The Earth-Dog froze on the spot. The many “Earth-level” beside him quickly retreated several steps upon seeing this, maintaining a safe distance from him.

“I’m truly laughing…” the Earth-Dog said with angry laughter. “Am I the only one who feels this tactic is very low-level?”

The Earth-Mouse also smiled as he looked at the other “Zodiacs.” This tactic was of course low-level, but unfortunately, all is fair in war.

Originally, the “Zodiacs” in front all seemed to be gathered at the doorway, surrounding the people inside the room. But now they suspected the Earth-Dog beside them was a spy, so they might actually be the ones getting flanked instead.

In the upcoming battle, they could only worry about threats from both front and back, with no way to give their all.

With just one sentence, the Earth-Mouse had torn open a gap in the encirclement.

But he clearly wasn’t satisfied, as the Earth-Dog had left far too many openings.

“Leader… now you’re saying the ‘tactic is low-level’ again…” the Earth-Mouse said, pretending to look troubled. “You didn’t say that when you brought us into your room…”

“What do you mean my room…” The Earth-Dog habitually wanted to argue back a few sentences, but suddenly remembered this really was his room. “So what if it’s my room?”

“Forget it…” the Earth-Mouse sighed. “Attack when you feel it’s appropriate. I’ll create an advantage for you first.”

With that, he flew up with a kick toward a tall Earth-Pig in front of him, which the Earth-Pig blocked effortlessly.

Before the Earth-Dog could make any other moves, the several “Zodiacs” before him were already in a melee. Rather than calling it a “melee,” it looked more like four “Earth-level” surrounding and attacking the Earth-Mouse.

In this situation, the Earth-Mouse could only frantically defend from all sides, barely managing to counterattack a few times when he had a spare moment. His face quickly became bloodied.

Just as Chu Tianqiu had initially expected, the Earth-Mouse wasn’t good at combat. With similarly enhanced bodies, he should only be middle to lower tier among “Earth-level” in terms of combat power.

But fortunately, none of the “Zodiacs” carried weapons. Using only their hands and feet, they could only injure the Earth-Mouse—they wouldn’t necessarily be able to kill him in a short time.

It seemed these “Human-level” had originally planned to have their teachers hold off the Earth-Mouse, then rush into the room to capture people. But now, due to the presence of the Earth-Dog whose allegiance was unclear, the “Human-level” could only keep their eyes on him, guarding against him attacking their teachers.

The Earth-Dog felt extremely uncomfortable being watched by these “Human-level.”

But the awkward thing was he had no way to rebuke these people, or else he would seem even more like their enemy.

He thought for a while and felt he could only go help surround and attack the Earth-Mouse, otherwise the label of “rebel” would be firmly stuck on his head with no way to remove it.

Chu Tianqiu squinted his eyes, constantly watching the Earth-Dog, taking in his every move, then slowly revealed a smile.

The Earth-Dog took a deep breath and stepped forward. Just as he was preparing to find an angle to attack that annoying big rat, Chu Tianqiu suddenly spoke up on the spot.

“Hey, ‘Zodiacs,’ look over here!”

Chu Tianqiu shouted loudly. All the “Zodiacs” attacking the Earth-Mouse paused their movements and looked up at him, only to find this man hadn’t made any move—after speaking, he just stood there quietly.

If he was just standing there quietly, why suddenly speak up to distract everyone?

This huge opening and sense of dissonance left many “Zodiacs” confused.

Some clever “Zodiacs” quickly realized something. This man before them must be trying to attract their attention to facilitate others attacking from behind.

Thinking of this, everyone quickly turned back around and indeed found the Earth-Dog was already close at hand.

“What are you doing?!” the “Zodiacs” asked with cautious expressions.

“Ah?” The Earth-Dog hadn’t expected to suddenly be put in this position. He quickly explained with an awkward smile, “No… fuck, I’m truly laughing—I came to help!”

“Help?”

The “Zodiacs” were still somewhat doubtful. After all, the timing of that attention-grabbing moment just now was handled very subtly.

“If you wanted to help, why didn’t you help from the start?” a very thin-looking Earth-Tiger asked. “Why are you suddenly moving closer now? What are you planning to do?”

“I, I didn’t react at first…” the Earth-Dog said. “No, if you really don’t believe me, then forget it. Consider this my good intentions unrewarded. I can’t be bothered to argue with you all.”

After saying this, the Earth-Dog was about to slip away, but the other “Zodiacs” clearly didn’t want to let him go—a huge crisis of trust had already appeared.

After all, the Earth-Dog was a stranger to them. It’s difficult for ordinary people to establish trust in a stranger in a short time, but they can instantly fall into suspicion of a stranger.

Seeing this scene, the Earth-Mouse smiled and shook his head, then reached up to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

He looked back at Chu Tianqiu, and a thought couldn’t help but emerge in his mind—how many brains did someone like the Earth-Dog have to contend with these people?

“Leader… thanks for the help. If you die, I’ll burn more paper money for you than others would.”

Chu Tianqiu shook his head and reached out to support the Earth-Mouse’s arm, asking with a smile, “Still being stubborn? Didn’t anyone hit your mouth just now?”

The Earth-Mouse shrugged. “You don’t understand me. Even if I’m beaten down, I still have to praise my opponent with ‘mighty as a tiger’ before I die.”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu turned back again to check on the condition of Qian Wu and the other two.

Never mind how well Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan were connected by “Twin Flowers”—just looking at Qian Wu alone made the situation seem dire.

Whether it was because he had over-“echoed,” or these noisy “Zodiacs” had interfered with his conviction, at this moment his complexion was deathly pale, his eyes bloodshot, and even his eye sockets had sunken deeply. Yet he still concentrated intently on gripping the arms of both men, not even having time to wipe the cold sweat from his face.

It looked like there were only two possible outcomes: either “Twin Flowers” was about to succeed, or it was on the verge of failure.

After the Earth-Dog spent a long time giving pale and powerless explanations to those “Zodiacs” at the doorway, they finally relented, having the Earth-Dog stand far to the side. He didn’t need to help nor cause trouble, but if he approached one more time, they would definitely consider him a rebel.

The Earth-Dog agreed. After everyone reorganized their formation and came to the doorway, Chu Tianqiu turned to look at the Earth-Mouse’s condition. He felt that if the Earth-Mouse faced four opponents again, he would probably be beaten to death. He could only grip the eyeball in his hand and signal the Earth-Mouse to retreat and rest.

The Earth-Mouse had no choice but to slowly retreat to the side. From the chaotic attacks of those several people just now, he couldn’t tell where he’d been hit—he only felt his ribs hurt terribly.

Chu Tianqiu stepped forward. Facing four “Earth-level,” he took a deep breath.

He knew he also wasn’t good at combat. In this situation, he could only try his best to delay time.

But just as he raised the eyeball to his mouth, Qian Wu’s voice came from not far away.

“There’s no need,” Qian Wu said weakly. “The ‘Twins’ have stabilized…”