Chapter 785: A Fence-Sitter
Chen Junnan glanced at Qiao Jiajin, and the familiar feeling washed over them both.
Amid the noisy room, they felt an unusual stillness.
It was as if every word the Earthly Rat spoke reached their ears with perfect clarity.
"Earthly Rat..." Chen Junnan called out. "Do you really want to help Old Qi?"
The Earthly Rat turned his head slightly at this and asked, "What do you mean? You don't trust me?"
"I..."
The Earthly Rat's reaction only made Chen Junnan more uneasy. He even began to worry that he had misjudged the man—perhaps the Earthly Rat in front of him was actually one of the Heavenly Dragon's people.
"I think I get it now." Qin Dingdong spoke up from beside them, her voice cutting through the blaring music. "You made a deal with this Earthly Rat, didn't you?"
"It's not really a deal," the Earthly Rat said. "I just gave them some information, and in return, they're doing something for me. And you, leader? Any brilliant insights?"
Chen Junnan turned his gaze to Qin Dingdong. He felt like his own thinking had been led astray by the Earthly Rat's words. Maybe Qin Dingdong, who had only just now been brought into this, would have a fresh perspective.
"Then your big sister here doesn't understand," Qin Dingdong said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're a 'Destiny' level Zodiac. Don't you see them every day?"
"I do see them," the Earthly Rat replied truthfully. "We're together at night."
"Then why don't you do it yourself?" Qin Dingdong pressed. "Killing a Zodiac is much easier for you than it is for us, isn't it?"
The Earthly Rat didn't answer right away. His nose twitched, causing the whiskers on his cheeks to tremble along with it.
After a moment of thought, he said, "I don't think I can do it on my own. That's why I need teammates."
"Then you should be looking for Zodiac teammates," Qin Dingdong countered. "What good are we? Do you really expect two participants to help you kill eight Zodiacs? Do you have any idea how hard that is?"
The Earthly Rat stared at Qin Dingdong for a long moment, then chuckled. "Leader, your mind is truly sharp. I have to admit I'm no match for you."
Hearing Qin Dingdong's question, Chen Junnan finally realized where the unease had been coming from.
"You little..." Chen Junnan turned to the Earthly Rat. "Have you been lying to me all this time?"
"How should I put it? Some of it was a lie," the Earthly Rat replied. "But not all of it."
"Was it a lie about the 'Heavenly Dragon's trusted followers'?"
"No," the Earthly Rat said. "I'm not sure if those people really are the Heavenly Dragon's trusted followers. All I know is that the Heavenly Dragon values them highly—that's it. Having you guys go risk your lives against them is the safest option for me right now."
"Then what did you lie about?" Chen Junnan pressed. "You said you and I were once 'teammates'—was that a lie too?"
Hearing this, Qin Dingdong was taken aback. "What?"
The Earthly Rat shook his head again. "That wasn't a lie either. We really were teammates. You know we get along well, don't you?"
"Then what the hell did you lie to me about?" Chen Junnan's curiosity about the Earthly Rat grew. "You've been telling me the truth this whole time, haven't you?"
"My lie was about Brother Yang," the Earthly Rat said. "I wasn't trying to eliminate some threat for him. I was only trying to eliminate a threat for myself."
"What...?"
"Since we've laid all the cards on the table, I'll be straightforward," the Earthly Rat said. "I'm definitely getting on the White Sheep's boat. But I don't care who's actually steering it. In other words, if anyone decides to 'rebel,' I'll try to tag along and see what happens."
"Why?" Chen Junnan asked.
"Because I've had enough." The Earthly Rat pointed at his own neck. "You might not know what kind of life I live every day... I could die at any moment because of my superior's whim."
The three of them looked at his bare neck, not understanding what he meant.
Sensing their confusion, the Earthly Rat turned around, opened a cabinet behind him, and took out a collar.
"As someone under the Heavenly Rat's command, the only way we got to become 'Destiny' level was by becoming dogs," the Earthly Rat said. "Every time I'm in a game, I have to put this deadly thing on. If the Heavenly Rat presses the button, I die on the spot—no reason needed."
"Is that even allowed?" Chen Junnan frowned. "As a 'Heaven' level, he can just kill a 'Destiny' whenever he wants?"
"As ridiculous as it sounds," the Earthly Rat said, "we all agreed to it."
"Oh?"
"When we were still 'Human' level, there was a chance for direct promotion... and the price was this collar. If it were you, what would you choose?"
Chen Junnan felt it was a dilemma. He couldn't make that choice no matter what.
"I was too arrogant," the Earthly Rat said. "I thought that with my strength, even wearing this collar, I'd quickly rise to become a 'Heaven' and get out of this mess once and for all... But who knew the Heavenly Rat just wanted a few disciples to entertain him? He didn't care at all whether we advanced or not. The contracts we signed individually with him became our own nooses."
He paused, then shook his head. "No... that's not right. The truth is, he knew we could never advance. So he could always keep us as slaves—let us live if he wanted, kill us if he wanted."
Chen Junnan found this absurd. "Every time someone comes to play the game, you still have to put on that collar? Does it explode?"
"Yes," the Earthly Rat nodded.
"Then just don't wear it. Why listen to him?" Chen Junnan asked, confused. "Can he really come down here and kill you himself?"
"He might, eventually," the Earthly Rat said. "The 'Heaven' level is completely different from the 'Destiny' level. They stand by the side of those two dragons... Even if they do come down and kill us, at worst they get scolded. But me?"
Chen Junnan finally nodded in understanding. "Then I get it. So you're not really after the Heavenly Dragon or the Azure Dragon. You don't actually want a 'rebellion' in the true sense. You just want the Heavenly Rat dead."
"Yes. Even though I'm on this boat, I might get off halfway through," the Earthly Rat said. "I have to kill the Heavenly Rat. But I'm not stupid enough to offend the Dragons. Overall, I'm on the same boat as Brother Yang right now. I'll help him as much as I can within my ability, but I'll also make sure to protect myself."
The Earthly Rat's explanation today made the doubts that had plagued Chen Junnan for the past two days gradually fall into place.
Thinking about it this way, the Earthly Rat was probably the most reliable of all the Zodiacs—at least until the Heavenly Rat was dead, he was still one of their own.
"You're quite the fence-sitter," Chen Junnan said with a cold laugh.