Chapter 149: Interlocking Calculations

"Is it really true that the loser has a nine-in-ten chance of dying? And they even need the opponent's consent?" Geng Hua pulled Mo Shu aside to question him. Facing a wager of such severity, anyone would naturally be forced to act with extreme caution.

"Hmm~ Are you worried we might not win?" Mo Shu asked with a nod.

"Cut the crap! Why should we have to risk our lives?"

"I don't want to die either, but do we have any other choice?" Mo Shu wore an expression of utter helplessness.

Geng Hua continued, "Mo Shu, if it were just you racing against them alone, we'd be certain you'd win without a doubt. But there are four of us. How can we guarantee that everyone will come out of this unscathed?"

"That's right. Furthermore, the cars we're driving were provided by Guan Mie, and the explosives inside were installed by him as well. If Guan Mie decides to tamper with them even slightly, it's entirely possible that all of us will be wiped out," Wang Yining agreed, believing that the initiative in this race did not lie in their hands.

"I do have a plan, and it only requires me alone to execute it. However, I'm also worried about you guys. After all, racing like this means risking your lives," Mo Shu replied with understanding, knowing he had no right to demand his companions to stake their lives alongside him.

"Let's think about this from another angle. Are we really destined to be at Guan Mie's mercy?" Wang Yining asked.

"I'm afraid so," Mo Shu nodded.

"Can't we just walk away? We're not like the Celestials; we don't have our companions held hostage by Guan Mie," Geng Hua seemed to advocate for a retreat.

"Yes, before coming to the summit, I already arranged for a helicopter to be on standby. It doesn't matter that there's no communication signal here; the helicopter is parked in an open clearing about twenty kilometers away. The moment we fire a flare, it can fly over immediately to pick us up." As it turned out, the three of them had already made preparations back at Nanshan Airport.

Mo Shu fell silent. He didn't know how to make a decision. Should he let his companions risk their lives with him? No! He wasn't willing to do that.

Should he sacrifice the tens of thousands of racing fans present here? That would be even harder for his conscience to bear.

After all, you only live once, and the four members of the Deity Racing Team were still so young.

So many dreams awaited them to fulfill, and so many wonderful things in the world had yet to be experienced.

If it were a fair and square race, he believed his companions would never run away.

But when turned into a do-or-die gamble like this, it was only human nature for anyone to want to refuse.

Had Mo Shu never felt timid? He didn't know if he would have the good fortune to time-travel again if he kicked the bucket here.

"You three..." Mo Shu said softly after a long period of thought.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Can the helicopter you arranged save the lives of these ten thousand people?" Mo Shu's tone carried a hint of sorrow.

Wasn't that asking the obvious? There was no such thing as a helicopter that could hold ten thousand people. Even if they used international commercial flights, they would probably need dozens of planes.

Still, the three of them caught the underlying meaning in Mo Shu's words.

Based on their understanding of Mo Shu, he would never let the matter rest without rescuing these ten thousand people.

Just like when he saved Wang Yining years ago, or when he showed forgiveness to Black Mirror.

Mo Shu had never been the kind of person to stand by and watch others die.

Thinking of this, Wang Yining and the other two felt a twinge of shame, lowering their heads in silence.

After another stretch of silence, Wang Yining gritted her teeth and spoke up first, "Fine, I support you. Who asked me to be so fond of you? We're not leaving. Let's defeat Guan Mie and save these lives!"

Wang Qing was still young and usually followed Sister Yining's lead, so she immediately chimed in, "Big Brother Mo Shu, count me in too."

Only Geng Hua stood to the side with his face flushed red, wearing the embarrassed look of a manly man losing to the fairer sex.

Mo Shu poked his shoulder and said, "Both of them are girls and they're being this brave. Why are you acting so shy like a proper gentleman?"

Geng Hua still didn't say a word. After a moment, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

Confused, Mo Shu teased, "Are you an idiot? The cell phone signal in the racing area was jammed by Guan Mie long ago."

To which Geng Hua replied, "Let's take a group photo. We might not get another chance in the future."

"Oh, for heaven's sake! What a jinx!" Wang Qing delivered a punch to the top of Geng Hua's head.

"You're sick in the head!" Wang Yining rolled her eyes and turned her head away.

Only Mo Shu chuckled merrily, knowing full well that Geng Hua wouldn't back down at the last minute.

"Let's take one then. When we're old, we can still look back and reminisce about how we took down Guan Mie today." Mo Shu had no aversion to taking pictures whatsoever, grabbing the two girls and pulling them close to Geng Hua.

"Click..."

The shutter fell. Mo Shu, who had worked as a photographer in his previous world, instinctively checked the photo.

He saw that he was smiling very brightly, perhaps because it had been a long time since he last saw his companions.

Wang Qing had her arm around Geng Hua like a couple, while Wang Yining wore a dark expression, looking utterly disgusted.

Had Mo Shu not forcefully shoved her head toward the center, she probably would have left nothing visible except the back of her head.

"Don't look so unhappy. Ever since we said goodbye to GTCC, it's been rare for us to compete in the same arena again," Mo Shu sighed with emotion.

...

"Have you guys had enough fun yet? Start the race already!" At such a life-or-death juncture, the four members of the Deity Racing Team still had the leisure to pose for commemorative photos, which made Guan Mie feel deeply humiliated.

"What's this? Do you think this old man lacks any intimidation?" Guan Mie cursed angrily.

"Not at all, Uncle. We can start whenever you're ready," Mo Shu agreed. "But I have a suggestion. I know this Redemption Game has two formats: singles and team battles. The rules also state that both competing parties must reach a consensus. So are we all going in together as a group, or are we going one-on-one?"

"This..." Guan Mie hadn't expected Mo Shu to know the rules so well, and he hesitated for a moment before stammering, "Sin... singles."

Guan Mie had originally aimed for singles; he wanted to send his sons out first to test the waters.

"If you ask me, let's go with a team battle! Keep it clean and crisp! The sooner we die, the sooner we're reincarnated, without dragging things out," Mo Shu stated with a firm attitude.

"Uh..." Guan Mie found it hard to make up his mind.

Mo Shu had jumped straight into a major operation like a team battle, carrying an aura that suggested he intended to wipe out him and his sons in one fell swoop.

It was precisely this aura that gave Guan Mie a bad premonition. Yet, the Redemption Game was a game he had proposed himself; he couldn't simply refuse to play by the rules.

"Since our two sides can't agree, let's see what the Celestials think." Mo Shu shifted the decision-making power to the three Celestials, confident that they would choose the team battle format.

How precious were the lives of the Six Realms Celestials? They had long since been scheming about how to preserve their own skins.

After weighing their options repeatedly, the three Celestials also leaned toward choosing the team battle format, which caused Guan Mie's heart to sink.

After all, Fan Yu and Fan Fei had already demonstrated their respective strengths, and the previous defeats of the two Celestials made them doubt themselves.

Entering the fray alone made the Celestials worry they couldn't hold their own. But if they chose the team battle format, at least they would have companions assisting from the sidelines, and in the event of a crisis, they might just manage to escape with their lives.

However, while Mo Shu had accurately guessed the mindset of the three Celestials, he hadn't anticipated that they would pull an even craftier stunt.

"Wait, the two of us have a suggestion as well." Drift God Inoue Fujiken and ETCC Overlord Robert Johnson stepped forward.

"Ugh, what a pain. Let's hear it," Guan Mie said impatiently.

"The three Celestials plus the four Main Gods make a total of seven people, right?" Inoue Fujiken asked.

"Right," Guan Mie nodded with displeasure.

"And you father and sons only number three, correct?"

"Mm."

"Therefore... I think it's unfair!"

"Huh?" Guan Mie was baffled. What was going on here?

"In the interest of fairness, the two of us intend to join your Guan Mie faction. That way, it will be a 5v5 showdown. No matter who wins or loses in the end, no one can point fingers or mock us." Inoue Fujiken and Robert Johnson had actually defected in a matter of minutes.

"To show that the two of us harbor no ulterior motives, we sincerely present our future racing authorization agreement documents for your review!" Inoue Fujiken actually handed over two documents.

"You twobastards!!!" Cabot was boiling with rage. It appeared the three of them hadn't colluded in advance at all.

"Hehe, for the sake of survival, we chose the strong. Sorry about that!" Robert Johnson offered a cold word of consolation.