Chen Junan glanced at Qiao Jiajin, and the two of them once again felt that familiar connection.
Amid the noisy room, they found an unexpected sense of quiet.
It was as if every word from Earth Rat could be heard clearly in their ears.
“Earth Rat…” Chen Junan called out, “Do you really want to help Lao Qi?”
Earth Rat turned his head slightly at the question and asked, “What do you mean? You don’t trust me?”
“I…”
Earth Rat’s reaction made Chen Junan even more uneasy. He began to worry that he might have misjudged the man—what if Earth Rat was actually one of “Tianlong’s” people?
“I think I get it now,” Qin Dingdong interjected over the loud music. “You two made a deal with this Earth Rat, didn’t you?”
“Not exactly a deal,” Earth Rat replied. “I just gave them some information in exchange for their help with something. Any objections, boss?”
Chen Junan turned to Qin Dingdong as well. He felt like his thoughts had been tangled up by Earth Rat, and maybe someone like Qin Dingdong, who had just gotten involved, might have a fresh perspective.
“Well, I don’t get it then,” Qin Dingdong said, crossing her arms. “As a ‘Zodiac’ of the Earth level, can’t you usually see them?”
“I can,” Earth Rat answered truthfully. “We’re together at night.”
“Then why don’t you act yourself?” Qin Dingdong pressed. “Wouldn’t it be much easier for you to kill a ‘Zodiac’ than for us?”
Earth Rat didn’t answer immediately. His nose twitched slightly, making the whiskers on his cheeks quiver.
After a moment of thought, he said, “I don’t think I can do it alone. That’s why I need teammates.”
“Then you should be looking for ‘Zodiac’ teammates,” Qin Dingdong countered. “What good are we? Do you really expect two ‘participants’ to help you kill eight ‘Zodiacs’? Do you have any idea how difficult that is?”
Earth Rat stared at Qin Dingdong for a long time before chuckling. “Boss, you’re sharp. I’m no match for your wit.”
Hearing Qin Dingdong’s question, Chen Junan finally realized what had been bothering him about the whole situation.
“You little…” Chen Junan turned to glare at Earth Rat. “Have you been lying to me this whole time?”
“Well, let’s just say I’ve lied about some things,” Earth Rat admitted. “But not everything.”
“Was the part about ‘Tianlong’s confidants’ a lie?”
“No,” Earth Rat said. “I’m not sure if they’re really his confidants, but I do know Tianlong values them highly. That’s all. Having you guys take them on is the safest option for me.”
“Then what *did* you lie about?” Chen Junan demanded. “You said we used to be ‘teammates’—was that a lie too?”
Qin Dingdong blinked in surprise. “What?”
Earth Rat shook his head again. “That wasn’t a lie. We really were teammates. You know how well we got along, right?”
“That’s weird then,” Chen Junan muttered, growing more intrigued by Earth Rat. “So what exactly *did* you lie to me about? Seems like you’ve been honest so far.”
“My lie was about Brother Goat,” Earth Rat confessed. “I’m not trying to help him eliminate threats—I’m only trying to eliminate threats for myself.”
“What…?”
“Since we’ve come this far, I might as well be blunt,” Earth Rat said. “I’ll definitely board Goat’s ship, but I don’t care who’s steering it. In other words, if *anyone* chooses to ‘rebel,’ I’ll try to follow and see where it leads.”
“Why?” Chen Junan asked.
“Because I’ve had enough.” Earth Rat pointed at his own neck. “You probably don’t know what kind of life I live every day… I could die at any moment just because my superior feels like it.”
The three of them stared at his bare neck, unsure what he meant.
Earth Rat seemed to notice their confusion and turned to pull a collar from a nearby cabinet.
“As one of ‘Tian Shu’s’ subordinates, the only way we could rise to the ‘Earth level’ was by becoming dogs,” he explained. “Whenever I’m running a game, I have to wear this damn thing. If ‘Tian Shu’ presses a button, I die instantly—no reason needed.”
“That’s allowed?” Chen Junan frowned. “A ‘Heavenly’ can just kill an ‘Earth’ whenever they want?”
“It’s laughable, really,” Earth Rat said. “We agreed to this willingly.”
“Huh?”
“When we were still at the ‘Human level,’ we were offered a direct promotion… in exchange for wearing this collar. What would you have chosen?”
Chen Junan felt it was a no-win situation—he couldn’t have made that choice either way.
“I was too arrogant,” Earth Rat admitted. “I thought that with my skills, even with this collar, I could quickly rise to the ‘Heavenly’ level and escape all of this… But ‘Tian Shu’ just wanted a few disciples to entertain him. He doesn’t care if we get promoted or not… The contract we signed with him privately became our own shackles.”
He paused, then shook his head. “No… Actually, he *knew* we’d never make it. So he could keep us as slaves forever—letting us live or die at his whim.”
Chen Junan found this absurd. “So every time someone plays your game, you have to wear this thing? Does it explode or something?”
“Yes,” Earth Rat nodded.
“Then just don’t wear it! Why bother?” Chen Junan asked, baffled. “Can he really come down and kill you himself?”
“Sooner or later, he will,” Earth Rat said. “The status of a ‘Heavenly’ is completely different from an ‘Earth.’ They stand beside those two dragons… Even if they *do* come down and kill us, they’ll just get a scolding. But what about me?”
Chen Junan finally nodded in understanding. “So the real enemy isn’t ‘Tianlong’ or ‘Qinglong.’ You don’t actually want a full-scale ‘rebellion’—you just want ‘Tian Shu’ dead.”
“Exactly. I may have boarded this ship, but I might jump off halfway,” Earth Rat said. “I *will* kill ‘Tian Shu,’ but I’m not stupid enough to challenge the ‘dragons.’ For now, I’m on Brother Goat’s ship. I’ll help him where I can, but I’ll also protect myself.”
Earth Rat’s explanation today made the doubts that had plagued Chen Junan for the past two days finally make sense.
In fact, Earth Rat might be the most reliable of all the “Zodiacs”—at least until “Tian Shu” was dead, he was still an ally.
“You’re such a flip-flopper,” Chen Junan sneered.
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