Chapter 764: The Lawyer's Request
"Wait…" Chen Junnan slowly widened his eyes, as if something had dawned on him. "You're saying…"
He nearly blurted out, "Your teammate turned into a Scavenger," but after a moment's thought, he swallowed the words back down.
If even the "Scavenger" was something to be kept under wraps, it probably wasn't appropriate for him to just shout it out.
"Chen Junnan, you said it yourself… all eight of the teammates in my room were reconstituted," Qi Xia said. "So where do you think those original eight people went?"
Even though Qi Xia hadn't spelled it out explicitly, Chen Junnan fully understood what he meant.
If the eight people drawn on this map were all once Qi Xia's teammates, and they followed his instructions to become "Zodiacs," then things started to get a little worth scrutinizing.
The one who had climbed the fastest and the highest had been promoted to "Dragon."
Whoever could become a "Dragon" had to be Qi Xia's most capable teammate; otherwise, there was no way they could become the chief of the Zodiacs.
But this "Dragon," either because their identity was exposed or because of some other violation, had now been demoted to a "Scavenger." Not only had they lost everything they had, but they also lost the chance to fight side by side with Qi Xia.
Now, this "Dragon" turned "Scavenger" came before Qi Xia to warn him to beware of the current "Dragon."
If you reasoned it out that way, everything made sense.
"Old Qi… could this be real?" Chen Junnan asked.
"Like I just said…" Qi Xia let out a sigh. "He isn't even considered a 'person' anymore. There's no reason for him to take such a huge risk to come here and warn me. He could have just ignored me, but he still chose to pass this information on. That can only make me think this information is critically important to him. Who would risk their neck to deliver a piece of false information that brings them no benefit?"
"Sigh…" Chen Junnan lowered his head slowly, pointing at the "Chen Dragon" on the map. "So if this person… really has been replaced… what are you planning to do?"
"I plan to pretend I don't know," Qi Xia said.
"Huh?"
Both Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajing wore puzzled expressions.
"Pretend you don't know? Why?"
"Because I want to wait for the other party to make a move," Qi Xia replied. "If I fortify all my defenses in advance, then I'll never know what this 'Dragon' is trying to do."
"But…"
Chen Junnan looked at Qi Xia in silence for a moment. In his memory, Qi Xia had always been that kind of person.
Not only would he anticipate the current situation ahead of time, but he would also construct a countermeasure based on that deduced scenario.
If someone really wanted to scheme against him, they would have to think at least two steps ahead of him.
"Doesn't that sound a bit dangerous?" Chen Junnan asked again.
"No," Qi Xia answered. "Before this 'Scavenger' showed up, I was the obvious target while the enemy was hidden. Now he's reversed our positions. That's already the biggest gain I've made today."
Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajing both nodded after hearing this, though judging by Qiao Jiajing's expression, he probably hadn't understood a word.
"This plan sounds all right on the surface, but it still feels pretty dangerous," Chen Junnan said. "Knowing it's a trap and jumping in anyway… so that means your opponent won't just be Xiao Chu, but also the referee? What if he rigs the game?"
Qi Xia chuckled lightly. "But if you want to know where the enemy is going to strike, you have to let them strike first."
Both men knew that once Qi Xia had made up his mind, he'd certainly considered it thoroughly enough that it was beyond their interference, so they just nodded.
The room fell quiet again, but none of the three could sleep. Qi Xia turned his head to look out the window, where it was still pitch black.
In the "Land of the End," there was no moonlight at night. In this darkness where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, bonfires lit up in the various rooms of "Heaven's Gate," illuminating several hundred meters around.
Qi Xia sat in his chair, staring blankly into the night, until the dun-yellow sun rose.
He watched the slowly rising sun for a long time, then gradually rested his hand on his forehead.
Now, whenever he saw that sun, a slight ache would pulse in his forehead—apparently the aftereffects of the "Heavenly Dragon" hadn't faded yet.
"I haven't had headaches in a long time…" Qi Xia murmured to himself. "Heavenly Dragon, oh Heavenly Dragon… Did you build the 'Land of the End' using my dreams, or did you use the 'Land of the End' to invade my dreams?"
This was already the seventh day of this cycle. Qi Xia knew he still had many things left to do, and now he had to make the most of all the remaining time.
It was still early morning, but sounds of movement began to drift from some of the classrooms in the school.
Sporadic figures started gathering toward the main gate as well—a new day was bustling to life.
Qi Xia stood up and stretched his waist. Qiao Jiajing and Chen Junnan stretched along with him. Thanks to the uninvited guest, the three of them had gone all night without sleep, and their spirits weren't in the best shape.
"Where are we heading today, Old Qi?" Chen Junnan asked. "Are we just gonna wait here for them to bring back Wen Qiyun and that Yan... Yan Chun whatever?"
"No… there are still plenty of people I need to see," Qi Xia said. "You two wait here for me. I'll go follow the map once."
"Huh?"
Chen Junnan clearly didn't understand. "Old Qi, isn't your map all Zodiacs? You're going alone?"
"Yes," Qi Xia said. "But I probably won't be joining any more games. I just want to have a chat with them."
"There are 'Resonators' all over the streets right now," Chen Junnan said. "Don't go dying for no reason out there."
"Relax. Unless it's the tenth day, no one can kill me," Qi Xia said softly.
"You bastard…" Chen Junnan frowned, feeling like Qi Xia was brewing some very bold idea in his head. "You're not planning to 'copy' yourself again, are you…?"
"Either way, I'll be back," Qi Xia said. "Don't worry about the rest."
As the three were talking, a knock came at the classroom door.
They turned to look, only to find Lawyer Zhang standing there, smiling and nodding at them.
"Oh?" Chen Junnan was taken aback. "What a coincidence? The big lawyer's here."
"Sorry to intrude," Lawyer Zhang said. "I ran into Qin Dingdong in the hallway just now and suddenly remembered something I need to pass on to Qi Xia."
"Me?" Qi Xia raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Before… Su Shan and I participated in a game," Lawyer Zhang said, a look of sadness on his face. "One of the Zodiacs wanted to see you. The few of us agreed, and we were going to trade information about you with a Zodiac for some small cakes and fruit…"
Lawyer Zhang's words left the three people in the room completely baffled.