Chapter 1008: Encircling the Enemy
“Hiss…”
Chen Junnan scratched his head after hearing this. “If you put it that way, it’s not that hard to figure out. Someone who can’t ‘cross the river’ but does… at best, it’s ‘losing the word.’ At worst, it’s ‘losing his life’… This is going to be a real headache. Some of those ‘words’ will probably only be obtainable by going into the other side’s territory to snatch them.”
“Not necessary,” Qi Xia said. “Chen Junnan, your ‘Psychological Attack’ just now should have had an effect.”
“That fast?”
“Yeah,” Qi Xia replied. “By now, the main force on the other side should have already entered our area. Under the chaos caused by your ‘Psychological Attack,’ their subconscious mind believes that we’ve ‘attacked.’ If they don’t ‘counterattack’ now, they’ll seem passive. Plus, since their teammates don’t know each other well, they’ll most likely choose to enter in a scattered manner. So the plan remains the same. The ‘early phase’ is when we’ll secure the key ‘words.’ In our territory, we have more teammates. It’s time to start scoring.”
“Alright.” The group nodded in agreement.
“Punch.” Qi Xia turned and called out. “Your target is still Zhang Shan. Zhang Shan is both loyal and a source of security. I suspect he’s probably been assigned to protect Chu Tianqiu. And the fact that he can’t ‘cross the river’ fits a ‘word’ that needs protection… It should be ‘Advisor.’”
“Big guy is an ‘Advisor’…?”
“Right. And you’re a ‘Elephant’,” Qi Xia continued. “Neither of your ‘chess pieces’ can ‘cross the river.’ In theory, the two of you won’t meet, so did you deliver the words I taught you to him?”
“Of course!” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Big guy and I agreed that if we meet at the ‘River,’ we’ll just start fighting directly.”
“Good.” Qi Xia nodded. “The ‘River’ is the only possible meeting point for you two, unless Zhang Shan switches to a different ‘word’ later on. But I have to warn you… The ‘words’ on you and Zhang Shan are an ‘Elephant’ and an ‘Advisor’ respectively. They’re prime targets for everyone to snatch. Watch out for tricks from the other side.”
The group all looked at Qiao Jiajin. If there was anyone in this place who was hardest to snatch from, it would be Zhang Shan and Qiao Jiajin. And yet, the two of them just happened to carry the two ‘words’ with the most functions.
“Tricks…?” Qiao Jiajin shook his head after hearing this. “Probably not… Big guy isn’t that kind of person. He should be looking forward to a fair fight with me too.”
“Right, Zhang Shan wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean the others won’t,” Qi Xia said. “Besides Zhang Shan, everyone on the other side might interfere when the two of you are dueling. If that happens, call out. If necessary, I’ll even come help you.”
“This…” Qiao Jiajin nodded after listening. “Alright… Got it.”
Qi Xia patted Qiao Jiajin on the shoulder and continued, “Now you and Chen Junnan will go out together. The other side should be ‘invading’ right now. Find Zhang Chenze and Zheng Yingxiong as fast as you can, and figure out a way to ‘encircle and suppress’ them.”
“‘Encircle and suppress’…?”
“Yes,” Qi Xia said. “Since all the ‘doors’ on the field lead to the ‘Human-Level Venue,’ and I suspect the ‘Human-Level Zodiac’s’ ultimate goal is to kill people, so you must not get into a situation of ‘one-on-one entering a room with an opponent.’ Instead, go into rooms in pairs whenever possible. Without triggering a ‘Human-Level Game,’ use physical force to snatch the ‘words’ from the opponent.”
At this point, Tiantian, who was standing nearby, hesitated and then said, “Snatching by ‘physical force’… for us, isn’t that a bit…”
“Don’t worry…” Qi Xia said. “The invading team on the other side probably doesn’t include Zhang Shan or Jin Yuanxun. One of them needs to protect Chu Tianqiu, and the other—like Zheng Yingxiong—shuttles back and forth as an intelligence agent, so neither can go on the offensive. As for the rest… whether it’s Yan Zhichun, Wen Qiaoyun, Xu Liunian, or Doctor Zhao, snatching by ‘physical force’ shouldn’t be a problem.”
“That’s true…” Chen Junnan said. “If we had to rely on ‘brains,’ we might fall short. But if it’s just directly ‘grabbing,’ it shouldn’t be a big issue.”
“Ink Boy!” Qiao Jiajin waved at Han Yimo, who was in the corner. “You’re coming with me in a bit!”
Chen Junnan followed Qiao Jiajin’s voice and turned to look at Han Yimo. He noticed something strange about him—his whole body was trembling.
“Little Han, you okay?” Chen Junnan asked.
“I-it’s nothing…” Han Yimo shook his head.
The group was about to set off when they turned to look at Tiantian. She had been lowering her head, stroking the ‘Advisor’ piece in her hand, seemingly lost in thought.
The ‘word’ was about half the size of a palm, gray-black, and cold to the touch.
“Got a feel for it?” Qi Xia asked. “Do you have a general understanding of this ‘word’s’ structure?”
Tiantian squeezed her ‘Advisor’ in her hand and finally shook her head. “Qi Xia… this thing… I’ve seen it for the first time today.”
“So…?”
“You’re overestimating ‘Keen Craft’,” Tiantian said. “I’m not familiar with it… Even if I could fully familiarize myself with it in a short time, that would only be familiarity with this one ‘word’ in my hand. Besides, it can be attracted to the screen. I don’t know if there’s some other mechanism inside… If I can’t disassemble and study it in detail, there’s no way I can replicate it with ‘Keen Craft’.”
“Mm…” Qi Xia nodded. “And we don’t have any spare materials for you to work with right now… So ‘Keen Craft’ is useless here…”
“It’s not just ‘Keen Craft’…” Chen Junnan said. “Old Qi, don’t you think something’s off here?”
“Off?”
“I don’t know what your ‘Echo’ is made of, but my ‘Scapegoat’ doesn’t feel too good…” Chen Junnan said. “Should we send someone out to check? I think my ‘Echo’s’ been removed from the big screen.”
Qi Xia frowned slightly upon hearing this. Zheng Yingxiong’s ‘Spiritual Hearing’ was being interfered with, and Chen Junnan’s ‘Scapegoat’ was also affected. Everything was shaping up just as he had thought.
To release an ‘Echo’ in this space required an extremely strong ‘conviction.’
“This is a good thing,” Qi Xia said. “If we compare ‘Echoes’ between our two sides, naturally the other side has the advantage. Whether it’s ‘Heart Seizure,’ ‘Heavenly March,’ ‘Disruption,’ or ‘Leap,’ they’re all tricky abilities. Since Chen Junnan is having trouble activating his, it’s likely the same for the other side.”
“Oh yeah…” Chen Junnan nodded after hearing this. “No wonder Yan Zhichun didn’t use ‘Heart Seizure’ on me earlier… It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but that she couldn’t activate it for the time being…”
“Most likely,” Qi Xia said. “Otherwise, when she saw your pockets stuffed with ‘words,’ she would have used ‘Heart Seizure’ to make you take them out yourself.”
“That works…” Chen Junnan snickered. “Let them see how we fight with these ‘trash Echoes’ on a normal day.”
“But still be careful,” Qi Xia said. “No matter how small the probability, there must be someone who can actually hear an ‘Echo’ here… Maybe they just need time to adapt, or it’s only a matter of time.”
“Alright. Got it.”
Qiao Jiajin took Han Yimo with him, while Chen Junnan took Tiantian. The two pairs set off into the rooms to go find Lawyer Zhang and Zheng Yingxiong, who were out scouting for information.