Chapter 599: Trapped in the Sandstorm

Rahman did not fall for Alhaitham's "trap" because of distrust, and now Dehya made up for that.

Rahman was quite cautious. He demanded that Dehya put her arm down first.

Even at this point, Dehya did not hesitate. She allowed the other side to cut off her right arm. Instead, it was Alhaitham who tried to dissuade her.

Peaceful resolution was the best method, but if it really came to force, it wasn't unsolvable either.

Dehya, however, felt it was necessary. She was willing to sacrifice one of her arms in exchange for multiple lives.

If she didn't gain the other side's trust, they wouldn't be able to find out the whereabouts of the village guardians. It would simply be the story of plucking one hair to save the world.

Dehya was clearly the one willing to "lose one hair." She really extended her right arm and waited for them to chop it. In the end, it was Rahman who stopped the subordinate approaching Dehya.

[Rahman: "Stop! The 'Blazing Mane Lion' is also a child of the desert. Chopping off your arm would be no different from cutting off my own finger. We are kin—killing each other serves no purpose."]

Precisely because he saw Dehya as kin was he willing to trust her guarantee. As for the right arm, it was merely a precaution within that trust.

That subordinate's blade stopped the moment he said stop—there wasn't even any inertia from swinging it. Clearly, they had been prepared. This was nothing more than a coward's experiment.

After all, both sides were not in the same camp. No matter what, trust couldn't be unconditional—vigilance was inevitable.

After watching this segment of the plot, the first to breathe a sigh of relief was actually Rahman himself.

Rahman in the story didn't know that reviving the Scarlet King was a rumor, but the real-world Rahman did.

Seeing his story-self being deceived and making these "foolish" moves made him very anxious too.

What is this? Why almost fight with "teammates"? Let's go take down the Akademiya together!

Next was Dunyarzad. After breathing a sigh of relief, she looked at Dehya with some dissatisfaction.

I told you not to belittle yourself—did that mean you should harm yourself?

Other readers who liked Dehya also recovered. Once they did, they realized that everyone at the scene seemed to be acting.

At first they thought Dehya was going to play Rahman, then Alhaitham joined in, and they thought he was about to start performing.

They had assumed that no matter who was the "lead actor," Rahman was the one being played. Only after finishing did they realize—Rahman was acting too!

The most honest ones in the entire scene were probably Paimon and Isak. Those two were genuinely emotional.

The rest all had their own little schemes, secretly gathering strength. If that blade hadn't stopped, the Traveler and the others would have rushed in and "flipped the table."

Difficult to handle, right? Then let's not handle it!

But fortunately the blade stopped. A peaceful resolution now had a foothold. Rahman made an appointment with the Traveler and the others to meet in the desert at noon the next day, then left.

[Dehya: "Great, he really didn't do it after all."]

Dehya used the word "after all." She understood Rahman well enough to know he wouldn't go through with it.

It was a gamble with a ninety-nine percent chance of winning. Saying "great" was because that one percent error didn't occur.

[Cyno: "Don't make that kind of guarantee next time. I can take care of all those people."]

Cyno's words were what the readers wanted to say too. If peaceful resolution really wasn't possible, then let's just solve it with force.

But Dehya had a different view. She said:

["I believe what you say. But Cyno, this isn't just my affair. They aren't just individuals… they represent a spirit."]

This line made the readers sigh involuntarily. Dehya really broke everyone's perception of her time and time again.

At first they thought she was a brute-force type, but unexpectedly her mind was very sharp.

Later they thought she merely had a good mind, but unexpectedly her ideological and political level was quite high too.

Yes, Dehya was right. Force could indeed "solve" the problem, but that kind of solution only pushed the problem to a place out of sight—it didn't make the problem disappear.

Rahman was the representative of the desert radicals. Kill him and there would be thousands upon thousands more like him. Solving him couldn't solve the problem.

That was why Dehya wanted a peaceful resolution—to make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible, to unite everyone who could be united.

Nahida couldn't help but sigh. She had once tried to invite Dehya to join the Akademiya or become one of the Corps of Thirty.

However, Dehya refused. Perhaps she still preferred being a mercenary.

The pages turned, and the story's timeline moved to the next day, meeting with Rahman.

This departure left the readers speechless. They glanced at the map marking in the illustration—the meeting place was way too far, wasn't it?

Good thing they didn't fight yesterday. This Gilded Brigade group hid the hostages so far away? They even went all the way to the Mausoleum of King Deshret.

Speaking of which, if the Scarlet King really revived, would he crawl out from the Mausoleum of King Deshret?

Say something like "Shurima, your emperor has returned." I mean, "Sumeru, your Scarlet King has returned."

This was something Lucian didn't know about everyone's thoughts; otherwise he'd have to roast them—the Scarlet King would get lost if he really tried to revive inside the Mausoleum of King Deshret.

Emperor returning? First figure out the puzzles and prove you're the god of the nation of wisdom.

Logically, the Mausoleum of King Deshret was quite magnificent. If it were a tourist attraction, it would at least have blockbuster potential.

Guess why it isn't a tourist attraction? Realistically, it's because the Akademiya doesn't care, but Lucian now wanted to roast—definitely because they're afraid tourists would get trapped and die inside!

Fortunately, the Traveler and the others didn't get lost along the way and successfully met up with Rahman.

But one look—Rahman only brought one hostage. He wanted a one-for-one swap with Alhaitham.

How to put it… This was the time Alhaitham's value was most severely undervalued.

Though this person happened to be Isak's grandfather, everyone was still very dissatisfied.

They had agreed to exchange hostages—now you're telling me one-for-one? How many people do we even have on our side?

[Dehya, slightly annoyed: "Rahman, I've always regarded you as a heroic man of your word. What is the meaning of this?"]

[Rahman casually said: "One for one. Isn't that very fair?"]

Now everyone was angry. They had given him enough face earlier—now you're the one tearing up the agreement first, so don't blame us.

Dehya charged at Rahman with her greatsword raised. Her charge kicked up sand and dust—in the sandstorm, she was like a running lion.

In just three moves—just three moves—Dehya pinned Rahman beneath her, her greatsword pointed straight at Rahman's throat.

At this moment, whether in the story or outside it, everyone realized the gap in strength between the two sides.

Earlier, Dehya had gone along with them and negotiated terms precisely because she was too kind—she wanted to resolve the problem peacefully.

Now that faces were torn, the Gilded Brigade's leader couldn't even withstand three moves from Dehya, let alone with the Traveler and the others behind her.

Rahman's subordinates hurriedly pulled over Isak's grandfather as a shield, threatening Dehya.

Just then, the ground began to shake, and quicksand surged! In the face of nature, everyone appeared weak and powerless, engulfed by the quicksand and unable to break free!

Trapped in the sandstorm—wouldn't that mean certain death?