Chapter 423: Strange Abilities
Once the four teams were assigned, Qian Wu came over to Qi Xia again.
"What's up?" Qi Xia asked.
"This..." Qian Wu pulled another slip of paper from his pocket—the one containing Tian She's "prescription." "Don't you want to take a look?"
Qi Xia glanced at the size of the paper and said, "I'd guess there's only one sentence written on it. I feel like its authenticity is questionable."
"Might as well take a look anyway." Qian Wu handed the paper to Qi Xia. "After all, you won it with your own skills."
"Let's read it together," Qi Xia said.
"Together...?"
"Qian Wu, you showed me sincerity, so I need to show mine in return," Qi Xia explained. "Whether what's written on this paper is true or false, I'll share it with you."
Qian Wu paused for a brief second before nodding. "Alright."
With that, Qi Xia unfolded the paper in front of Qian Wu. As expected, there was only one very short sentence written on it—
**"Have him eat the eyes of the Echoist."**
After reading it several times, both Qian Wu and Qi Xia furrowed their brows.
A few seconds later, Qian Wu asked in a low voice, "Do you think... it's real...?"
"This..." Qi Xia scratched his head. "The sentence is clear enough... but it's way beyond my understanding. I can't be sure."
"I'll keep an eye out for you if I get the chance," Qian Wu said. "After today... we might end up with either an 'Echoist' or an 'Echoist's corpse'... so it shouldn't be too hard to verify."
"Alright." Qi Xia nodded, then added a few seconds later, "But I'd rather there be no corpse."
The four teams carried a small amount of supplies and set off in different directions.
Qi Xia led the four "problem youths" behind him along a wide, abandoned road. Casually, he pulled out each person's "Echo Trigger" slip and took a look.
Saturday—Echo Trigger: "Isolation."
Turtle—Echo Trigger: "Humiliation."
Luo Eleven—Echo Trigger: "Defeat."
Qiu Sixteen—Echo Trigger: "Rage."
"Turtle... Qiu Pomegranate..." Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. "Qian Wu, you've really outdone yourself."
He put the slips back into his pocket and thought for a moment. This seemed to be the first serious attempt at triggering an "Echo." Although each person's trigger was only two words long, if it were really that easy, there would be no need for everyone to risk going to the "Terrestrial-level" game.
"What are your abilities...?" Qi Xia turned to ask.
"Tsk, you already know mine," Saturday replied. "As for them... Turtle has 'Giantification,' Luo Eleven has 'Oblivion,' and Qiu Sixteen has 'Scarlet Flame.'"
Qi Xia rubbed his chin after hearing that. He had a general idea of what "Oblivion" could do, and the other two "Echoes" seemed self-explanatory from their names.
Just to be safe, Qi Xia asked anyway, "What exactly are 'Giantification' and 'Scarlet Flame'...?"
The short, fat man named Turtle slowly lifted his head and said with a pitiful expression, "I can make things bigger..."
"I can set myself on fire," Qiu Sixteen said.
"Just as I thought..." Qi Xia nodded and looked at Turtle. "So how strong is your 'Giantification'? Can you turn into a 'giant'? Does your strength increase accordingly?"
"Me..." The short, fat man suddenly dropped his pitiful look and said with a sly grin, "Heh heh, I can't giantify my whole body, but if it's just a part... maybe..."
Upon hearing that, Saturday let out an extremely loud "Tsk," then spat on the ground right in front of him. "Damn pervert... One of these days I'm going to kill you."
"Heh heh! Sixth Sis, Sixth Sis!" The short, fat man gave a silly laugh, then immediately switched back to a pleading expression. "Don't be mad... I meant I'd giantify my 'fist' to help you guys fight!"
"Tsk, you'd better be." Saturday rolled her eyes dramatically.
"And you..." Qi Xia turned to Qiu Sixteen. "How effective is your 'fire starting'? Can it ignite objects, or can you shoot flames?"
Qiu Sixteen sighed. "Can you really be my captain?! When did I ever say I could 'start fires'?"
"No?"
"Let me repeat myself: I can 'set myself on fire,'" Qiu Sixteen said. "When I activate my 'Echo,' my entire body bursts into flames."
"Huh...?" Qi Xia frowned slightly, feeling like he couldn't quite grasp this ability. "So... the flames come out of your body...?"
"Yeah." Qiu Sixteen nodded.
"And you can withstand high temperatures?" Qi Xia asked.
"No."
Those two short words left Qi Xia bewildered.
"Do you have a screw loose?!" Qiu Sixteen said a bit angrily. "I'm a 'human,' okay? Why would a human withstand high temperatures? Could you survive being burned?"
Qi Xia frowned at her. "So you mean..."
"Every time I activate my 'Echo,' I get burned to death," Qiu Sixteen said nonchalantly. "But that's not really a problem, is it? Over the years, I've died from it every single time. I'm pretty used to it by now."
Qi Xia nodded slightly, looking dazed.
An "Echo" that makes your whole body burst into flames...
Why would a "Cat" recruit someone like this into the team?
As soon as she "echoes," she's certain to die—and in the most agonizing way possible.
This "Echo" has a mortality rate that even "Invoking Disaster" can't match. It should be the most dangerous of all known "Echoes" so far.
"Forgive me for saying this..." Qi Xia said. "Is it really necessary for you to obtain this 'Echo'?"
"What do you mean?" Qiu Sixteen asked.
"The original intention this time is to train the team," Qi Xia explained. "But if you'll die as soon as you 'echo,' there's no need for you to participate in this game at all."
"Are you stupid?" Qiu Sixteen shot him a suspicious look again. "Why would I die just because I 'echo'?"
Qi Xia felt like he still wasn't getting it. "Didn't you just say...?"
"Pay attention..." Qiu Sixteen raised a finger to clarify. "What I said was, I'll die the moment I 'activate' the Echo. But I can choose not to 'activate' it."
Only then did Qi Xia understand the critical distinction.
Qiu Sixteen could simply hear the "bell" without letting the flames ignite.
"Brother Five probably told you, my Echo Trigger is 'Rage'..." Qiu Sixteen sighed. "But I really do get angry easily... So your real challenge isn't how to trigger my 'Echo'—it's how to calm me down immediately after I hear the 'bell.'"