Upon hearing Qi Xia’s words, Qian Wu froze.
“Qi Xia, have you forgotten what I said? If you collect three thousand six hundred ‘Daos,’ ‘Tianlong’ and ‘Qinglong’ will definitely appear. They won’t hesitate to slaughter everyone, and everything will be reshuffled.”
“Not even a chance to say a word?” Qi Xia asked.
“Say a word…?” Qian Wu hesitated for a moment. “Qi Xia… So this is your plan… You lunatic… You knew from the very beginning that collecting three thousand six hundred ‘Daos’ wouldn’t get you out…”
“Exactly. I’ll figure out a way to gamble with ‘Tianlong’ for my life,” Qi Xia said. “Do you think it’s feasible?”
“I don’t know…” Qian Wu shook his head nervously. “Like I said, ‘Tianlong’s’ power is nothing like a human’s. He could turn you into pulp with just a wave of his hand. Even if you managed to say those words at the last second, there’s no guarantee he’d stop.”
“Is that so…?”
“After all, many ‘Zodiacs’ can still kill their opponents even in a life-or-death gamble,” Qian Wu said worriedly. “Ten years ago, you just lost a game, and the consequences were already so dire. If you lose this gamble…”
“Can it get any worse?” Qi Xia replied. “Like you said, all our paths are blocked. Gambling with ‘Tianlong’ is the last option.”
“If you lose, you might not even remain as a ‘Native’… You could be completely erased from existence…”
“I don’t think so,” Qi Xia shook his head. “I’ve heard that ‘Tianlong’ and I have some unfinished business. He seems to despise me to the core, yet for some reason, I’m still alive and kicking. I suspect he simply can’t erase me—or maybe… every time he does, I return ten days later.”
“Fine… Even if he can’t erase you…” Qian Wu still looked uneasy. “He could still turn you into a ‘Native.’ And once that happens, you’ll never recover.”
Qi Xia had heard this many times before, but something about it felt off.
After all, he had once seen someone revert from a ‘Native’ back to a ‘Participant.’ He initially thought such cases weren’t isolated, yet after wandering the ‘Land of the End’ for so long, why did everyone insist that becoming a ‘Native’ was irreversible?
“Have none of you ever seen a ‘Native’ turn back into a ‘Participant’?” Qi Xia pressed.
At this question, Qian Wu fell silent. Song Qi, standing nearby, stepped in. “Qi Xia, to be honest… We once had a teammate who, due to personal grudges, fought a ‘Earth-level’ to the death. In the end, he lost his sanity and became a ‘Native.’ We tried everything to wake him up for a whole year—nothing worked.”
“Hmm… That long?” Qi Xia asked indifferently.
Qian Wu nodded. “Because the ‘reason’ of a ‘Native’ is personally taken by ‘Zhuque.’ Unless you can get it back from him, recovery is impossible.”
Qi Xia suddenly recalled the time Zhuque had stripped Xiao Ran of her sanity right before his eyes. So all ‘Natives’ were Zhuque’s doing?
Qian Wu’s words gave Qi Xia a new thought: Had Xu Liunian suddenly reverted to a ‘Participant’ because Zhuque appeared and returned her ‘reason’?
Was that even possible?
He had died in Xu Liunian’s taxi—what happened after that?
Who else had come besides Zhuque?
Why had Xu Liunian not only regained her status as a ‘Participant’ but even returned to ‘Paradise Gate’ to impersonate Chu Tianqiu?
And what was Chu Tianqiu planning?
“How interesting…” Qi Xia smirked slightly. “This makes sense… Only plans this intricate are worthy of collaborating with me.”
Qian Wu was about to say more, but Shi Jiu suddenly interrupted.
“Fifth Brother, time’s almost up,” Shi Jiu wiped sweat from his brow. “Let’s pause the meeting for now.”
“Alright.” Qian Wu nodded, then signaled to the others. “Everyone, watch your words. From now on, anything you say might be heard by ‘Heaven.'”
A few seconds later, the ‘Silence’ enveloping the room dissipated.
The group fell into an uneasy quiet, unsure what to say next.
Qian Wu cleared his throat and spoke. “Everyone… Would you like to join ‘Cat’?”
Officer Li glanced at Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin before playing along. “What exactly does ‘Cat’ do?”
“We’re mercenaries. We take money to do jobs.”
“So you earn ‘Daos’ your own way?” Officer Li asked.
“No.” Qian Wu seemed to have answered this question countless times. “We don’t need ‘Daos.’ We deal in real-world money.”
“What…?” Officer Li was stunned. “How do you collect real-world money?”
“By receiving transfers in the real world,” Qian Wu said with a smile. “If you wire us money there, we’ll fight for you in the next cycle.”
“Huh?” Officer Li was baffled. He looked at Qi Xia, his mind in turmoil. “I don’t get it… We’re not from the same era. How would I even send you money?”
“Our ‘Cat’ members cover a span of forty years.” Qian Wu took out a cigarette and offered one to Li Shangwu, who accepted. “Which year are you from, Officer?”
“I’m from…” Li Shangwu paused, then frowned. “When did I say I was an ‘officer’?”
Qian Wu chuckled as he lit Li Shangwu’s cigarette. “Should I make up an excuse, like ‘You just seem like a cop’?”
Officer Li laughed. “Then what’s the real reason?”
Qian Wu smirked. “We’ve crossed paths before, so I know who you are.”
Officer Li thought for a moment. “I’m from 2010.”
“Perfect.” Qian Wu nodded, gesturing to a girl beside him. “Saturday here is from 2009. Her family can receive your transfers. If you ever need us, she’ll fight for you.”
The woman named Saturday gave a perfunctory nod and continued chewing gum absentmindedly.
“You’re not lying, are you…?” Officer Li’s expression darkened as he stared at Qian Wu. “If we wire money outside, can you really receive it?”
“What do you mean…?” Qian Wu looked puzzled. “‘Cat’ has been around for nearly seven years. Why would we lie now?”
“So you’re saying…” Officer Li glanced at Qi Xia again before asking cautiously, “We can meet in the real world…?”
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