“Qiao Yun,” Chu Tianqiu said, his expression calm. “I don’t know how Qi Xia left such an impression on you, but I’ve interacted with him many times. He truly isn’t that kind of person.”
“Is that so…?” Wen Qiaoyun, knowing she didn’t really understand Qi Xia, could only nod vaguely.
“I once arranged for him to participate in a game called ‘Seesaw’ with ‘Human Dragon,'” Chu Tianqiu continued. “Through that game, I truly saw how ruthless Qi Xia has become. He’s completely lost his humanity—he’s become a monster. And how could he possibly turn into an emotional person again in just a few days?”
“Alright…” Qiaoyun nodded, then after a few seconds paused and pulled out a ‘character’ from her pocket—the character for ‘horse.’
“This is the ‘character’ from that writer,” Qiaoyun explained. “It’s the same as the one on me—both are ‘horse.'”
“Good.”
Chu Tianqiu nodded and took the ‘horse’ character, combining it on the screen for a moment, forming both ‘horse’ and ‘code.’
Swapping the two and using them as homophones for each other earned two points.
Now, Chu Tianqiu’s screen displayed a total of fourteen points:
“Ten,” “Inch,” “Evening,” “Follow,” “Scholar,” “Strong,” “Elephant,” “Stone,” “Wrap,” “Cannon,” “Silica,” “Gangue,” “Horse,” and “Code.”
Though she didn’t know how many points the opponent had scored, her team was already very close to victory.
“Tianqiu,” Qiaoyun called.
“What is it?”
“There’s something I probably shouldn’t say, but if you could take action now, our chances of winning would be much greater.”
“Me take action…?” Chu Tianqiu frowned.
“Exactly,” Qiaoyun nodded. “Firstly, their strongest force has already been severely weakened, so it’s difficult to continue through normal ‘snatching.’ If we want to steadily acquire ‘characters,’ we can only rely on the various games within the rooms.”
Chu Tianqiu nodded. “And then?”
“Secondly, your strategic abilities surpass most people here,” Qiaoyun continued. “If you’re convinced that Qi Xia is waiting in their ‘preparation zone,’ maybe we should do the opposite—have you, me, and Yan Zhichun each challenge them in games. Before they realize what’s happening, we can control three of them and secure the ‘characters.’ By the time they figure it out… we can win by simply stalling for time.”
“A ‘commander’ personally entering the game…” Chu Tianqiu thought for a few seconds before speaking. “But Qiaoyun, you should also know… I can’t guarantee a hundred percent victory.”
“I understand, but the problem now is…” Qiaoyun added, “those ‘referees’ seem inexperienced too. If you step forward, you won’t just suppress the opposing team—you’ll also intimidate the referees. The probability of winning the game would be higher than usual.”
Chu Tianqiu knew his thinking often leaned too much in one direction, and Qiaoyun’s advice often balanced his approach.
But would it be the same this time?
Would he, carrying the ‘general,’ personally strike out and defeat the enemy one by one?
“Not yet, I need to think it over,” Chu Tianqiu replied. “At least without ‘Echo,’ this plan is still too risky.”
“Oh, right…” Xu Liunian suddenly spoke up. “Speaking of ‘Echo,’ I’ve figured something out. This time I came back specifically to tell you how to master ‘Echo.'”
“Oh?” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “Go on.”
Xu Liunian took a breath, as if organizing his thoughts, then slowly said, “To be honest, I only know how to obtain ‘Echo’ here, but I can’t get rid of it.”
“Alright,” Chu Tianqiu replied.
“The principle is actually quite simple,” Xu Liunian continued. “Ordinary ‘Echo’ requires you to believe absolutely that you will activate the ability when using it, which increases the success rate of ‘Echo.'”
Though Qiaoyun didn’t understand this explanation, Chu Tianqiu and Dr. Zhao nodded beside her.
When activating an ‘Echo’ ability, one must firmly believe the ability will work—this was common knowledge among ‘Echoers.’
Seeing Chu Tianqiu and Dr. Zhao acknowledge his words, Xu Liunian continued, “But in this strange space, activating ‘Echo’ requires an extra step before that—believing absolutely that you are an ‘Echoer’ at this very moment.”
After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu exchanged a glance with Dr. Zhao, then slowly frowned.
This concept was even more abstract than ‘Echo’ itself.
First, believe absolutely that you are an ‘Echoer,’ then believe absolutely that the ‘Echo’ ability will succeed.
Now Chu Tianqiu understood why Xu Liunian had been unable to revert to his original form all this time.
According to his explanation, becoming an ‘Echoer’ required absolute belief in being one, so to undo this ‘Echo,’ one must similarly believe absolutely that they are not an ‘Echoer.’
But now Xu Liunian was wearing Chen Junnan’s face—how could he possibly believe one hundred percent that he wasn’t an ‘Echoer’?
“This space is really strange…” Xu Liunian continued. “We can’t even hear the ‘bell chimes’ from outside, so whether or not we ‘Echo’ depends entirely on ourselves, not on anything external.”
After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu felt uneasy. This shouldn’t be something many people should know at once, because once they understood this principle, their ability to ‘Echo’ would become even harder.
Dr. Zhao hesitated after hearing this. “Mr. Xu… how do you know so much?”
“This might be the only thing the most experienced ‘Echoers’ can do…” Xu Liunian replied. “Here, we don’t need any ‘triggers’—as long as you believe you are one, you are.”
“Believe and it exists,” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “So in this place, the strong will grow stronger, and the weak even weaker.”
After saying this, he looked at the people in front of him and continued, “I suspect that no one on Qi Xia’s team has obtained ‘Echo’ yet—that’s our only advantage. Before that changes, you all should adjust your mindset, try your best to obtain ‘Echo,’ and find a way to inform our teammates at the ‘frontline.'”
“But how can we explain something so abstract…?” Xu Liunian asked.
“It’s not difficult,” Chu Tianqiu replied. “Just tell them directly, ‘You are already an Echoer now.'”
After hearing this, Xu Liunian felt this approach might actually work—once the principle was explained, it might produce the opposite effect.
“That way, even if Qi Xia learns of this phrase, he won’t understand its true meaning,” Chu Tianqiu added. “Let each of us bring forth our abilities here and have a proper battle with him.”
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