Chapter 400: Immediate Boss
"I..." Earth Goat hesitated, then looked at Earth Dog, "Don't talk nonsense. Where would I have another plan?"
Earth Tiger also found this statement a bit strange upon hearing it.
"Old Black... what are you plotting?" He approached Earth Goat step by step. "Even though I often want to kill you, I know you don't have any bad intentions... But now... what are you thinking?"
"I..." Earth Goat was completely at a loss for words. Before coming into this room, he hadn't anticipated this development, so he hadn't prepared any excuses either.
"You want to sell me out?" Earth Tiger asked.
"Don't talk fucking nonsense." Earth Goat cursed. "If I wanted to kill you, I'd fight you fair and square. What kind of shit is snitching and betraying you?"
"Then I'm a bit confused..." Earth Tiger looked at Earth Goat as if he were a criminal, making Earth Goat feel extremely uncomfortable. "What's there that you can't tell me? What do you mean by 'you can neither leave nor rebel'?"
"I can't say." Earth Goat said. "There are other circumstances involved, so I really can't say."
"So you're really hiding something from me..." Earth Tiger furrowed his brows, moving his big face closer to Earth Goat. "Does it have to do with Brother Goat?"
Earth Goat's expression also grew heavy. He said in a low voice, "Money-Losing Tiger, if you really care about Brother Goat, you absolutely must not cause any trouble right now."
"What...?"
"Brother Goat has his own arrangements. Feel that brain of yours the size of a sponge and ask yourself honestly—between you and Brother Goat, whose plan is more reliable?"
"The hell are you rambling about..." Earth Tiger's whiskers twitched slightly. "Do you even believe the words coming out of your own mouth? If Brother Goat really is the 'Heaven', how would you know his plan? And if Brother Goat isn't the 'Heaven', how could he arrange plans for himself?"
"I just know, that's all." Earth Goat replied very seriously. "If you two really plan to rebel, I'd rather fight you both right now."
Earth Tiger knew Earth Goat's temperament. Under these circumstances, if Earth Goat dared to say something like that, he was probably dead set on it.
Seeing that Earth Tiger had fallen silent, Earth Goat turned to look at Earth Dog. "Dog, are you really planning to team up with Money-Losing Tiger?"
"It doesn't matter to me who I'm with..." Earth Dog looked up and said, "My thinking is even simpler than Tiger's. As long as we can find a way to leave the 'Heaven' position vacant... then I'll have no choice but to be promoted, right?"
Hearing this, both Earth Tiger and Earth Goat were stunned.
"Your goal is 'Heaven Dog'...?" Earth Tiger asked.
"Exactly, isn't it?" Earth Dog gradually revealed a lazy expression. "What you call 'rebellion'—isn't it just killing your own immediate boss? That way, we have a very high chance of becoming 'Heaven'. And if there are any troublemakers, we kill the other members too..."
Earth Goat turned and interrupted, "Hey, if 'Zodiac Carnage' isn't handled properly, we won't just be facing other 'Zodiacs'... What if you alert the 'White Tiger'?"
"Ha..." Earth Dog suddenly revealed a meaningful smile. "That's right. Black Tortoise is responsible for 'Maintaining Justice', Vermilion Bird for 'Judging Zodiacs', White Tiger for 'Mediating Carnage'... But have you noticed a problem?"
"What problem?" The two turned to look at him.
"Is the 'White Tiger'... on this train?"
"Huh?" Earth Tiger was slightly taken aback. "What do you mean? The 'White Tiger'... didn't board the train?"
"Has anyone here ever seen that legendary 'White Tiger'?" Earth Dog asked. "What does it look like? Which carriage is it in now?"
The two wanted to refute Earth Dog with some reason, but upon careful thought, it really did seem a bit strange.
If it involved 'Justice'—whether it was a participant killing to take the 'Path' or triggering a life-or-death bet with a Zodiac—Black Tortoise would descend from the heavens to ensure fairness in the incident.
If it involved 'Violation'—whether a Zodiac broke the rules or a participant tried to kill a Mortal-level Zodiac in a Mortal-level game—Vermilion Bird would definitely appear to execute judgment.
But when it came to 'Zodiac Carnage', perhaps because Zodiacs valued their lives more than any participant, the most serious incident that had occurred on this train so far was nothing more than 'fights'.
This also meant that for a long time, the 'White Tiger' had never shown up.
But then again... if the 'White Tiger' wasn't on the train, wouldn't the situation for the 'Zodiacs' be very dangerous?
"I feel like you've been infected by Money-Losing Tiger..." Earth Goat said. "Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, right? You should know that even if you're lucky enough to go toe-to-toe with a 'Heaven-level', you absolutely cannot mess with a 'Divine Beast'. Even if there's a one percent chance of provoking the 'White Tiger', I can't take that risk."
"That's right..." Earth Tiger nodded after hearing this. "If we really have to fight the 'Divine Beast'... the three of us alone definitely won't cut it. We'll need even stronger helpers..."
"Hey! What do you mean 'the three of us'? When did I decide to join?" Earth Goat said. "Didn't you understand what I just said? Brother Goat has a plan! Don't you go acting on your own!"
Earth Tiger blinked, then looked up at Earth Goat.
"What are you looking at me for?"
Earth Tiger revealed a canine tooth and suddenly burst out laughing. "Old Black, I just thought of something very interesting."
"What?"
"Since you keep saying 'Brother Goat has a plan,' then theoretically, he must have told you something before he became 'Heaven Goat,' right?"
"Yes." Earth Goat nodded in agreement.
"You and I both know what kind of person Brother Goat is... and I don't think I'm any worse than you..." Earth Tiger said.
"What do you mean?" Earth Goat countered.
"What I mean is... if what you say is true, and everything happening now was planned by Brother Goat in advance, but he deliberately never told me about it—could it be that my 'rebellion' is also part of his plan?"
Hearing this, Earth Goat and Earth Dog's eyes widened simultaneously.
Yes, holding the human heart in the palm of his hand—that was exactly the kind of thing he would do.
"Because Brother Goat knows my impulsive nature, once I find out he didn't become 'Heaven Goat,' I'll definitely go to 'Heaven Dragon' to get to the bottom of things. And if I get ruthless enough, maybe I could turn the whole train into a mess..." Earth Tiger looked up at Earth Goat again and said seriously, "He knew you and I are sworn enemies. The more you try to stop me, the more rebellious I'll become. So this matter... he only told you."
"Ridiculous..." Earth Goat's lips moved slightly.
Though he denied it verbally, in his heart, he felt this might really be White Goat's actual plan.
"Now isn't this the perfect opportunity?" Earth Tiger laughed. "I don't care what Brother Goat told you... I'm going to start my own plan."
"So you're going to kill your immediate boss, 'Heaven Tiger'?" Earth Dog asked from the side.
"Not necessarily..." Earth Tiger's gaze turned cold. "My ultimate goal isn't my immediate boss... but my immediate boss's immediate boss..."
"You mean Heav..." Earth Dog didn't finish the sentence, just swallowed his saliva and lowered his voice. "Are you out of your mind? When you say 'rebellion,' your target is the 'Dragon'?!"
"Otherwise, what's the point of calling it 'rebellion'?" Earth Tiger grinned mischievously.