Chapter 1056: If You Believe, It Is
"Qiaoyun," Chu Tianqiu said, his expression as calm as ever. "I don't know how Qi Xia left you with that impression, but I've interacted with him many times, and he's really not that kind of person."
"Is that so...?" Wen Qiaoyun, knowing she didn't truly understand Qi Xia, could only nod blankly.
"I once arranged for him to participate in a 'Human Dragon' game called 'Seesaw,'" Chu Tianqiu said. "In that game, I got to see just how ruthless the current Qi Xia is. He's completely devoid of humanity, practically a monster. And that was only a few days ago—how could he possibly become an emotional person now?"
"Alright..." Wen Qiaoyun nodded, then after a few seconds, pulled a 'character' out of her pocket—'马' (horse).
"This is the 'character' from that writer," Wen Qiaoyun said. "It's the same as mine—'马'."
"Good."
Chu Tianqiu nodded and took the '马'. He pieced it together on the screen for a moment, combining it with '码' (code) that he already had.
The two characters swapped, each serving as the homophone of the other, earning two points.
Now, Chu Tianqiu's screen displayed a total of fourteen points, respectively:
'十', '寸', '夕', '从', '士', '壮', '象', '石', '包', '炮', '矽', '矸', '马', '码'.
Although he didn't know how many points the opponent had, his team was now very close to victory.
"Tianqiu," Wen Qiaoyun called.
"What is it?"
"There's something I probably shouldn't say, but if you could go on the offensive now, our chances of winning would be much greater."
"Me, go on the offensive...?" Chu Tianqiu frowned.
"Yes," Wen Qiaoyun nodded. "First, the opponent's strongest fighter has been severely wounded, so it's hard for them to rely on ordinary 'snatching'. To steadily obtain 'characters', they'll have to depend on the various games inside the room."
Chu Tianqiu nodded. "And then?"
"Second, your level of game theory is stronger than most people here," Wen Qiaoyun continued. "If you believe Qi Xia is waiting in the opponent's 'preparation zone', you could actually do the opposite. You, me, and Yan Zhichun could each engage the opponent in games separately. Before they realize what's happening, we can control three of them, then take their 'characters'. By the time they notice... we can win by stalling for time."
"The 'Commander' himself stepping up to play..." Chu Tianqiu thought for a few seconds, then said, "But Qiaoyun, you should also know... I can't guarantee a one hundred percent win rate."
"I know, but the problem now is," Wen Qiaoyun said, "those 'referees' also seem inexperienced. If you step in, you can not only suppress the opponents single-handedly, but also suppress the referees. Your chances of winning the games will be higher than usual."
Chu Tianqiu knew that his own thinking was often somewhat biased, and many times Wen Qiaoyun's suggestions could precisely compensate for those biases.
But was it the same this time?
Going out with the 'Commander' and crushing the opponents one by one?
"Not yet. I need to think it over," Chu Tianqiu said. "At least until we don't have 'Echo', it's too risky to do that."
"Oh, speaking of 'Echo'," Xu Liunian, who had been listening nearby, said, "I've got some clues. I came back this time to tell you all how to master 'Echo' here."
"Oh?" Chu Tianqiu nodded. "Let's hear it."
Xu Liunian took a breath, as if organizing her thoughts, then slowly said, "First, I only know how to obtain 'Echo' here, but I haven't figured out how to get rid of it."
"Alright," Chu Tianqiu acknowledged.
"The principle is actually very simple," Xu Liunian continued. "When a normal 'Echo' releases its ability, you need to believe that you will definitely release that ability. This increases the success rate of the 'Echo'."
Although Wen Qiaoyun didn't understand the terminology, Chu Tianqiu and Doctor Zhao nodded beside her.
When activating an 'Echo' ability, you must firmly believe that the ability will take effect. That was common sense for every 'Echoer'.
Seeing that Chu Tianqiu and Doctor Zhao agreed with her, Xu Liunian continued, "But in this strange space, to activate an 'Echo', you need to take one more step before that: firmly believe that you are already an 'Echoer' at this very moment.
After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu glanced at Doctor Zhao, then slowly furrowed his brow.
This concept was even more abstract than 'Echo' itself.
First, firmly believe that you are already an 'Echoer', then firmly believe that the ability released by the 'Echo' will succeed.
At that moment, Chu Tianqiu also understood why Xu Liunian had been unable to change back to her original appearance.
According to her reasoning, to become an 'Echoer', you must believe you are one. To cancel this 'Echo', by the same logic, you need to believe you are not an 'Echoer'.
But Xu Liunian was now wearing Chen Junnan's face. How could she possibly be one hundred percent certain that she wasn't an 'Echoer'?
"This space is very strange," Xu Liunian said. "We can't even hear the 'bell sound' from outside. So whether we 'Echo' depends entirely on ourselves, not on anything outside ourselves."
Chu Tianqiu felt this was unfortunate. This information shouldn't have been heard by so many people at once, because once they understood this principle, the difficulty of 'Echoing' would increase for them.
Doctor Zhao blinked in surprise. "Miss Xu... how do you know all this?"
"This might be the only thing the most veteran 'Echoers' can do," Xu Liunian said. "Here, we don't need any 'trigger'. As long as you believe you are, then you are."
"If you believe, it is," Chu Tianqiu nodded. "So here, the strong become stronger, and the weak become weaker."
After speaking, he looked at the people before him and said, "I suspect that no one in Qi Xia's team has obtained 'Echo' yet. That's our only advantage right now. Before that, adjust your mindset, try to obtain 'Echo' as soon as possible, and find a way to inform our teammates on the 'front line'."
"But how do we explain something so abstract?" Xu Liunian asked.
"It's not that hard," Chu Tianqiu said. "Just tell them, 'You are already an Echoer now.'"
Xu Liunian thought about it and realized this approach could work. Explaining the principle directly would actually have the opposite effect.
"That way, even if Qi Xia hears these words, he won't understand the principle behind them," Chu Tianqiu said. "Let each of us bring out our full abilities and fight him properly here."