The instant the Man-Monkey appeared before their eyes, an iron rod also appeared in Zhong Zhen’s throat on the ground.

It looked like the Man-Monkey had just pierced his throat with an invisible iron rod, and now both he and the rod had revealed their forms.

But even understanding the current situation, everyone’s minds were still filled with questions.

A “Zodiac” with an “Echo” had taken action to kill someone?

Since the deceased Zhong Zhen had no clear faction affiliation, everyone had no way to deduce the Man-Monkey’s faction from this.

“Wh-what long live or not, I don’t understand…” Doctor Zhao immediately forced a smile. “You’re also here to assassinate the ‘Rebels,’ right… We’re, we’re on the same side.”

While the two were talking, Lin Qin cautiously pulled the belt from Zhong Zhen’s waist, then came to Xiao Xiao’s side to help her tighten it around her upper arm to stop the bleeding.

Jin Yuanxun also reached up to wipe the blood from between his eyebrows, coming to Doctor Zhao’s side to guard against the unexpected. He felt the Man-Monkey’s ability was somewhat like his own—both could appear out of thin air at a certain location. But where the other was stronger than him was that he could make an iron rod appear out of thin air as well.

Like “Transition,” yet also like “Displacement.”

The Man-Monkey took a step forward. “If I explain too much, I might die. That’s why I can only appear in thick smoke.”

Seeing everyone’s skeptical expressions, the Man-Monkey spoke again. “If you trust me, I have a plan.”

Doctor Zhao knew the problem now was whether or not to trust this “Zodiac” before them. After all, basically everyone in this plaza had their own hidden agendas.

Some wanted to destroy the giant bell, some wanted to kill the rebels, some wanted to obtain a thousand “Dao.” There were probably even people like Zhong Zhen who wanted to take advantage of the chaos for revenge or to vent their killing impulse.

With a “Zodiac” now proactively proposing cooperation, Doctor Zhao naturally found it difficult to establish trust.

“You say you have a plan…” Doctor Zhao said in a low voice. “I’m worried this ‘plan’ will cost us our lives…”

The Man-Monkey slowly extended his palm toward Doctor Zhao.

A moment later, a bloody folding knife appeared on that palm—precisely the one that had been in Zhong Zhen’s hand earlier.

This knife had been taken by the Man-Monkey at some unknown time and even hidden in his hand.

However, the Man-Monkey wasn’t gripping the handle, but simply placed the knife quietly on his palm, as if wanting to hand it to Doctor Zhao.

“In any case…” the Man-Monkey said, “if I wanted you dead, there’d be no need to use a ‘plan.'”

“Uh…” Doctor Zhao felt the Man-Monkey wasn’t wrong. Even if the Man-Monkey had just patted his shoulder earlier, it would have been enough for him to insert this invisible knife into his body.

The Man-Monkey said quietly, “This knife is for you. If you think there’s deception, you can kill me at any time.”

After hearing this, though Doctor Zhao was puzzled, for safety’s sake he still reached out to take the folding knife.

The Man-Monkey also took another step forward at this moment, saying, “Although many accidents occurred during this period, this thick smoke has helped us. Now only this plan of mine can complete the objective.”

“You…” Doctor Zhao looked at the Man-Monkey half-believing, not knowing what to say.

“The thick smoke will soon dissipate. By then Baihu will be even more insane, the fragrance even stronger, and we’ll have no chance of victory.” The Man-Monkey suddenly grabbed Doctor Zhao’s hand. “You should be the person Zhichun Jie sent to destroy the giant bell, right?”

The Man-Monkey’s single statement revealed many key points, making Doctor Zhao feel he might truly be one of their own.

“Yes, I am…”

“How long do you need to destroy it?” The Man-Monkey pointed at the thick smoke behind him.

“I can’t say for sure…” Doctor Zhao said with a troubled expression. “I’ve never destroyed something this large… It’s like a short building. I definitely have no way to make it disappear instantly… perhaps it needs several minutes…?”

“Several minutes…” The Man-Monkey raised his head to look at the smoke again. “The white smoke will soon dissipate. Several minutes is too long. Baihu should only be temporarily unable to distinguish your positions. Once his vision recovers, you’ll be the first to die.”

“So what should we do…?” Lin Qin also said from the side. “Should we make Baihu calm down first?”

“No…” The Man-Monkey shook his head. “Baihu is now at a certain critical point of losing his rationality. The effort needed to pull him back to ‘calm’ is far too much.”

“Then according to your meaning…?” Lin Qin paused.

“We can only make him more insane,” the Man-Monkey said. “As long as he goes a bit more insane, he’ll fall into a state where he can’t think.”

After hearing this, Doctor Zhao, Lin Qin, Jin Yuanxun, and Xiao Xiao looked at each other, feeling the Man-Monkey had proposed an extremely dangerous plan.

“We can’t touch the giant bell now,” the Man-Monkey said. “If you want to destroy the giant bell, listen to my arrangements next.”

……

The members of the “Extreme Path” began to gradually recover their vision in the thick smoke. It seemed the source releasing the thick smoke here had already disappeared.

But the scene that met their eyes now was even more horrifying than before.

On the ground where the thick smoke was gradually dispersing, a large area of corpses and wounded already lay scattered in all directions. Many people still standing were fighting each other.

Perhaps at first these people had headed to the plaza with their respective purposes, but soon everyone had become in a state of using all their killing moves just to save their lives.

Zhang Shan and Li Xiangling stood in front of Yan Zhichun, protecting her behind them.

While Jiang Ruoxue and Zhoumo on the side both seemed to have suffered minor injuries.

“Tsk, why the fuck didn’t you come a bit later?” Zhoumo said. “Why not wait until these two bitches were dead before coming?”

“Say less!” Jiang Ruoxue pushed Zhoumo.

“Damn, you guys also know the current situation,” Zhang Shan laughed. “A brawl with several hundred people—those who can grab weapons grab weapons, those who can’t release ‘Echoes.’ Halfway here there were explosions and thick smoke. Moving from the edge of the plaza to the center really took tremendous effort.”

“Like we walked through the Flaming Mountains,” Li Xiangling also said from the side. After speaking, she waved her staff in her hand and looked at the trajectory of the thick smoke. “Brother Shan… the smoke seems to be dissipating.”

“Dissipating…? That’s troublesome.” Zhang Shan turned back to look at Yan Zhichun and found light had returned to her eyes. “Hey, soon Baihu will be firing on all cylinders. We’ll have even more deaths. What do you say?”

Yan Zhichun took a deep breath and replied, “If the situation is wrong, please lead all members of ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ to withdraw. Today the ‘Extreme Path’ won’t retreat a single step.”

After hearing this, Zhang Shan paused. “Even if all of you might have your rationality stripped away, you must die here?”

“For some people… it might just be getting up in the morning, walking on the road looking for today’s ‘Zodiac Game,’ hearing some broadcast and then running here in confusion to get caught up in the battlefield. But for us, we’ve already poured all our heart and blood here over decades.” Yan Zhichun’s lips trembled slightly. “I don’t know what could support us to keep living if we escaped under these circumstances.”

After hearing this, Zhang Shan was stunned and wanted to speak, but discovered that Yan Zhichun’s eyes were filled with extremely deep sorrow.