Ruoxue and I sat quietly in the room, gazing at the flickering campfire before us, waiting for the sun to sink into the earth.
It was just like before—as if nothing had changed at all.
“Zhichun…” Jiang Ruoxue slowly lifted her head to look at me.
“Hmm?”
“Remember that girl I told you about before… the one whose beauty could topple heaven and earth?” she asked.
“Yeah, I remember.” I nodded.
“She’s at ‘Paradise Spire’ now.” Ruoxue picked up an iron rod and poked at the campfire. “I want to join ‘Paradise Spire.’”
My breath hitched for a moment before tension crept in.
I didn’t understand what she meant.
Was this… a *resignation*?
I quickly lowered my head, picked up a wooden stick from the ground, and mimicked her, prodding the fire while trying to suppress my emotions.
The air was dead silent, save for the crackling of the flames.
*Ruoxue… wants to leave?*
“What do you think?” she asked again.
My hand froze mid-air for half a second before I forced a smile. “Ruoxue… you yourself said your original intention wasn’t to establish ‘Extremists,’ but to help me. Now that ‘Extremists’ is on track, Brother Sheep is steadily advancing his plans, and everything seems to be getting better… So if you want to *leave* now, it’s fine. Besides, ‘Paradise Spire’ really isn’t bad—they have immense ‘goodness.’ And you said you really like that girl, so… so…”
“What kind of nonsense…?”
Ruoxue blinked, staring at me in confusion.
“Huh…?”
“What’s all this about ‘getting better’ and ‘resigning’? And what’s with the ‘immense goodness’ crap…? Did you eat someone’s booger or something…?”
“Wha—what?!” I was just as lost. “Why would I eat someone’s booger?! Didn’t *you* just say you wanted to join ‘Paradise Spire’…? Aren’t you trying to *leave*?”
“You’re insane.” Ruoxue sighed, rolling her eyes. “Me joining ‘Paradise Spire’ doesn’t conflict with me being an ‘Extremist.’ Where’s the rule that says I have to quit ‘Extremists’ just because I join ‘Paradise Spire’? Can’t I just go there to have fun? You socially awkward kid, always overthinking things.”
“Since when?! I—!”
“You what? You gonna fire me?”
“Why would I fire you?!”
*God, I swear Ruoxue is trying to kill me. She’s definitely doing this on purpose.*
“I don’t care, you definitely ate a booger.” Ruoxue smirked. “There’s a saying in my hometown—if you eat a booger, you turn stupid.”
“I *really* want to hit you right now…” I muttered, exasperated.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.”
Ruoxue chuckled, but then her expression slowly turned serious again.
“Zhichun, that girl… she’s the same kind of person as me and Aunt Tong.”
Seeing her so solemn, I couldn’t joke around anymore. “The same kind of person… meaning…?”
“Her ‘Echo.’” Ruoxue stared into the fire. “From what I’ve seen, there aren’t many ‘Echoes’ in the ‘Endgame’ that can change a person’s fate or circumstances. And she just happens to be one of them.”
“What is she?”
“‘Fortune’s Favor.’” Ruoxue said. “An ability so powerful I knew its strength the moment I heard it. Whether it’s me or Aunt Tong, our abilities have obvious ‘flaws.’ After all, ‘cause’ doesn’t always lead to the desired ‘effect,’ and karma doesn’t always reward virtue. But ‘Fortune’s Favor’ is different—it ensures its wielder *never* loses.”
I knew Ruoxue was right. It wasn’t just her and Aunt Tong’s ‘Echoes’ that had drawbacks—mine did too.
To control someone, I had to mimic their movements. While this ability kept me out of danger, it wasn’t foolproof.
And for my control to work, the target had to *hear* me.
What if they were deaf?
“So your reason for joining ‘Paradise Spire’ is to recruit her?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Ruoxue nodded. “I want her to join ‘Extremists.’ But the situation isn’t great. ‘Extremists’ and ‘Paradise Spire’ have completely opposing ideologies. We protect ‘Zodiacs,’ while ‘Paradise Spire’ will stop at nothing to *kill* them. You have to admit, Chu Tianqiu is far more cunning than Nie Bei. He’s been gathering strategies for ‘Human-level’ games. Once he feels the time is right, he’ll write detailed methods for betting lives and send out teams to kill ‘Zodiacs.’ Afterward, he takes their masks to prevent anyone else from becoming ‘Zodiacs.’”
“Gathering ‘strategies’… I see.” I frowned. “But what about ‘Earth-level’ games? Even with strategies, those would cause massive casualties, let alone betting lives.”
“He’s probably thought of that.” Ruoxue shrugged. “As far as I know, ‘Paradise Spire’ has never targeted an ‘Earth-level Zodiac.’ Their focus is solely on ‘Human-level.’”
*Never targeted an ‘Earth-level Zodiac’…?*
Then how did Sheep die here?
My mind nearly spiraled again—*was Sheep not killed by ‘Paradise Spire’? Was it someone else…?*
Or… was my earlier suspicion true? *That Sheep never existed at all?*
But objectively speaking… that man, Chu Tianqiu, was doing something impressive.
At first glance, his approach seemed full of holes—useless to those unfamiliar with this place. But for those who understood the ‘Endgame,’ his strategy was *brilliant.*
In the most ideal scenario, if all five cities adopted Chu Tianqiu’s method—systematically killing ‘Human-level Zodiacs,’ collecting their masks, and preventing new ones from emerging—
Then theoretically, no new ‘Human-level Zodiacs’ would ever appear. Other ‘Participants’ would fear collective retaliation and refuse to wear the masks.
Without ‘Human-level,’ the supply chain for ‘Interview Rooms’ and ‘Earth-level’ would collapse.
The ‘Zodiacs’ would *truly* begin to dwindle.
Then, the leaders could rally their strongest forces to target ‘Earth-level’—killing them one by one.
Chu Tianqiu wasn’t just picking on the weak. He was *cutting off the enemy’s reinforcements from the bottom.* Otherwise, he wouldn’t bother collecting the masks.
The only problem was… his power alone was too insignificant.
He probably hoped other cities would follow his lead. But he didn’t know *this was the last healthy city left.*
His plan was flawless—but applied at the wrong time, in the wrong place.
“What a shame…” I sighed. “They say heroes are made by their times. But this hero… was doomed by his.”
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