Chapter 421: Brain Circuit

“Yeah.” Qiao Jiajin nodded while staring at Tianshe’s nose. “I really want to punch you and see how it feels.”

“Gotta admit, you’re honest…” Tianshe’s expression darkened further. “But why do you want to hit me?”

“Come on…” Qiao Jiajin shrugged. “You’re a ‘Zodiac,’ and I’m a ‘participant.’ We’re not on the same team. Shouldn’t I hit you?”

Tianshe blinked, his thoughts momentarily tangled.

“Wait… I’m ‘Heaven.'”

“Exactly, so I didn’t hit you.”

“You…” Tianshe froze, feeling like there was some twisted logic in his words, but something still felt off. “No, no… that can’t be right. So you just openly think about it like that?”

“Openly think about it?” Qiao Jiajin shook his head innocently. “It’s fine if I say it out loud. It’s not embarrassing. I really want to beat you up, but I probably can’t, so I’m just thinking about it.”

The brief exchange left Tianshe speechless.

Qi Xia realized his worries might have been unnecessary. Just like how conversations with Qiao Jiajin could inexplicably derail, his unique way of thinking seemed to counter Tianshe perfectly.

“You… you…” Tianshe pointed at Qiao Jiajin. “Stop thinking about it.”

“Why?”

“Because I can hear your ‘thoughts.'”

“Damn, then don’t listen!” Qiao Jiajin pointed right back. “Mind your own business! Why are you bothering me?”

“I… shouldn’t listen?” Tianshe scratched his head. “But… I’m ‘Heaven’!”

“Which is exactly why I want to hit you!” Qiao Jiajin emphasized. “Isn’t that the whole point? Why ask again?”

“I…”

An awkward silence fell.

Tianshe’s face twisted in visible anger.

“Fine… fine…” He nodded furiously. “I’ll remember you… You’d better hope I don’t see you tomorrow.”

“Then you can just not show up tomorrow.” Qiao Jiajin smirked.

Tianshe opened his mouth as if to retort but ultimately waved his hand and stormed off.

Watching him leave, Qian Wu burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Second Bro, you’re something else…” Qian Wu turned back. “You might be the only one here who can shut someone up just by talking.”

Qi Xia sighed. “Qian Wu, are you really that optimistic?”

“What do you mean?”

“What exactly is the ‘Pegasus Hour’?” Qi Xia asked. “We only have one day left. What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“Let’s talk inside.” Qian Wu motioned for them to enter, then, after ensuring no one was around, closed the prison door behind them.

They returned to Chen Junan and Officer Li’s cell.

Nineteen had been waiting for them, his face pale and his mind clearly drifting.

“Nineteen, give me three more minutes,” Qian Wu said.

Nineteen nodded weakly before closing his eyes.

Chen Junan was about to speak when Qian Wu raised a hand to stop him. “First Bro, time’s tight. Let me talk first.”

“Got it.”

“The ‘Pegasus Hour’ is essentially the ‘Pegasus Game,’ and its playing field is the entire ‘Land of the End,'” Qian Wu said seriously. “First Bro and I have experienced it once before. Tomorrow’s only the fifth day, but if the ‘Pegasus Hour’ descends, half the people in the ‘Land of the End’ will be wiped out.”

“What kind of game is it?” Qi Xia asked.

“A race for survival,” Qian Wu replied, locking eyes with him. “Something chases us. If it catches you, you die.”

Qi Xia had never imagined the so-called “Pegasus Game” would be so brutally straightforward.

“You said the game covers the entire ‘Land of the End’…” Qi Xia found the concept hard to grasp. “Are there enough pursuers for that? Even though it’s only the fourth day, there are already many ‘Echo’ users. Can’t we band together and fight back?”

Chen Junan shook his head. “Fighting back is impossible, Old Qi. The things chasing us are like strands of hair—thin threads. We don’t know how to deal with them. Can’t hit ’em, can’t break ’em. The only option is to run.”

Qi Xia glanced at Chen Junan. “One thread per person?”

“Yeah.” Chen Junan nodded. “And if that old hag is ruthless enough, we might have to run all day.”

“All day…?”

Qi Xia frowned. Even an hour of continuous running would exhaust most untrained people. If everyone was being chased by their own thread, they might scatter in different directions, making mutual support difficult.

“It probably won’t last that long…” Qian Wu said. “First Bro, the last ‘Pegasus Hour’ was only about an hour.”

Chen Junan nodded. “True, but we’ve only been through it once. How can you be sure it’s always an hour? What if the next one’s longer?”

“I’ve been through it twice.” Qian Wu sighed. “Both times, it lasted just over an hour.”

“Twice…?” Chen Junan’s brow furrowed as he realized—their memories were no longer aligned.

“We only have twenty-four hours left,” Qi Xia said coldly, eyeing Qian Wu. “You confidently told Pegasus you’d hand me over tomorrow. Do you have a plan?”

“Yeah…” Qiao Jiajin also looked at Qian Wu in confusion. “What can we even do in a day?”

“Qi Xia, that look in your eyes makes it seem like you think I’d betray you,” Qian Wu said with a faint smile. “If I wanted to, I’d have done it today.”

“Because I can’t think of a logical solution…” Qi Xia said. “Wouldn’t the best move be to hand me over? My life in exchange for everyone else’s. We can restart the plan next cycle.”

“No.” Qian Wu and Chen Junan spoke in unison.

“Huh?”

“Qi Xia,” Qian Wu said firmly. “If you go with them, there won’t be a next cycle.”

“Is that so?” Qi Xia narrowed his eyes. “They can forcibly remove someone from the cycle?”

Qian Wu nodded. “Zhuque can do it. So can Tianshe. They can twist you into something neither human nor ghost, turn you into a native whenever they want.”

Qi Xia nodded slowly. “I see… In that case, a single day isn’t much, but it’s enough to work with.”

“What do you mean you ‘see’?” Chen Junan and Qiao Jiajin exchanged glances.

“If I’m not mistaken…” Qi Xia stared at Qian Wu. “You want all of ‘Cat’ to awaken their ‘Echoes’ today, then kill ‘Pegasus’ first thing tomorrow.”

“That’s the idea,” Qian Wu confirmed. “We have the whole day to trigger their ‘Echoes.’ Even if the assassination ‘fails’ tomorrow, ‘Cat’ won’t suffer heavy losses.”

“No… wait.” Qiao Jiajin frowned. “You guys can ‘Echo,’ but what about Scammer?”

“Right…” Chen Junan caught on. “Little Money Bean, this might save ‘Cat,’ but it still doesn’t save Old Qi.”

Qian Wu lowered his head, his expression grim.

“Qian Wu’s plan is correct.” Qi Xia spoke calmly. “My ‘Echo’ is hard to trigger. This is the best we’ve got.”