“A very strange vote-counting method.” Qinglong shook his head. “It looks like Heavenly Dragon got two votes, but you haven’t calculated who Heavenly Dragon wants to kill.”

“A person who’s always been sleeping—we don’t need to worry about who he wants to kill.” Qi Xia added, “If you’ve made up your mind, then arrange things according to the list. I need these people’s memories to be relatively clean. Those who are familiar with them and have close relationships need to be dealt with one by one. I want them to think I’m their only teammate.”

“This really is a grand undertaking.” Qinglong said. “For the sake of insurance, I need to know the reasons these people are entering the room.”

“Are we going to keep suspecting each other like this?” Qi Xia asked in return. “I’ve promised you I’ll make a move against Heavenly Dragon. That’s still not enough?”

“This isn’t called mutual suspicion, but rather entrusting each other with sincerity.” Qinglong answered. “If I understand your plan clearly, I’ll trust you more.”

“Very well.” Qi Xia nodded and reached out to point at the two names “Qiao Jiajin” and “Chen Junnan,” then said, “After my long-term observation, I’ve discovered these two people have extremely great utility. The first person can ensure my survival probability increases, and the second person can ensure my death probability decreases.”

Qinglong looked at the names on the paper in silence, then raised his head to look at Qi Xia: “Two ‘shields,’ right?”

“Yes.” Qi Xia nodded. “I’ll find a way to gain their trust, then have them use their own lives to help me survive to the end. That’s their only purpose.”

“I feel you’re also gradually departing from the realm of ordinary mortals.” Qinglong smiled. “Two people willing to give their lives for you—will you feel at ease letting them die?”

“My target is Heavenly Dragon. Whether these two people die or not… what does that have to do with me?” Qi Xia looked at Qinglong with cold eyes, his attitude brooking no doubt. “When they’re useless, I’ll decisively abandon them. After all, everyone is a chess piece.”

“Good, I really appreciate this about you.” Qinglong nodded. “What about the others?”

Qi Xia was silent for a few seconds, then reached out to point at “Li Shangwu” and “Zhao Haibo,” then said: “The first of these two can reliably take people’s lives, and the second can reliably break through mechanisms. Their existence can ensure I’m invincible in games and always survive.”

After hearing this, Qinglong’s mouth curved slightly: “Qi Xia… I take back what I said just now… you’re still a mortal.”

“How so?”

“In a room with eight people, four of them are all to protect your own life…” Qinglong shook his head. “This kind of choice isn’t the style of a ‘god.'”

“Fine.” Qinglong nodded. “What about the people after that?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia fell silent again for a few seconds, then reached out to point at “Han Yimo”: “This is special forces personnel I’ve planted in the room who can attack and defend. I’ll arrange the role he can play according to different situations.”

After hearing this, Qinglong leaned back and sat up straight: “How strange. The people you’ve mentioned seem very capable, yet I’ve almost never heard of their names in ‘Taoyuan.'”

“‘Famous and renowned’ people are not within my consideration.” Qi Xia said. “People who are too famous have memories that are very hard to be ‘relatively clean.’ Even if they don’t remember others, others may still remember them. This will affect my future actions.”

“Don’t want the ‘famous and renowned,’ but instead selected some ‘relatively mediocre’ people…” Qinglong raised his eyes to look at Qi Xia. “Are you sure this strategy is reasonable?”

“‘Relatively mediocre’?” Qi Xia shook his head. “No, I never said they were mediocre. In my hands, they may be the strongest team.”

“Why is that?”

“Because each of them has a knot in their heart. These knots are like shackles weighing them down. Perhaps only I can unlock them.” Qi Xia answered. “Once they release their shackles, they’ll leap from the ‘mediocrity’ in your mouth to become top figures who dominate the world.”

Qinglong looked at the note on the table with doubt, then said: “Eight future top figures…?”

“Oh, of course not.” Qi Xia shook his head. “The last few people each have other reasons.”

After saying this, he reached out to point at “Zhang Lijuan”: “This person has exquisite ‘Crafted Objects.’ I need to get close to her to seek a way to break Heavenly Dragon’s ‘Crafted Objects.’ Moreover, her ability can also help the team overcome difficulties many times.”

Qinglong felt that the more he listened to Qi Xia’s words, the more flaws appeared. Even if Heavenly Dragon had “Crafted Objects,” why would killing a sleeping Heavenly Dragon require breaking his “Crafted Objects”?

Before Qinglong finished contemplating, Qi Xia reached out again to point at “Zhang Chenze”: “I once owed this person a favor. She helped me a great deal, and I also promised to recruit her into the team. This was a mutually beneficial deal she actively proposed, so I wrote down her name.”

Qinglong didn’t speak, only waited for Qi Xia to introduce that last name.

“As for her…” Qi Xia placed his finger on “Xiao Ran” and fell silent for a few seconds again before saying, “There weren’t any suitable people left, so I used her to make up the numbers.”

“Do you think I’ll believe that?” Qinglong frowned. “You wrote down these eight people’s names yourself and then handed it to me. Do you think I’ll believe one of them is just there to make up the numbers?”

“So I didn’t fool you even with that…” Qi Xia nodded. “She really isn’t just there to make up numbers, it’s just that I’m somewhat ashamed to speak of it.”

“Even you are ashamed to speak of it…?” Qinglong laughed lightly. “Now I’m even more curious.”

“Some people need her to activate their ‘Echo.'” Qi Xia said. “So I had no choice but to bring her into the room.”

“Oh… I don’t want to hear about mortals’ sordid affairs.” Qinglong tapped the paper with his finger and considered for a moment before saying, “But I seem to understand. You need someone who can help everyone activate ‘Celestial Arts’ to join the room, is that right? I’ll help you find this person. That counts as contributing to this plan.”

“Ha…” Qinglong’s words thoroughly amused Qi Xia. “You find someone who can help us activate ‘Echo’… then I won’t be able to trust anyone in this room.”

“So distant?” Qinglong shook his head. “I just want to help you. Perhaps I happen to have someone on hand who’s competent for this kind of task.”

“Planting a needle by my side is not a wise move.” Qi Xia said. “There isn’t a single ‘needle’ that can avoid exposing itself before me. Perhaps I’ll directly perceive your plan through the ‘needle.’ I advise you to be cautious.”

After hearing this, Qinglong’s eyes shifted slightly. He seemed not to have given up on this plan, but was instead contemplating something.