After witnessing what was basically a one sided massacre between the unknown aether beast and a two teams worth of Aether warriors, the Zhen Clan team wasn't exactly willing to rush in without a plan. Even the bloodthirsty Zhen Hai was showing a modicum of restraint.
However, despite their now shared feelings of needing to approach this absurd murder room with a plan, they weren't exactly sure what the plan was exactly.
"Well, it's safe to assume those guys are probably dead or being digested as we speak," Zhen Liu bluntly stated, "now that we know what Sullivan was trying to tell us earlier, any idea of what we could do now?"
"What if we just sneak in and take a small chunk of that crystal ore with us? We don't need a lot, just enough to win," Zhen Yue suggested.
"No way," Zhen Hai rebutted, "We need a decisive victory to win this thing and that Ifrit Fire Heart Crystal as a whole is enough to ensure victory, no questions asked."
"Besides that point, Ifrit Fire Heart Crystal is really hard to mine safely," Sullivan added, "Take a hammer to it, shrugs it off like it's nothing. Take that same hammer infused with aether and shit can get explosive. Every chunk of crystal needs to be hit at an exact point in order to be safely extracted, and I don't got the time to do that if that weird dangling beast is still in there."
"In that case, we just need to get the jump on it and smash it's head in!," Zhen Hai gleefully suggested, "Those guys got wiped out because they didn't know about it being there, but we do so we got an advantage. Plus we're all at least a few rings stronger than those guys were, we could take it down."
At this boast, everyone except Sullivan gave Zhen Hai a deadpan stare of disbelief. This confused Zhen Hai.
"What?"
[I think we could,] Nepherage mentally commented to Zhen Liu. Zhen Liu was about to both verbally and mentally admonish the idea, but Zhen Yue beat him to the punch.
"Did you not see how easily it shrugged off all of those attacks? What's it matter if we're a bit a stronger than those guys were, they had nearly double what we have and one of us is technically useless because they can't use arts! No offense."
"None taken."
[Some taken.]
"Then what else can we do?," Zhen Hai asked in frustration, "because I refuse to just abandon such an obviously valuable treasure here of all places."
"Well there goes my plan," Zhen Liu said in a flat voice. Unsurprisingly, Zhen Yue and Zhen Hai both gave Zhen Liu a dirty look for his less than positive response.
"Hey, I'm kidding," Zhen Liu said in placating manner, "I actually do have a plan in mind, but I'm not entirely sure if it will work."
"Why?"
"Well for starters, we're going to need more people that are about as strong as you two. Unfortunately, the only ones I can think of that even match that criteria are either the Wolfe Family team or-"
"ZHEN CLAN!," a powerful feminine voice suddenly interjected. The Zhen Clan team turned to see who could cause it, seeing the source to be none other than Gianna Corrada and her team. Needless to say, she didn't look happy to see them.
"It appears fate has finally brought us together to fight!"
"Or ya know, the Corradas who just showed up right when I mention them," Zhen Liu finished while grasping his forehead, "what the hell universe?!"
"For the sake of the Corrada's honor, I'll be sure to knock you and your kin outta of this competition!," Gianna proclaimed while walking towards the Zhen Clan team. She began to give off a purple, toxic looking light as she circulated her aether with every step she took. Her teammates on the other hand decided to step back to give Gianna space to fight.
Not one to be intimidated, Zhen Hai began to walk towards her with a vicious smile. A pale blue light accompanied by a low roar began to emanate from his form as he began to circulate his aether.
"Oh big talk toxibitch! Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and just try it! I'll tear your pretty face apart!"
Zhen Hai and Gianna were all set to start ripping into each other both physically and verbally, but Zhen Liu wasn't having any of this right now.
[Nepherage, can you stop these two from beating their feelings into each other?,] Zhen Liu commanded. While he wasn't sure if these two had feelings for each other, he had read enough novels in his past life to detect "awkward" tension.
[At once milord.]
Just as Zhen Hai and Gianna were about to rush into each other and probably punch each other's faces in, Nepherage used her hulking form to interject and block the two of them missing, grabbing their fists. The two would-be combatants were rather shocked at the sudden interruption, even more so that they could break the grasp.
"What the hell? What kind of monstrosity have you tick infested bastards brought with you this time?!"
"First of all, rude. Second of all, Zhen Liu, what the fuck are you doing?!"
"Both of you shut it," Zhen Liu commanded, "And that includes the entourage. Otherwise, I'm breaking her arm permanently."
Gianna's teammates looked enraged from Zhen Liu's threat and began to circulate their aether.
"Why you little-"
[Nepherage?]
Nepherage began to slightly tighten her grip on Gianna's fist, causing the latter to release a rather powerful scream.
"GAAAAAHHHH!"
"Mistress!"
The two warriors accompanying Gianna immediately stopped dead in their tracks, their aether dissipating as a result. Nepherage immediately weakened her grip once they had stopped their aggression, causing Gianna to stop screaming.
Zhen Liu was about to speak, but was interrupted when Zhen Yue walked up to him.
"Zhen Liu, what are you doing?!," she hissed. Zhen Yue was all set to join in the fight once Zhen Hai threw the first punch, but was now thoroughly confused over Zhen Liu's actions.
"Let's just call it...hard negotiations," Zhen Liu said while moving around his cousin, "we're gonna need them for this next part."
"What part?"
"This." Zhen Liu proceeded to clear his throat and turn towards the Corrada team.
"So...do you guys know what an Ifrit Fire Heart Crystal is?"