Chapter 603: Shifting Alliances in the Battle Zone

Captain! The Japanese Battle Zone is closing in on us! What do we do? Should we team up?!

An open area beneath the TV tower.

A squad of dark-skinned Awakeners from the Southeast Asia Joint Battle Zone anxiously watched the distant surge of Spirit Energy emanating from the Japanese Battle Zone.

There’s no doubt—they’re barreling toward us at full speed, completely unconcerned about hiding their approach.

At that pace, the two sides would clash in just over a minute.

In the midst of this national battle, the Japanese Battle Zone’s actions had everyone on edge. Several Third-Stage Advanced Awakeners even leaped into the air, their faces etched with worry.

On the ground, Zhang Yu, who kept glancing at the incoming messages, pressed his lips together as if unable to decide.

In his private comms, messages demanding a ‘rendezvous’ from both the Japanese and South Korean Battle Zones flashed up.

It didn’t surprise him to hear from the South Korean Battle Zone—after all, the two sides had secretly planned to join forces before the battle. In fact, he was already moving in that direction.

But when the Japanese Battle Zone sent an inexplicable message claiming they’d ‘lead’ them in wiping out the Huaxia Battle Zone—and even take on Vietnam and Korea—it was downright odd.

“Captain, make up your mind! I vote we team up with the South Koreans!”

“I’ve looked at the points ranking. The South Korean Battle Zone is surely under attack from the other two factions. If we move over, we needn’t worry about any tricks from them!”

“Their willingness to cooperate is undoubtedly stronger than that of the Japanese Battle Zone!”

As the Japanese Battle Zone neared, one of the seven Peak Third-Stage members couldn’t help but urge a decision.

He was one of the higher-ups tasked with liaising with the South Korean Battle Zone. In his view, although the Japanese might be stronger, their claim that the South Koreans were weak meant a joint strike could work.

But to him, that only made the situation even riskier!

“Exactly, Captain! Just look at the ranking and order of entry! I bet the Koreans have already gone off to engage Huaguo fighters—they must have some intel on them.”

“The Japanese Battle Zone’s sudden call for cooperation must mean they’ve noticed this too! They think the Koreans are faltering and plan to team up with us to wipe out the rest!”

“With ambitions that high, we can’t trust them easily!”

Listening to his team’s appeals, Zhang Yu wavered in his decision.

Sure, they had barely arrived when this situation exploded—and it seemed the course of the battle wasn’t unfolding as he’d expected.

Switching alliance targets on the fly was a huge taboo.

Yet, the Japanese Battle Zone’s offer was simply too enticing…

“They’re offering us half of the kill rewards, and claiming we could team up in future challenge dungeons…”

“In combat, all we’d need to do is intercept the fleeing Third-Stage fighters, and we can even sign a system contract…”

With a bitter smile, Zhang Yu—representing this joint Battle Zone—remarked that he carried half Chinese blood, a common trait among the small nations of Southeast Asia.

To be honest, he didn’t care much for the Japanese folks, yet he had to admit that although they had entered almost at the same time as them, their strength was likely unmatched.

Considering the bizarre points tally, their power was undoubtedly superior to that of the Koreans, Vietnams, and Huaxia combined! If they suddenly switched alliances, they might even wipe out all three nations…

Especially because…

“Those Koreans… they only offer a quarter of the rewards, and they aren’t exactly upstanding either…”

Meanwhile, Yenir, leading his Otherworldly Ghost Peak as he swiftly advanced toward Southeast Asia, furrowed his brow slightly.

Gazing at Park Chan-eun—whom he controlled and who had barely managed to mend most of his injuries—he spoke softly:

“What’s going on? Weren’t the Southeast Asians supposed to team up with us?”

“Did the Japanese Battle Zone also approach them at the same time?”

It was a simple matter of logic.

After learning from a controlled South Korean Awakener that they’d already cooperated with the Southeast Asians before entering, Yenir swiftly revised his plan and devised a new scheme.

Taking out both the Japanese and the Southeast Asians at once was undoubtedly risky and would drain many of his trump cards.

If he went full force and his overwhelming strength became apparent, many of the Japanese Battle Zone Awakeners would almost certainly flee thanks to their knack for escapes.

As for Yenir, his pursuit skills were rather lacking—if he saved his Dimensional Surge for chasing, he couldn’t use it effectively in battle.

Better not to hold back—after all, he wouldn’t be able to keep them anyway.

After a quick deliberation, Yenir decided to have Park Chan-eun deceive the Southeast Asia Joint Battle Zone into remaining cooperative, planning to trap and eliminate the Japanese Battle Zone first!

Keep in mind, there were still three massive Battle Zones ahead: the Indian Battle Zone, the Stan Joint Battle Zone (Central Asia), and the Arab Joint Battle Zone (West Asia).

One, India, was a super Battle Zone whose scale rivaled that of Huaguo; the other two were vast joint Battle Zones formed by multiple nations after the apocalypse.

These three mega Battle Zones were his true adversaries!

Once they realized he had singlehandedly taken out all the preceding Battle Zones, a united front from those three would be an insurmountable challenge.

Though Yenir believed that after activating the Evil God Ritual, he could take on seven or eight Peak Third-Stage fighters one-on-one—even fighting to the death seemed possible.

But if their numbers swelled to over thirty…

Hmm…

Even if he could resurrect, one encounter would instantly dispatch him—he wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Yes, Master.”

“The Japanese Battle Zone has laid on generous promises, and they probably have no idea we’d been secretly working with the Southeast Asia Joint Battle Zone before.”

“Those Southeast Asians are now hesitating, trying to figure out which side offers greater benefits.”

Cervical Recovery.

Even though Yenir had sliced off half of Park Chan-eun’s body with a single strike, and after converting him into an Otherworldly Ghost on a one-to-one basis, Park Chan-eun remained utterly loyal—as if he had completely forgotten what had happened.

Listening to the precise report from Park Chan-eun, Yenir paused in thought before decisively speaking:

“Then tell those Southeast Asians that you’ve already found a way to take down the Huaguo and Vietnam Battle Zones.”

“Earlier, Huaxia and Vietnam had unexpectedly joined forces and unleashed their trump cards!”

“Lure them in first—we can’t allow them to merge with the Japanese Battle Zone!”

With a single command, Yenir disregarded the promises and deceptions Park Chan-eun had made.

National confrontations were a matter of survival. He simply couldn’t afford to be overly scrupulous.

First, lure these Southeast Asian Awakeners over, then maneuver them elsewhere—after that, the remaining Japanese Battle Zone will be an easy kill.

Especially since Yenir had no intention of sparing any survivors.

With the current points going awry, if more weren’t killed, the other nations would surely begin to suspect something.

After mulling it over, Yenir instantly realized that sacrificing these Japanese would serve as the perfect offering.

Soon enough, after Park Chan-eun upped the ante, the Southeast Asia Awakeners abandoned their hesitation and closed in on Yenir.

But at that moment, the Southeast Asia Battle Zone—who had inadvertently bagged half the benefits and inexplicably become the prized target of both sides—remained oblivious to what lay ahead.