“She…” Zhang Chenze turned back to look at the two in surprise.

“Her condition was already very poor to begin with…” Lin Qin said with a look of loss. “For her, it’s a kind of release… When she returns next time and regains her sanity, we’ll ask her what exactly she saw.”

Zhang Chenze nodded silently.

This place was even more terrifying than she had imagined.

“May I ask…” Zhang Chenze raised her head to the two. “Does using an ‘Echo’ always have such serious side effects? Isn’t this supposed to be a supernatural ability?”

“‘Echoes’ have never been ‘supernatural abilities.’ They’re double-edged swords.” Qin Dingdong said. “In this place, everyone’s ‘Echo’ inevitably has obvious drawbacks, and you’re no exception.”

Zhang Chenze thought of the suit that had “run away” last night.

For her, wasn’t the ‘Echo’ more than just a double-edged sword?

It was clearly a completely useless piece of scrap metal.

“Generally speaking… if an ‘Echo’ acts on oneself, it’s extremely easy to cause self-harm.” Lin Qin explained. “Su Shan is a perfect example, but she also seems to have mixed in another situation.”

“What situation?”

“If an ‘Echo’ acts on other aspects, it will damage one’s own brain and ultimately cause loss of reason. If I’m not mistaken, all three of our ‘Echoes’ at least have this drawback.” Lin Qin paused and looked at Su Shan’s corpse. “Logically speaking, since Su Shan’s ‘Echo’ acted on herself, the side effect should only have been losing her eyes, but she also lost her reason. Perhaps her ‘Echo’ has functions we don’t know about.”

“I see…” Zhang Chenze extended her left hand to look at it. “If I use this ability extensively… will I go mad?”

“Yes.” Lin Qin nodded. “Once entering a ‘deranged’ state, a person’s cognition becomes disordered. This means an ‘Echo user’ might become even more powerful, or they might completely destroy themselves.”

After Lin Qin finished speaking, she looked at the display screen ahead. “Soul Migration” was still on the list.

She knew that Zhang Chenze’s ‘Echo’ style was completely different from her own. It was more similar to a skill like “Disaster Summoning.” As long as it activated, there was a high probability of causing negative effects. If this kind of ‘Echo’ couldn’t be controlled, the situation would become increasingly difficult to handle.

“Chenze.” Lin Qin called out. “I haven’t seen you before, so I don’t know how you should turn off your ‘Echo.’ When you hear the ‘chime’ again, you must remember that feeling.”

“Oh…” Zhang Chenze nodded seriously.

The three were staring blankly at Su Shan’s corpse, contemplating whether or not to bring the body back to “Heaven’s Mouth,” when they noticed three figures approaching in the distance.

“Huh…?”

Both groups showed surprised expressions upon seeing each other.

The arrivals were Yun Yao, Tiantian, and Li Xiangling.

Now six women had met before the giant clock.

“You all…” Lin Qin said. “Are you out here to participate in games?”

“No…” Yun Yao shook her head. “The three of us have already left ‘Heaven’s Mouth.'”

“Mm…?” Lin Qin paused. “Yun Yao, aren’t you the vice leader of ‘Heaven’s Mouth’?”

“A lot has happened…” Yun Yao’s expression was somewhat dejected. “That place has changed. The Chu Tianqiu I knew is no longer there.”

“Is that so?” The three from Lin Qin’s side didn’t know much about Chu Tianqiu, so naturally they couldn’t comment on this matter.

Yun Yao’s gaze turned to Su Shan lying on the ground. “She…?”

“We participated in an ‘Earth-level’ game…” Zhang Chenze said. “Su Shan ‘Echoed,’ but was killed by the side effects.”

After hearing this, several people nodded with some regret.

“By the way…” Yun Yao spoke up. “I want to establish a new organization and I’m currently recruiting a few teammates. Are you interested?”

“A new organization…?”

“Yes.” Yun Yao said to everyone. “We seem to have lived here too long and have forgotten our true goal—we need to escape and return to our former world. I want to work toward this goal, but I know my abilities are limited, so I called Tiantian and Li Xiangling to come with me. Will you join?”

Qin Dingdong reached up to touch her chin and stole a glance at Lin Qin.

“I…” Qin Dingdong said. “I’m just a small-time swindler, and I’m used to operating alone. Joining an organization and all that… how about we see what Old Lin thinks?”

Lin Qin stared at Yun Yao’s eyes for a long time before speaking. “I’m an ‘Extreme Path.'”

“Huh?” Yun Yao was startled. “What are you?”

“I am ‘Extreme Path’ member Lin Qin.” Lin Qin smiled. “Are you sure you want to recruit me?”

Yun Yao’s expression became very ugly. She felt that leaving ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ couldn’t have been more correct, because the ‘Extreme Path’ had completely infiltrated that place.

Whether it was Yan Zhichun or Lin Qin, they both had the potential to completely disintegrate ‘Heaven’s Mouth.’

“‘Extreme Path’ definitely won’t work.” Yun Yao said. “What I hate most is the ‘Extreme Path,’ so you can’t join. Will the rest of you come join us?”

“What did the ‘Extreme Path’ do to you?” Qin Dingdong asked irritably. “Did they take something from you or eat your food? Some people are really interesting. You don’t even bother to understand the situation clearly before you start being exclusionary.”

“Don’t I understand enough?” Yun Yao said calmly. “Our purpose at ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ used to be very pure—just to break through the games. But the ‘Extreme Path’ would frequently infiltrate and sabotage us. At best, they’d make our carefully prepared game strategies ineffective. At worst, they’d get our entire team killed. Isn’t that enough?”

“But do you know the reason?” Qin Dingdong said. “You think it’s right for you to gamble all the ‘Zodiacs’ to death, but it’s wrong for them to stop you?”

“That’s not the issue.” Yun Yao furrowed her brow. “They could have chosen not to interfere with us. As you said, since we can’t determine who’s right and who’s wrong, we could have gone our separate ways. But these lunatics insist on repeatedly earning our trust, then betraying us time and time again. Is that really reasonable?! Do they think that completing their mission must be built on betrayal? What I hate most in this life is betrayal.”

After hearing this, Qin Dingdong also lost her temper. From some perspectives, what Yun Yao said was indeed correct.

If the ‘Extreme Path’ wanted to protect this place, they could only continuously shatter other people’s plans. This was extremely cruel for Yun Yao.

At this moment, Lin Qin also stepped forward and spoke. “Although I don’t want to join you, I must make things clear. Every member of the ‘Extreme Path’ operates differently. You can’t question all of us because of one person’s betrayal.”

“Yes, but I still maintain my own view.” Yun Yao said. “I have no idea how many of you there are or what methods each person will use. I can only cut it all off with one stroke.”

“But that’s not fair.” Zhang Chenze suddenly interjected. “In this world… no one should be punished for things they didn’t do.”