“Hey… Qi Xia…” Saturday felt something was off, “Doesn’t this seem wrong? Where’s Sixteen?”
A flicker of worry crossed her mind. Just as she was about to lower her head to send a telepathic message, Qi Xia stopped her.
“No need for that. Go get the fruit.”
With that, Qi Xia turned and entered the room, grabbing three peaches before stepping back out.
After a brief pause, the others also emerged from their rooms, each holding their respective fruit, their expressions uneasy.
Qi Xia glanced at the fruit in their hands: three bright red dragon fruits, three small oranges, three peaches, and… one pomegranate.
“One pomegranate?” Qi Xia frowned at Eleven, “What’s going on?”
“That room only had one pomegranate. Forget that for now…” Eleven narrowed his eyes, staring cautiously at Qi Xia, “What happened to Sixteen? Where is she…?”
“Captured,” Qi Xia replied. “A ‘Mouse’ wandering the hallway ran into a ‘Cat’ hunting for food. She got taken. Isn’t that normal?”
“Normal…?” Turtle’s veins bulged in anger as he lunged forward and grabbed Qi Xia by the collar, “What the hell are you saying?! You spouted some bullshit plan, and now you’re acting all calm and calling this ‘normal’?!”
Qi Xia met Turtle’s glare coldly and murmured, “Have you noticed something?”
“What…?”
“You care so much about them, yet they recoil at the thought of kissing you.” Qi Xia smirked. “I made up a plan on the spot—no promises, no guarantees—yet someone was willing to die for it.”
“You… you bastard…” Turtle’s eyes burned red with fury, “Who the hell do you think you are, treating my teammates like this?”
“All these years pretending to be shameless—did it work?” Qi Xia leaned closer to Turtle’s ear, “No matter how long you’ve known them, I can replace you with just one sentence. Trash will always be trash. Understand?”
Turtle finally snapped. He swung his meaty fist at Qi Xia’s face.
Qi Xia sidestepped, dodging the punch. A voice echoed in his mind: *”Trickster, this is how you put power into a punch.”*
He lowered his fist to his waist, twisted his torso, and drove an uppercut straight into Turtle’s chin. At the last second, Qi Xia pulled back slightly—but the impact still sent Turtle crashing to the ground.
Eleven’s face darkened at the sight. He rushed forward and seized Qi Xia’s arm, furious. “Hey! Who said you could hit him?! Are you insane?!”
Qi Xia shook him off, then paused, frowning at Eleven.
“Huh…?” Eleven mirrored his expression, as if realizing something.
Turtle lay on the floor, gasping for breath, his face twisted in humiliation.
“You… you damn outsider…” he spat, “You know nothing… How dare you send one of us to die…”
*DONG!*
A sudden bell tolled—**”Gigantify”** had arrived.
“I’ll kill you…” Turtle rose to his feet, slowly raising his right hand. His fist swelled like a balloon, expanding several times its size before hurtling toward Qi Xia with crushing force.
Eleven reacted instantly, darting behind Turtle and locking his arms around his waist.
“Turtle!” he shouted, “Calm down!”
“Eleven, this guy’s dangerous! He’ll get us all killed!” Turtle raged, “Didn’t you hear what he just said to me—”
“I know!” Eleven roared, “But wait!”
He yanked Turtle back just in time—the massive, wheel-sized fist stopped inches from Qi Xia’s face.
“Eleven, what the hell are you doing?!”
“I can’t explain…” Eleven muttered, “But don’t fight here.”
Qi Xia didn’t even blink at the colossal fist. Instead, he smirked. “Consider one problem solved.”
“Solved?!” Turtle’s fist shrank back, but his fury remained, “Your whole plan’s ruined! ‘Commander’ doesn’t work, the hallway’s a death trap—the moment you step out, a ‘Cat’ grabs you. So what the hell are we supposed to—”
“Everything’s going according to plan,” Qi Xia interrupted. “Sixteen is safe. She’s in the ‘Cat Room.'”
“The ‘Cat Room’ is safe?!” Turtle bellowed, “Isn’t that the most dangerous place in this damn game?!”
“Not here.” Qi Xia lowered his voice, “Take the fruit and go back inside.”
As Qi Xia walked alone toward the ‘Mouse Room,’ Turtle clenched his fists so hard they nearly bled.
“Hold your anger…” Eleven patted his shoulder, “I think this guy might actually know what he’s doing. Let’s see where this goes.”
“Eleven, you too—”
“His methods seem reckless, but you *did* ‘Echo,'” Eleven pointed out. “Even Fifth Brother couldn’t trigger it this time, but this guy did.”
“He got lucky!” Turtle seethed, “What does he know? Sure, Sixth Sis acts annoyed with me, but she’s saved my life every time it mattered! This outsider understands nothing about us! He just stumbled into this!”
“Tch, enough.” Saturday cut in, studying Turtle and Eleven before murmuring, “Inside. Now.”
The four of them entered the ‘Mouse Room.’ The moment the door shut, it locked automatically, and one light on each of their collars flickered out.
**Round Two had begun—the ‘Cat’s’ turn.**
No one had the focus to consider the ‘Cat’s’ next move. Instead, their gazes—complex, wary, furious—all settled on Qi Xia.
“Explain,” Turtle ground out, “I want to hear how you’ll dig yourself out of this lie.”
“‘Commander’ is necessary,” Qi Xia said patiently, “But her observation post isn’t the hallway. It’s somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else?” Saturday frowned.
Eleven nodded. “You mean… the ‘Cat Room’?”
“Exactly.” Qi Xia confirmed, “Over six rounds, we’ll send different people into the ‘Cat Room’ each time. That way, we’ll track the ‘Cat’s’ movements flawlessly.”
The group stared in shock.
Saturday hesitated. “Are you sure you can see the ‘Cat’ from inside its own room?”
“Positive.” Qi Xia said, “I knew the moment I first entered the ‘Mouse Room.’ When the ‘Cat’ moves, its door opens—just like ours. The ‘Mice’ inside can see everything the ‘Cat’ does.”
“You—”
“And it’s safer than any other observation point,” Qi Xia added, “The earlier plan was just to trigger Turtle’s ‘Echo.’ *This* is the real strategy.”
“I get it…” Saturday nodded, “I’ll contact Sixteen now. Tell her not to panic—”
“No.” Qi Xia cut in, his voice grim, “Tell her I’ve abandoned her completely.”
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