffered a mental attack through the eyes from a mysterious Reincarnator. Everyone must prepare appropriate defenses as well!"

Although twelve major figures had been deployed, they might despise the enemy strategically, but they would certainly take them seriously tactically.

Their intelligence gathering would never be careless. Any possible clue or scrap of information would be collected.

They would rather make unnecessary preparations than be caught off guard at the last moment…

Roar!

With an explosive bellow, a well-dressed gentleman burst through every piece of clothing on his body and transformed into a gigantic green figure, beginning to madly destroy the surrounding trees.

One top-tier expert had already made his move, and he had immediately unleashed the extraordinary power of Hulk!

On the surface, Hulk did not seem to possess any special traits, appearing to have only immense strength and outstanding defense. Yet with the ability to grow stronger alongside his anger, simply pushing those two traits to their limits was enough to demonstrate what it meant for brute force to overcome all techniques…

The fourth update was complete!

I had been squeezed dry…

I would have to go back to being a two-update beast for a while…

Thank you all for your continued support!