Chapter 31: War, Peace, and Thieves (2)
“Phew…”
Climbers weren’t meant to be enemies. Sure, we competed while ascending the tower, but fundamentally, our goal was the same. We all had to clear the tower.
Alexei Braham, ranked 3rd on the Climber Leaderboard, now stood stubbornly before me. She was a talented and promising climber who could become a reliable ally or even a member of my party. I was confident she could be a driving force in allowing Earth’s climbers to conquer this tower.
Honestly, I was only planning to use a bit of intimidation…
My original strategy was simple: make it clear to Alexei that the gap in our strength was immense, then tell her I would be choosing theft no matter what.
If she valued her life, she would naturally choose retention. Once she selected retention, I would observe her reaction through her expression and eyes, then decide what to do based on my instincts.
My Sixth Sense skill hadn’t failed me yet. If she seemed trustworthy, I would be willing to choose retention too. But if something felt off, I would go with theft.
In the best-case scenario, we would both choose retention and share the benefits. If she showed any signs of untrustworthiness and I chose theft, I wouldn’t lose anything as long as she chose retention.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like she’s someone I can reason with…