After listening, Qi Xia felt nothing but profound sorrow.
From a broader perspective, the path they were walking now was no different from the one they took a decade ago.
To be precise, their current progress was even slower.
Very few “Echoers” had emerged so far—Lawyer Zhang, Dr. Zhao, and Tian Tian had yet to manifest any clear “Echo.”
Even though everyone knew they couldn’t repeat past mistakes, who could truly avoid it?
A room of nine people, yet seven of them were “Echoers.”
Even if Xiao Ran had been useless back then, Qi Xia knew he had never been a burden to the team.
But on second thought, the current lineup seemed slightly better.
All nine people in the room now were “Echoers.” Lin Qin had replaced Xiao Ran and brought along “Ignition.”
Add to that his own “Endless Cycle”… Could this team succeed?
*”It’s just a shame… you left.”* Chen Jun’nan’s expression darkened. *”We met countless comrades in the Land of Finality, yet you were the one who walked away.”*
According to Chen Jun’nan, back then, the Land of Finality had no factions like the “Extremists,” “Cats,” or “Paradise Gate.” The only heroes in the city were the team led by Qi Xia.
Powerful “Echoers” from Chu Tianqiu’s room, Zhang Shan’s room, Qian Duoduo’s room, and even Su Shan’s room flocked to them, creating an unprecedented era of unity in the Land of Finality.
The “Zodiac Games” at the time were vastly different from now. Most games were easily solved as soon as Qi Xia stepped in.
This forced the “Zodiacs” to collectively reduce the rewards of “Tao” to slow down progress. Even after completing an entire “Earth-level” game, a team would barely earn one or two “Tao.”
Just as they were about to collect 3,600 “Tao,” Qi Xia—the leader of this massive force—vanished overnight.
He had only confided in his closest allies, Chen Jun’nan and Qiao Jiajin, saying, *”I’ve found a way out,”* before disappearing forever from the interview room.
*”Old Qi, from that day on, I took command under crisis and led this massive team in your stead.”* Chen Jun’nan’s expression grew increasingly grim, as if recalling something unbearably painful.
*”But damn it, I just couldn’t wrap my head around it…”* He shook his head, speaking slowly and deliberately. *”After you disappeared, the Zodiacs’ games started changing. Every time we eliminated an old ‘Earth-level’ game, a new one would emerge, far more brutal. The games I could barely handle before became impossible without racking my brains. It was like they underwent a complete upgrade—as if they weren’t even in the same dimension anymore.”*
In Chen Jun’nan’s words, the original “Earth-level” games were deadly but manageable.
With caution, one could not only survive but even walk away with great rewards.
Yet after Qi Xia vanished, that era was gone for good.
Hearing this, Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brow.
If his guess was correct, this had everything to do with him.
*”So our team quickly fell apart…”*
With deaths skyrocketing, most were forced to abandon the group. Chen Jun’nan couldn’t retrieve them all. In just five or six cycles, all their hard-earned progress was wiped out.
*”Even people in our own room started losing their memories… Me, Old Qiao, Old Li, and Xiao Han became the last hope in the room.”* Chen Jun’nan pressed a hand to his forehead. *”But Xiao Han gradually lost his mind. His ‘Echo’ was too dangerous, so I had to abandon him and work only with Old Qiao and Old Li…”*
The problem was, all three of them were impulsive players, making their weaknesses too glaring. Failure after failure followed.
*”Old Qiao… you really outdid yourself…”* Chen Jun’nan looked up at Qiao Jiajin. *”In a life-or-death moment, I used ‘Scapegoat’ for you, but you broke my technique… Who the hell taught you to use ‘Echo’ like that?”*
*”Oh…?”* Qiao Jiajin chuckled blankly. *”Was I that sharp back then?”*
*”Old Qiao died alone, over and over, during that time…”* Chen Jun’nan turned back to Qi Xia. *”And it’s all because of you, Old Qi. You abandoned him.”*
Qi Xia’s expression darkened, as if despair was the only thing awaiting them in this place.
*”So I gave up,”* Chen Jun’nan said. *”I didn’t want to escape anymore. I just wanted to find like-minded people and make life a little better for our families here.”*
*”What…?”*
Just then, a figure in a leather jacket silently arrived outside their room. She didn’t enter, merely leaning against the doorframe to light a cigarette.
*”Back then, I took two teammates and sought out Qian Duoduo and Zhou Mo—people who, in my memory, had no reason to leave.”* Chen Jun’nan seemed to notice the figure but didn’t acknowledge her. *”We came to this prison, ready to do something big.”*
*”And this ‘something big’…”* Qi Xia asked, *”was becoming mercenaries to earn for your families?”*
*”Old Qi, that was just the surface.”* Chen Jun’nan cut in. *”Like I said, the ‘Zodiacs’ have evolved, while ‘participants’ have regressed. The gap between us is massive. We needed to bide our time, gather intel—no reckless moves until we were ready. I needed to gather a group of people who wouldn’t lose their memories, to act as ‘signal towers’ here.”*
Chen Jun’nan looked at Qi Xia again. *”At the time, I thought… if—just if—that bastard Qi Xia ever came back… we’d be a battle-hardened force, the hidden thirteenth ‘Zodiac.’ The only problem was, we were all ‘Echoers,’ so we couldn’t actually become ‘Zodiacs.'”*
*”So that’s why it’s ‘Cats’…”* Qi Xia murmured.
*”Right. Honestly, I didn’t want to call it ‘Cats’ at first…”* Chen Jun’nan gave a bitter laugh. *”I was ‘First Brother,’ Old Qiao was ‘Second Brother’…”*
*”I see…”* Qi Xia narrowed his eyes. *”And the others?”*
*”Then there was a Zhang ‘escort-girl,’ a Li ‘officer,’ a Qian Duoduo who was barely five feet tall, and a Zhou Mo who just wanted to live for the ‘weekend.’ Counting me, Chen ‘First Brother,’ and Qiao ‘Second Brother,’ the six of us made up the ‘Seven Gourd Brothers.'”*
*”Wait… hold on…”* Qi Xia was visibly confused. *”There were six of you. Why ‘Seven Gourd Brothers’?”*
*”Dummy, haven’t you watched ‘Calabash Brothers’?”* Chen Jun’nan sighed. *”One of the seven brothers was invisible. So six of us could play seven roles.”*
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