After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin curled his lips: “That means ‘Azure Dragon’ isn’t a good boss, huh.”
“Unavoidable,” Qi Xia replied. “‘Human-level’ participants are simply too low in status for ‘Azure Dragon.’ I suspect they might even rank lower than regular ‘participants’ in his eyes. After all, regular participants can be entertaining—occasionally, you find reckless newbies who dare to defy him. But ‘Human-level’ participants only obey. ‘Azure Dragon’ doesn’t like people like that.”
“What kind of twisted logic is this…?” Qiao Jiajin muttered. “The obedient ones get lower status?”
“It’s hard to explain, but that’s just how ‘Azure Dragon’ is,” Qi Xia said.
“So, what do we do now?” Zhang Chenze asked.
“Wait for the others to return. I need a full layout of the terrain,” Qi Xia replied.
The two could only wait in silence. During the pause, Zhang Chenze glanced at the “Phoenix Holding the Scroll” board in front of Qi Xia, where only the character for “soldier” remained.
“Qi Xia…” She couldn’t help but speak up. “Even though you’re the ‘commander,’ I still have a question.”
“What is it?”
“That ‘character’ you kept for yourself… does it really matter?”
“Oh?” Qi Xia reached into his pocket and pulled out his necklace, engraved with the same character—”soldier.”
The Red Team’s “commander” was, in truth, a “soldier.”
“I don’t really get it…” Zhang Chenze frowned. “The ‘soldier’ is already displayed on your screen…”
“Just because it’s there, I can’t keep it on me?” Qi Xia countered.
“Well, you *can*, but I don’t think ‘soldier’ is crucial for us anymore,” she said. “We don’t need it right now. Even if it were lost—if it fell into enemy hands—it wouldn’t affect us much. Yet you chose to keep it, and in the safest ‘preparation zone’ no less…”
“No.” Qi Xia cut her off. “Lawyer Zhang, I’ve already calculated. If we lose ‘soldier’ now, it’s practically game over for us.”
Lawyer Zhang furrowed her brows, clearly not understanding.
Why protect a character that had already scored?
Qi Xia didn’t elaborate further. Instead, he stared at the wall where he had written down the characters from both sides, deep in thought.
Whether by sheer bad luck or deliberate design by “Earth Dragon,” their team’s odds of winning were extremely low.
This “chess” game was rigged from the start. The more they understood the rules, the clearer it became—the scales had been tipped in Chu Tianqiu’s favor from the beginning. To turn things around, they needed more characters, and they *absolutely* had to keep “soldier” safe.
Because even without seizing any new characters, Chu Tianqiu’s team could win first just by assembling the ones they already had.
“Am I missing something…?” Qi Xia thought to himself. “Or is there some ‘rule’ I haven’t figured out yet? Why is winning so hard for us…?”
Just as he was lost in thought, the rest of the team returned one after another. They exchanged information, and the consensus was the same: there were ten rooms ahead, each with a single door at its center.
Everyone except Qiao Jiajin had stepped inside to investigate—all of them had encountered Human-level “Zodiacs.”
“Twenty ‘doors’…” Qi Xia rubbed his chin. “But there are only twelve Zodiacs. How are they arranged?”
After everyone reported the locations of the Zodiacs they’d encountered, the group realized that among the twelve, neither “Sheep” nor “Dragon” were present. Before reaching the “Chu River–Han Border,” there were ten rooms in total, each with a Human-level Zodiac.
“Old Qi,” Chen Junnan called out. “So ‘Dragon’ and ‘Sheep’ are on the other side? Should we cross the river to check?”
“Probably unnecessary,” Qi Xia replied. “‘Sheep’ represents deception—a trick used constantly in this game, so there’s no need to assign it a separate room. ‘Dragon’ represents all types, so it doesn’t need its own space either.”
“Damn, you’re sharp,” Chen Junnan nodded. “So the rooms on the other side don’t have ‘Dragon’ or ‘Sheep’ either…”
“Right,” Qi Xia confirmed. “Both sides likely have mirrored layouts—ten identical rooms each. But remember… Earth Dragon mentioned earlier that if we and the enemy enter the same room at the same time, the door will lock until one side wins. So before entering, make sure no one’s inside.”
“Got it,” the team acknowledged.
“If I’m not mistaken…” Qi Xia narrowed his eyes. “Chu Tianqiu will likely start with guerrilla tactics and probing. He needs to train his team’s ‘Echoes’—Zhang Shan, Jin Yuanxun, Xu Liunian, and even Dr. Zhao can’t activate theirs immediately. They all need preconditions. If we really want to secure a character, we’ll have to strike unexpectedly early on.”
“So what’s the plan?” Chen Junnan asked. “Should we start by challenging them one-on-one?”
“The enemy isn’t ordinary,” Qi Xia said. “Chu Tianqiu alone is formidable, let alone Wen Qiaoyun and Yan Zhichun… Even if they’re not united, their combined strength is overwhelming. Conventional tactics won’t work—we need something unconventional.”
“Unconventional?” Chen Junnan blinked. “Who’s gonna pull that off here?”
No one spoke. Everyone just looked at Chen Junnan.
“…?”
He froze for a second before blinking again. “No way… me *again*?”
“Chen Junnan, I’m giving you this mission,” Qi Xia grinned. “Our first move is to make the enemy completely unable to predict our actions—and, if possible, deepen their internal divisions.”
Then he glanced at Qiao Jiajin. “Fists, is there a standalone ‘door’ at the ‘Chu River–Han Border’?”
“Nope,” Qiao Jiajin answered, then paused. “Wait, how’d you know I went there?”
Qi Xia chuckled and turned back to Chen Junnan. “Chen Junnan, your task is simple: Go to the ‘Chu River–Han Border’ and wage *total psychological warfare*.”
Then he waved at the group. “Hand over all the ‘characters’ you’re carrying.”
……
After finalizing their second-round strategy, both teams began moving through the rooms. Everyone was extra cautious before entering, wary of running into the enemy.
Jin Yuanxun pushed open the second door and stepped into the “Chu River–Han Border,” only to find Chen Junnan standing there.
He was about to speak when something odd caught his eye—Chen Junnan’s pant pockets were bulging, chains spilling out as if he were carrying the entire team’s characters.
“Huh…?” Jin Yuanxun was baffled.
“What’re you staring at?!” Chen Junnan snapped. “Never seen a guy with eighty-plus characters before?”
Jin Yuanxun blinked. That… didn’t sound right.
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