“What…?” Earth-Rabbit looked at Chen Junnan with great interest. “Trying to bluff me again? You clearly get lost, yet after entering the game venue, you deceived me… Are you preparing to use the same trick again?”

“I almost forgot if you didn’t mention it.” Chen Junnan smiled. “This young master apologizes to you… I actually don’t like deceiving people, but I have a friend who taught me many little tricks, and I always end up using them without realizing it.”

“It won’t work on me,” Earth-Rabbit said. “I just want you to understand that you’re a self-righteous fool. Ever since entering this room, all your schemes have been within my grasp.”

“Is that so?” Chen Junnan nodded. “But I still want to tell you… If you don’t agree to rebel, I’ll wager with you right here…”

He omitted the last word and exaggeratedly moved his lips, using lip reading to silently convey the character “life” to the other party.

“You…” Hearing these words, Earth-Rabbit decisively narrowed his red eyes, then somewhat unnaturally reached out to adjust his shirt sleeves. “You’re saying you want to fight me to the death…?”

“That’s right. Isn’t it quite a coincidence?” Chen Junnan smiled. “You want our lives, and we want yours too.”

The cold sweat on Chen Junnan’s face was still flowing down. This time, he had absolutely no confidence he could kill the sturdy man before him. After all, engaging in close combat with a “Zodiac” was far too dangerous.

Earth-Rabbit accurately captured Chen Junnan’s micro-expressions, but he knew the man before him wasn’t honest and couldn’t determine whether he was acting.

“But when I kill you now… you’ll all come back to life sooner or later. Once you choose to ‘wager,’ the nature of this matter changes.” Earth-Rabbit’s tone slowed down a bit, but it still sounded unyielding. “Are you confident you can kill me here?”

He turned his head to look at Jiang Shi, who was already unable to move behind him, then looked at Chen Junnan before him and Cui Shisi and the others in the distance. “Fighting me to the death—are you so confident in your ‘Echoes’?”

He paused for a few seconds, then frowned again. “That’s not right… Many of you look like… you don’t even have ‘Echoes’ at all. Where does your confidence come from?”

“I don’t really have much confidence,” Chen Junnan scratched his head, imperceptibly wiping away the cold sweat on his forehead. “I’m more accustomed to putting down tough talk first. After all, only in desperate situations can I unleash my motivation to move forward… Although ‘there’s always a way out when the cart reaches the mountain,’ if I discover the end of the road is a single-log bridge, I can only be forced to improve my driving skills and perform a one-wheel drive for everyone in a desperate situation.”

“So can I understand that you’re bluffing?” Earth-Rabbit said with a smile. “I really don’t believe you have this kind of courage… If you could kill me, there would be no need to send a child here as a punching bag, nor would there be any need to ‘wager’ with me. After all, in this game, you can kill me without wagering.”

“You seem to think you’re very smart?” Chen Junnan said. “You’ve analyzed so much for me—why don’t you just speak directly? This young master’s brain is getting dizzy.”

“You don’t dare…? The provocation method won’t work on me.” Chen Junnan shook his head. “Since this is a negotiation, I must present a price that moves your heart. How about we change the wager?”

“Speak,” Earth-Rabbit said, looking at Chen Junnan with a playful expression. In his view, this man was already somewhat yielding.

“If I can win your game… you agree to one request of mine, and I don’t want any of the rewards from this game,” Chen Junnan said. “If I can’t win and you kill all of us, at the final moment, this young master will announce a life-or-death battle with you… This way, you can not only kill me but also eliminate me forever.”

The words Chen Junnan spoke left Earth-Rabbit somewhat baffled. He carefully pondered the meaning in the other party’s words.

In just a few seconds, both the “Cat” team members behind him and Earth-Rabbit before him froze in place.

Seeing no one responding, Chen Junnan said again, “Earth-Rabbit, you wouldn’t fail to understand what this young master Chen Junnan is saying, would you?”

Earth-Rabbit understood, but Earth-Rabbit couldn’t comprehend it.

“You’re saying if you’re about to lose… you’ll announce a life-or-death battle with me and completely become a native…?”

“That’s right.” Chen Junnan decisively nodded. “Although I don’t completely understand how you Zodiacs operate, winning in this kind of life-or-death battle should also be a good thing for you, right?”

“But isn’t this too absurd?” Earth-Rabbit countered. “You would obediently offer up your own life like this? What’s the purpose?”

“The purpose is to make you agree to that one request of mine…” Chen Junnan smiled. “As long as you dare to agree, I dare to wager. Only bold gambling can bring great victory.”

“I… you…” Earth-Rabbit swallowed, feeling he really couldn’t understand the situation before him. Why was this man so confident?

Did he really have great strength?

But thinking from another angle, this wager had no loss for himself. Even if the other party really luckily won the game, he wouldn’t die because of it. But the other party would fall into an irredeemable situation because of one careless mistake.

“Mr. Rabbit Bastard,” Chen Junnan retreated to the center of the room and said, “As long as you can force me into a desperate situation… then this young master’s life is yours. But if you can never kill me, that proves you can’t even defeat an ordinary participant and can only humbly agree to one request of mine… Are you willing to call?”

“Damn it…” Earth-Rabbit trembled continuously with anger, and all the white fur on his face curled up together. “Fine… you wait for me…”

Earth-Rabbit reached out and pulled out the bamboo-shaped remote hanging from his neck, pressed a button on it, then raised his head to look at the corner of the room’s ceiling. After waiting a few seconds, the broadcast sounded.

“The ‘Zodiac’s’ turn has ended. Now please have the ‘Participants’ begin their actions.”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan closed the door before him without another word and locked it.

“Leader!” The several people behind him stepped forward one after another, showing uneasy expressions. “What are you doing?”

“Didn’t I just say? I’ve always wanted to wager my life against an Earth-level Zodiac, so I can show off a bit to Old Qi when I go back,” Chen Junnan smiled. “I finally returned to Old Qi’s team with great difficulty—I must bring him a greeting gift.”

After hearing this, Cui Shisi asked with some worry, “But are you confident…? This doesn’t sound like wagering your life—it’s using ‘wagering life’ as the ‘wager’…”

“I truly have absolutely no confidence,” Chen Junnan said. “But you all must remember well—if this young master fails, you must still relay my dashing heroic bearing to Old Qi.”

Cui Shisi, Ma Shier, and Wu Shisan could only look at each other somewhat nervously. They hadn’t participated in games for many years. Not to mention “wagering life”—they rarely even participated in ordinary wagers.

Was it necessary to place such a large wager this time?

“Then what do we do next…” Cui Shisi said. “Leader, how should we help you?”

“No need to help me—everything proceeds according to the previous plan,” Chen Junnan said after a moment of silence. “You go find the last ‘magical treasure’ first. Once you find it, head toward the exit. I’ll find a way to let you obtain the final two magical treasures. This time, whether I can win or not, I’ll find a way to let you get out.”

“Do you really need to consider us so much…?” Cui Shisi said. “Leader, you’re currently the one in the most danger, yet you still want to protect us…”

“I’m protecting your grandfather,” Chen Junnan said. “If you all also die here, how would that little brat Old Qi know how dashing I am?”