NOVEL NEXT Chapter 320: Consider a truce
It turned out that the Beauty and the Beast wanted the Queen dead! That was the reason it wanted to cooperate with the humans.
"What?" Even Ninth was confused.
"We know that you have encountered the Dragon one or two times already on this mission. As you might have guessed, that Dragon is not supposed to be here. It is a very dangerous Canzer that has no boundaries, no code, and no rules. It will kill both humans and Canzers indiscriminately.
We simply want to teach it its place. By helping us kill the Dragon, you will have the entire Canzer race in debt to your group.
Every Canzer will be so grateful for your help that they will no longer block your way towards the Church. They will let you dispatch the Ifrit in your God's heart and we can all go home."
Ninth went silent. Even though she wanted to refuse Beauty's words as soon as she said it, she knew that this was an opportunity that wouldn't come again.
The Dragon was a dangerous Canzer. There was no doubt about it. And Ninth was only about 50% sure that they would be able to defeat it one-on-one.
But if the Dragon barged into their fight again, Ninth couldn't be sure that it wouldn't team up with the Canzer. At that point, Ninth was sure that they would have to retreat to the real world because there was no way they were going to defeat the Dragon.
If what the Beauty said was true, then the only way they were going to defeat the Dragon was if they teamed up with the Beauty and the Beast.
Even though she didn't trust the couple, the enemy of her enemy was her friend.
Therefore, she was seriously contemplating whether she was going to accept the Beast's proposition.
Meanwhile, Atlan immediately knew that Beauty and the Beast were telling a bunch of lies. Since they wanted the Queen dead, then they must be part of the opposing kingdom that the Queen wanted to go to war with.
There was also a large chance that they would backstab Ninth and kill both the Queen and the humans in one fell swoop.
And even if they were telling the truth and harbored no ill will against Ninth and the team, Atlan didn't want them to succeed.
The reason for that was plain and simple: he wanted to reap more Specialist-level Canzers.
If Beauty and Beast succeeded in killing the Queen, then they would instruct the other Canzers to let them walk to the Church without any hassle.
Atlan didn't want that. He wanted to encounter as many Canzers as possible and have the Queen kill them easily. That way, he could farm as many Intern-level LifeSkills as possible!
But when he looked at Ninth, he saw that she was on the verge of accepting their proposition.
He couldn't let that happen.
"They're not telling the truth," he whispered to her.
Ninth looked back at him. "Listen, I don't trust them either. But this could be the only chance we have of killing the Dragon."
"Do we have to? The Dragon didn't show any sign of hostility against us. And it even killed the Canzer for us! Maybe it's on our side."
Ninth shook her head. "That is a Canzer you're talking about. They don't do things for our benefit. Who's to say that it wouldn't attack us later when we are at our most vulnerable?"
"What if they are also planning that?"
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Trust me, I won't let my eyes off the couple. But we need their strength to kill the Dragon."
Atlan could see from Ninth's expression that there was no way he was going to convince her. She was still stuck in her thinking that Canzers were an enemy of humanity.
That was probably because she was brought up that way. Meanwhile, Atlan was able to converse and hear Canzers with his mutation. That allowed him to realize that Canzers had their own emotions, grudges, and desires the same way that a human did.
There was practically no difference between the two, except for their appearance.
That was why Atlan easily believed that the Queen meant them no harm.
Ninth was set on her ways. Atlan had to find a way to stop them from reaching an agreement.
He looked down at his battle suit and asked Carmine.
"Hey, did you—"
"We know who she is!"
Atlan listened to Carmine's words carefully.
—
Meanwhile, Ninth and the rest of her team walked forward. If they were going to work together, then they needed to trust each other.
"We're happy that you've accepted our proposal. That Dragon is a menace that is dangerous to both humans and Canzers."
"$(@*@#*$@#%"
The rest of Ninth's team took a step back when the Beast spoke out loud. They still weren't used to having a Canzer be so close to them without a fight breaking out.
"I haven't accepted. I'm still considering the risks."
Beauty nodded, understanding her hesitance.
"That is fine. You have taken the first step. You are still wary of us, and that is understandable.
To assure you, then we are willing to make some concessions. We will be the first one to attack the Dragon, while you all stay in the backline and wait for the opportune moment to kill it. Surely that is enough for you to trust us. We literally have our backs faced towards you."
Ninth found the concession agreeable. If the Beast was the one to attack the Dragon, then they could make sure that there was no shady business going on.
And if the Beast and the Dragon fought to the death, then it would only benefit them. Ninth could use that opportunity to deal with both Canzers once and for all.
Seeing as Ninth had an agreeable expression on her face, Beauty held out her hand for Ninth to accept.
Ninth took a second to reconsider and finally held out her hand. They were about to shake hands, when all of a sudden, Atlan spoke out from the back.
"Wait a minute."