Chapter 467: Who Fouls?

Qiao Jiajin’s expression was icy cold. Several times, he opened his mouth to speak but swallowed his words.

Zhou Liu slowly placed Ning Shiba on the ground and turned to Wang Ba, saying, “Take her out and burn her.”

“Alright…” Wang Ba nodded shakily, hoisting Ning Shiba onto his shoulder before hesitating. “Sixth Sister… are we really not going to act? That damned horse…”

“This isn’t Fifth Brother’s intention,” Zhou Liu shook her head. “Don’t make Fifth Brother worry. Just take Little Eighteen away first. She’s already done enough.”

Qiao Jiajin watched as Ning Shiba was carried out the door. In the distance, the obese man gathered scraps of wood, arranged them on the ground, and placed Ning Shiba atop them before lighting the pyre with a lighter. A pang of sorrow struck his heart.

“You damn horse-faced bitch…” He turned back toward Earth Horse. “Your idea of winning is targeting someone who can’t even move?”

Earth Horse nodded. “As long as I kill someone, this game isn’t a loss for me.”

“Where’s your *morality*?” Qiao Jiajin demanded.

“I’m just a monster with a horse’s head,” Earth Horse sneered. “You’re lecturing *me* about morality?”

“But your arena is marked with *Martial Virtue*,” Qiao Jiajin retorted coldly. “You killed an injured person in front of *Martial Virtue*. Can’t you hear that star’s lament?”

“Even if it’s *Martial Virtue*, it’s just a man-made tool,” Earth Horse replied. “It has to obey my orders to kill.”

Qiao Jiajin tightened his grip on the iron rod in his hands, his face icy as he took a few steps forward.

“Oh?” Earth Horse gave a mocking grin and pulled another ice sphere from her bamboo tube. “Your eyes look like you want to kill me. But that’s hilarious—what exactly do you plan to do?”

“If you won’t let Second Brother uphold justice, then I’ll do it for you,” Qiao Jiajin said, his aura shifting subtly. “You beat one of my people to death… and you think that’s funny?”

“Of course it’s funny,” Earth Horse grinned, her pitch-black lips stretching wide. “A bunch of participants actually think they can oppose an *Earth-level*. What exactly is your confidence?”

“My confidence is me.” Qiao Jiajin slowly closed his eyes, recalling everything that had happened since entering the game. “You’re quite the schemer… I’ve played a few games myself, and some *Zodiacs* are honorable—they keep their word. But you hid every rule that would lead to our deaths, just so we’d die by negligence.”

“Yes,” Earth Horse admitted. “It might not be fair, but that’s the only way to make people willingly walk to their deaths.”

“Ha…” Qiao Jiajin’s ears buzzed with fury. “How laughable… *Not saying* doesn’t mean *not lying*… That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Earth Horse suddenly felt uneasy. The ground beneath her seemed to tremble faintly.

“Horse-face, I’ll say it again—the reason we’re standing here is *me*.”

Qiao Jiajin slowly opened his eyes, and from all directions, a deafening bell tolled.

***DONG!***

The sound was so immense that everyone, even Earth Horse, staggered in shock.

***”Break All Laws”*** had descended!

Qi Xia frowned at the sight. Glancing around, he realized only Qiao Jiajin’s *Echo* could summon such a colossal bell.

But was this really necessary?

Based on what he knew, *Zodiacs* didn’t possess *Echoes*. So what was the purpose of *Break All Laws* here?

What could it possibly *break*?

“I’ve had enough of you…” Qiao Jiajin slowly raised his bat, pointing it at Earth Horse. “Quit your tricks. In this game, no more cheating.”

“Hah.” Earth Horse scoffed. “Your *Echo* sounds impressive, but what can you actually do to me?”

The moment she spoke, her eyes widened in shock.

Something she never expected was happening right before her.

Every *mechanism* along the track—left and right—began to shimmer and fade. Within seconds, they shattered into countless specks of starlight, drifting into the air.

The glowing fragments swirled and cascaded like a cosmic sea, illuminating the room with an ethereal radiance.

At that moment, even Qi Xia—usually unshakable—was stunned speechless, as were the rest of the *Cat* team.

“This…” Qi Xia’s lips moved faintly, his mind reeling.

All the mechanisms had been dismantled. What kind of madness was this?

“Wait… hold on…” Qi Xia’s eyes sharpened as a suspicion struck him. “These *Zodiac* game props… were they *Echoed* into existence?!”

Threads of realization raced through his mind, something crucial flickering at the edges of his thoughts.

Did that mean all of this was constructed by *Echoers* working for the *Zodiacs*?

From this perspective, many things that had once baffled him now made sense.

Those impossible *game props*, those objects that shouldn’t exist in *Terminal Land*—all of them came from *Echoes*?!

“God…” Qi Xia felt a jolt of dread. “Are there *Echoers* siding with the *Zodiacs*?”

The others, of course, didn’t grasp the depth of his thoughts. They were simply awestruck by the sea of stars above, as if transported back to the real world. Their eyes glazed over the falling starlight, mesmerized by its beauty.

“Little Eighteen…” Zhou Liu murmured with a bittersweet smile. “If you’d held on just a little longer, you could’ve seen this sky of stars… I know you would’ve divined a *good omen*. We finally have a way to fight the *Zodiacs*.”

Qiao Jiajin brandished his bat, now shimmering with starlight, and glared coldly at Earth Horse. “Let’s settle this… life or death.”

Earth Horse trembled—whether from fury or fear, she didn’t know.

A far more dire situation now loomed before her.

The tools she used to kill had been reduced to starlight by some unknown force. These meticulously crafted mechanisms, operational for nearly thirty years, had vanished before her eyes.

What was she supposed to do now?

Had *she* violated the *rules*?

Or had *they*?

But they hadn’t even touched the mechanisms—did *vanishing* count as *destruction*?

Thoughts spiraled chaotically in her mind, leaving her utterly disoriented.

The game she’d submitted to her superiors was designed to kill using *the Big Dipper*… but where was it now?

If this game was reduced to just pushing carts, what was even the point?

“Just *what* are you…?” Earth Horse’s voice wavered, trapped in an impossible dilemma. “What did you do to my mechanisms?”

Qiao Jiajin glanced blankly at the glittering starlight drifting around them and murmured, “I didn’t want to do anything. I just wanted a fair fight.”