Chapter 968: The Pathfinder
"Makes sense..."
The Lying Flat Dog shook his head, ultimately still unable to grasp the meaning of Project Aries.
"Let's leave it at that for tonight..." the Ground Rat said again. "Leader Dog, please don't repeat what I've told you... after all, we need the reckless ones."
"I understand." The Lying Flat Dog nodded, stood up, opened the door, and left.
...
"Big guy!"
The Ground Pig pulled the tall Ground Rabbit into his room, exclaiming excitedly, "Are you really 'Far Spread'?!"
The Ground Rabbit squinted at the Ground Pig upon hearing this, then gave a wry smile and said, "What 'Far Spread'... I don't really understand. You are..."
"It's me!" The Ground Pig looked extremely happy, but clearly had something he couldn't say outright. After thinking for a long time, he gestured and said, "I am... 'Spirit Touch'! Even though I'm not anymore..."
"Wha—!"
The Ground Rabbit was stunned, his red eyes flickering for a long time before he seemed to recall something. He quickly turned around and closed the door, then pulled the Ground Pig into a corner of the room.
"You damned kid..." The Ground Rabbit said tremblingly, "It really is you... Have you been a 'Zodiac' all along too...?"
"Haha!" The Ground Pig let out a loud laugh, but as he laughed, tears began to flow. "This is great... this is really great..."
"What the hell is going on?!" The Ground Rabbit said. "Back then, you were the first one to disappear from the room... no one knew where you went... We all thought you'd become an 'Original Resident'!"
"I..." The Ground Pig's smile gradually faded, then he lowered his head. "Big guy... I can't talk about this."
"Even now!" The Ground Rabbit growled in a low voice. "What's there that still can't be said now?"
The Ground Pig thought for a few seconds, feeling that the Ground Rabbit did have a point, then hesitantly began to speak:
"Big guy... I was the first one Brother Xia sent to explore the 'Path of the Zodiac,' so I left the room years before you all did."
"Ah...? Explore the 'Path of the Zodiac'?"
"Yes, that was an agreement between me and Brother Xia."
The Ground Rabbit scratched his head after hearing this, feeling that many things could now be connected.
But why would Qi Xia back then choose him—the youngest—the Ground Pig—to explore the 'Path of the Zodiac'?
"But for a very long time... I never saw any of you." The Ground Pig muttered with his head down. "I thought Brother Xia had sold me out. A few days ago, I actually saw him... I was very angry... and I said some bad things."
"Don't overthink it..." The Ground Rabbit's voice gradually lowered. He could very well understand the Ground Pig's feelings, because for a long time, he too had felt isolated and without support.
After a few seconds of silence, the Ground Pig spoke again, "Big guy, could it be that all eight of us... are now 'Zodiacs'...?"
The Ground Rabbit stared at the Ground Pig for a moment, then said, "To be honest... aside from you, the seven of us did receive orders. He prepared seven rooms... and in my room was a rabbit mask and a message."
"What message...?"
"He told me to activate my 'Echo' and then put on the mask, and to hide my identity as much as possible." The Ground Rabbit continued, "I don't know what the point of that is, but since it was Qi Xia's arrangement, I had no choice but to go along."
Upon hearing this, the Ground Pig paused momentarily, and light immediately returned to his eyes. "Big guy! Is it the same for the others?"
"I don't know... I don't know if the others also had similar things in their rooms... In other words, I don't know if the others became 'Zodiacs' along with me. Even if they did put on masks like me... but the city is so big, the 'Train' is so long, and we can't call each other by name, nor can we show our 'Echoes.' Everyone has to go through so many stages like 'Human-level,' 'Interview Room,' 'Earth-level'... How are we supposed to recognize each other?"
"This..." The hope that had just ignited in the Ground Pig quickly cooled again. "Has no 'Zodiac' tried to find teammates all this time...?"
"There was..." The Ground Rabbit said. "The only one I confirmed had become a 'Zodiac' and who revealed her identity on her own is already dead."
The Ground Pig's entire body shuddered upon hearing this. "Already dead...? Who was it?"
"It was Sister Zhuang." The Ground Map said. "The big sister in our room who loved to smoke the most."
"Auntie Zhuang...?"
"She was once a Ground Dog." The Ground Rabbit said. "In the third year after becoming 'Earth-level'... 'isolation and helplessness' drove her mad."
The Ground Pig fell silent.
The Ground Rabbit sighed and continued, "She was originally the big sister in our room who most advocated for 'unity and solidarity,' yet she experienced the taste of disintegration firsthand. After suffering alone for so many years, it would have been harder for her not to go mad."
"What the hell... Auntie Zhuang not only became a 'Zodiac'... she even rose all the way to Ground Dog, but I had no idea..." The more the Ground Pig spoke, the more unbelievable it seemed. "You said she went mad...?"
"Yes. It was thanks to that time she shouted and revealed her identity in the corridor..." The Ground Rabbit sighed deeply and said, "It let me witness firsthand what 'not being able to hold on' leads to. Even though I didn't acknowledge her, she really helped me. She sobered me up quite a bit."
"What is she now...?" the Ground Pig asked again.
"This..."
They both knew the answer, but neither could bring themselves to say it.
The teammate they had once trusted most had now become an 'Ant,' herded every day like livestock.
"Little Pig." The Ground Rabbit called out. "I'm about to go mad too..."
"You?"
"Didn't you think the Ground Rooster and Ground Ox today also looked familiar..." the Ground Rabbit continued. "I wanted to use my ability to verify their identities..."
"No way!" The Ground Pig immediately stepped forward and grabbed the Ground Rabbit. "Big guy, we barely managed to recognize each other. Don't expose yourself so easily! Even though... even though those two people..."
The Ground Pig was at a loss for words for a moment. He also felt that the figures of Ground Rooster and Ground Ox overlapped with two people in his memory.
"I'm planning to test them for you." The Ground Rabbit said. "I suspect the plan that Ground Ox talked about today is fake. Her main goal is to get us to recognize each other."
"What...?"
"Because Qi Xia once said we must not expose ourselves, but today Ground Ox told everyone to talk about the 'Echoes' they carry..." the Ground Rabbit said. "No matter how you think about it, not many people know about this. And aside from you, it's highly likely that the seven of us all became 'Zodiacs' while carrying 'Echoes'..."
"But that doesn't add up..." the Ground Pig said. "What if the number of dead is greater than you imagine...? What if Brother Xia's remaining teammates are just the two of us? What then?"