Chapter 349: The Quality of a King

“Your thinking is a bit outdated,” Chu Tianqiu said to the crowd. “Think about it—what does it matter if it’s a copy of yourself?”

“What?”

“They have our memories, our thoughts. They are exactly the same as us.” Chu Tianqiu took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “At the end of the day, as long as one version of you makes it out, doesn’t that fulfill your goal?”

After speaking, Chu Tianqiu turned to Yun Yao and asked earnestly, “Have you ever thought about it… do you want ‘yourself’ to escape, or do you want ‘Yun Yao’ as a person to escape?”

Hearing this, Yun Yao froze. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t figure out how to answer that question. Everyone wanted ‘themselves’ to escape, but every ‘self’ would die by the tenth day.

So who would be the one to leave?

A soft voice came from the corner of the room: “That’s quite interesting.”

Chu Tianqiu turned toward the sound and saw an unfamiliar face dressed in white.

“Oh…?” Chu Tianqiu nodded politely. “May I ask your name?”

“Yan Zhichun.”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Chu Tianqiu nodded.

“No, the honor is mine,” Yan Zhichun said with a smile. “I never expected the leader of ‘Paradise,’ the man once called the ‘King of the Righteous,’ to be this insane.”

“Ah, you flatter me too much,” Chu Tianqiu chuckled happily. “Do you agree with my views?”

“Of course.” Yan Zhichun nodded. “What you said makes perfect sense. If there were ten thousand versions of me in the ‘Land of the End,’ as long as one escaped, people would only remember that ‘Yan Zhichun escaped.'”

“It seems you understand me.” Chu Tianqiu’s eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. “Finding a kindred spirit is a rare delight. Given that you’re clearly no ordinary person—even remembering titles like ‘King of the Righteous’—would you be interested in joining ‘Paradise’?”

“No interest.” Yan Zhichun shook her head firmly. “Chu Tianqiu, I originally came here to kill you.”

“Oh…?” Rather than showing fear, Chu Tianqiu’s expression grew even more excited. “You’re here to kill me? Are you from ‘Extremity’?”

“Correct.” Yan Zhichun nodded, then glanced at Yun Yao. “This little star beside you is quite interesting too. She knew I was from ‘Extremity,’ yet she let me follow her in. Too bad the ‘borrowing a knife to kill’ tactic doesn’t work well on me.”

“This is exhilarating.” Chu Tianqiu stood up and took three steps closer to Yan Zhichun. “I’ve been hiding here for two years, and this is the first time someone from ‘Extremity’ has come to kill me… My heart is racing.”

“Is that so? Unfortunately, I’ve already decided not to kill you,” Yan Zhichun said.

“What a shame…” Chu Tianqiu still didn’t back down, moving even closer. “Is it because it’s too difficult? I’m this close to you now… still not confident enough?”

“Not confident…?” Yan Zhichun felt as if she was being underestimated.

She lightly raised her left hand to smooth her hair—and in the same instant, everyone in the room raised their left hands and did the same, including Chen Junan, who was barely conscious.

“Killing you isn’t hard. It’s just a matter of whether I want to.”

Yan Zhichun’s small gesture sent a ripple of shock through the room.

The most awkward of all was Old Lü, who had long been bald and could only helplessly stroke his bare scalp.

“Impressive,” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “Your ‘Echo’ is masterfully controlled. You must have had it for years.”

“You’re not bad yourself,” Yan Zhichun replied. “The ability to ‘copy a person’ is incredibly powerful, yet you managed to perfect it in one go. Your conviction must be strong.”

“Strong conviction?” Chu Tianqiu laughed. “Others might just say I’m thoroughly insane.”

“It’s the same thing. How many people with strong convictions aren’t insane?”

Watching the two of them banter, Yun Yao couldn’t hold back any longer. “Chu Tianqiu, even if you can activate this ‘copying’ ability flawlessly, I still don’t think you’re more suited to be the leader than Chen Junan.”

“Still not good enough?” Chu Tianqiu turned a cold gaze toward Yun Yao. “What else do I need to improve?”

“Never mind that you killed all of us—just the fact that you gambled with a ‘Zodiac’ and lost already puts you below Chen Junan.”

“Is that so?” Chu Tianqiu paused slightly, then glanced at Jin Yuanxun and gave him a signal.

Jin Yuanxun nodded, turned around, and opened a bundle.

A foul stench instantly filled the air.

Covering their noses, the crowd watched as Jin Yuanxun pulled out two heads. Though heavily decomposed, their outlines were still recognizable.

One was a shriveled monkey head, the other a blackened rabbit head.

The heads had clearly been there for some time. The rabbit head seemed to have been violently torn off, with ragged skin at the neck, while the monkey head had been cleanly severed.

“What… is this?”

The room fell silent as everyone stared at the two heads—clearly not the size of ordinary animals. These were unmistakably ‘Zodiacs.’

“Can’t you tell?” Chu Tianqiu smiled. “Do I need to explain which two ‘Zodiacs’ these are?”

The one most affected by these words was Chen Junan.

Struggling through his injuries, he took two shaky steps forward. The moment he recognized them as ‘Earth Monkey’ and ‘Earth Rabbit,’ a bitter smile crossed his face before his pupils dilated completely. Like a blade of grass in the wind, he collapsed to the ground.

All his hopes had vanished.

Before Yan Zhichun could even react, the Chen Junan at the door rushed forward and caught the severely wounded version of himself.

He stared blankly at the injured man in his arms, a surreal feeling washing over him.

“Big… big star,” Chen Junan stammered. “What the hell is going on…?”

“This…” Yun Yao frowned, unable to speak.

After all, the comrade who had fought alongside her was already dead. How was she supposed to face this ‘brand-new’ Chen Junan?

“So, am I qualified to lead ‘Paradise’?” Chu Tianqiu asked coldly, completely ignoring Chen Junan’s corpse. “I have the ability and the strength—I’m just not like some people who make a spectacle out of killing a single ‘Earth-level.'”

He scanned the room and asked, “What do you all think?”

The group had already witnessed too many unbelievable things in such a short time. Now, beyond shock, they were speechless.

“This is impossible…” Yun Yao snapped out of her daze and stepped forward to inspect the heads. “You couldn’t have had time to participate in any games. Where did you get these heads?”

Chu Tianqiu tapped his temple. “From here.”

“You…”

“Who said you have to participate in a game to kill a ‘Zodiac’?” Chu Tianqiu grinned. “I have my own methods…”