Chapter 1024: Defend
"I think so." Chu Tianqiu nodded.
"How can that be...?" Yan Zhichun couldn't wrap her head around it. "Are you saying that after I defeated Chen Junnan, he sent the 'character' over, and then he pretended to be Xu Liunian and followed?"
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have called it 'absurd.'" Chu Tianqiu smiled. "This tactic doesn't seem like Qi Xia's style—it's more like Chen Junnan's own."
Yan Zhichun felt there was something utterly unbelievable about this.
Chen Junnan had simply walked right in, bold as day, pretending to be the Xu Liunian who was pretending to be him...?
"Xiao Nian is still a bit green compared to them," Chu Tianqiu said. "For her to play the role of Chen Junnan might be difficult, but for Chen Junnan to play her... it's way too easy."
"This is trouble," Yan Zhichun said, frowning. "It looks like Qi Xia chose 'Transformation' for you, but in reality, 'Transformation' exists in both teams at the same time... Xu Liunian transforms into others, and others transform into her..."
"Qi Xia pulled a good move here," Chu Tianqiu said. "He took one of our team's slots, but he's making it work for both sides."
"Now we can't trust anyone," Yan Zhichun hesitated again.
"It doesn't matter. I said from the very beginning—I don't need everyone to unite; I just need you all to use your individual abilities."
"Wait, but this still doesn't add up..." Yan Zhichun suddenly thought of something. "Chen Junnan only had one 'package'—did he cross the river using that? Isn't that a violation?"
"About the 'no crossing the river' rule—it's only a guess," Chu Tianqiu said. "If one person can carry half a 'character' into the opponent's area, it only means the rule isn't 'you can't cross the river'—it's more like 'something will happen after you cross.'"
"But it doesn't look like anything happened to Chen Junnan..." Yan Zhichun frowned, looking in the direction where Chen Junnan had left.
"Not only that, he also seemed to have stumbled into a stroke of luck—he avoided all of our people along the way," Chu Tianqiu said. "All I could do was send him away. You need to go find Zhang Shan and Jin Yuanxun for me—they're easily fooled, and I have to make sure they're up to speed."
Hearing this, Yan Zhichun felt a bit odd.
"Chu Tianqiu... this should count as a leadership failure on your part, shouldn't it?" she said. "Should I call you a Monday-morning quarterback or..."
"What?"
"You knew he was Chen Junnan himself, and you still handed him a 'character'?" Yan Zhichun frowned and let out a deep sigh. "I worked so hard to get that 'character' from the opponent, and you just handed it over so easily—and to him of all people. That contradicts what you said earlier. Didn't you see through his identity before you gave him that 'character'?"
Chu Tianqiu didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled calmly and asked, "Yan Zhichun, do you know where the biggest hidden danger in this game lies?"
"Biggest hidden danger...?"
Before she could answer, Chu Tianqiu reached out and tapped the screen behind him, producing a sharp, clear sound.
"It's right here—on this fragile screen."
Yan Zhichun stared at the display behind Chu Tianqiu, as if something had clicked.
"When Chen Junnan asked me why I hadn't gathered everyone here, I knew something was wrong—he was testing me," Chu Tianqiu said. "So I had to send him away immediately. I'd wanted to squeeze some information out of him, but I had to make the best of a bad situation and give him the least useful character, 'towel.' After all, this was his first time doing something so bold—he was nervous too. Once he got the 'character,' he'd leave quickly."
"You mean..." Yan Zhizhun nodded thoughtfully. "If all of them had charged into our 'preparation zone,' they wouldn't even need to snatch the characters. All it would take is one person to smash the screen, and we'd be done for. If you'd let him stay here... he might have thrown a surprise punch and shattered the display..."
"Chen Junnan was testing me to see if I'd thought of the 'display screen' angle..." Chu Tianqiu said. "After all, the real Xu Liunian wouldn't keep staring at the screen. She doesn't really care about winning or losing this game, and she wouldn't be concerned about what 'character' I'm forming. Only the other side's Chen Junnan would do that."
"No wonder." Yan Zhichun nodded, connecting the dots in her mind. "No wonder neither you nor Qi Xia called everyone into the room right away to start forming 'characters'... You both sent as many people out as possible. At first, I didn't understand..."
"That's right," Chu Tianqiu said. "There's a trap in these rules that's easy to overlook—the 'preparation zone cannot store characters.' In other words, if you want to use all the 'characters' in hand to create something, you need enough people stationed in the 'preparation zone.' But that leaves the 'front line' unguarded and the home wide open. It could allow the enemy to invade our area completely, and then attack the display screen. So Qi Xia and I both thought of the same thing first: 'defend.' Hold our own turf, then call back teammates one by one to 'make characters.' Even if we lose some 'characters' in the process, we can't retreat."
"In this game, even the 'general' or 'marshal' can be lost," Yan Zhichun said. "But we absolutely cannot let the enemy break into the 'preparation zone'... The 'display screen' is like the head of each team."
Chu Tianqiu nodded and glanced at Yan Zhichun. "Now it looks like our invasion force had mixed results. How's Wen Qiaoyun doing over there?"
"Wen Qiaoyun... I don't know." Yan Zhichun shook her head. "All the doors are closed. I can't see what's happening."
"All right. Go find Zhang Shan and Jin Yuanxun for me first," Chu Tianqiu said.
...
Qiao Jiajin was doing some stretches by the river. Before long, he saw Chen Junnan dash from their side across the river and hurry over to the opposite side.
"Hey! Junnan Zai! Where are you going?!" Qiao Jiajin called out, but the other didn't answer. "Ah, shit... isn't that the other side? You 'crossed the river'! Get back here!"
He stood there blankly for three seconds, then heard the door behind him open. Chen Junnan came rushing back from the enemy's area, crossed the river, and returned to their own side.
"Huh...?" Qiao Jiajin blinked, feeling that the situation was getting a bit too weird.
Just as Chen Junnan entered the door, he thought of something, turned back, and opened the door to say, "Old Qiao! Your boy scored again! Watch your back, and for the love of god, don't trust me!"
"Huh...?" Qiao Jiajin couldn't believe there were so many things he couldn't understand in just a few seconds. "Junnan Zai, weren't you just... and now you're..."
Chen Junnan grinned and raised an eyebrow at Qiao Jiajin. "Don't be surprised. Your boy's 'Echo' is 'Wall-Passing.' I'm out!"
"Junnan Zai... so you really can 'pass through walls'?!"
(Brothers, family—I'll need to take a day off tomorrow to go to the hospital. Not feeling well. Bear with me...)