Chapter 1210: A Death Trap
Earth Monkey stared at Earth Tiger for a long moment, his expression incredibly complicated.
It seemed like everything was just as Qi Xia had said—except that this "Destined One," Earth Tiger, was far too reckless.
The floor had now been violently split in two, cracks spreading endlessly forward.
Earth Tiger turned back to look at Yan Zhichun and pointed at a distant figure in the distance. "See that dumb, dark giant over there?"
"That’s..."
"Come on, go find him. I’ll stand right here and watch—let’s see who dares touch you." After saying this, Earth Tiger turned back to the people behind Earth Monkey. "Anyone who wants to go, go now. It won’t be an option later."
"Thank you," Yan Zhichun said.
"Little brother, after this is done, I’ll buy you a drink," Lao Sun added.
"Alright, get moving." Earth Tiger waved his hand. "Tell that Black Sheep I’ve got a troublesome person to deal with before I see him."
Lao Sun, Yan Zhichun, and Jiang Ruoxue exchanged glances, slipped out of the crowd, regrouped their team, and quickly ran toward where the Black Sheep was located.
After sending off the "Criminal" team, Earth Tiger looked at the many "participants" of unknown identity before him and said, "I don’t care what you’re all here for. Looks like you don’t have a leader, so listen up—take my orders."
The crowd fell silent, standing on both sides of the corridor, watching him intently.
"If you want to rebel, line up and move forward." Earth Tiger pointed toward the Black Sheep’s direction. "Over there, you’ve got both 'Ants,' and 'Sky-level,' and 'Twin Dragons.'"
The crowd looked into the distance, momentarily unable to make a decision.
"If you regret it and want to leave..." Earth Tiger pointed in the opposite direction. "From the other end, keep walking straight. Don’t stop for anything. At the very end, there’s a single Earth Dragon guarding the door. One person can’t hold off all of you. Got it?"
With just a few words, Earth Tiger sorted out the factions of everyone present, turning the chaos into order.
"Whichever path you choose, I won’t stop you," Earth Tiger continued. "But don’t crowd around here—you’re delaying our real business."
After speaking, Earth Tiger glanced back toward the so-called "exit," where a disgusting figure was slowly approaching with a group of "Human-level Zodiacs."
"Earth Dragon..." Earth Tiger sneered, then said to the nearby "participants," "Those leaving, stick to the sides. If you take the middle and get hit, don’t blame me."
As Earth Dragon led a group of "Zodiacs" forward, Human Monkey also brought a crowd of "Human-levels" to stand behind Earth Tiger. Without exception, all these "Human-levels" were Earth Tiger’s students.
The two sides faced off, tension crackling in the air—a major battle was inevitable.
"Earth Tiger... are you insane?" Earth Dragon’s lizard-like face twisted into an angry smirk. "Do you know what you’re doing? White Sheep isn’t here anymore, and you still dare to—"
Before Earth Dragon could finish, Earth Tiger burst forward and slammed a vicious kick straight into his chest. Earth Dragon couldn’t dodge in time, and with a deafening crash, he was sent flying far away.
"So damn talkative." Earth Tiger landed, frowning. "Back when you bullied us, Brother Sheep stood up for us. But did you forget that I’m an 'Earth-level' now myself?"
Earth Tiger had only recently been promoted, and Earth Dragon had indeed overlooked that fact. Lying on the ground, he felt a dull ache in his chest and realized this was going to be tricky.
When both had "Brute Force," the outcome depended on who was naturally stronger.
"Get up, don’t play dead," Earth Tiger said. "Brother Sheep used to give you plenty of face. But I’ve got low emotional intelligence—I can’t afford you that much respect. If you don’t get up, I’ll come over and kick your head."
---
Black Sheep stood in the corridor, clearly hearing Earth Tiger’s rallying cry, and couldn’t help but frown.
No sooner had one wave settled than another rose. Black Sheep had been waiting for Earth Tiger to join him so they could figure out how to free the "Ants" and then kill Heaven Tiger.
But now it seemed Earth Tiger had already started fighting someone in the distance, making the situation more and more irritating.
The old man stood beside Black Sheep, noticing that he was even angrier than before, and along with the others nearby, they all dared not speak.
"Damn it... if this keeps up, I’m going to kill him one day..." Black Sheep muttered.
The old man glanced down at the dead Human Horse, knowing that Black Sheep wasn’t joking—he was genuinely at the point of killing. It seemed his relationship with that loud-mouthed tiger was abysmal.
If the "Zodiacs" themselves were this divided, did the "Criminal" have any hope at all?
Just as he was thinking this, he saw three more "Criminal" teams approaching from the distance, bringing the total to four.
"How many teams total?" Black Sheep asked.
"Eight," the old man replied, then seemed to correct himself. "No, seven. I heard one team is bound to be completely wiped out."
Black Sheep also remembered the talk of "one door of death." That meant even before the battle on the "train" had begun, the "Zodiacs" had already lost members.
But who was that casualty?
---
Earth Pig heard Earth Tiger’s voice from down the corridor and turned to look. They were still far from the crowd, but the fight had already started.
"You all go ahead." Earth Pig turned back to the "Cat" team members, Officer Li, and Su Shan. "I’ll be useless if I tag along—I don’t want to hold you up."
The others glanced at Earth Pig, knowing that his physical condition really couldn’t handle further combat, so they nodded in agreement.
"Take care of yourself. Your body has been swapped—you can’t let anyone find out," Officer Li said. "It’s going to be chaotic out there. Go back to your room and rest. Don’t come out no matter what happens."
"Okay." Earth Pig nodded, but his eyes were full of reluctance.
What a powerless feeling this was.
The group had been planning this for years, enduring all the while. Earth Pig had kept his nails long to hide the fact that he possessed "Spirit Touch."
But now that the plan had begun, everyone was taking action...
And yet, right at the start of the action, he had run into Vermilion Bird and lost his body—the one with "Brute Force."
Now, what use was this empty shell with only "Spirit Touch"?
If Earth Pig could choose, he would have preferred that Vermilion Bird simply killed him. That way, from his own perspective, his life would at least have been "brilliant and splendid."
"You all must be careful—"
Earth Pig looked up, only to find that the entire team had already run far into the distance.
Right. Time was of the essence. Who would stop to say a tearful goodbye to him?
He moved his lips, forming a word that no one could hear:
"...safe."
Earth Pig awkwardly waved his hand at their retreating backs.
Then he turned and walked despondently toward his door. Just as he was about to push it open, a hand covered in white feathers stopped him.
He turned to see a male Earth Rooster standing beside him.
"Be careful!!" Earth Rooster bellowed at full volume. "You’re a rebel, aren’t you?! Aahh!!"