Rebirth of the Prime Dragon Master
Chapter 297 Fighting Shoulder To Shoulder

"Don't you think it'll be too boring? The Commander in Chief is the one who wanted to play, so Iwon't hold back and take on him to the very end.” Rocky smirked with a glint of steel in hisexpression. For a brief moment, he looked almost transformed from his regular countenance.

Both Isis and Marin stared, stunned, at the change that came upon Rocky. This was the first timethey saw him appear so fearless and haughty that it seemed as though he had complete control ofthe situation. They were both certain that the tide was about to change and that something big wasabout to happen.

The ship gradually docked. After flashing the two ladies a glance, Rocky stepped off the ship andleft with Uriah.

"Isis, why did you tell Rocky all of those things? The more he knows, the more intensely he'll resist! Itwon't do him any favors,” Marin admonished Isis anxiously. Right from the start, she hadn'tapproved of Isis informing Rocky about all of those things. But she was also subconsciously awarethat Isis wouldn't have been stopped anyway.

"Because it'll be interesting! Aren't you the least bit curious about what his true powers are? You'reas desperate to know as I am! I'm fairly certain we'll see it for ourselves soon." Isis smiled, satisfiedwith how things had turned out.

"So you deliberately provoked him so that he would challenge the Commander in Chief?" Marindemanded, scandalized, once she realized that this was Isis’ intention all along. Frowning and withfurrowed brows, she added, "You know, if he were to reveal his true powers and strengths, it'll onlymake the Commander in Chief want to promote him even more. And Rocky doesn't want that.”"What's wrong with you? You looked worried about him,” Isis teased playfully as she raised aneyebrow at Marin. She had noticed for a while now that Marin was particularly concerned overRocky.

"Stop making fun of me, Isis, or I'm just going to ignore you,” Marin grumbled, glaring Isis. However,there was truth in what she said: she was very concerned about Rocky's wellbeing.

"Well, to tell you the truth...I have a bet with my father. I bet him that he wouldn't be able to subdueRocky," Isis suddenly remarked.

"You mean you had this planned out?!" Marin's jaw dropped in astonishment.

"Just relax. Rest assured, he'll be alright. I just want to see him make things more interesting for me!I haven't met such an interesting guy before. I've never been so curious about anyone.” Isis smiledthoughtfully, seeming to be mulling it over.

Marin was surprised to see Isis’ enchanted look. It was baffling to her, as she hadn't seen her takeinterest in a man before.

By the time Rocky arrived back at the base camp, the second half of the first round was about tostart. He had planned to quickly wrap the matter up after he taught Evan a lesson he wouldn'tforget. However, after he was made aware of Lance's real purpose for holding the competition inthe first place, he changed his mind. If Lance was so desperate to know his real power, he didn'tmind giving him a surprise. And he was going to make sure that Lance knew he wasn't a man to betrifled with.

"This may just be the beginning!" Rocky smirked with menace.

The first rounds second half was being held in a dense bamboo forest, just northeast of the basecamp. The fifteen spirit manipulators would be pitted against with each other until only seven ofthem remained and were declared the winners. These seven winners would receive entry tickets tomove on to the second round of the capability competition.

Ten of the fifteen spirit manipulators were Deputy Commanders. At least, they had the capabilitybeyond the fifth grade of the Earthly Stage to be ranked as Deputy Commanders.

It's highly likely that in the upcoming round, the battles would undoubtedly be fiercer than thecompetition had been in the first half.

But the key in this battle wasn't just going to be power and strength. It took a considerable amountof intelligence as well. As long as they didn't fall or lose their efficacy in combat, the rules permittedthem to launch surprise attacks, set up ambushes, dodge battles and perform other arts in tacticalwarfare.

In addition to that, spirit manipulators that came from the same military camp were permitted towork together cooperatively. Though the fog of battle didn't permit them to use many to fightagainst few, they could ally with one another in order to consume the strength of their opponents.Naturally, the military camp with the most spirit manipulators in participation virtually had an ace uptheir sleeves.

Based on the results of the first half of the first round, three military camps had three spiritmanipulators each while the other three military camps had only two apiece. For obvious reasons,the military camps with only two spirit manipulators left in battle, to some extent, were already at amassive disadvantage to their enemies.

However, if they wanted to achieve individual benefits, spirit manipulators from different militarycamps might opt to ally with one another. Thus, the fight's tactics would be constantly changing. Atthis point, it was still uncertain as to who would be the seven winners of the first round's secondhalf.

And so it should be, as any weaker combatants able to somehow sneak through to the second halfwould surely be defeated instantly. All in all, it was a true challenge to stand apart from thecompetition, especially among so many spirit manipulators who were ranked as DeputyCommanders.

"Rocky..." a man called, materializing before Rocky without warning

"Deputy Commander Chen," Rocky greeted.

"We can fight together later,” Deputy Commander Chen informed him, nodding to Rocky as thoughhe hoped he understood.

The northeast military camp, after all, with only Rocky and Deputy Commander Chen qualified toenter the first round's second half, was one of the three military camps in a great disadvantage.Hearing Deputy Commander Chen's words, Rocky realized what was going on. However, to DeputyCommander Chen's surprise, he responded, "I don't intend to cooperate with you.”

Deputy Commander Chen was stunned. "We are the only ones left in the northeast military camp!”he told him in disbelief. "If we act separately, both of us will be crushed. It's imperative that we teamup in the confused fighting. Otherwise, we won't win!"

"Really? Well if that's what you think, Deputy Commander Chen, please feel free to take care ofyourself out there," Rocky sneered, unperturbed. He had already seen through Deputy CommanderChen's true concern: Chen didn't think that he would be able to win the confused fighting byhimself. And after witnessing Rocky's real power in the first half of the round, he felt that allyinghimself with him was his best chance of surviving to the next round.

However, as his power currently stood, it would be extremely easy for Rocky to enter the secondround. He felt no need to cooperate with Deputy Commander Chen. With a nod in finality, Rockyturned and strode away.

Deputy Commander Chen stood dumbstruck in shock, momentarily frozen in place. Then he let outa discouraged sigh and left on his own.

As the fifteen spirit manipulators stepped into the bamboo forest, one after another, the authoritiesfrom the Crimson Dragon Group led by Lance had stayed out of the action. In this large forest, itwas difficult for them to watch the confused fighting in full view. Hence, the spirit manipulatorssupervising the confused fighting would send them the real-time battlefield reports instead.