Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!

Chapter 253: Chapter 253 - Tension

The three summons continued racing toward the distant city.

As they drew closer, Theo’s relieved expression gradually faded.

’Something’s wrong,’ he thought, frowning.

Dozens of soldiers wearing yellow desert military uniforms stood outside the open gates.

Each of them already had their weapons in hand, as if preparing for something.

Theo’s brows furrowed further.

’What’s happening here?’

Just then, the military personnel pointed toward them and lowered themselves into combat positions.

Clearly, they’d noticed their approach. And judging by their reactions... it didn’t seem like they had expected any visitors.

’’Lyra,’’ Theo called out.

She nodded without taking her eyes off the soldiers.

The three summons gradually came to a stop despite being several hundred yards away.

Theo slowly climbed off the tiger before helping Iris down.

Behind him, Jim had already jumped off too and moved over to help Lyra with Owen.

’’Alright,’’ Lyra said after a few more seconds. ’’I’m unsummoning them now.’’

One large swirling white portal opened up beside her.

The harpy, tiger, and manta quickly flew through one after another.

’’I’ll carry Owen on my back,’’ Jim said slowly.

Then he turned to Theo with a nervous expression on his face.

’’Is Feng ready in case things... get rocky?’’

Theo bit the inside of his lip out of frustration before slowly shaking his head.

’’No,’’ he mumbled, barely audible. ’’I still can’t reach him.’’

Jim remained silent for a moment.

Finally, he gulped once before nodding.

’’Got it.’’

A heavy silence fell between all of them.

Theo glanced at the others, clenching his fists lightly.

’I can’t believe I didn’t consider this,’ he thought. ’It’s so obvious that locals could be hostile too...’

Even so, he only flashed a forced smile to the others.

’’Let’s move,’’ he said quietly. ’’But don’t make any sudden movements.’’

The three of them nodded.

Without hesitation, Theo started walking.

Iris and Lyra followed closely behind him, while Jim carried Owen at the back.

The distance between them and the city gradually shrank.

Yet, even after the soldiers could clearly see that they were human, they never lowered their weapons or relaxed.

When only a hundred yards separated the two groups, a small group of three soldiers started walking forward.

’One Gold Core, two Silver Cores,’ Theo noted right away. ’The others behind them all seem to be a mix of Bronze and Silver Cores too.’

At the front stood their leader, a man in his forties with several badges pinned to his chest.

He held two long, curved scimitars by his side, while three large scars stretched across the right side of his face.

’’اذكر اسمك والغرض من مجيئك,’’ the man shouted.

Theo froze for a moment.

After a second, he quickly shook his head.

’’I don’t understand!’’ he shouted back.

The officer frowned slightly.

He glanced behind him at his comrades and spoke several sentences that Theo couldn’t understand.

Finally, he looked back at Theo cautiously.

’’You are foreigners?’’ he shouted.

Theo immediately nodded.

’’Yes! We are!’’

The officer’s eyes narrowed even further, clearly wary.

’’State your names and purpose!’’

Theo slowly raised both his hands but made sure to keep his eyes on the soldiers at all times.

’’My name is Theo,’’ he shouted back. ’’We were on an expedition but got lost in the desert.’’

He immediately pointed behind him with one hand.

’’We have one injured with us.’’

The officer’s gaze shifted past Theo.

Only now did he seem to notice the unconscious young man on Jim’s back.

His gaze lingered on the dried blood staining Owen’s clothes before moving across the rest of the group.

Theo, Iris, Lyra, and Jim were all in much better shape.

Their clothes didn’t have any bloodstains or anything, only making the situation more suspicious.

After a moment, the officer spoke again.

’’How was he injured?’’

Theo didn’t hesitate, having prepared a story in his mind already.

’’We were surprise attacked a few hours ago,’’ he said somberly. ’’Four desert vultures appeared out of nowhere.’’

He’d lied for only one reason.

To make the soldiers feel at ease by making himself and the others look average.

And as he’d expected, the officer’s face barely changed.

’’Alright,’’ he said, waving them closer. ’’Come.’’

The officer turned back to his soldiers and spoke several sentences in a language they didn’t understand.

Finally, the soldiers relaxed and began lowering their weapons one by one.

Theo glanced back at the others and nodded faintly.

Despite being accepted, none of them planned to drop their guard one bit.

’Let’s go then,’ Theo thought, letting out a quiet breath.

As the four of them approached, the soldiers instinctively stepped aside, leaving a narrow path through the middle.

Several wary eyes remained fixed on them while the soldiers whispered amongst themselves.

The officer soon led them through the large sandstone gates.

As soon as Theo stepped inside, his expression changed slightly.

The city was nothing like he’d expected.

The streets were far quieter than they should’ve been around the middle of the day.

Most civilians hurried along with anxious expressions, occasionally glancing toward the city walls.

Several of the stores had been boarded shut altogether, with Arabic text written on them.

’Something’s happening here,’ Theo thought, a sense of unease settling in.

Just then, the officer glanced back at them.

’’Stay close,’’ he said, his voice low. ’’I will take you to a health clinic.’’

After several minutes, the officer finally came to a stop in front of a large sandstone building marked by a sign depicting a red snake coiled around a staff.

The moment they stepped inside, their expressions shifted.

The entire clinic was filled with patients, many of whom were young men with life-altering wounds still freshly wrapped in bandages.

Several healers rushed around the place, taking patients to rooms in the back one after another.

’’Over here,’’ the officer said sternly.

Following after him, they stopped in front of a small empty room with a single bed.

Jim immediately lowered Owen onto it.

For a few long seconds, silence filled the room.

Within moments, a healer rushed in and began examining Owen.

While that happened, Theo turned toward the officer.

’’Thank you for taking care of him,’’ he said, nodding once.

The officer simply nodded.

’’You are fortunate,’’ he said. ’’I haven’t seen many people survive after getting lost.’’

Theo fell silent for a moment.

They had indeed been fortunate with how many dangers lay inside the desert.

Finally, he glanced back at the healer.

The healer had already begun circulating soft green mana through Owen’s body while carefully inspecting any surface-level wounds.

’’Will he be alright?’’ Theo asked.

Several seconds passed before the healer finally looked up with a strange expression.

He spoke up in Arabic, rapidly firing off sentence after sentence.

The officer’s gaze slowly changed too, one of his eyebrows raising as he glanced at Owen.

’’He says your friend’s body appears to be fine,’’ the officer said slowly. ’’But he cannot determine why he remains unconscious.’’

The healer’s words made Theo’s expression tighten.

’’We did heal him partially with the blood element,’’ he quickly said. ’’Could that have affected something?’’

The officer translated the question.

After another brief exchange, the healer raised his shoulders.

’’He doesn’t know,’’ the officer said. ’’With no visible injuries, he can only guess that trauma might be keeping him unconscious.’’

Theo stared down at Owen.

He knew damn well Owen wouldn’t get traumatized over something like this.

Yet, that only made the situation more worrying.

’Could it be because of his mana?’ he thought, memories flashing through his mind. ’That clearly had something to do with his fingers turning black.’

Just then, Lyra spoke up beside him.

’’So there’s nothing he can do?’’ she asked, frowning.

The officer shook his head.

’’The healer suggests you head to a capital city,’’ he said. ’’The healers there are far more advanced than he is.’’

Lyra bit down on the inside of her lip, then nodded.

Theo turned back to the officer right away.

’’Is it alright if we ask you some more questions?’’ he asked. ’’Like, for example, where we are right now?’’

The officer’s brows furrowed slightly.

’’You do not know?’’

Theo shook his head lightly.

’’We’ve been walking through the desert for several days,’’ he said. ’’We don’t even know what country we’re in right now.’’

For the first time, the officer’s guarded expression shifted into clear surprise.

His gaze moved across the four of them before settling on Theo again.

’’You are in Egypt,’’ he said slowly.

Theo’s eyes widened slightly.

’Iris was right,’ he thought. ’We’re quite far away.’

’’And this city?’’ Iris followed up.

The officer glanced toward her.

’’Al-Kharif,’’ he answered. ’’A smaller military city in the western desert.’’

Theo had never heard of it.

Judging by the others’ expressions, neither had they.

’’How far are we from the nearest capital city?’’ Lyra asked quickly.

The officer’s expression shifted slightly.

’’Cairo is several hundred miles east of here,’’ he said. ’’But transportation is... impossible right now.’’