“Can’t laugh…?”

The three of them looked toward Earth-Mouse, their expressions equally conflicted.

Earth-Mouse sighed and said in a heavy voice, “Haven’t all of you noticed that I actually have nothing to do with this entire ‘rebellion’?”

“What…?”

“I’ve been lying to all of you leaders this whole time.” Earth-Mouse said, “There’s no need for any of you leaders to treat me as a friend anymore.”

“Lying…?” Chu Tianqiu paused. “What did you lie about?”

“I’m not Qi Xia’s teammate from any period… ” Earth-Mouse murmured. “I’m not even his student or friend… Heavenly-Dragon and Qinglong never wronged me, and I don’t hate them. Everyone here has all sorts of identities that justify ‘rebellion,’ and even those who truly had no such identity were pulled in by you all for various reasons… But not me. Qi Xia just happened to pass by my game venue and left me three kumquats.”

Looking at Earth-Mouse’s appearance, everyone felt a tinge of sadness.

“Among everyone here, I’m the most unconventional one, aren’t I?” Earth-Mouse smiled bitterly. “To put it bluntly, I actively jumped into this torrent. Even without Qi Xia, I would have gone looking for Zhang Xia, Li Xia—in any case, I was going to rebel.”

“I still feel a bit confused.” Chu Tianqiu said. “If you put it that way, our goals are ultimately the same. You want to rebel, we want to rebel too. So where does this notion of deceiving us come from?”

Earth-Mouse turned his head again to look at the two “Heavenly-level” figures in the distance, his expression still cold.

“From beginning to end, I’ve only had one goal, and that is to kill Heavenly-Mouse.” He said in a low voice. “When I learned that someone was going to rebel, I was indeed more enthusiastic than anyone else, because I knew I was very good at stirring up trouble. As long as I could join this team and then fabricate some lies about how ‘killing Heavenly-Mouse is the top priority,’ there would be people willing to die for me. For this purpose, I even specifically spent time investigating Baiyang’s story.”

“So you had no prior connection with them…?” Chu Tianqiu asked again.

“Not entirely. One of the ‘rebels’ happened to be my former teammate, but we were prone to arguing, so our relationship wasn’t very good.” Earth-Mouse sighed. “When I joined this team, I had already thought it through—I wouldn’t mind selling everyone out at the final moment. Regardless of whether this rebellion plan succeeded or failed, I would definitely be safe. If I could kill Heavenly-Mouse, that would be best. If not, then I would wait for the next opportunity.”

“So what?” Chu Tianqiu smiled and shook his head. “Isn’t this the perfect opportunity right now? Even if you make up some lies on the spot to instigate us, I’ll still treat all your previous statements as jokes.”

The three of them seemed to understand what Earth-Mouse meant after hearing this, but wasn’t this meaning a bit too dangerous in this context?

“So next… I’m going to handle my own business myself and won’t trouble any of you.” Earth-Mouse said. “All the ‘Zodiacs’ I met in that rebellion room were pretty decent. This time, I’ll be magnanimous and won’t sell them out. Now it’s a personal grudge between me and Heavenly-Mouse. I’ll resolve it myself.”

“You’re a real man.” Zhang Shan said. “But I don’t quite understand—why does someone like you always insist on calling yourself a ‘fence-sitter’?”

“Usually, ignorant people like to show off their knowledge, and people without money like to flaunt their wealth.” Earth-Mouse replied. “What each person constantly talks about might be what they lack most. From the first time I called myself a ‘fence-sitter,’ it was to remind myself not to develop real feelings for those ‘Zodiacs,’ but I didn’t win.”

After hearing this, the three of them had nothing more to say. Although they hadn’t known this Earth-Mouse for very long, they could clearly feel he was a decent person. Despite his sharp tongue, just now when Zhang Shan and Qiao Jiajin were establishing their “Twin Flowers” connection, he was the only one using his own life to shield them.

Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan naturally should conserve their strength to reach the “train head,” but once they separated in this environment, it would be a permanent farewell.

“Alright.” After a few seconds of silence, Chu Tianqiu nodded. “You’re not trying to be a hero. I’m willing to respect your decision.”

Qiao Jiajin also nodded. “I understand this feeling. If you can’t personally resolve your own enemy… you’ll always feel an emptiness in your heart.”

“Exactly.” Earth-Mouse responded with a serious expression. “If you all helped me kill Heavenly-Mouse, my entire journey would lose its meaning.”

Zhang Shan shrugged helplessly. “Then you’d better stay fully focused, remember to hit his jaw.”

Earth-Mouse reached up to straighten the tie on his chest. “I will. Leaders, the road is wide. Let us part ways here.”

With that, he walked forward alone, heading toward those two “Heavenly-level” figures in the far distance.

“Damn, do we really not need to worry about him?” Zhang Shan stared at his departing figure. “Just now, several ‘Earth-level’ Zodiacs surrounded and attacked him, and now there are two ‘Heavenly-level’ ones.”

“Everyone has their own choices.” Chu Tianqiu said. “His eyes show he’s already prepared. Even if he dies there, he’ll at least die doing what he truly wanted to do.”

“Sigh…” Zhang Shan sighed.

“Moreover, each of us bears many burdens. I bear the expectations of everyone in ‘Heaven’s Mouth,’ and you…”

After hearing this, Zhang Shan could only feel disheartened. He knew the expectations he bore were even more massive than those of “Heaven’s Mouth.”

“…So we have no way to continue choosing to take risks in this situation.” Chu Tianqiu shook his head. “Let’s leave it to him.”

Qiao Jiajin didn’t listen to their conversation. He just looked at the door beside them, then asked, “So should we… find a place to take cover for a bit?”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu looked at the door. Faint conversation sounds came from inside, indicating there were still “Zodiacs” in the room.

“There should still be ‘Heavenly-level’ ones mobilizing.” Chu Tianqiu said. “Earth-Mouse mentioned ‘matched killing’ earlier. Although he knew it was fake, not all the ‘rebel Zodiacs’ necessarily know. The most ideal situation would be for all the ‘Heavenly-level’ ones to be tied up by the ‘rebel Zodiacs,’ and then the three of us proceed smoothly to the ‘train head.'”

“Using ‘Earth-level’ Zodiacs to block ‘Heavenly-level’ ones sounds absurd no matter how you hear it…” Zhang Shan sighed. “But hopefully it’ll work.”

Qiao Jiajin pushed the door open gently on his own initiative. The door was actually unlocked, and a girl’s voice came from inside:

“…Guess what Rabbit said to me in the end? She said the person she liked all along was Man-Pig from next door! Oh my god, I was so angry! If you don’t like someone, say it earlier!”

“Huh? Did she really say that? That’s too much…”

The speaking voice came to an abrupt halt. Hearing the door being pushed open, the two “Zodiacs” in the room looked woodenly toward the entrance.