Delta: Who are you saying has suffered a loss of strength?

"Remember, there's only one thing to do this time: whoever gets the mission wins," Li Junhao said.

"If the warden kills me, it proves that the Dragon Club is lying, and that the warden would never cooperate with the players!"

"Then we can tear a piece of their flesh off the Dragon Club."

He paused.

"If we can really cooperate with the warden, we won't have any worries in prison. And since it's the first time we've publicly fought alongside the warden, why should we worry about our team's reputation?"

Lee Junho took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. As the captain, he was under the most psychological pressure; the club's decisions were completely beyond his control.

He can do whatever you tell him to do.

The order from above is to take down the Crow Hunters.

He will bear all other risks, consequences, and responsibilities.

Kim Soo-min noticed that the captain's expression was not quite right.

His face was taut, his lips were downturned, and his eyes were fixed on the portal, but his focus wasn't there; he seemed to be thinking about something else.

He took half a step forward, bent slightly, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and handed it to Li Junhao.

Lee Junho paused for a moment, looked down at the cigarette, took it, and put it in his mouth.

Kim Soo-min quickly took out a lighter, bent down, and lit it for him.

"Boss, you're fine, don't worry." Kim Soo-min lowered his voice. "We looked at the map many times last night, there's absolutely no problem."

Park Ji-hoon chimed in, "Yeah, Captain Lee, we're all equipped with the toughest level 5 armor. Those short Japanese guys can't beat us."

Lee Junho took a deep drag on his cigarette, and smoke billowed out of his nose.

"Don't underestimate this operation just because it only involves two teams. The risks are definitely not low." His voice was a bit deeper than before. "Using the best protection is the right thing to do. As long as we win, we'll have spoils, intelligence, fame, and everything else."

Lee Junho glanced down at his watch, kicked the extinguished cigarette butt aside, and straightened his collar.

"Let's go, it's almost time to get to the square."

Lee Junho took a deep drag, smoking almost half of the cigarette.

He then threw away his cigarette butt, and the three of them pushed open the car door and headed towards the portal plaza.

The three people walked towards the center of the square. After walking a dozen steps, the door of the silver-gray car on the west side opened, and three people got out of the car.

The leader was a man in his fifties, not very tall, with short hair, and a very straight back. He wore a gray-green combat uniform and was empty-handed, without a gun. Behind him were two younger men, one on each side.

Both teams walked towards the center of the square at the same time.

When they reached the meeting place, Lee Junho's expression completely changed.

The heaviness, tension, and anxiety from before were all gone, replaced by a cheerful and friendly smile. Eyes squinted, corners of the mouth turned up, and the whole person seemed like a different person.

"Oh! Long time no see! Captain Shimada!" He strode over, extending his right hand. "What a coincidence!"

Shimada smiled, his face crinkling into wrinkles, looking quite kind. "Captain Lee! Long time no see, long time no see." He extended his hand and shook hands with Lee Junho.

The two shook hands several times and patted each other on the shoulder, like old friends who hadn't seen each other for years.

"Our two allied clubs have been tasked with this mission in a time of crisis, so we must look out for each other!" Lee Junho said with a smile, patting Shimada's hand.

"Of course!" Shimada's voice was quite loud. "Our two families have been allies for many years! This time, without anyone else interfering, we'll have to thoroughly clean up this prison!"

Lee Junho smiled and nodded, but his eyes darted to the side, quickly glancing at the two people behind Shimada.

The two young men stood very straight, dressed in civilian clothes, not in combat uniforms or helmets.

He withdrew his gaze, his smile unchanged. "What brilliant ideas does Captain Shimada have for this operation? Why don't you listen, so I can cooperate in carrying them out, hahahaha."

Shimada's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly. He smiled and leaned forward. "Captain Li, you're too kind. I do have some ideas."

"Oh? Please." Lee Junho gestured for him to enter, tilting his head slightly as if he were humbly seeking advice.

"I've heard that the Hibiscus team encountered the Raven team in the prison administration area before, so you must be more familiar with the situation there."

Lee Junho nodded without interrupting.

"How about you take on this Crow Hunter mission?" Shimada said calmly. "It'll also be a good opportunity for you to get revenge. What do you say?"

Li Junhao was taken aback. He hadn't expected Shimada to voluntarily relinquish the Raven Hunter operation. His mind raced, but he maintained his smile. "Then, Mr. Shimada, you..."

"Hey, don't worry." Shimada waved his hand. "We're more interested in another mission the Dragon Club mentioned, Operation Black Tide. How about we each take one and not bother each other?"

Li Junhao pondered in his mind. This old man actually wasn't planning to rob the Crow Hunter operation? The Black Tide operation... was there anything special about it? Did they have more intelligence than us? His mind raced, sweat beading on his forehead, glistening in the sunlight.

Before he could speak, Shimada added, "Captain Li, there's no need to have any doubts. Our two companies have always had a cooperative relationship, each getting what they need. Why not?"

Lee Junho looked at Shimada's smiling face and smiled back, but his mind was in turmoil.

He has no way to change any tactics right now, nor does he have time to investigate the value of Operation Black Tide.

Shimada has already made his point like this; if I were to press him further, it would make me seem insecure.

"Of course, of course!" Lee Junho smiled and shook hands with Shimada again.

The two exchanged a few more pleasantries before parting ways and returning to their respective areas.

As Lee Junho walked back, the smile on his face gradually faded.

Upon reaching his own people, his expression turned serious. Kim Soo-min and Park Ji-hoon joined him, and the three of them formed a circle, their heads close together.

"How's it going, Captain Lee?" Park Ji-hoon asked in a low voice.

Lee Junho licked his lips. "They're going to carry out Operation Black Tide; they won't compete with us."

"Really?" Park Jihoon's voice rose slightly, then he quickly lowered it again. "That's great!"

"Something's not right." Kim Soo-min frowned, meeting Lee Jun-ho's gaze. "Would they just hand over such an important operation to us so easily? Could it be that they've obtained some intelligence, and another mission is more valuable?"

Li Junhao shook his head, his voice low. "I don't know... The higher-ups haven't given us any information. I don't know if there's an information gap between our two families."

The three were silent for a few seconds. Kim Soo-min suddenly spoke up: "Captain Lee, could it be because of the live stream?"

Lee Jun-ho frowned: "What do you mean?"

Kim Soo-min glanced at Shimada. The three men were standing on the other side of the square. Shimada was talking to his team members, but his voice was inaudible; however, he looked relaxed.

"With the live stream open, whichever team gets the Raven Hunter mission can find out if it's true that the Warden can form teams."

"The mission itself isn't particularly valuable; the key is the authenticity of the information," Kim Soo-min thought slowly. "And there's the risk of teaming up with the warden, an unpredictable factor. It's possible they know beforehand that Operation Black Tide will yield higher returns, so..."

"So they abandoned Operation Crow Hunter," Lee Jun-ho continued. "They didn't have to risk being killed by the warden, and they could easily confirm the information, so they could gamble on even greater profits."

Kim Soo-min nodded.

Lee Junho suddenly slapped his forehead with a loud "smack!" "I just remembered something! Our supervisor mentioned that at the last UN conference, some amazing guy showed up at the end, and he kept trying to sell a Level 5 autistic head. Everyone laughed at him."

"A level five autistic head?" Park Ji-hoon paused, "Iron?"

"Yes, that one." Li Junhao said, "But he's the person in charge of Operation Black Tide, so he might know some clues about Operation Black Tide, or the drop rate."

Kim Soo-min narrowed his eyes: "Could the samurai sword club have contacted him privately?"

The three of them exchanged a glance.

"Very likely." Lee Junho.

"They're making us pawns to scout ahead for them!" Park Ji-hoon's voice rose, then he quickly lowered it, his face full of indignation.

"Not only that," Kim Soo-min said, "their mission might be even simpler, and their rewards even greater."

"There's one more thing." Lee Junho's voice was even lower, almost a whisper, "Those three from the samurai club deliberately concealed their combat readiness. None of them were wearing equipment; they were waiting to put it on once they went inside."

"Captain, they just want to reap the benefits without doing anything. We do the dirty and hard work, and they get all the credit."

"It's just Operation Black Tide!" Li Junhao suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but each word was emphasized. "What's there to be afraid of? Our equipment is definitely no worse than theirs!"

Kim Soo-min paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Yeah, let's fucking kill them!" Park Ji-hoon.