The mechanism halted, and once again, two stone walls slowly descended.
This confirmed Li Chonglou’s suspicion. As expected, after the two stone walls descended, one led to the next battlefield, while the other led back outside.
However, this time, another team appeared in everyone’s line of sight.
But it wasn’t inside the battlefield; it was in the line of sight leading outside. This stunned not only Henry and his companions but Li Chonglou as well.
The other team mirrored their expressions upon seeing Li Chonglou and his group. However, their reaction was faster. They immediately unleashed their movement techniques and charged straight towards them.
“Prepare for battle!”
Henry’s expression turned solemn. This situation had never occurred under the previous rules, nor had anyone heard of encountering an outside team simultaneously within the beast cage.
Based on past experience, the outer gate would only open again to allow the next team to enter after all the teams inside the beast cage had been wiped out or successfully completed fifteen rounds of challenges.
Although this rule might seem to consume a lot of time, it actually didn’t.
This was because the entire beast cage stage inherently included both the arena and the area outside it.
The five teams that entered the arena first undoubtedly held the greatest advantage, while those who arrived later from the outside would all gather there. This led to the emergence of an unspoken rule.
While the teams inside the arena were undergoing their challenges, the gathered teams outside the arena would spontaneously initiate challenge matches to contend for the next spot.
This was an unwritten regulation among past participants. To avoid large-scale conflict starting here, each team only needed to send one representative for a duel. This not only allowed each team to preserve their strength for the arena challenges but also solved the problem of more people than resources.
In reality, the organizers intended for this beast cage stage to be a massive elimination round. However, the organizers were the organizers, and the participants were the participants. Just as there are policies, there are countermeasures, and this unwritten rule had persisted to this day.
Therefore, they never expected the organizers to suddenly change the rules!
The people inside the arena had neither died in battle nor successfully completed their challenge, yet the outer gate had opened. This was like adding fuel to the fire in terms of human nature.
Who could resist such a good opportunity?
Seeing the unfamiliar team charging towards them, Henry suddenly recalled the situation with the collapsing entrance and quickly said to his companions.
“Let’s retreat inside first and block them at the entrance!”
The others instantly understood Henry’s intention and moved into the battlefield, blocking the entrance.
At this moment, the exotic beasts within the battlefield also noticed them. They were a pack of wild boars covered in spikes, snorting and kicking up dust as they charged towards them.
“I’ll hold off the monsters first!”
Yikoo declared and charged towards the boar pack. As a Muay Thai master, and being a woman, her flexibility was extraordinary. She dodged the boar’s charge with a twist, grabbed a spike as it passed, and mimicking Henry’s earlier action, threw the entire boar into the pack of boars following behind.
This immediately caused chaos and cries of pain, successfully delaying the boar pack.
Meanwhile, Henry and the other two faced the approaching unfamiliar team.
The vanguard was a man with an effeminate face and a slender build, especially his hands, which looked like those of an ape from a distance. But as he swung them, they produced a whistling sound that broke through the air.
Henry dared not to meet the attack head-on. After agilely dodging, the blue veins on his right hand suddenly bulged, making his entire arm appear a size larger than his left. He then struck directly towards the ape-like man’s face.
“Get out of my way!”
The ape-like man understood Henry’s intention, so he didn’t try to evade. He retreated several steps and took Henry’s punch head-on. As he did, he swung his long arms again, and at the same time, another man attacked Henry.
Ougijido and the other were under immense pressure because they had to face four opponents. Although both had rich combat experience, as the saying goes, even the best hands can’t fight four fists. Within just a few exchanges, both of them had sustained injuries to their faces.
Li Chonglou, who had been treated as a protected person, saw this and immediately understood that this unfamiliar team not only outnumbered them but also had comparable strength. It would be difficult for just Henry and the other two to hold them back at the entrance.
However, Li Chonglou was not worried but rather pleased. He had been thinking about how to find a good opportunity to persuade everyone to go out and rest. This unfamiliar team was undoubtedly the best opportunity.
Therefore, carrying the little girl, he immediately shouted to everyone, “Captain, let’s retreat first and give the place to them!”
Perhaps sensing the pressure from the opponent, the fighting spirit in Henry and the other two’s eyes slightly receded, and reason prevailed.
Based on what had happened before, the three chose to trust Li Chonglou unconditionally, moved aside, and let the unfamiliar team charge in.
At the same time, Henry shouted to Yikoo, who was still engrossed in the fight, “Never mind the number four, let’s go!”
Yikoo glared at Li Chonglou with extreme displeasure. Seeing the unfamiliar team charging towards them, she could only retreat from the boar pack, bypass the unfamiliar team, and return to their side.
“Let’s get out of here first.”
Li Chonglou, fearing they might have other ideas, gave a reminder and then walked out with the little girl on his back.
At that very moment, he could clearly feel the little girl on his back relaxing considerably. Leaning against his sturdy body, she suddenly became at ease.
This was a team battle, after all. Seeing Li Chonglou like this, the others could only follow. As they reached the outside, the stone wall rose again.
Seeing that they had truly retreated, Yikoo, still unsatisfied, questioned, “Number five, why did we have to give up the arena? We could have challenged together with two teams.”
The rule was broken by the organizers first, so they could naturally extend it further. Moreover, wouldn’t challenging together with two teams be faster?
However, Li Chonglou did not answer Yikoo’s question. Instead, he walked to the side with a calm expression and put down the little girl.
“Don’t you think it’s strange? Why is it that other teams’ quest characters are nowhere to be seen, but we are always carrying ours?”