Without missing a beat, the Air group immediately agreed.There was no hesitation, no need for prolonged discussion or cautious deliberation. To them, this alliance was not just beneficial, it was salvation wrapped in opportunity.If Water stood with them, the entire balance of the game would tilt. They knew it and everyone here knew it.The Air leader straightened, his earlier gratitude sharpening into something more calculating.“Then there’s something we’ll need,” he said carefully, though his eyes betrayed eagerness. “A Water token.”Kai frowned slightly. Not the deep, dangerous frown he wore when angered, but the mild, irritated kind he reserved for things that sounded unnecessarily complicated.“A what?” Kai asked flatly. “You people collecting souvenirs now?”Abigail blinked and Jian’s brows knit together in quiet confusion.Seeing their expressions, the Air leader quickly waved his hands and explained, clearly assuming this was common knowledge.“Each element has tokens,” he s

Hearing Kai’s worries laid out so plainly, the tension that had been hanging in the air finally shifted.No one laughed this time. No one brushed it off as paranoia.Instead, the girls exchanged slow looks, expressions tightening as the logic settled in properly. The more they replayed everything that had happened from the strange rule about waiting for five groups, to how easily Air had accepted the alliance, to Fire’s perfectly timed attack on Earth, the clearer it became.It really did feel staged.“Yeah…” one of the girls muttered, arms crossing. “If Fire and Earth were really enemies, that fight would’ve been loud. Chaotic. Not this… clean.”Another nodded. “And Air knowing so much from the start? It never sat right with me.”Abigail glanced at Kai, then sighed. “I didn’t want to believe it at first, but if we assume it wasn’t staged, then the alternative is worse. It means they’re all willing to slaughter each other early for profit.”“And that makes no sense,” Kai cut in calmly

After the talk ended, no one moved immediately.They all just… stood there.The girls looked at Kai and then at each other. Then back at Kai again, as if silently confirming that yes, this was indeed the same man who had been traveling with them, eating with them, joking with them, and somehow planning the collapse of four entire factions in the same breath.One of the girls finally cleared her throat. “S-so… we’re really doing this?”Kai glanced at her. “What, you want to write them a letter instead?”Another girl groaned. “I knew it. I knew the moment we followed you that one day we’d wake up and realize we were villains.”Kai waved a hand dismissively. “Relax. Villains get caught. We’re just… misunderstood problem-solvers.”That did not comfort anyone.Abigail folded her arms, eyeing Kai sideways. “You know,” she said dryly, “one day someone is going to write a book about you and it’ll be titled How Not to Sleep at Night After Meeting One Man.”Kai grinned. “I’d prefer A Gentleman’

As accusations were thrown around, the tension finally snapped.At first, it was just shouting.Voices overlapped, sharp and furious, each louder than the last. Fire accused Earth of scheming behind their backs. Earth spat back that Metal had been hoarding information. Metal sneered and claimed Air had been playing both sides from the beginning. Air, already on edge, retaliated by calling them all greedy idiots who couldn’t even follow the rules properly.Every accusation landed like oil on fire.“You brought outsiders into this first!”“Don’t pretend you’re clean, you moved people without permission!”“So the rumors were true, you planned to betray us once you got enough!”None of them realized it.None of them even suspected it.Every word they were shouting had been carefully planted, earlier whispers dropped at the right time, half-truths spoken with convincing panic, lies delivered with trembling voices by the girls Kai had secretly sent to each element. No single group had heard

For a moment after Kai asked his question, the air was strangely quiet.Then the silence shattered.Laughter erupted from the bound groups, loud, unrestrained, and dripping with mockery. One person laughed so hard he bent forward despite being restrained, shoulders shaking like he’d just heard the best joke of his life.“A reward?” someone scoffed, wiping tears from his eyes. “You’re still thinking about a reward?”Another joined in, voice sharp and cruel. “This place was emptied a long time ago. Thoroughly. Cleaned dry.”Kai didn’t react immediately. He simply stood there, watching them laugh like a man observing monkeys throwing stones at one another.The first speaker continued, emboldened by Kai’s silence. “You think you were the first clever ones to clear this place? Please. We figured out the rules ages ago..”“Really?” one of the girls asked coldly.“Yes,” the man said smugly. “Novices. Fresh groups. People with zero idea what they were walking into. We exploit them.”Another c