“Their tasks have nothing to do with me.” Earth-Ox said. “Qi Xia gave me supreme command, so I can only use strategies according to my needs.”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan nodded: “I don’t think any differently from Old Qi… Regardless of whether we’re victorious this time or not, those Zodiacs won’t be able to get out anyway.”

After saying this, he turned his head to look at Qin Dingdong: “Sister Dong… Stop overthinking everything. The more you think, the more mentally exhausted you’ll be. Since we’re here, let’s just get the job at hand done well first.”

After hearing this, Qin Dingdong slowly lowered her head: “Chen Junnan, if the ‘doors’ in the ‘Work Area’ disappear, it means we have no way to reach other places. If the doors in the ‘Interview Area’ disappear, it means even if we can be reborn inside there, we’ll have no way to come to the ‘corridor’…”

“Sister Dong…” Chen Junnan interrupted her. “You’re worrying a bit too much. Even if there really is someone who can be reborn outside or in the ‘interview rooms’… that person won’t be the current you anyway.”

“I…”

“I’ll say it again.” Chen Junnan said. “I trust Old Qi. Even if you try every means possible to stop me next, I’ll still destroy the doors here. Perhaps however much you distrust Old Qi, that’s how much I trust Old Qi.”

After hearing this, Qin Dingdong also lowered her head, contemplating what position she should ultimately decide on.

“I’ve known Old Qi for so long…” Chen Junnan let out a deep sigh. “Not a single thing he’s done has been for himself. If we don’t help him… this kid will be completely helpless.”

……

“So… do you understand now?” Qi Xia turned his head to look at an empty space and asked softly.

Baiyang’s phantom paused but didn’t speak.

Qi Xia stared blankly at that empty space for a while, then said again: “Take them directly there. You have no choice now… Perhaps you also before…”

Seeing this scene, Baiyang’s phantom couldn’t help but grin and laugh, as if looking at a complete and utter lunatic: “How pathetic. You’ve been murmuring to that empty space since just now. What, is there a second me over there?”

“A second you…?” Qi Xia paused, then looked at Baiyang and shook his head. “No… How could that be… There’s only the two of us here…”

“So you really were talking to empty space.” Baiyang nodded. “In a room with only you, you’ve completed a three-person conversation. I doubt you’ll make it to the end. Your current mental state is no different from a ‘Native,’ and no different from all the madmen I’ve seen in the Land of the End. This is the lowest level of insanity. I thought you had passed through this stage.”

“Of course I’m not as calm as you… Being too calm would lead me to failure…” Qi Xia raised a pair of grayish-white eyes to look at Baiyang. Those eyes had already become tinged with quite a bit of blood-red. “Baiyang, can you touch me?”

“Oh…?” After hearing this, Baiyang furrowed his brows slightly. “What do you think?”

“I guess you can’t.” Qi Xia slowly stood up. “That’s really troublesome… I need to get hurt now.”

Qi Xia’s statement left Baiyang feeling somewhat confused: “Getting hurt—can that make you more clear-headed?”

“Clear-headed…? I don’t need to be clear-headed right now.” Qi Xia shook his head. “But I need to make myself covered in wounds. All plans need to be executed step by step, and by then even these wounds will become part of the plan.”

He turned around, lifted the chair behind him with both hands, raised it over his head, then violently smashed it on the ground.

After the chair made a tremendous sound, it shattered into pieces. Several fragments passed through Baiyang’s body and scattered onto the floor.

Qi Xia lowered his head and picked up a broken chair leg, saying softly: “Now that the ‘Ants’ have been liberated and the ‘Heaven-level’ are dying, these rabble oppressing the ‘Land of the End’ will only leave one person remaining before dawn.”

After speaking, he brought the chair leg before his eyes and struck it hard against his own forehead. Instantly fragments flew and his forehead began to seep blood.

The Baiyang before him also furrowed his brows at this moment, blood flowing down his forehead simultaneously.

Not far away, the “Ants” were frantically searching for traces of the “Heaven-level” ones. After searching a circuit through the corridor where the Heaven-level were located, they left behind a troop responsible for attacking with full force the long-haired Heavenly-Rooster and Heavenly-Monkey.

The remaining “Ants” turned their attention to the long corridor of the “Train.” In its depths were still a large number of “eyeballs”—were they “Dao” or “Heaven-level”?

Subsequently, the “Ants” deployed like a tide, their grayish-white figures sweeping through the corridor.

Qi Xia wiped the bloodstain on his forehead, then lowered his head and picked up a second chair leg.

He paused, then spoke again: “All the ‘doors’ connecting the ‘Train’ to the outside are completely destroyed and can never be entered or exited. Everyone will be trapped in place. Having lost the template for all ‘doors,’ even ‘Clever Objects’ and ‘Imitations’ have no way to perfectly replicate them. Before dawn, there will only be one door remaining that can lead to the outside world.”

He extended his arm and forcefully struck the chair leg against his own arm, breaking it. The tremendous pain made him furrow his brows slightly.

Baiyang also slowly reached out to cover his own arm, but remained silent throughout, watching Qi Xia.

He felt that things seemed a bit out of control, yet Qi Xia, as the mastermind of this operation, didn’t seem to have noticed the problem.

Earth-Ox and Chen Junnan spread out on both sides, wantonly destroying all the “doors.” Qin Dingdong behind them had some misgivings before, but now things had reached a point of no return. She could only hesitate for a moment before joining the team and destroying the “doors” together with Jin Yuanxun.

Perhaps she didn’t trust Qi Xia from the bottom of her heart, but rather trusted Chen Junnan.

Qi Xia lowered his head again and picked up a third chair leg. After thinking for a while, he said: “Qinglong will be entangled by the strongest combat power in the ‘Land of the End.’ These two people represent the resentment of countless people. They will force Qinglong into the ultimate desperate situation. Even if Qinglong can really survive by luck, the ‘Calamity Water’ will cross thousands of mountains and rivers, overcome all spatial obstacles to come to his side, and draw the final period on the battle situation for him.”

After finishing, he gripped the chair leg in reverse and struck toward his own chest. The chair leg also broke, and both Qi Xia and Baiyang coughed once.

“Wait a minute…” Baiyang reached out to cover his own chest, then furrowed his brows tightly. “Are you really clear-headed right now…”

Qi Xia didn’t speak, only letting out a deep sigh.

Zhang Shan and Qiao Jiajin continuously surrounded and attacked Qinglong from both sides in the spacious front car space. Although Qinglong had already summoned his full concentration, neither of these two were ordinary people. Each of their attacks was extremely cunning.

Although they weren’t quite clear why Qinglong still hadn’t unleashed his “Echo” until now, the two knew they didn’t have many opportunities. They could only unleash all their killing moves during the limited time available, striving to subdue Qinglong in the shortest time possible.