Although they admired Steve's strength, it was considered a disgrace for the veterans to lose to the recruits. In particular, apart from Steve's fair defeat, Andrew's success was partly due to luck and partly due to strategy.

Stuart's victory, however, had especially angered the veterans. If it hadn't been for Jonathan's fear of killing Stuart accidentally, which caused him to stop at the last minute and give Stuart a chance to retaliate, Stuart would never have won the battle.

The veterans had held back their anger long enough. Now, they were ready to vent it fully!

The recruits had also felt the hostility coming from the veteran camp. If it had been before, they would've all felt hopeless in the face of such anger. After all, the gap in their strengths was much too far apart!

However, thanks to Steve's efforts, their number of people had become 5,000 versus 500, and this gave them hope. More importantly, Steve's three against one victory had boosted the recruits' confidence. Although the veterans were strong, the recruits still had some hope that they could win.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have an hour before the group battle. We need to prepare ourselves during the remaining amount of time." Steve summoned the others to get ready.

The current situation saw 5,000 recruits fighting against 500 veterans. They had the advantage in numbers, but their actual combat powers were far less than the veterans.

Therefore, they needed to plan carefully. Otherwise, they might still fail. Moreover, although teamwork was included in the recruits' training, their level of teamwork was far inferior to the veterans'.

"Stuart, you should quit the group battle," Steve looked at Stuart and said suddenly.

Stuart's face suddenly turned gloomy. He then asked, "What do you mean by that? Do you think that I'd drag the others down?"

At this time, the recruits could not help but look at Stuart with disgust. Although Stuart had won a round, he had brought disgrace upon them. Moreover, because of his despicable behavior, he had angered the veterans.

"It's for your own good, and for everyone else's," Steve said. "You can join us if you want to, but I can't guarantee that the veterans won't focus all of their anger towards you."

Stuart's eyes flashed with fear as he glanced towards the veteran camp, instantly feeling that many of them were looking at him with hostility. This was because his despicable behavior just now had truly angered them.

There was no doubt that, if he were to join the next battle, the veterans would target him. He might be able to deal with one or two of them, but if a dozen or more were to surround him, he would surely be beaten up!

"Hum! I shall quit the battle in consideration of the others, then. However, you are not qualified to order me around!" Stuart said reluctantly.

But, he'd still chosen to withdraw from the group battle. After all, no one wants to be beaten up!

After Stuart left, Sofia looked at Steve curiously and asked, "Why are you helping him?"

Steve shook his head and sighed. He then replied, "It's for everyone's good. The veterans would be even angrier with him in the battle. Plus, how could we be sure that he wouldn't take the opportunity to attack us?"

After all, it would be even more terrifying than the enemy if someone from their own team were to stab them in their backs! As such, Stuart could not be trusted. In fact, he might even intensify the conflict between the veterans and recruits!

At the same time, Steve was not sure if he would take this opportunity to attack them as a traitor. But, with Steve's knowledge of Stuart, he figured that he just might do so.

If that were to happen, the group battle would be even more chaotic, which would cause more casualties. Hence, he must ensure that it doesn't happen!

Sofia turned a bit pale, then said to Steve, "You're right. My thoughts lacked consideration."

Letting Stuart take part in the group battle would not be a good thing for anyone! With that in mind, Sofia looked at Steve with admiration in her eyes.

She used to choose to be with Steve because of his strength. But, as she learned more about him, she found the man in front of her was also filled with great charisma.