Chapter 849: In a Hurry

The two of us sat in the empty cabin as the end loomed near, our minds filled with questions from all we had seen and heard these past days.

“Zhichun, did we make a mistake?” Zhang Qiang asked beside me.

“I… don’t know…” I sighed, truly at a loss for how to explain it.

This vast city, judging by its scale, should have at least thousands of people active within it. Yet, from start to finish, we had only found a single “Dao.”

Where exactly had things gone wrong?

“I think there are two possibilities…” Zhang Qiang muttered under his breath. “Maybe we’ve encountered an unlikely scenario… where the two of us are the only ones who retained our memories… and everyone else never even had the concept of hiding ‘Dao’…”

“But that’s impossible,” I cut him off. “‘Echoes’ are the key to preserving memories. The bells ring here every day—how could we be the only ones who remember?”

“Then this is just too contradictory…” Zhang Qiang shook his head in frustration. “So many people preserved their memories and participated in the game without pause, yet none of them hid ‘Dao’… Did all of them die in the game? If not… how would they have carried ‘Dao’ to rebirth?”

Objectively speaking, our earlier assumptions shouldn’t have been far off. There must have been many who retained their memories before us and began collecting “Dao” earlier.

In any situation, I always assume I’m not the strongest—there must be others stronger than me. This place was no exception.

For example, there were rumors about a certain “participant” gaining momentum recently, often gathering a group to scheme something. Their activities were frequently discussed in passing.

Zhang Qiang and I, however, were never the sociable type. We never bothered to learn what their goals were, so whenever we spotted their members, we’d quickly leave.

One thing I firmly believed in was this—

No matter how strong a participant might be, they could never surpass Bai Yang.

That leader wouldn’t be able to stir up any real trouble. The moment she encountered Bai Yang, she’d hit an immovable wall.

But where did all their “Dao” go? Could an entire “organization” fail to preserve even a single “Dao”?

“Qiang, what’s the second possibility you mentioned?” I snapped back to reality and asked.

“That… there are other ‘thieves’ here,” Zhang Qiang said with a serious expression. “What we’ve thought of, others could have too. Maybe there’s a larger, more organized group also collecting ‘Dao’ and hiding it somewhere we’d never find.”

Zhang Qiang’s theory still left me with many doubts.

As I said, if thousands were active in the city, and many had gained “Echoes”… then the “Dao” they earned should be plentiful.

No—more accurately, since “Dao” was the only currency here, everyone would do everything to preserve it.

Even if someone had only one “Dao” at the moment of annihilation, they’d never just discard it.

By that logic, there should be a massive amount of “Dao” hidden away. If a theft ring could sweep up that quantity, leaving only one behind, it would imply an even more staggering scale—hundreds, maybe a thousand people. But that just didn’t make sense.

In a place where even the “Zodiacs” couldn’t unite, could someone really organize a theft ring of hundreds?

No matter how much we discussed it, we couldn’t reach a conclusion. Perhaps this place was far more complex than we imagined.

“Finagle’s Law” states that humans have two ears but only one mouth, meaning we should listen more and speak less.

I decided to quietly wait for annihilation, then hear what Bai Yang had to say. He had spoken of “cooperation,” not “exploitation,” meaning his proposal would benefit both me and Zhang Qiang.

I chose to trust the strong.

Though he had violated the rules by choosing suicide, for some reason… I felt he would return.

Just as I expected, when I opened my eyes again in the room, I saw three “Zodiacs” neatly standing inside.

Apart from Bai Yang and me, everyone else wore expressions of shock.

Bai Yang, too, seemed to have just steadied himself. He took a deep breath and said softly, “Glad I made it.”

Before Zhang Qiang and I could speak, the Sheep’s emotions flared up.

“Bai Yang… you…”

“Make it quick. I’m in a hurry,” Bai Yang interrupted impatiently. “Do you believe me now?”

“You… you…” The Shar-Pei stared at him in disbelief. “You clearly broke the rules… How is this possible?”

“That’s why I said—sometimes, it’s not about what the contract says, but about using your own head.”

Bai Yang touched his mask, confirming even the bullet wound at his temple was gone, then continued, “Let’s work together. Nothing said here can be overheard, because as you all know, everyone who enters this ‘interview room’ values their life more than others. No one dares to break the rules.”

“But how did you figure it out?” the Sheep asked.

“I can’t say,” Bai Yang refused flatly. “Human-Dog, Sheep—let’s get to the point. Are you interested in rebelling with me?”

Zhang Qiang and I felt our hearts seize at those words. The situation was identical to last time—we needed to quickly grasp our “memories.”

No matter how strong Bai Yang was, every word he spoke was enough to get us killed ten thousand times over.

Without discussion, we immediately tried to trigger our “Echoes.”

But this time, it felt strange. Only a single bell tolled outside. I seemed to have found a delicate threshold—I could gain my “Echo” and immediately sever the train of thought, preventing the swaying chime from continuing.

Bai Yang acted as if Zhang Qiang and I didn’t exist, his ice-cold eyes fixed solely on the two “Zodiacs.”

“Rebel…?” The Sheep blinked. “Rebel against… what?”

“Everything here is a lie. Even the words on our contracts—not a single one is true. Rebelling means dragging ‘Tianlong’ off that throne and taking control ourselves,” Bai Yang said. “Otherwise, you’ll regret missing this chance.”

“You—”

Both the Shar-Pei and the Sheep’s eyes widened instantly. Zhang Qiang and I quickly lowered our heads.

Even though we weren’t “Zodiacs,” we knew those were words worthy of death.

“Who did you say to bring down…?” the Shar-Pei asked, voice trembling.

“Tianlong,” Bai Yang replied. “We kill him.”

The Shar-Pei slowly reached out and grabbed Bai Yang, turning to the Sheep. “Something’s wrong—go get help!”