With a loud bang, the Earth Serpent lay on the ground, staring blankly at the ceiling.
The healing eyes scattered across his body began to crack under the impact, painting his pure white skin with streaks of dark red blood.
“Impossible…” the Earth Serpent muttered, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. “You’re wrong… This doesn’t make sense…”
“If you think it doesn’t make sense, refute me now,” Qi Xia said calmly, sitting back down in his seat. “Earth Serpent, whether you admit it or not, your life has been miserable.”
“Ha…” The Earth Serpent steadied his breathing, still staring at the ceiling. “You’re just speculating. You have no solid proof that those people carried their abilities when they became ‘Celestials.'”
“Oh?” Qi Xia nodded. “Still refusing to give up.”
“How could I give up…? Those experiments were conducted by me and my teacher. The results were what he told me…” the Earth Serpent said softly. “If what you’re saying is true, then what have we been struggling for in this sunless hell? Just to torture ourselves?”
“Then let me share my second doubt with you,” Qi Xia said.
“What?”
“Qinglong once showed me a ‘memory’ from decades ago. Back then, I stood before him and Tianlong and obtained an ‘Echo.’ Qinglong clearly heard something.” Qi Xia’s voice was steady. “Even if you insist that all the upper echelons are ‘blank slates,’ I can guarantee that ‘Qinglong’ is not. If one person could gain an ‘Echo’ while already possessing one, then so can you.”
The Earth Serpent’s eyes flickered again, but his expression remained doubtful.
“If I’m lying to you, may I be struck by five thunderbolts,” Qi Xia said mockingly, glancing at the sky beyond the glass window as if challenging the heavens.
The Earth Serpent frowned slightly. “Five thunderbolts” could be taken as an oath anywhere else—but not in the “Land of the End.” Here, there was no concept of “weather.” Even the one who controlled the thunder was just a person.
A person with emotions, capable of deception. The thunder he wielded could lie just as easily.
If this memory came from Qinglong, then even if Qi Xia wasn’t lying, he could still have been deceived.
“I can’t trust ‘Qinglong,’ let alone the thunder in his hands.” The Earth Serpent turned to look at Qi Xia. “Do you know who I trust the most?”
Qi Xia didn’t answer, his eyes filled with pity.
“All the ‘Earths’ are waiting for their ‘Celestials’ to die, yet I’m helping mine achieve even greater heights…” The Earth Serpent’s voice choked up. “Qi Xia… Do you know why I’m doing this?”
“I…”
For once, Qi Xia was at a loss for words.
“I want to meet that damned brat again one day and not disappoint his expectations.” The Earth Serpent let out a bitter laugh. “I know I can’t kill a ‘Celestial’ or become a ‘Dragon,’ so I’ll bring my ‘achievements’ to him. At least it’ll be of some help… Right? I’ll cover myself up tight and tell him I figured it all out with my brain. Even that arrogant brat would have to look at me differently then.”
The others nearby turned to Qi Xia, whose gaze darkened.
“That’s why I said… I joined this because I wanted to…” A murky tear slid from the Earth Serpent’s eye to his ear. “After all, we’re ‘Serpents.’ Every ‘Zodiac’ has its own trait—and so do we…”
Chen Junnan was about to speak when fragments of memory suddenly flashed through his mind.
In the memory, he entered a basement and saw something utterly shocking—but the memory abruptly cut off there.
“What the hell…?” Chen Junnan shook his head. “Damn, I must be sleep-deprived. Hallucinating in broad daylight now?”
He tried to recall, but the memory didn’t feel like his own.
“What’s wrong?” Qi Xia glanced at him.
“Dunno…” Chen Junnan rubbed his temples. “Right after this guy mentioned the ‘Serpent’ trait, some weird images popped into my head. Like I triggered some damn password.”
“Did you know about it before?” Qi Xia pressed.
“I was planning to deal with the ‘Earth Serpent’ and ‘Celestial Serpent,’ but I haven’t even started yet. How the hell would I know their traits?”
Qi Xia suddenly turned back to the Earth Serpent. “The ‘Goat’ lies, the ‘Monkey’ cheats—what does the ‘Serpent’ do?”
“The ‘Serpent’ can ‘self-organize,'” the Earth Serpent answered. “To put it plainly, we can create a faction for ‘self-interest.’ We can manipulate or encourage participants in our games to join it. This faction operates independently, beyond the control of ‘Tianlong’ and ‘Qinglong.'”
The moment he finished speaking, more fragmented memories surged through Chen Junnan’s mind.
“A faction… for ‘self-interest’…” he muttered, feeling as if he’d just opened Pandora’s box.
His eyes flickered—images of corpses, blood, bones, a throne… and a queen.
Where the hell were these coming from?
“Damn… My brain’s glitching…” Chen Junnan slapped himself sharply. “Never mind… Keep talking. Don’t mind me.”
“You okay, bastard?” Qin Dingdong eyed him. “Why do you look like you’re about to drop dead?”
“I’m fine… Dunno what weird shit I’ve been practicing lately, but my brain’s going haywire.”
He walked over and sat down, with Qiao Jiajin following him, concerned.
“So that’s how it is.” Qi Xia nodded, ignoring Chen Junnan and focusing on the Earth Serpent. “The ‘Serpent’ can create a faction for ‘self-interest,’ luring participants into it. Some use it to extort supplies, others to harvest lives—supplying ‘Celestial Serpent’ with test subjects. That’s how they survived this ‘catastrophe.'”
“Correct.” The Earth Serpent shifted, sitting up. “Qi Xia, I could’ve built a ‘den of debauchery,’ but I chose the ‘Mutual Aid Society.’ I could’ve avoided being part of this experiment… But I worried—if the research never yielded results, what would I have to show that damned brat?”
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