Chapter 461: The Strong Take Over
Just as the group was hesitating, the sound of chaotic footsteps came from the entrance of the basketball court, as if someone was approaching.
They turned their heads and saw Saturday leading Wang Ba, Luo Eleven, and Qiu Sixteen as they arrived at the doorway. Beside them stood an expressionless man—Qi Xia, the one whom Qian Wushi had placed so much importance on.
"Tch, I thought something serious was going on…" Saturday glanced at the "Cat" team members sprawled haphazardly on the ground and raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you guys playing ball?"
"Playing ball…?" Bai Jiu let out a bitter laugh upon hearing that. "Sixth Sister, have you ever played with a ball traveling at eighty kilometers per hour?"
"Tch, you're joking." Saturday sneered. "Baseballs can reach speeds of one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour. There's only one reason you got hurt."
Qiao Jiajin looked at them and asked, "What reason?"
Saturday suddenly swung her arm and tossed the metal baseball bat high in the air toward Qiao Jiajin.
"You weren't holding a 'bat.'"
Qiao Jiajin caught the bat and exchanged a glance with Qi Xia.
Qi Xia didn't seem to have anything to say. He nodded slightly in acknowledgment, then turned and quickly surveyed the various equipment scattered around the room.
Now, two types of balls lay scattered across the massive ice surface—iron balls and stone balls—along with numerous black-and-white fragments.
"So that's how it is…" Qi Xia stroked his chin as he reconstructed the situation in his mind. No one had explained the rules of the game to him, but he could roughly piece together what had happened.
Qiao Jiajin, noticing Qi Xia's gesture, quickly touched his own chin as well.
The chin really was a strange thing. Qiao Jiajin decided that from now on, unless absolutely necessary, he would avoid touching it as much as possible.
Di Ma, sitting at the starting point, watched as so many people swaggered into his turf, a flicker of irritation crossing his face. "Hey… who told you guys you could come in?"
"Tch, what's the problem?" Saturday shot back without backing down. "You opened your doors for business, and now you're not letting people in?"
"You…" Di Ma could tell these people meant trouble, and naturally, his anger flared. "What right do you have to interfere with the game's progress?"
Saturday was even angrier than Di Ma at this. "Tch, what's your problem?! Are we interfering? Did your 'rules' ever say no one could provide a 'bat'?"
Di Ma felt the person in front of him was just being unreasonable, but he hadn't explicitly forbidden that rule, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and mutter in a low voice, "I'll let the 'bat' slide… but if you dare to step into the game area, I won't go easy on you. I'm sure Zhuque will understand…"
Qiao Jiajin swung the baseball bat in his hand, testing its feel. It was well-balanced, so he nodded and said, "Alright, you don't need to get involved."
Ning Shiba and the others slowly turned to look at Qiao Jiajin. "Brother Qiao… can you really do it?"
"I've got a better handle on things now." Qiao Jiajin twirled the bat in his hand. "Before, I had to figure out a countermeasure for every single ball, which was a real pain. But now I just need to smash them all with the bat. Simple enough."
Qi Xia took a few cautious steps to the side, scanning the mechanisms that seemed ready to spring into action. He was starting to see some clues.
Could a wooden mechanism really keep aiming at the handcart in the center of the court the entire time?
It was hard to believe these things were equipped with infrared tracking… so what was the principle behind their "tracking"?
Qi Xia quickly sorted through his thoughts and spotted a faintly visible "path to survival." But to confirm it, he would need to endure another round of attacks.
After familiarizing himself with the bat's range, Qiao Jiajin raised his head and said to the group, "Everyone, hold on a little longer. Our teammates are all watching our performance now. Losing this round would be shameful."
Ning Shiba, upon hearing this, struggled to get up from the ground, but the sharp pain in her ribs was too intense.
"Astrology girl, don't bother." Qiao Jiajin said. "Step back and rest, so you don't get hit by a stray ball. The rest of you, move forward with me."
"Alright… Brother Qiao… I'll—"
"No need." Qi Xia cut in. "Injured people, stay where you are and don't move. Fist, you keep pushing the cart."
"Ha…" Qiao Jiajin let out a smile at that. "Conman, it feels just like old times. Having you around is reassuring."
Qiao Jiajin trusted Qi Xia's decisions almost unconditionally. He signaled the others, and with difficulty, they pushed the cart forward a few more steps.
Qi Xia took the opportunity to examine the inscriptions on each mechanism.
Left three, right four, combined with various characters—clearly the "Big Dipper." But the zodiac beasts might be using misdirection to conceal their true intentions.
As the cart advanced, all the mechanisms seemed to sense something, rotating their angles with faint, menacing clicks.
"Oh…?" Qi Xia frowned at the cart in the center of the court, feeling increasingly confident that his guess about the path to survival was correct.
After only a few steps, all the mechanisms fired stone balls again.
But contrary to Qi Xia's expectations, the balls weren't launched simultaneously—there was a clear sequence.
Qiao Jiajin sprinted forward, swinging his bat wildly among the hail of stone balls.
With the iron bat, dealing with the stone balls was much easier. Qiao Jiajin seemed to employ some martial arts technique, weaving between the stones and smashing three of them to the ground with a few swift moves.
The others were also getting more experienced. Following Qiao Jiajin's earlier example, they intercepted the balls from the sides. After Saturday mentioned that baseballs could reach speeds of one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour, the group felt that these stone balls weren't nearly as terrifying.
But how many ordinary people would dare to catch a fastball bare-handed?
"Everyone, try to catch the balls!!" Ning Shiba yelled from the ground. "There are rewards on them!!"
"Rewards…?" Qi Xia paused upon hearing that and asked Ning Shiba, who was nearby, "What kind of rewards?"
Ning Shiba turned her head with difficulty to look at Qi Xia. "They say it's a reward to help us walk better on the ice… as long as you catch those 'balls'…"
"No need." Qi Xia said.
"Huh?" Bai Jiu, from a distance, and Ning Shiba, right in front of him, both expressed confusion.
"Just keep pushing the cart." Qi Xia said. "That so-called reward for 'catching balls' is just a red herring. The condition for winning isn't 'catching the balls,' is it?"
Ning Shiba thought for a moment and nodded reluctantly. "The winning condition is 'the entire team completes one round trip.'"
"Then don't do anything unnecessary." Qi Xia said. "If you know the path to victory, don't try to cut corners."
"Is that so…?"
Qiao Jiajin, from afar, also heard Qi Xia's words and felt they made perfect sense.
If everyone tried their best to catch the balls in this round, they would surely suffer heavy casualties. How would they survive the next round?
"I was still holding back without realizing it…" Qiao Jiajin frowned. "In that case, I'll follow the conman's advice and just smash everything to pieces!"
"No need to fight anymore." Qi Xia spoke again. "Everyone, follow my commands from now on."