Qiao Jiajin naturally had no idea what to do. Scratching his head, he turned to Chen Junnan, “Handsome guy…”
“Alright… alright…” Chen Junnan replied, “Listen to you, Sister Dong. We were already planning to invite you along, so why bring up ‘following’ or not? Haha!”
Even Qiao Jiajin was seeing Chen Junnan flustered for the first time, and he couldn’t help but feel curious.
Just what kind of background did this girl have?
Chen Junnan hadn’t shown such an expression even when facing Earth Monkey, yet now, in front of this girl, he seemed to have met his natural enemy—not only stumbling over his words but even looking somewhat dazed.
Qiao Jiajin, of course, had no idea what had happened between the two and could only agree to Qin Dingdong’s request to join them.
The three of them walked out of the classroom together and ran into a group of girls led by Yun Yao at the school gate. They seemed to have woken up early too and were preparing to take Zheng Yingxiong out with them.
“Hey, superstar,” Chen Junnan greeted Yun Yao.
Yun Yao appeared to be in a hurry, her expression distracted as she gave a perfunctory nod before hurrying off with the others.
Early in the morning, the members of “Paradise Port” left their base one after another, heading in different directions.
Chu Tianqiu stood on the rooftop, sweeping his gaze over the crowd below.
His expression was unreadable, lost in thought.
Xu Liunian stepped onto the rooftop one foot at a time, stopping at a distance to stare at Chu Tianqiu’s back.
“What is it?” Chu Tianqiu asked softly without turning around. “Found a way to destroy this place yet?”
“I can’t find that path…” Xu Liunian replied in a low voice. “Right now, I’m completely out of ideas.”
“Is that so…” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “Then what brings you here?”
“I’ve given up,” Xu Liunian said. “I have no real connections with anyone here. Thinking about it, you and Yun Yao are the only ones who’ve ever really talked to me. So I came to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye…?”
“Chu Tianqiu, you already know this…” Xu Liunian lowered her head slightly. “The reason I can appear in your rooms every time is because ‘Qinglong’ granted me the status of a ‘participant.'”
Chu Tianqiu nodded. “Yeah, so?”
“I don’t want to fight for this chance anymore…” Xu Liunian murmured. “Maybe in the next cycle, I’ll vanish completely… never to appear again.”
“Interesting.” Chu Tianqiu sighed, his face expressionless. “I thought you and ‘Qinglong’ were equals. Turns out you’re under his thumb?”
“You remember even that…?” Xu Liunian frowned.
“Yes. Those two dragons want to kill everyone here to become ‘gods,’ and so do you. My memories keep growing day by day—I suspect the same is true for Qi Xia,” Chu Tianqiu said. “If you disappear here, will ‘Qinglong’ have to answer for it?”
Xu Liunian slowly raised her head to look at the sky. “Who would he need to ‘answer’ to…? Those two have already defied their master’s orders. Why would they bother fabricating lies to justify anything?”
“Right…” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “No one’s coming to save us… They’re killing ‘participants’ to cover their tracks, so they’ll never let anyone leave. To break this endless cycle, we can only rely on ourselves.”
Xu Liunian paused before speaking. “Not us—you. Whether it’s you or Qi Xia… someone has to destroy this place.”
“And what about you?”
“I just want to complete my mission,” Xu Liunian replied. “If those two are killing all ‘participants’ to silence them, then so am I. My superior once ordered them to destroy this place, but they disobeyed, seized it for themselves, and now seek to become ‘gods.’ That’s inherently wrong.”
Chu Tianqiu chuckled. “So they’ve burned their bridges too. If they leave this place without becoming ‘gods,’ they’ll face charges of rebellion.”
“Exactly,” Xu Liunian said. “That’s why I must do everything in my power to destroy this place.”
“Don’t be naive,” Chu Tianqiu turned to face her. “Xu Liunian… do you even realize what you’re doing?”
Xu Liunian thought for a moment before answering, “I do. I’m just following orders. Nothing else matters to me.”
“Orders…? But think about it…” Chu Tianqiu turned fully toward her, locking eyes on the empty rooftop. “How can you not see the bigger picture? Your ‘superior,’ the so-called ‘master’ of those two, imprisoned tens of thousands of souls here, used them up, and then ordered their extermination… What kind of ‘good person’ does that make him?”
“Don’t you dare speak of him that way…” Xu Liunian’s expression darkened. “Those tens of thousands of souls were all sinners. He simply gave them a chance to ‘ascend.'”
“Sinners…?” Chu Tianqiu let out a bitter laugh, stepping closer. “Xu Liunian… what sin have I committed?”
“I don’t know…” Xu Liunian shook her head. “I don’t understand the sins of every person here, but when I drove the ‘train’ here, I knew each of them carried crimes worthy of hell.”
“Isn’t that absurd?” Chu Tianqiu’s eyes widened with incredulous laughter. “If you’re not lying, then your superior gathered a bunch of hell-bound sinners in this godforsaken place and told them to ‘ascend to godhood’—am I the crazy one, or is he?!”
“He is a true ‘god,’ far above those two…” Xu Liunian insisted. “His actions are beyond the comprehension of mortals like us…”
“Bullshit ‘god,’ bullshit soul-management system.” Chu Tianqiu sneered. “Do you even realize who’s truly responsible for our predicament? Those two dragons?! No—it’s whoever meticulously built this prison for tens of thousands of souls that trapped us here!”
“But you can’t blame him…” Xu Liunian said quietly. “I heard him say with my own ears, ‘This place is useless now. Scatter them all.’ In theory, your lives should have ended seventy years ago…”
“Hahahaha!” Chu Tianqiu burst into laughter. “That makes it even more ridiculous. Xu Liunian, from where I stand, those two dragons are saints—they gave us an extra seventy years of life. Your ‘superior’ is the real devil here.”
“What…?” Xu Liunian’s eyes widened as if her entire worldview had shattered.
“Or perhaps…” Chu Tianqiu’s expression turned icy. “Every so-called ‘god’ in this world is equally insane?”
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