Chapter 1298: Wait
Black Sheep lay sprawled on the ground, lifting his head with great difficulty.
Amid the sounds of "Ants" tearing at Celestial Tiger's body, he looked toward Money-Losing Tiger's direction.
"Hey..."
He called out feebly, but Money-Losing Tiger did not respond.
"Hey... dammit..."
He had never imagined that one day he would speak to that fool and get no response at all.
"HEY!!" Black Sheep shouted, his voice almost choked with tears. "I haven't killed you yet... how dare you die?!"
The loud voice echoed through the room. Amid Black Sheep's tearful curses, even the screeching Celestial Tiger fell silent.
Countless hands had reached inside his body, crushing all his internal organs.
Before long, Money-Losing Tiger let out a barely audible cough:
"Cough..."
"Huh?!" Black Sheep was instantly overjoyed. "Money-Losing Tiger..."
"Old Black... what're you yapping about..."
"You... you bastard...!"
"Hehe..." Money-Losing Tiger opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling with a weak grin. "What a joke... talking about family and all that... we're all grown men... have you no shame?"
"Aaaaaagh, dammit!!" Black Sheep finally relaxed, lying on his back with a smile, his long-suspended heart finally able to settle. "Thank god... thank god... I'm gonna kill you sooner or later...!! Ah... pisses me off..."
"Kill me, huh... you dog..." Money-Losing Tiger gave a dry laugh. "I told you 'no rush'... and you really took your sweet time... why didn't you wait until I was down to my toes before coming? Why not just bring some funeral money and burn it right here..."
"Still talking tough. I never should have come." Black Sheep lay on the ground. "Deliberately dragged it out this long, and you still didn't die. What a damn shame. A little kid beat you to this state—what good are you? Where's that skill you used against Earth Dragon?"
Earth Tiger coughed helplessly. "Old Black... if we're gonna talk like that, let me state first: the 'Dao' isn't settled yet... after all, Brother Sheep helped me make that loan... principal plus interest... you still owe me..."
"Keep track of it." Black Sheep snorted coldly. "When you die, I'll burn it all for you."
"Tch... why so mad... it's just a little arm for the kid to eat... hehe..." Money-Losing Tiger coughed a few more times. "If the kid wants to eat, let him eat... with my build... I'm not dying that easily..."
As the two were talking, an Earth Monkey slowly arrived at the doorway. He looked at the scene inside, sighed, and walked in.
He found the room filled with wandering "Ants," which irritated him. He pulled a "Dao" from his pocket, and at that moment, the "Ants" lifted their heads as if sensing something, but none of them moved.
Earth Monkey opened the door, tossed the "Dao" out, and the many "Ants," sensing the "Dao" had lost its master, followed it out into the corridor to fight over it.
Then Earth Monkey closed the door, restoring peace to the room.
"Damn..." Money-Losing Tiger turned his head with difficulty, and was shocked when he saw the man. "Old Black... get up quick... we barely managed to take down Celestial Tiger, it'd be too big a loss to die at this monkey's hands..."
Black Sheep glanced up at Earth Monkey, then lay back on the ground with an impatient expression. "I can't get up. You go die."
"Ay... what the hell... you're cold-blooded again... cough cough..." Money-Losing Tiger shifted his body, trying to get up, but due to excessive blood loss, he had no strength left. "Old Black... how about I hold him off... you go first..."
"I'm not going either. I'm planning to watch you die."
"What?! Don't..."
Earth Monkey watched the two bantering, unsure what game they were playing. He walked to the center of the room, took off his suit jacket, and tore it into strips.
"Heh..." Money-Losing Tiger snarled. "Trying to strangle me, huh... I fear nothing. Go ahead and kill me... I swear I'll leave a few holes in you..."
Earth Monkey looked at Money-Losing Tiger, rolled his eyes, and tossed the torn suit at his face. "No need. Your friend already left enough holes in me. Tie yourself up—your shoulder's spraying blood."
"Huh?" Money-Losing Tiger caught the cloth strips. He hadn't expected that this Earth Monkey, meeting him for the first time, would be on their side. "Whose side are you on, kid..."
"I don't know whose side I'm on either." Earth Monkey shook his head, then tossed the other half to Black Sheep. "You two are really lucky to be alive, not dying from this..."
Black Sheep caught the cloth strips, sat up with difficulty, leaned against the wall, and began wrapping himself. But most of his injuries from fighting Celestial Bull were internal; external bandaging wouldn't do much good.
He took a few deep breaths, then asked Earth Monkey: "Is it all done? Those 'Human-Grade'..."
"What's there to worry about with 'Human-Grade'..." Earth Monkey picked up a chair from the floor, sat down, and began treating his own wounds. "So I stumbled into this mess blindly. Isn't anyone going to fill me in? What exactly are you all planning?"
Black Sheep didn't answer. He roughly wrapped his own messy wounds, supported himself against the wall to stand up, then went over to Money-Losing Tiger's side and began bandaging the severed stump on his shoulder.
Earth Monkey watched the two of them, feeling like he was being ignored. "Hey... Black Sheep, you don't trust me? If I wanted to harm you, I could have done it by now."
After saying this, he looked at the expressions of Earth Sheep and Earth Tiger, and found both of them looking confused.
Black Sheep sighed. "It's not that we don't trust you... it's that we don't know the plan either."
"Huh...?" Earth Monkey was taken aback. "No way... 'Heavenly-Grade' are starting to die, 'Natives' are boarding, 'Participants' are boarding, and now even the 'Ants' are running wild in the corridors... and you have no idea what to do next?!"
"Correct." Black Sheep nodded. "The ones who killed the 'Heavenly-Grade' don't know what to do. The ones who boarded don't know what to do. Even the 'Ants' don't know what's going to happen next. That's our current situation."
"You're all insane..." Earth Monkey slowly stood up. "Causing such a huge commotion, yet completely clueless about what comes next..."
"That's a good thing," Black Sheep said. "Each of us only knows our own part. That's how this plan has remained hidden until now."
"Then what about me?!" Earth Monkey said, deeply puzzled. "If I'm joining this plan from now on... doesn't that mean I have no idea what to do at all?"
"From what I know... everything that needed to be done is done." Black Sheep looked up at Earth Monkey. "What's left to do now is probably just wait."
"Just... wait like this?" Earth Monkey asked.
"Yes. Wait for the final success to arrive..." Black Sheep paused. "Beyond that, there's nothing we can do."
"I can't wait anymore..." Money-Losing Tiger grimaced, reaching for the bandages on his body. "Probably a lot of our brothers are badly hurt right now... let's go look for them later... save whoever we can..."
"You can barely walk, don't push yourself." Black Sheep said. "Injuries from fighting a 'Heavenly-Grade' can't be healed in a short time. Even you and I are the same. We're alive now, but we'll soon be in a bind with insufficient medicine and wound infections. If this rebellion doesn't succeed, we'll die regardless."
Earth Monkey was about to speak when he suddenly noticed a crack in the wall. He walked over slowly, staring in disbelief at the endless starry sky beyond the wall.
"What... is this...?"