“‘Absolutely safe Participant’…”

Baiyang pondered for a moment before saying, “This one is more abstract. After I become ‘Earth-level,’ I’ll make this ‘Participant’ my direct liaison. I’ll share with them all the inside information I know, and we’ll share resources to ensure their survival. Theoretically, they could become the person who knows the most truth in the entire ‘Land of the End,’ but they’ll also have to work for me. It’s that simple.”

After finishing, he looked at us again, extended both hands, and raised one finger on each, saying, “Two paths, each suited to two different directions… Of course, you can also refuse. I’ll continue searching for other suitable candidates.”

Seeing that Zhang Qiang and I remained silent, he stared at Zhang Qiang and added, “Oh, and the ‘Zodiac’ who becomes the ‘interviewer’ will permanently gain ‘Brute Strength.'”

“Permanently…?” Zhang Qiang blinked, seeming somewhat tempted, but he said nothing.

The two paths Baiyang described indeed led to two different directions.

If one became a ‘Zodiac,’ there would be no need to consider the problem of ‘striving.’ One would only need to wait—no matter how many years, as long as they waited until Baiyang could become the ‘Ruler,’ they would be liberated.

Also, since ‘Zodiacs’ had a high probability of death each time, time would be fast-forwarded for them. Each cycle, they would only have one day of memories.

No matter how many years Baiyang needed, the waiting time for the person who chose to become a ‘Zodiac’ would only be one-tenth of that for the person who chose to become a ‘Participant.’

If one chose to become a ‘Participant,’ they would need to rush about tirelessly, constantly receive the latest knowledge, and become a more powerful person. At the same time, this person would need to face various unknown dangers outside. These dangers might come from other ‘Zodiacs’ or from other ‘Participants.’

Although Baiyang offered two choices, the endpoint of these two paths was exactly the same—both were ‘eternal safety.’ In that case, who would choose the more complicated path?

Yes, of course it would be me.

If there was no ‘escape’ from here, I could only adopt the same life goal as in the real world—which was to become stronger.

Staying in the interview room forever living a monotonous life really wouldn’t work. I would have no way to become stronger. I would be ruined.

So if Zhang Qiang and I agreed to Baiyang’s request, I would choose without hesitation to become the ‘eternally safe Participant.’

Considering it from two aspects—if Baiyang could succeed in his rebellion as he claimed and transform himself into the Ruler of this place, by that time I would be exceptionally powerful, enough to become the ‘elder’ he spoke of, and I could handle all affairs for him. Since I would know many truths and be a genuine strong person, there was a high probability he would value me greatly, and I could obtain better opportunities.

Taking a step back, if Baiyang failed, I would have no losses either. Just like now, I would still be a ‘Participant,’ but I would have become stronger. At that time, I would know many truths about this place and could handle more problems. If Baiyang fell, I could join the next strong person’s team, thus forming a powerful alliance and turning this place upside down.

So no matter how you looked at it from any angle, agreeing to him was a good choice.

“I agree to cooperate,” I said decisively. “Let’s do this together.”

“Oh?” Baiyang’s face immediately showed a delighted expression. “Are you certain?”

“Certain.” I nodded. “I want to become the ‘eternally safe Participant.’ Tell me what I need to do?”

“What… Zhichun, you…” Zhang Qiang turned to look at me. From his eyes, I could see he didn’t want to agree to Baiyang’s cooperation request.

“Qiang Ge, I feel that if we continue hesitating, the only ones wasting time will be us,” I said.

“But you’re being far too hasty. This is practically deciding the path of our lives going forward. Don’t we need time to consider?”

“I’ve already been considering it for ten days,” I said, looking into his eyes. “When Baiyang mentioned ‘cooperation’ last time, I already started considering it.”

“You…” Zhang Qiang pondered slightly. “I feel it still won’t work now… I’m not good at dealing with people. I’m only suited to working alone.”

“But you have no other choice,” I said to Zhang Qiang. “Qiang Ge, once I leave here, you’ll be trapped forever.”

After hearing this, he hung his head deeply, apparently also realizing the situation was dire.

“Qiang Ge, even if you can get through the ‘Liar’ game, it’s useless. After all, ‘Bamboo Shoots After Rain’ can’t be defended by one person against harpoons from all directions.” I sighed. “Right now I’m still here, and at critical moments I can at least control other ‘Zodiacs’ to join us to form ‘shoots’ in four directions. But what happens when you’re alone? Will those ‘Zodiacs’ help you?”

“That’s why I’m saying… you should consider this…” Zhang Qiang looked at me somewhat anxiously. “How many times have we even met this Baiyang in total…? What if he’s deceiving us?”

“You should be able to sense that Baiyang is also taking a huge risk,” I tried to explain to Zhang Qiang. “What reason would he have to come to this room specifically to deceive the two of us? What do we have that could be deceived away?”

“Well…”

After hearing my words, he hesitated again.

“Regardless of whether you agree or not, I’ve decided,” I said. “I want to become the ‘eternally safe Participant.’ This will save me a lot of exploration time.”

After hearing this, Baiyang also looked toward Zhang Qiang and used his masterful psychological techniques to say to him, “There’s no need to feel pressure. The choices others make have nothing to do with you. You only need to follow your own heart. After all, I’ve already completed half my goal now. Even if I switch to another room and start over, the work I need to do has been reduced by half.”

Next, I translated the subtext in Baiyang’s dialogue, trying to analyze how aggressive his words were.

This sentence meant, “The other person has already made their choice. My time is limited. If you don’t agree, I’ll leave right now.”

“I know not everyone can trust me, and I have no way to trust people who are hesitating. You can completely choose to refuse, and I won’t force you. After today ends, you can still try to do what you want to do as much as possible, just like before.”

This sentence meant, “If you continue hesitating, even if you agree later, you’ll lose my trust. You can only return to being like before, living like a headless fly.”

Baiyang was indeed quite interesting. He packaged his highly aggressive words and mixed them into seemingly ordinary conversation, continuously breaking down the other party’s psychological defenses.

At this time, I also gave him a boost. As long as I chose to join Baiyang, Zhang Qiang had no way to retreat and entered the predicament of ‘either cooperate or die.’

“Alright… Since Zhichun has agreed… then I’ll agree too…”