After hearing this, Zhang Shan paused slightly and couldn’t help but blurt out five words—

“Capture the king before his troops.”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu nodded slightly. “So that means your target is also Heavenly-Dragon or Qinglong? Looks like we’re on the same path.”

“But I always feel this mission is a bit too difficult.”

Zhang Shan lowered his head and clenched his fists, feeling this was an extremely rare situation. Even after finishing the fight, “Heavenly Movement” was still active.

Even when he fought in “Eddy City” before, “Heavenly Movement” couldn’t have lasted this long.

If even his type of “Echo” could last this long, once other people obtained their “Echoes,” they should also never dissipate.

This was both because the “Barrier” in the sky had disappeared and possibly because the giant bell and display screen had been destroyed.

In the past, the people here had relied too heavily on the prompts from the display screen and giant bell.

When obtaining an “Echo,” the bell would ring; when losing an “Echo,” the bell would also ring.

This convenient and easy-to-understand method allowed everyone to stabilize their “Echoes,” but it also greatly restricted the upper limit of their “Echoes.”

For something as difficult to fathom as “Echoes,” if one constantly thought “the Echo will disappear when the bell rings,” that represented wavering will, and the bell would inevitably ring.

Now the giant bell and display screen were both gone. No one would hear the sound “announcing the Echo’s dissipation,” so they simply didn’t know when their “Echo” would disappear.

Zhang Shan briefly explained the train of thought he had come up with to Chu Tianqiu.

After all, if his own dull brain could already think this far, then Chu Tianqiu could naturally think even further.

“You’re saying there’s always been a ‘Barrier’ here…?”

If there was any important figure who died today because of someone’s “scheme”—

It should only be Earth-Dragon, the referee of the “Cangjie Chess” game.

When he first saw her, Chu Tianqiu had faintly sensed a special aura about her. Thinking about it now, that should have been the obsession of “wholeheartedly rushing to death.”

From the moment Earth-Dragon appeared, she was prepared to die.

So she was the one who released the “Barrier.”

At the moment she fell into a life-or-death gamble with the “Participants,” she immediately chose suicide, and using suicide as the wager, she exchanged Chu Tianqiu’s entire team’s lives from Qinglong.

This death that caught Qinglong off guard had, in Chu Tianqiu’s view, extremely high tactical value. It almost single-handedly changed the entire battle situation.

So the signal for “rebellion” didn’t start with destroying the giant bell and display screen at all, but rather started with Earth-Dragon’s death.

“Removing the ‘Barrier’ can increase the intensity of ‘Echoes,’ and destroying the giant bell can extend the duration of ‘Echoes.'” Chu Tianqiu murmured. “These two actions seem completely unrelated, but in reality, they comprehensively strengthen the remaining ‘Participants.'”

“But both actions are double-edged swords, right?” Zhang Shan said. “Removing the ‘Barrier’ can not only strengthen ‘Echoes’ but might also make people more insane. Although destroying the giant bell can make ‘Echoes’ difficult to dissipate, it will also make it very difficult for people with unsteady wills to obtain ‘Echoes.'”

“There are almost no people with ‘unsteady wills’ now.” Chu Tianqiu said. “Anyone who can board this ‘train’ is no ordinary person.”

After hearing this, Zhang Shan paused, then looked at Chu Tianqiu and Qin Dingdong with a puzzled expression.

“What’s wrong?” Chu Tianqiu asked.

“Something’s strange…” Zhang Shan scratched his head. “Everything we’re talking about concerns ‘affecting Participants,’ but you two… are completely unaffected?”

“These two changes might affect most people, but there are exceptions to special cases.” Chu Tianqiu turned his head to give Qin Dingdong a meaningful look, then said indifferently, “That is, people who have preserved their memories long enough. Such people won’t feel confused by more memories and already have sufficiently powerful ‘Echoes.'”

“It can work like that…” Zhang Shan nodded with half understanding.

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu chuckled lightly and turned back to look at Qin Dingdong. “The impressive people I know all preserve their memories using different methods. What method do you use?”

“Big sister won’t tell you.” Qin Dingdong said with pursed lips. “You all just know how to ask, ask, ask. Am I holding some kind of press conference here?”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu shrugged and could only stop asking Qin Dingdong. He turned to Zhang Shan again. “Zhang Shan, you said you want to ‘capture the king before his troops’—is that all the tactics you have?”

“Pretty much.” Zhang Shan nodded. “I’m planning to have a fight with them.”

“One-on-one with Heavenly-Dragon or Qinglong? This plan sounds too reckless—doesn’t seem like something Qi Xia would come up with.” Chu Tianqiu thought for a moment. “You at least need a helper who’s about the same level.”

“Hey! Big guy!” Broken Mandarin rang out from the distance. Two figures were walking toward them from far down the corridor.

Chu Tianqiu looked at those two people. “Now that’s more like it.”

Zhang Shan turned his head and saw Qian Wu and Qiao Jiajin approaching.

“Tianqiu boy!” Qiao Jiajin walked up and enthusiastically greeted everyone. “Wow, there’s also the big mouse and Dingdong-jie.”

If not for the fact that “Zodiacs” were standing all around them, they would have almost thought they’d run into acquaintances at a night market.

“Damn…” Zhang Shan looked Qiao Jiajin up and down. “You made it up here too, kid?”

“Yeah.” Qiao Jiajin nodded. “Hey big guy, are you busy later? Interested in coming with me to beat someone up?”

“I’m busy.” Zhang Shan answered. “I’m planning to go to the ‘front of the train’ to look for a fight.”

“What a coincidence!” Qiao Jiajin laughed. “I’m also planning to go to the ‘front of the train’ to look for a fight…”

After saying this, Qiao Jiajin froze and hurriedly asked, “Oh shit, the person you’re looking for isn’t me, is it?”

“Damn, are you sick in the head?” Zhang Shan was confused by Qiao Jiajin’s line of thinking and asked with a frown. “I came all the way to the front of this ‘train’ to fight you? Am I crazy or are you crazy?”

“Oh, haha.” Qiao Jiajin gave a dry laugh. “As long as it’s not me, that’s good. I was afraid you were holding a grudge.”

“Holding a grudge…?”

“Ah, never mind, never mind.” Qiao Jiajin waved his hand and walked forward to put his arm around Zhang Shan’s shoulders. “Now it’s good. As soon as I heard the person to fight wasn’t you, I felt much more relaxed hahaha. Fighting you again would really kill me from exhaustion.”

“You kid are acting all mysterious…” Zhang Shan scratched his head and said, “So what, is it just the two of us going?”

“There’s also the pervert guy.” Qiao Jiajin stuck out his thumb and gestured toward Qian Wu. “The three of us will go together.”

“I’m not going.” Qian Wu interrupted from the side. “Also, don’t call me pervert guy.”

“Huh?” Qiao Jiajin looked at him. “You’re not going? Didn’t the liar boy say before…”

“I’m not going. My task is to use ‘Twin Flowers’ to transform both your bodies entirely into ‘Heavenly Movement.'”

“Huh?”