Chapter 1289: I Don't Believe
"Win..." Qin Dingdong paused. "No one can guarantee that this rebellion will actually win... Chen Junnan, don't stay here any longer. Quickly find a Door and get off the train. If things take a turn, remember to preserve your strength. Your Memory might just lead the next rebellion..."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Chen Junnan was stunned after hearing this. "Dong-jie... what kind of mindset are you even carrying out this mission with?"
"I... it's a long story..." Qin Dingdong reached out and grabbed Chen Junnan's arm, her fingers gripping tightly, her emotions incredibly complex. "Chen Junnan... listen to me. Wei Yang doesn't believe that Qi Xia will ultimately lead us to escape... and I don't believe it either."
"Wh—" Chen Junnan paused and quickly interrupted, "Dong-jie, you tell me yourself—do you trust that old swindler, or do you trust Old Qi?"
"I find it hard to trust either of them." Qin Dingdong said quietly. She then stepped forward, pressing close to Chen Junnan's ear and whispered, "Chen Junnan, Wei Yang deduced that Qi Xia intends to drive the Train to escape... but don't you find that strange..."
"Wh-where's the strangeness?" Chen Junnan asked uncertainly.
"Wei Yang's mission is strange." Qin Dingdong said. "He received this mission a long time ago. Besides infiltrating the Native inhabitants, he was also tasked with leading them to destroy all the Doors on the train. Now he's given up, so I've taken over this mission."
"Huh...?"
Chen Junnan paused for a moment, as if realizing where Qin Dingdong's doubts came from.
"Chen Junnan... you're a lot cleverer than I am. Tell me, if we smash all the Doors, even if the Train reaches the next stop... how are we supposed to leave?"
Qin Dingdong's question left Chen Junnan speechless for a moment.
"It's not just the Zodiacs who will be trapped to death..." Qin Dingdong's eyes darkened. "It's all the Participants involved in this rebellion. When everything is said and done, none of us will be able to leave."
"Dong-Dong-jie... are you overthinking this?" Chen Junnan said. "I mean, Old Qi said before that..."
"Chen Junnan... you can't trust Qi Xia too much. You need to plan more for yourself." Qin Dingdong said. "I know saying this sounds like I'm trying to sow discord, but this plan really has contradictions... I don't believe someone so smart would come up with a plan that's self-contradictory."
After hearing this, Chen Junnan paused, then quickly spotted another flaw: "But Dong-jie, you're destroying Doors right now... If you don't believe in him, why go this far?"
"I have my own reasons." Qin Dingdong said. "I want to find out who I am, and I also want to do Wei Yang one last favor. As annoying as he is, in some ways he saved me. So I had to come to this Train to help him get this done. Only by getting closest to the core here is there a chance I can uncover the secrets about myself."
Chen Junnan thought for a moment, then said, "Dong-jie, I don't know how to convince you. I've doubted Old Qi before too, but countless experiences have proven he was right."
"But he approached you with a purpose." Qin Dingdong said. "Once someone approaches you with an agenda, you can't trust what they say. Every word they speak and every action they take is to achieve that goal. You're not stupid—you understand this better than I do."
Chen Junnan was silent for a while, then said, "Dong-jie, Old Qi's Goal goes beyond selfishness in the mundane sense. That is to say, even if he really does have some Goal, I don't need to worry about it harming me. That Goal won't bring him any benefit, nor will it cause me any loss. Because what he wants to do is beyond my cognitive scope—it's a more macroscopic, transcendent coordination of human nature. It doesn't need, and shouldn't, be interfered with by me."
Qin Dingdong stared into Chen Junnan's eyes for a long time after hearing this. Finally, she sighed and said, "Fine... Chen Junnan. Even if I can't fathom his Goal, how do you explain these Door issues? He didn't leave a way out for all the Participants. What do you have to say about that?"
"My only answer is that I trust Old Qi." Chen Junnan said. "Since destroying Doors was part of his plan from the start, then I'll help him complete it. Before, I was worried I might be causing trouble, but your appearance now has only strengthened this conviction."
"You... fine. You're you, and I'm me. Whether you believe him or not, I've still left a way out for everyone..." Qin Dingdong said. "I never intended to actually destroy these Doors. That's why we started with the rooms in the Interview Area but left all the Work Areas intact..."
Before she could finish speaking, Qin Dingdong froze. Because she noticed that all the nearby Doors also seemed to have been destroyed.
"You... Chen Junnan..." Qin Dingdong's eyes slowly widened. "You destroyed the Doors in the Work Area?!"
"Yeah." Chen Junnan said. "I didn't think that far. As long as I felt it could help Old Qi, I gave it a shot."
Qin Dingdong felt as if she had fallen into a dilemma, not knowing what to do for a moment.
Just then, seeing their conversation ended, Kim Won-hoon approached with Earth Ox, cautiously whispering, "Bro, sis, are you two done with your private affair?"
Kim Won-hoon's comment earned him a huge eye-roll from Qin Dingdong. She turned her head and said, "You look like such an honest kid, how come the first thing out of your mouth is so annoying? What do you mean 'private affair done'?"
"Huh?" Kim Won-hoon didn't understand the meaning of that remark.
Earth Ox was also amused by the young man and just shook her head. "Who taught you Chinese like that?"
"I learned it from..." Kim Won-hoon raised one finger, but before he could point at Chen Junnan, Chen Junnan rushed over and threw his arm around his shoulders.
"Hey! Little Kim! Your Chinese still needs improvement!" Chen Junnan laughed it off, then turned to Earth Ox. "Dong-jie, introduce us. Who's this..."
"I met him on the road." Qin Dingdong sighed. "Qi Xia not only gave this task to Wei Yang, but also to this Earth Ox. He wants to destroy all the Doors comprehensively, even thinking that mere ordinary people's strength isn't enough—Earth-level intervention is needed. That's why I'm so worked up."
"An Earth-level specifically tasked with destroying Doors...?" Chen Junnan looked at Earth Ox in front of him.
Her figure was lean and strong, with the outline of abdominal muscles faintly visible under her cropped short suit jacket.
"Pleasure to meet you." Earth Ox said. "No matter what questions you have about this plan, I need to carry it out unconditionally. To buy myself time, I even sold out all the Earth-levels involved in this operation, letting them stall the Heaven-levels for me. So I can't afford to waste any time."
"You sold out all the rebelling Earth-levels by yourself?" Chen Junnan felt that this Earth Ox was also a ruthless character.
(Brothers, tomorrow is my birthday. I want to take a little break... I'll suspend updates for one day. I haven't rested in too long, and I'm a bit too exhausted. Thanks for understanding.)