Chapter 901: Times Create Heroes
Ruoxue and I sat quietly in the room, gazing at the bonfire before us, waiting for the sun to sink into the earth.
We were just like before, as if nothing had changed at all.
"Zhichun..." Jiang Ruoxue slowly lifted her head to look at me.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you remember that girl I told you about before? The one whose beauty could shake the heavens and shatter the earth?" she asked.
"I remember." I nodded.
"She's at 'Paradise Gate' now." Jiang Ruoxue picked up an iron rod and poked at the bonfire. "I want to join 'Paradise Gate.'"
I paused slightly upon hearing this, then began to tense up.
I didn't understand what she meant by that.
Did she mean... "withdraw"?
I quickly lowered my head, picked up a wooden stick from the ground, and imitated her poking at the fire, trying my best to suppress my emotions.
The air was utterly silent, broken only by the crackling of the bonfire.
Ruoxue... wanted to quit?
"What do you think?" Jiang Ruoxue asked again.
My hand froze in midair for half a second before I forced a smile and said, "Ruoxue... you said it yourself before—your original intention wasn't to establish 'Gokudo,' but to help me. Now that 'Gokudo' is on track, and Brother Sheep is steadily moving forward according to his plan, everything seems to be getting better... So if you want to 'withdraw' now, that's fine. Besides, 'Paradise Gate' is indeed a good place—it has that immense 'goodness,' and you said yourself that you really like that girl. So, um, so..."
"What nonsense are you rambling about...?"
Jiang Ruoxue blinked, looking at me with a puzzled expression.
"Huh...?"
"What do you mean 'getting better'? What 'withdraw'? And dragging in some 'immense goodness'... Did you eat someone's booger or something...?"
"What, what?" I was starting to get confused too. "Why would I eat someone else's booger?! Didn't you just say you wanted to join 'Paradise Gate'...? Aren't you trying to 'withdraw' on me?"
"You're sick." Jiang Ruoxue helplessly curled her lip. "Does joining 'Paradise Gate' conflict with me being a 'Gokudo member'? Which law says I have to quit 'Gokudo' just because I join 'Paradise Gate'? Can't I just go have some fun? You socially anxious kid, always overthinking things."
"Since when did I—! I—!"
"What about you? Are you going to kick me out?"
"Why would I kick you out?!"
Good grief, Jiang Ruoxue was really going to drive me crazy. She was definitely doing this on purpose!
"I don't care. You ate a booger." Jiang Ruoxue said with a mischievous grin. "In my hometown, there's a saying: if you eat a booger, you get stupid."
"I really want to hit you..." I said, utterly speechless.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry."
Jiang Ruoxue giggled, then gradually grew serious.
"Seriously, Zhichun. That girl is the same kind of person as Aunt Tong and me."
Seeing her so earnest, I couldn't keep joking around. "The same kind of person... meaning...?"
"Her 'Echo'." Jiang Ruoxue stared into the bonfire. "From what I've seen, there aren't many 'Echoes' in the 'Land of Endings' that can change a person's fate or circumstances. That girl happens to be one of them."
"She is?"
"'Strong Luck'." Jiang Ruoxue said. "The moment I heard about it, I knew how powerful it was. Whether it's me or Aunt Tong, our abilities have clear 'drawbacks.' After all, 'causes' don't always lead to the most desired 'effects,' and karma doesn't always grant blessings. But 'Strong Luck' is different—it makes its owner invincible."
I knew Jiang Ruoxue was right. In fact, 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 absolutely safe.
Moreover, to let me control someone, they had to hear my voice.
What if the person was deaf?
"So your purpose in joining 'Paradise Gate' is to recruit her?" I asked again.
"Yes." Jiang Ruoxue nodded. "I want that girl to join 'Gokudo.' But the situation isn't exactly optimistic, because the philosophies of 'Gokudo' and 'Paradise Gate' are completely opposite. We try our best to protect the 'Zodiacs,' but 'Paradise Gate' will stop at nothing to bet on their deaths. I have to say, Chu Tianqiu is smarter than Nie Bei. He's been constantly sending people to collect 'strategies' for 'Human-level' games. When he feels the time is ripe, he writes down detailed methods for betting on death and gives them to the participants in his organization. Then a team sets out to kill the 'Zodiac' through gambling. After killing a 'Zodiac,' Chu Tianqiu sends people to take away the 'Zodiac' mask, preventing anyone else from becoming a 'Zodiac.'"
"Collecting 'strategies'... I see." I said. "But what about 'Earth-level' games? Even collecting strategies would cause heavy casualties for those games, let alone betting on death."
"He must have thought of that long ago." Jiang Ruoxue said. "As far as I know, 'Paradise Gate' hasn't touched any 'Earth-level Zodiac' so far. Their target is only 'Human-level.'"
Hasn't touched any Earth-level Zodiac...?
Then how did Sheep die here?
My mind nearly started racing again... Could it be that Sheep wasn't killed by 'Paradise Gate' but by someone else...?
Or was it really as I suspected... that the person called Sheep never existed in the first place?
But I had to admit... from a macro perspective... that man named Chu Tianqiu really had done well.
His approach might seem full of holes and useless at first glance to someone unfamiliar with this place, but once you understood the 'Land of Endings,' you'd realize it was incredibly reasonable.
Assuming an ideal scenario... if all five cities adopted Chu Tianqiu's method, only targeting 'Human-level Zodiacs,' stably and unitedly killing all of them and then taking their masks...
Then theoretically, no new 'Human-level Zodiacs' would ever appear here. Other 'participants' would be afraid of being collectively targeted and refuse to put on the masks.
Without 'Human-level' Zodiacs, the supply of personnel to the 'Interview Room' and 'Earth-level' would be disrupted.
The number of 'Zodiacs' would truly begin to decrease.
At that point, the leaders could organize elite fighters to focus on the 'Earth-level' Zodiacs. Kill one, and there'd be one less.
Chu Tianqiu wasn't acting like a bully picking on the weak by only targeting 'Human-level' Zodiacs. He was cutting off the enemy's supply lines from the bottom. Otherwise, he wouldn't bother taking their masks.
It's just a pity that one man's strength is too insignificant.
He must have hoped that someone in other cities with the same mindset would make the same decision, but he didn't know this was the only remaining healthy city.
His method was perfect, but it was used at the wrong time and in the wrong place.
"What a shame..." I sighed. "They say times create heroes. But this hero... was defeated by the times."