Chapter 1087: Continue
Chu Tianqiu stood rooted to the spot, his eyes wide. He had imagined countless ways he might lose, but this was never one of them.
"Tiantian made... a 'door'?" Chu Tianqiu said, stunned. "She transformed the original 'door' leading to the 'Rabbit' room into a 'Rout Door'..."
"What do you think?" Qi Xia said. "Simple structure, using local materials. Even if it failed, it wouldn't have mattered. After all, the only ones who wanted to enter that 'door' were your people. Even if the other side of that 'door' was a boiling oil hell, it would still count as her success."
Chu Tianqiu was momentarily at a loss for words, as if he already knew where Jin Yuanxun had gone.
He turned his head expressionlessly and saw Jin Yuanxun walking slowly out of the darkness not far away.
"Brother...?" Jin Yuanxun seemed to see a savior. "You... why are you here too?"
Chu Tianqiu no longer had the face to answer that question.
He should have thought of it long ago. If someone was going to disappear from the playing field carrying a "character," the most likely possibility was "rout."
But because everyone had tacitly agreed that the consequence of "routing" was "death," he had never been able to figure out Jin Yuanxun's motive for routing.
Now it appeared that Jin Yuanxun hadn't even known he was "routing." It must have happened when he used "Phase Shift" to control the people in the room, accidentally trapping himself and Tiantian in the same room.
Then Tiantian had seized the moment and tricked Jin Yuanxun into "entering the door," ultimately unlocking the room.
"Qi Xia..." Chu Tianqiu turned to look at him. "How did you manage this? Did you plan from the very beginning to eliminate me, the 'commander,' in this way?"
"How should I put it, Chu Tianqiu?" Qi Xia shook his head, standing inside the "door" as he replied. "You're carrying so many 'eyeballs,' and now you've obtained 'Resonance.' If I really had to play a game with you, I would be the one to lose."
"You—"
"So I had to find a way to make you lose before you could activate 'Resonance.'" Qi Xia said, touching the doorframe. "I was already planning this from the moment the game began. If we had actually entered a game, you could have killed me outright with 'Heaven's Vigor,' couldn't you?"
"Although I don't want to admit it, that is something I would have done," Chu Tianqiu said. "I even had Zhang Shan's second eyeball in my hand. But I never expected that your scheme would leave me no chance to use it."
"So are you going to charge in here and kill me now?" Qi Xia asked again.
"I could, but I don't want to," Chu Tianqiu shook his head. "A loss is a loss. You gave me plenty of hints, but I couldn't find the answer. I accept this defeat wholeheartedly."
"Yes, I gave enough hints," Qi Xia said. "From the very beginning, I sent Tiantian to a room that had a 'door' she could use to rout. She spent time observing the difference between the two kinds of 'doors.' Then I learned from your faction how to obtain 'Resonance,' and Zheng Yingxiong relayed the information to her. In the meantime, Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin's attacks were all meant to sow distrust among your group and make cooperation difficult."
The more Chu Tianqiu listened, the more unbelievable it seemed. Every step he had taken appeared to be a meticulous plan, but in reality, he had been following Qi Xia's lead the entire time.
"As long as you didn't trust your own people, you might use 'Shape Shift' yourself. I felt the time was right, so I decisively started gambling with Yan Zhichun, giving you enough time to act," Qi Xia said. "Because I thought that among all my people, you knew me best. If you used 'Shape Shift,' you would only turn into me. So I told Chen Junnan that a 'strange version of me' would appear."
Chu Tianqiu shook his head helplessly. "So Zhang Chenze was also your doing. Her appearance directly led to our defeat."
"Lawyer Zhang is a very interesting person," Qi Xia said. "No matter how dangerous the situation, she always responds with the calmest mindset. So she was able to adjust her mentality the fastest and go alone into enemy territory to continuously deduct points. That precise, efficient way of operating—besides me, only she could handle it in our team. None of the others could."
Chu Tianqiu pressed his lips together and said nothing.
"But you're wrong about one thing," Qi Xia said. "Zhang Chenze's appearance didn't directly lead to your defeat. It was meant to force you into this playing field. Deducting a few points would heighten your sense of crisis in a short time. Then Yan Zhichun would appear and tell you that I had made an appointment with you at the 'river channel,' and you would have no choice but to show up. Everything fell into place naturally. Although no one was a mole, they all acted according to my plan—no different from moles."
"I didn't expect you had already built this 'door' long ago, and even sent Jin Yuanxun out in the middle of it," Chu Tianqiu said. "Rather than saying 'continuous point deductions' increased my sense of crisis, it was more like Jin Yuanxun's disappearance puzzled me even more."
"That was just a coincidence," Qi Xia said. "I didn't tell Tiantian what to do in that situation. She made the decision herself."
"Good for her—'made the decision herself,'" Chu Tianqiu laughed bitterly. "Almost everyone on my side made their own decisions, but in reality, it was like a heap of loose sand."
Qi Xia chuckled lightly upon hearing this. "Do you know about octopuses?"
"Octopus...?" Chu Tianqiu frowned. "Of course I do."
"An octopus has nine brains," Qi Xia said. "One main brain is in the head, and the other eight secondary brains are in its tentacles. So when an octopus moves, it's like one captain leading eight teammates. The main brain issues commands, and the secondary brains receive them and execute independently. I don't try to control my teammates. I only give commands. How they execute them is up to them. They are my limbs, and I'm willing to accept whatever consequences come."
"But I feel like I'm not an octopus—I'm a shark. I have only one brain and one body, and everyone else is a small fish independent of me," Chu Tianqiu said. "I have to admit, your team is incredibly strong. Even Han Yimo's presence left me at a loss."
"Han Yimo?" Qi Xia shook his head. "Unfortunately, I never hinted at anything to Han Yimo. Like I said, everything was 'free development.' I accept whatever results come. Besides, I don't want to use Han Yimo's 'Resonance' to win. That would make it feel especially boring."
Chu Tianqiu felt as if all his efforts had been punching cotton.
He had been so careful, guarding against moles and always paying attention to Han Yimo's state of mind, never realizing that Qi Xia had never cared about Han Yimo's condition and had never planted any moles at all.
"I have no right to complain about this loss," Chu Tianqiu replied.
"To be honest, you can't really say you lost," Qi Xia said. "This kind of game isn't your forte. I have other things for you to do next."
Chu Tianqiu's expression changed upon hearing this. "You... want to entrust things to me?"
"Yes," Qi Xia nodded. "Others don't understand you, but I do. I know what circumstances can bring out your potential."