Chapter 956: Placing a Bet

The solar king was visibly perturbed. "Are you serious?"

Li Zongming didn't understand what Zhang Lie was going for either, but it was clear that the other superior kings treated him like nothing more than a plaything.

This "test" was simply a means by which the four kings could destroy Li Zongming's forces and force him to borrow troops from them. They had no intention of treating him like an equal, and he didn't understand why Zhang Lie suddenly wanted to participate in the bet. Nevertheless, he sucked in a deep breath and nodded.

He wasn't aware of Zhang Lie's plans, but Zhang Lie had never led him down the wrong path. Li Zongming could think of no better idea than to follow Zhang Lie's plan.

The solar king seemed disbelieving. "Are you serious?" he asked again.

The decaying king echoed his thoughts. "You intend to participate in our bet?"

"Of course." Zhang Lie nodded decisively.

"Hahaha!" The superior kings couldn't rein in their laughter.

"How interesting," the solar king remarked. "How very interesting."

The superior kings glanced at Zhang Lie and Li Zongming anew, as if seeing them for the first time.

The decaying king asked, "Do you realize what you're doing?"

Did Li Zongming really think he could survive the assault of four other superior kings?

Zhang Lie challenged, "Do I not have this right?"

The king of keys nodded. "You do not have this right."

The solar king frowned. He was just getting excited about the idea when the king of keys denied Zhang Lie outright. He whined, "King of keys, why not let him participate? It'll at least make things more interesting."

The king of keys clarified, "He doesn't have this right, but all superior kings participating in this meeting do."

The ice queen narrowed her eyes. "In other words, the king of the Zongming world, as a superior king, may participate in the bet."

"Very good!" The solar king beamed at the surprising turn of events.

The king of keys explained, "All participants will commit a group of forces to the challenge. The participant with the most troops remaining at the end shall be the winner."

Zhang Lie asked, "And if the Zongming world were to win?"

The other superior kings blinked. The Zongming world as the final victor...? None of the other superior kings had entertained that possibility. Against the combined assault of four other superior kings—could the forces of a new superior king survive and defeat them all?

Of course not! This "test" of the Zongming world's combat forces was solely intended to get the king of the Zongming world to give them his world's energy.

Was Zhang Lie crazy? Did he not understand the kings' plans? Or perhaps he was waiting for the superior kings to protest that this was no test, but rather just a ploy. If they were to admit it, the Zongming world's forces would no longer need to participate in this sham.

What an intelligent fellow—the solar king and the decaying king, having come to this conclusion, glanced at each other.

The Zongming world might not have forces on par with theirs, but the king of the Zongming world had at least demonstrated a flexible and creative mind.

If any of them were to admit that this test was no test at all, Li Zongming would be free to refuse the offer to participate. However, now that they had seen through Li Zongming's ploys, there was nothing to fear.

The king of keys explained, "The Zongming world's ultimate victory is highly unlikely, and such a bet would naturally confer a commensurate reward."

The solar king secretly gave the king of keys a thumbs up.

The decaying king commented, "After all, the Zongming world will have to face four superior kings, and has the lowest chance of survival."

The king of keys suggested, "How about ten-to-one odds on the final victory going to the king of the Zongming world?"

Li Zongming's eyes twitched.

The solar king smirked. "I don't think that's appropriate. After all, the chance that the Zongming king will win is infinitesimal—so low it might as well be negative. Even twenty-to-one odds would be reasonable."

The decaying king laughed. "Even thirty-to-one!"

The Zongming world as the final victor...? Of course not! Of course not! The four superior kings would surely win—if they couldn't do so despite attacking the Zongming troops simultaneously, they might as well give up against the death spirits.

The Zongming troops were hastily assembled and from a newly evolved superior world, whereas the four superior kings' troops had been honed and trained for millennia. How could they be comparable?

Upon hearing the three superior kings' words, Zhang Lie's eyes went wide.

The other superior kings were clearly mocking the Zongming world, and they thought that Zhang Lie was making such a face because of his rage.

In truth, Zhang Lie was just upset that he had left much of the world's energy he had taken from the black spirits in the draconian world to be used for feeding disaster-grade lifeforms. He only had about half a world's worth of world's energy on hand.

Zhang Lie shrugged. "We might as well make it fifty-to-one—it makes no difference to all of you, surely."

The king of keys replied, with some irritation, "Fifty-to-one it is."

At any rate, the Zongming world could hardly win—thirty-to-one or fifty-to-one, it made no difference.

Only Li Zongming felt differently. He was certain that the superior kings were about to be scammed, and very badly at that.

The decaying king complained, "Why are we still talking? Let's start the challenge, now! You wouldn't be able to win even with hundred-to-one odds—or do you really think your forces can beat the combination of our four kings' forces?"

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

This wasn't just a difference in quantity, but in quality. The resources that the four superior worlds had hoarded for so long were boggling—tens of thousands of years of hard work meant that the superior kings' forces were no easy foe.

All these forces had once fought off the death spirits and reinforced the barricade surrounding the death spirits' territory. To the superior kings, their forces could hardly be compared to those of a novice like Li Zongming.

The king of keys waved a hand in mid-air, forming five puppets representing each of the five kings participating in the challenge. "Place your bets now."