Heavenly-Dog seemed unable to care about so much anymore. Seeing Yan Zhichun still hesitating, he could only speak:

“Yan Zhichun, I’ll be honest with you… I know you have a friendship with Baiyang. Right now, the only thing you need to consider is… whether to remain loyal to Baiyang unto death, or to consider the overall plan. After all, your people have also suffered countless losses in this battle… Don’t you need to give them an explanation?”

Only then did Yan Zhichun realize that Heavenly-Dog knew a lot of information. He had very likely once observed her every move.

“Fine…” Yan Zhichun swallowed, “Even if I can cast ‘Soul Stealing’ into this ‘Energy Storage’… I have no way to guarantee that I can definitely seize other people’s rationality… After all, I’ve never done this before.”

“You still don’t understand…” Heavenly-Dog sighed, “All three of you from ‘Extreme Path’ are here. Since you’ve already brought ‘Activation’ and ‘Karma’, this is no longer a question of whether you alone can do it. The three of you working together will definitely accomplish it.”

“The three of us…?” Yan Zhichun was stunned for a long time, “Could it be that even the current lineup was arranged by Qi Xia… Don’t make things up… Such an improbable thing…”

She seemed to lose confidence the more she spoke, involuntarily turning her head to look at Zheng Yingxiong.

Zheng Yingxiong seemed to understand Yan Zhichun’s meaning, then shook his head: “Sister… the other party truly isn’t lying…”

He had thought that this statement would put Yan Zhichun at ease, but this time the situation was somewhat different from before.

This statement didn’t reassure Yan Zhichun, but instead made her feel that even Zheng Yingxiong’s appearance was part of the plan.

Under normal circumstances, as long as Zheng Yingxiong spoke up, Yan Zhichun would believe the other party and execute the plan.

So Heavenly-Dog had said from the very beginning… Qi Xia had him bring herself, Jiang Ruoxue, Lin Qin, and Zheng Yingxiong through the door.

What kind of bizarre feeling was this?

The life she had worked so hard to build, in the end, was merely a game of chess planned by others. This feeling made her begin to doubt herself once again.

No… not just herself.

Was Lin Qin’s appearance reasonable?

Was all of her life in the ‘Land of the End’… reasonable?

…

“She will eventually go mad.”

Qi Xia slowly closed his eyes, speaking: “Because she is simply too intelligent… There are always people in this world who think they are clear-headed, but the mad are inherently mad, and she cannot escape it.”

…

Yan Zhichun turned around, staring at Lin Qin and Jiang Ruoxue behind her for a long time before finally realizing where the sense of dissonance lay.

Thinking carefully, all the prominent figures of ‘Extreme Path’… were almost all personally recruited by Jiang Ruoxue.

Whether it was Old Sun, Old Deng, Auntie Tong, Xiao Xiao, or even that old man who dug the ground—they were all the same. Even Zhoumo, the only one who didn’t seem to be recruited by Jiang Ruoxue, came from the same room as her.

But what about those people she herself had recruited…?

She had never tried to figure out one question… Who exactly was Jiang Ruoxue?

Was this organization that regarded her as leader and followed her to fight onto the ‘train’ truly related to her?

If one had to use ‘Karma’ to explain all of this, wouldn’t that be too far-fetched…

“Zhichun… your eyes look somewhat off…” Jiang Ruoxue stepped forward, asking with a worried expression, “What are you thinking about? Don’t keep it to yourself, let’s discuss it together.”

“Don’t speak…” Yan Zhichun said with furrowed brows, her whole body trembling slightly as she spoke, “From now on… no one should think they can command me to do anything…”

“Zhichun…” Jiang Ruoxue looked somewhat puzzled at Lin Qin beside her after hearing this, and even Lin Qin didn’t know what to do.

“I don’t need anyone to give me advice right now…” Yan Zhichun’s eyes gradually turned cold, “I only need to think for myself…”

She silently stepped back, seemingly drawing a clear line between herself and the people before her.

“Zhichun… what’s wrong with you?” Jiang Ruoxue was somewhat confused, “Don’t let Heavenly-Dog influence you… With just a few words from him, how did you…”

“No…” Yan Zhichun shook her head, “How is this just a matter of a few words… There are too many problems here…”

The two watched Yan Zhichun’s slightly trembling figure but never knew what to say to calm her down.

“A good friend who always appears at critical moments… An ‘Extreme Path’ member as veteran as me who descended from the heavens… Plus a child who can ‘detect lies’ who came all the way from another city to join… Ha…” Yan Zhichun laughed bitterly, “Now they’re all gathered here, just perfectly able to execute an important mission… Am I the only one who finds this situation extremely bizarre?”

“Bizarre…” A sad expression gradually flashed across Jiang Ruoxue’s face, “Zhichun, we’ve known each other for so many years… and you actually call this experience ‘bizarre’? Although there are many coincidences that you can’t understand, if I wanted to harm you, why would I wait until now?”

“My heart is dirty.” Yan Zhichun stared at Jiang Ruoxue and said, “Standing from my extremely selfish perspective, I really have no way to understand how someone could help me for so many years without seeking any return. You tell me that’s my ‘Karma’… but for what reason did you want to create this ‘Karma’? Who is behind you?”

“I don’t need to create ‘Karma’ for any person or any matter.” Jiang Ruoxue answered decisively, “Because my very existence is ‘Karma’ itself.”

“I’ve had enough.” Yan Zhichun interrupted with furrowed brows, “Right now I’ll complete the final task Qi Xia arranged. In exchange, from the next moment on, none of you can interfere with my life anymore… Thinking I’m clever while living a life toyed with by others will make me feel tremendous frustration.”

The air gradually quieted at this moment.

Jiang Ruoxue remained silent for a long time, then said with a sad expression: “Zhichun, I’ve said… no matter what you want to do, I will support you… Even now, you can use my ‘Karma’…”

After hearing this, Lin Qin also nodded: “I also have reasons why I must liberate this place. Whether you believe I’m ‘Activation’ or not, I will join this operation.”

…

“I’ve given you long enough, haven’t I…” Qi Xia murmured, “The entire ‘train’ hasn’t made a single movement… Do I need to go over there and say it myself?”

As soon as his words fell, a faint sound of movement suddenly came from the doorway.

According to Qi Xia’s calculations, at this time it should be the trio of Tiantian completing their mission and returning to forge a brand new ‘door’. He expressionlessly raised his head, preparing to face what was about to happen next.

But when he looked toward the doorway, things rarely once again exceeded his expectations.

The visitor was none other than the ‘Variable’.

“Young man…” An old man with a dirty face poked his head in, revealing a complex smile, “I didn’t expect… it would be you inside?”

Qi Xia slowly frowned, looking at the old man before him, seemingly sorting through the direction of events.

“Heavenly-Dog, I’ll give you a final two minutes. Otherwise, after daybreak, you won’t survive.”

…

“Damn it…” Heavenly-Dog cursed through gritted teeth, though it was unclear who he was cursing, “What exactly is the difference between you, Heavenly-Dragon, and Qinglong…”

He raised his head to look at the three young women before him.

Although things had been delayed for a while, the three of them seemed to have reached a consensus on a certain viewpoint, and were now walking together toward the workbench.