After listening to Earth Tiger recount all his experiences, Qi Xia couldn’t help but curl the corner of his mouth.
“Sheep—no, Qi Xia, I messed up…” Earth Tiger sighed. “I thought I’d assembled a team of seven, but it fell apart in an instant.”
“Is that so?” Qi Xia raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think so.”
“You don’t?”
“They’ll come back,” Qi Xia said. “Not only did you not mess up, you even managed to unify the team.”
“Huh?” Earth Tiger was confused. “Qi Xia, did I really unify them? I feel like I didn’t do anything… I even suspected they might betray me…”
“Relax. It would’ve been difficult, but the ‘Pegasus Moment’ helped us,” Qi Xia said calmly. “When they stood in their own game zones and saw how the ‘Celestials’ slaughtered lives like ants, they’d understand everything.”
“That can’t be right…” Earth Tiger blinked. “Seeing people die isn’t a big deal. After all, we ‘Earth-level’ beings kill too…”
“Is that so?” Qi Xia shook his head. “When you see that the lives you spent years or decades taking can be wiped out by a mere whim of the ‘Celestials,’ will you still think the same way?”
“Uh…”
“What’s the point of killing then? What’s the point of being ‘Earth-level’?” Qi Xia sighed. “Did you become a ‘Celestial’ just to kill more efficiently?”
Earth Tiger pressed his lips together, then suddenly slammed the table with his palm. “Damn it! The more I think about it, the angrier I get!”
“Just wait. Tonight will be the turning point,” Qi Xia said. “Prepare tea and drinks. Those six will be back.”
“Got it!” Earth Tiger nodded. “Qi Xia, with your words, I feel relieved… but…”
“What?”
“As I mentioned earlier… the seven of us couldn’t pick a leader. I thought Office Rat was smart enough, but you know his personality…”
“Yes, I know him well,” Qi Xia nodded.
“Right now, we’re a group without direction—no plan, no goal. We just know we have to do something, but when I think about it, we can’t do anything at all.” Earth Tiger shook his head helplessly. “Sheep—Qi Xia, even though I understand your instructions, what exactly am I supposed to do?!”
Qi Xia stroked his chin. It was an interesting question.
The other person understood his instructions, and he himself understood the path he had laid out.
But what exactly was *he* supposed to do?
This was supposed to be a conversation between two people, yet now there was an invisible version of himself standing between them.
The question shouldn’t be what *he* was supposed to do, but what *Earth Tiger* was supposed to do.
Qi Xia replayed the entire situation in his mind, arriving at a rather bleak conclusion.
Given his own nature, when he was still the White Sheep, he must have deliberately won Earth Tiger’s loyalty precisely so that one day, Earth Tiger could act as his inside man on the “Train.”
Thus, he must have invested a great deal in Earth Tiger. But there was one problem—
Placing all his hopes on an impulsive tiger clearly wasn’t his style.
He must have had a backup plan… but who was it?
The Black Sheep?
If he wandered this city long enough, no matter how much time passed, he’d eventually cross paths with Earth Tiger. If they clashed, Earth Tiger might realize he was the White Sheep, triggering a chain reaction that would activate all the paths he’d laid out.
But was the Black Sheep really the backup plan?
“No… putting all your eggs in one basket isn’t safe,” Qi Xia shook his head. “That’s not my style… There must be another contingency…”
As he spoke, he glanced at the empty seat beside him.
The square table had four seats—three were occupied.
In that empty seat, a phantom of a white sheep suddenly appeared.
“The Black Sheep isn’t the backup plan… right?” Qi Xia thought, staring at the illusion. “If our thinking aligns, you must have another contingency, correct? One ‘visible needle’ and one ‘hidden needle,’ while all the other Zodiacs drawn into this are just the ‘threads’ strung together by those two needles.”
Xu Liunian and Earth Tiger watched as Qi Xia’s lips moved silently, as if muttering to himself, but neither dared to speak.
“The real rebellion plan isn’t with Earth Tiger… nor with the Black Sheep… That way, even if they’re captured, nothing can be revealed—not even ‘Celestial Snake’ could pry it out.” Qi Xia closed his eyes, boldly guessing the scheme his past self had set in motion. “Since you had no way of knowing which Zodiacs I’d mobilize… There were too many variables, making it impossible for you to gamble. So you’d choose a Zodiac who was *inevitably* involved. Once Earth Tiger, the ‘visible needle,’ moves, the ‘hidden needle’ would follow. But who is that person? And how would you notify them?”
Qi Xia opened his eyes and looked back at the phantom of the white sheep—only to find it now staring back at him. After a few seconds, the sheep’s expression twisted into one of sheer disdain.
That disdainful look made everything click for Qi Xia. “So that’s it… You have seven years of memories. You’d naturally assume I’m not as clever as you, so you might’ve left me a foolproof answer.”
Qi Xia stroked his chin, his own expression turning equally disdainful. “But you didn’t know—I grow stronger with each iteration.”
Earth Tiger. Zodiacs. Rebellion.
Why Earth Tiger?
There were plenty of intelligent Zodiacs. Why not choose a more reliable ally?
Was it simply because Earth Tiger was loyal?
No. There had to be a more crucial reason.
Qi Xia’s eyes widened as the final clue surfaced in his mind. The phantom of the white sheep vanished into dust.
“Got it…” Qi Xia smirked. “As expected, it *was* a foolproof answer…”
“What? What answer?” The other two stared at him, baffled.
“Because you’re Earth Tiger… the commotion you create is louder than anyone else’s,” Qi Xia said, dragging his finger through the dust on the table to draw a straight line. “Once you take action, it’ll be impossible to keep hidden… All kinds of Zodiacs will gather in your room—maybe even start fighting…”
Qi Xia then looked at the line he’d drawn.
If this was the “Train,” and the center was Earth Tiger’s room, wasn’t the answer obvious?
The “hidden needle” had to be planted *here* for maximum security.
The “neighbor.”
“When the ‘visible needle’ moves, the ‘hidden needle’ *has* to act once it hears the noise. As for the Black Sheep…” Qi Xia grinned. “He’s just a ‘thimble’—there to keep the needle from stabbing your hand.”
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