Chapter 987: Nine and One

“Strong Luck” and “Shapeshifting”—the abilities of these two individuals are both extremely troublesome.

No matter who joins Qi Xia’s faction, I need to devise a detailed strategy to counter them.

At this point, Xu Liunian and Yun Yao have essentially cut ties with me. From my perspective, trying to recruit them carries certain risks.

Moreover, tricks like “Shapeshifting” are unlikely to fool a team led by Qi Xia—choosing that path would be risky.

Qi Xia reached up and stroked his chin, numerous names swirling in his mind.

The difficulty of this “Dianjiang” (General Selection) lay in the fact that they had no idea what kind of game they would face next. The mere information of “team competition” was far from sufficient.

This state of uncertainty forced them to assemble as versatile a team as possible to handle any situation.

“So…?” Chu Tianqiu probed. “Have you decided who?”

“Of course.” Qi Xia took a deep breath and stepped forward to write a single character on the screen.

“Yun.”

As Chu Tianqiu furrowed his brows, Qi Xia stopped writing.

With an impassive expression, he turned to observe Chu Tianqiu’s reaction.

“What?” Chu Tianqiu asked. “Can’t write ‘Yao’?”

“Ha…” Qi Xia chuckled. “Chu Tianqiu, you should know… I’ve never believed in ‘luck.'”

“Oh?” Chu Tianqiu pondered for a few seconds before nodding. “That does sound like something you’d say.”

“If you try to stop me, I won’t hesitate to write ‘Yun Yao.’ But why aren’t you stopping me?” Qi Xia asked.

Chu Tianqiu sighed softly. “Qi Xia… I know my chances of winning aren’t great. I just want to grow as strong as possible in this game.”

“Good mindset.”

“But having ‘Yun Yao’ on your side would make my situation even more difficult,” Chu Tianqiu said. “After all, we share a similarity—neither of us goes easy on ourselves in the pursuit of strength.”

Qi Xia smiled faintly but still didn’t continue writing.

The character “Yun” on the screen slowly faded away after Qi Xia remained inactive for too long.

“Chu Tianqiu… I feel the same way,” Qi Xia said. “Only if ‘Yun Yao’ is on your side does this game hold meaning for me.”

“You—”

Chu Tianqiu paused, then added, “If it’s not Yun Yao, then the only one left is Xu Liunian.”

“Xu Liunian?” Qi Xia shook his head. “Deceiving others by altering appearances isn’t my style.”

Hearing this, Chu Tianqiu seemed confused.

“You barely know anyone in my room. If it’s not Yun Yao or Xu Liunian, then who are you choosing?”

“Perhaps it’s not someone currently in the room,” Qi Xia said with a smile. “For example—”

He reached out and wrote three characters on the screen: “Zhang Chenze.”

Chu Tianqiu’s eyes widened instantly at the sight of the name.

“What…?” Qi Xia asked. “Don’t remember who she is?”

“You—”

Chu Tianqiu hadn’t expected Qi Xia’s memory to recover so much in just one day. Wen Qiaoyun hadn’t triggered an “Echo,” so how had Qi Xia regained his memories?

“Chu Tianqiu… you’ve hidden things well,” Qi Xia interrupted his thoughts. “Even though Zhang Chenze has already appeared in my room, you still act like nothing happened?”

“Unfortunately, I only remembered this after bidding farewell to Zhang Chenze that day,” Chu Tianqiu said with a smirk. “You took her from my room and kept her by your side… But what use is ‘Soul Migration,’ such a niche ability, to you?”

Dilong frowned slightly at this and turned to glance at Qi Xia but remained silent.

“I owe her,” Qi Xia replied. “She once helped me—this is my way of repaying her.”

“Fair enough,” Chu Tianqiu said. “Zhang Chenze also helped me once, but I never knew how to repay her.”

Dilong turned and opened the wooden door, revealing Zhang Chenze’s composed face on the other side.

“Hmm…?” She sat alone in the “Paradise Entrance” classroom, her expression filled with confusion.

“General ‘Qi Xia’ has personally selected ‘Zhang Chenze’ to assist in ‘Cangjie’s Chess.’ To accept, step through the door. To refuse, take five steps back.”

“Assist…?” Zhang Chenze slowly stood and approached the door. After staring at it for a long moment, she asked, “What is ‘Cangjie’s Chess’?”

“It’s my game,” Dilong replied from inside. “I am ‘Dilong.'”

Zhang Chenze nodded, then scrutinized the black light-door before her and asked again, “Did Qi Xia himself request my participation?”

Dilong felt that this woman was somewhat unusual—she was far calmer than the others.

“Yes,” Dilong said.

After a long silence, Zhang Chenze finally raised her head. “One last question… How many others are with me?”

Dilong glanced back at Qi Xia before turning to her. “Six.”

“Understood.”

Zhang Chenze nodded and stepped through the light-door, her figure vanishing instantly.

“What a calm and rational person…” Chu Tianqiu remarked. “A teammate like that would bring stability to any team, wouldn’t she?”

“Absolute rationality isn’t necessarily a good thing,” Qi Xia said. “What I value is her ‘big-picture thinking.’ If Lawyer Zhang believes that her death is the optimal solution to a problem, she wouldn’t hesitate to die. In that sense, she’s quite like the two of us.”

“No…” Chu Tianqiu shook his head. “Qi Xia, the three of us are entirely different. You became absolutely rational in the ‘Endgame.’ She was already fully rational before arriving here.”

“Oh?” Qi Xia nodded. “And what about you?”

“From the moment I was born, my mind has been governed solely by rationality,” Chu Tianqiu said with a smile. “Unlike you two, I gained a sliver of emotion in the ‘Endgame.’ This makes the three of us appear similar on the surface—each with nine parts rationality and one part emotion.”

“Are you planning to discard that ’emotion’?” Qi Xia probed.

“I will,” Chu Tianqiu answered.

“Need my help?” Qi Xia pressed.

“Qi Xia, the only way you can help me is by showing me the gap between us,” Chu Tianqiu said. “If you can predict my every move, then do you know who I’ll choose next?”

“Of course,” Qi Xia said. “She’s right outside.”

“You… truly are a monster,” Chu Tianqiu muttered. “You don’t even need to rely on your ‘Echo’ to have come this far.”

Qi Xia remained silent, watching as Chu Tianqiu reached out and began writing on the electronic screen.

Three elegant characters gradually appeared.

His next selection was none other than—”Yan Zhichun.”