At the place where the smoke was curling up, there really were people cooking food over a fire—eight of them in total: five from Anglia and three from Wyvernia.
Anglia was an ally of Celestria, but in recent years, the overall strength of Anglian trainers had been declining, so they were on the verge of going from ally to subordinate.
Wyvernia, on the other hand, was considered the adopted son of Celestria.
An ally and an adopted son—naturally, when they met, they chose to team up.
On the third day after arriving on the island, Anglia and Wyvernia encountered each other. From then on, it was bad luck for trainers from any other country on the island.
Faced with the combined force of these eight people, the trainers from other nations stood no chance at all.
Now, more than two months had passed, and the group of eight had already taken out twelve trainers—each one representing a different country.
Of course, the treasures obtained were divided with Anglia taking the lion's share, and Wyvernia taking the smaller portion.
A month ago, the eight of them had already finished exploring this island. Apart from their own two nations, they still hadn't found any trace of Celestria, Drakoria, Volkaria, or Gallia.
They figured those four countries must be on other islands.
This was a relief to the trainers from Anglia. If those countries weren't on this island, then as long as they left someone to watch the place, they would be invincible here.
And naturally, the island's resources would all belong to them.
If not for Wyvernia being Celestria's adopted son, Anglia would have long since turned on them—how could they allow these tagalongs to scavenge behind them?
From the bottom of their hearts, the Anglian trainers looked down on Wyvernia.
In their eyes, Wyvernia was just a dog kept by Celestria on the border to irritate Drakoria—and not even as competent as Babath, which was also considered a dog.
Wyvernia, for their part, also held Anglia in contempt.
Ally of Celestria? Please. With your current strength, you're barely good enough to be a sidekick.
At least Wyvernia was Celestria's adopted son—in terms of status, this mere subordinate was beneath them.
If it wasn't for the fact that Anglia had more people and they couldn't win a fight, they wouldn't have let them take all the good stuff while they were left with scraps.
Adopting the principle that a wise man knows when to retreat, they held back—otherwise, they would've started a fight long ago.
So here they were—eight people eating from the same pot, but each with their own schemes—there was no unity to speak of.
"We're out of kimchi. I've lost my appetite with just these bland dishes."
Trainer A from Wyvernia poked at his rice with a sullen expression.
His words got nods of agreement from the other two Wyvernia trainers.
Kimchi was the soul of Wyvernia—they believed it to be the world's greatest delicacy.
As for Anglia, they were eating military rations—though not their own. Their own supplies had long run out, and these rations had been seized from other trainers.
"Kimchi? That trash food? Only you people from Wyvernia would treat it like a treasure."
Anglian Trainer A sneered upon hearing the other side talk, clearly mocking.
"What did you just say?" Trainer A from Wyvernia stood up, glaring at him with hostility.
"Oh? You trash actually want to turn against us?"
Trainer B from Anglia smirked coldly.
The other three Anglian trainers also shot icy looks at the Wyvernia trio, their eyes glinting with malice.
On this island, the two nations had already wiped out all other competition. They had collected quite a number of treasures too. Though the ones Wyvernia had didn't catch their interest.
But their Pokémon were quite valuable—at least their main fighters were at the Elite-level.
Whether kept for battle or traded for resources after leaving the island, they were worth a lot.
Their initial alliance had been formed for two reasons: first, due to Celestria's influence, and second, because when they first entered the secret realm, the dangers were unknown, and numbers meant safety.
But now, the situation was completely different.
To leave the island, they needed to defeat the island's guardian—a late pseudo-Champion-level Pokémon. They figured the same was likely true for the other islands as well.
From their perspective, defeating that guardian one-on-one was nearly impossible for anyone.
Which meant that the trainers on the other three islands had no chance of coming here.
And by now, all threats on their own island had been cleared out.
With the threats gone—was there really any point to the alliance anymore?
What came next would likely be tearing up the alliance—and a battle for each other's spoils.
That was why, half a month ago, the way Anglian Trainers looked at Wyvernia trio had already begun to change.
From seeing them as allies, to seeing them as prey.
As for whether Anglia feared Celestria finding out? Of course not.
After all, dead men tell no tales. As long as there were no survivors, who would know it was them?
And in terms of international standing—was Anglia really beneath Wyvernia?
Wyvernia was well aware of Anglia's thoughts, filled with dread but unable to voice it.
Because whether in terms of individual strength or overall power, Anglia could absolutely crush them.
So they didn't dare tear things apart.
And even if they wanted to part ways, Anglia wouldn't agree.
Lately, Anglia's actions had become increasingly excessive—clearly trying to provoke them into reacting.
They knew full well that if they resisted—or even showed the slightest hostility—they'd be playing right into Anglia's hands. The moment they gave an excuse, Anglia wouldn't hesitate to eliminate them.
On the flip side, Wyvernia also wanted to eliminate Anglia. After all, they'd been pushed to a dead end. If they could take them out, then they'd be the ones walking away with all the spoils. But brute force wasn't an option; they had to outsmart them.
Both sides harbored their own schemes.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongues, you three losers?"
Seeing the three Wyvernia trainers seething but not daring to speak up, Anglian Trainer B's smirk grew even more mocking.
"You just want to kill us and take our Pokémon, don't you?"
Wyvernia's Trainer C said coldly.
The five Anglian trainers paused. Sure, they hadn't exactly been subtle about their intentions, but saying it outright like this? That meant no more pretending.
But that suited them just fine.
Anglian Trainer C burst into laughter. "Good, since you understand, we'll give you three a chance to live—hand over your main Pokémon, and we won't kill you."
If the three of them fought with all their might, even though the Anglian side had five people, it was still likely some of their Pokémon could die in the fight.
"You really think we'd believe that?" Wyvernia's Trainer B sneered.
As long as they kept their main Pokémon, they at least stood a fighting chance. But if they handed them over? The moment Anglia decided to turn on them—and they absolutely would—they'd be left with no way to survive.
This kind of nonsense might fool a kindergartener, but not even an elementary schooler would fall for it.
*****
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