With the war preparations going in full swing, soon, there were only a couple of hours left before the grand war began. This was deemed by everyone to be the war of the century, and the entirety of the human population was immersed in it. However, this did not stop anyone from discussing the obvious behavior of one of the top guilds in the world. At this point, even the third-rate ones had joined the war efforts, so the public sentiment was quite hostile toward the one or two guilds that were yet to join. And especially for Crimson Abyss, this was worse. "Ptui! These guys call themselves an S-Rank guild, but when it really matters, they run and hide like sewer rats!" "Even the level 10s in my guild are participating, and these guys should be at least level 30, they still won't contribute?" "This is why I never believed in the rumors that were spreading about Crimson Abyss. These selfish pricks couldn't be bothered to contribute to war by fighting on the sidelines, then how could they have upgraded everyone's guilds? Total bullshit!" "Ya, bring me the guy who said this. I promise I won't kill him!" "If Crimson Abyss joins the war efforts, then I will eat shit! They are the worst of the worst. Just want to take advantage of everything and boost themselves through war profiteering." "They want to sit comfortably in their homes like women while we go and fight with the enemy using our blood and sweat, putting our lives on the line. At some point, you need to have at least a little shame!" "We will do all the hard work, and they will reap all the rewards! What a bunch of assholes!" "After chasing these isons away, we need to band together and tear down this fucking guild. It has been an eyesore long enough!" "I agree!" "Me too!" "Let's do it!" "Let's make all those selfish, entitled pricks our slaves!" "I want to say you went too far, but this crimson abyss, so I will keep my mouth shut. They deserve everything coming to them." "Yes! Yes! After this war, they really need to be taken care of!" "He He! I wouldn't mind some of the beauties in that guild becoming my slaves, though." "Bah ha ha ha! Same here, man. Same here." "It looks like only degenerates are left here. The real men must be working." "Whatever, dude. I am fucking walking into war. I am not holding back my tongue!" "No complaints here, dude. At least we are doing what we can. Goddesses or beauties or whatever, the minute you sit on your ass and let others do the dirty work, you are not worth shit in my eyes. Bros before hoes!" "Bro, they are probably reading this. You better watch what you say." "Fuck that shit! I am not afraid of anyone. Those cowards can come and see my white ass shaking at them. Come at me if you dare bitch. I am already level 35!" "35? Damn!" "Good work. We are counting on you to take down some of those fucking insects!" *** *** *** "Ha Ha Ha Ha!" "Ha Ha Ha Ha!" "Ha Ha Ha Ha!" "This is just too funny!" The sound of a man's laughter reverberated loudly throughout the vast hall. Among the group of men standing, he was the only one who was laughing. The others also wanted to laugh, but they were so shocked to see their leader let loose so much that they forgot to laugh.This was the first time anyone had seen Kouske so happy. In fact, these past few days, he had been in extremely high spirits. Taking advantage of his good mood, a few people immediately tried to kiss his ass. "Boss, your strategy worked brilliantly. Both Liam and that guild are now locked from all sides." "Ya. By now, they should be tearing out their hair. They have no choice but to join the war effort." "If they joined, then we can carry out our plan, and if they did not join, then their reputation will be completely tarnished. When this war is over, we can then peacefully deal with them." "Heck, we don't even have to lift a finger. The other guilds will take care of them. ha ha ha" Kouske did not say too much and simply chuckled at these comments. This was because he knew something that these guys did not. There was another trap he had secretly laid out for Liam. In other words, Crimson Abyss was fucked on all sides, and if everything went as planned, this headache would be taken care of once and for all. "All right. That's enough." Kouske calmly said, immediately quieting down the crowd. "Let's not waste time here. We still have a lot to prepare for. The battle won't be an easy one. Don't forget that we have to fight with our lives on the line." "Taking down Crimson Abyss can wait. We need to focus on this first. If we can somehow take down the isons and get the treasure orb, then we can do whatever we want to those bitches." "Ugh… so boss, should I still continue with the pressure tactic?" One person asked. "Of course. Continue doing that. Don't stop. This is very important. Continue putting pressure on Crimson Abyss and forcing them to join, then only they wouldn't suspect anything." Kouske confidently said. Only the person whom he spoke to looked confused. He remained silent until Kouske left the area and then whispered quietly to his friend. "I don't understand. Do we want Crimson Abyss to participate in this fight or not?" "Because if they participate, then won't there be more competition for this treasure? Isn't it better that they do not take part and just get a bad name? In this way, they will never be able to get up again." "I mean, if they participate, then we can always sabotage them on the war ground. So I guess that also works. AhhhhH! I am so confused! What is the best route of action here?" The other party also looked equally confused. "Don't ask me. I don't know anything. I am simply following my orders. Besides, I don't think we should be wasting our time thinking about things like this. What God says, we follow. It's better that way." "Hmmm…" The first person shrugged. He also couldn't help but agree. "You are right. Only because we followed his words were we able to establish ourselves in the world so soon and so easily." "After this ison thing, we will basically become the Kings of this world. Can you imagine? That much power! I am getting goosebumps!" Meanwhile... in Crimson Abyss guild headquarters... "Slaves?" Alex silently fumed. Standing next to her, Rey was pretty sure that his sister did not look any different than a demon at the moment, and the guild chat wasn't helping at all. The idiots seemed to have completely forgotten about the huge war that was going to happen in a matter of few hours and instead focused on trash-talking Crimson Abyss? What the hell was this? Did these people completely lack any kind of common sense? Surely, they couldn't be that confident. After all, the isons were a threat that was above anything they had seen both in the real world and back inside the game. So how could anyone be confident when fighting against these insects? Even the most foolish idiots would know this much. This was why Rey was left speechless. He could understand all the other instances when Crimson Abyss was constantly bashed, but he couldn't understand this. There was a fucking war coming, for god's sake! Can't you talk about that? "Somebody is pulling strings." Hao Yuze suddenly said. "Oh?" Alex turned sharply to look at the guy. "You are right! This is just not natural. Why would someone be constantly bashing our guild at this crucial time? It just doesn't add up. It is almost as if they want to provoke us." The other guild members gathered in the magic shop also nodded in agreement. Now that they thought about it, only this particular explanation seemed to make sense. They were definitely provoking them into joining the war. "These guys are surely planning something." Alex punched the desk in front of her, making the fairy sigh and shake her head. By now, even that fairy was used to Alex's hot-headedness. "They must be planning some sort of underhanded strategy to sabotage us and attack us in the name of this war." Several others also chimed in, agreeing with her. "We should not get lured in just because these idiots are bad-mouthing us." "We should play it safe and stay away from this." However, amidst this, Rey alone pointed out something else. "Should we go and take a look at the magic shop in India where bro has gone? I think there might be something going on there." "Huh?" "I feel like these people are trying to divert our attention too much. What if they planned something with bro? What if they are waiting to ambush him or something? We are only thinking about the war, but the real target might be Liam!" Rey's words rang loudly amidst an uncomfortable silence. At this point, no one knew for sure if Liam was injured or not, so no one also knew how to react to this. However, his point was also valid. There was a strong possibility for this to happen. In the end, this left the group only even more confused. This was because now they had three options. Should they participate in the war? Should they sit it out? Or should they sit it out and make a move as a guild to India in order to help Liam? The entire group became silent as no one seemed to be able to come to any decision logically. At this point, it simply felt like a coin toss. Even experienced old experts like Lan Ganjie and Granny Ning were at a loss for words. Moreover, there were now only a couple more hours left to make a decision. After that, everything would be out of their hands. At this tense moment, all of a sudden, Alex spoke up. "He He. It looks like we will be participating in this war after all." Her eyes brimmed with a sort of raging, fierce evil glee that made everyone in the room gulp silently, and in front of her, a new message was flashing in their guild interface.