“No need for greetings,” the girl came to sit down by the table. “They’re probably our opponents.”

“Oh… is that so?” The boy smiled awkwardly. “Is this a battle card game?”

“Excellent!!” The Earth-Chicken roared. “Four people are here!! Now I’ll announce the game rules!!”

Qi Xia, Doctor Zhao, the boy, and the girl sat around the square table.

The Earth-Chicken then reached out and picked up the cards on the table. He drew five cards from the deck and placed them on the table.

Everyone leaned forward to look. These five cards each had images drawn on them.

A knife, a stick, a rope, a stone, and a shield.

“My game is called ‘Weapon Cards’!!” The Earth-Chicken laughed and roared. “You will engage in the most spectacular contest before me!!”

Qi Xia looked at these five cards and couldn’t help but fall into contemplation.

Using cards… to engage in combat?

“In the time ahead, only one person from each team can sit at the square table!” The Earth-Chicken said. “And the remaining person must enter the glass room!”

Everyone simultaneously turned their heads to look at the glass room beside them.

“The person who enters the room is called the ‘Combatant’! The person who remains at the table is called the ‘Strategist’!” The Earth-Chicken continued introducing the rules with exaggerated gestures. “The ‘Strategist’ will play cards each round, and the props on the cards will be the props used by the ‘Combatant’!!”

“So that’s how it is…” Qi Xia slowly narrowed his eyes.

“When the game begins, each ‘Strategist’ draws five cards. Afterward, they play one card per round and draw one card the next round, until one or both sides’ ‘Combatants’ die! Incidentally, there are also two ‘Life Cards’ and one ‘Death Card’ in the deck. When you draw them, you’ll naturally discover how they’re different!”

At this moment, the expressions of Doctor Zhao and that couple slowly changed.

“One side dies?” The girl asked. “You mean the ‘Combatants’ are truly fighting to the death inside?!”

“That’s right!!” The Earth-Chicken roared. “If the game fails, it’s not just the ‘Combatant’ who will die!!”

As soon as these words fell, something suddenly popped out from the backs of everyone’s chairs and fastened around their necks.

It was a metal collar.

The collars on Qi Xia and Doctor Zhao’s necks lit up with red light, while the couple’s lit up with blue light.

“Everyone, you’re divided into two teams by color. If the collar senses that any person’s pulse has stopped beating, their teammate’s collar will explode.”

Everyone tugged forcefully at the collars on their necks, discovering they were extremely sturdy and couldn’t be moved even slightly.

“Doctor Zhao, now we ‘share life and death together,'” Qi Xia said in a low voice.

Doctor Zhao didn’t speak, but his expression didn’t look good.

The tall boy beside them couldn’t sit still. He looked extremely nervous, constantly surveying his surroundings. “What’s going on? Why is this game so dangerous?! The previous games were clearly all…”

“Zichen, it’s okay, I’m here…” The girl patted his shoulder. “No matter how difficult the games here are, we will definitely survive.”

The boy called Zichen looked at the girl and slowly nodded.

Hearing these words, Qi Xia couldn’t help but be somewhat curious about the girl before him.

Although she also seemed somewhat nervous, her complexion was normal. At this moment, she was constantly examining the surrounding environment and the playing cards on the table. Anyone who could immediately contemplate countermeasures in this kind of environment was definitely a smart person.

“Now please assign the ‘Combatant’ and ‘Strategist,'” the Earth-Chicken said.

Qi Xia slowly raised his hand and asked, “May I ask how many cards of each image pattern are there?”

“Sorry, can’t say!” The Earth-Chicken vigorously shook his head. “You can only deduce it yourselves!”

“Then how many cards are there in total?” The girl raised her hand and asked.

“Can’t say that either!” The Earth-Chicken looked at the two of them, then collected all the cards on the table, reshuffled them, and placed them in the center of the table. “Please assign roles!”

Qi Xia slowly stood up, gave Doctor Zhao a look, and the two went to the side.

“Doctor Zhao, do you usually exercise?”

“No, no way! You want me to go in?!” Doctor Zhao was stunned. He secretly glanced at the 1.9-meter-tall boy in the distance and anxiously said to Qi Xia in a low voice, “Do you think I can beat him?!”

“Otherwise…” Qi Xia scratched his head. “You stay here and use your brain, and I go in?”

“This…”

Doctor Zhao naturally knew that Qi Xia’s mind was sharper than his own. Having him stay here as the ‘Strategist’ should be the best choice.

But thinking about having to engage in ‘combat’ with that 1.9-meter-tall boy, he still couldn’t help but tremble.

“I’ll be beaten to death by him…” Doctor Zhao said quietly. “What if I get beaten to death?!”

“If you get beaten to death, I’ll die too,” Qi Xia said. “I’ll try my best to prevent that from happening.”

“Do you have confidence?”

“No,” Qi Xia shook his head. “I just wanted to come experience the ‘Earth-Chicken’s’ game. I heard I have some connection with him, so for this game I have absolutely no confidence. You and I could lose our lives at any moment.”

“You’re truly a madman!” Doctor Zhao cursed. “This ‘experience’ of yours will get both of us killed!”

“Not necessarily, right?” Qi Xia said. “Anyway, there’s no way back now. How about we give it a try?”

After hearing Qi Xia’s words, Doctor Zhao pondered repeatedly and still agreed tremblingly.

Things had already reached this point. Qi Xia could only serve as the ‘Strategist.’

As for the man and woman, they had also unsurprisingly finished their assignment. The tall boy would serve as the ‘Combatant’ and would engage in combat with Doctor Zhao.

His expression looked even more frightened than Doctor Zhao’s. The two stood in the glass room trembling from head to toe.

“You two, since you are the ‘Combatants,’ there are some rules regarding ‘Combatants’ that need to be explained to you!” The Earth-Chicken said. “When the ‘Strategist’ finishes playing their card, your prop will immediately drop from the ceiling, and you’ll also get ten seconds of action time!”

“Ten seconds…?” The two looked at each other, then looked at the Earth-Chicken.

“After ten seconds, please immediately stop your actions. Regardless of whether the opponent is dead or not, you must throw your prop into the window behind you!” The Earth-Chicken asked while swaying his head. “Aside from the action time, any combat is considered a ‘violation.’ Do you have any questions?”

The two turned around and saw that there was indeed a small window behind them.

“N-no questions…” Doctor Zhao answered.

“Very good!” The Earth-Chicken nodded, then turned back to look at Qi Xia and the girl sitting at the table.

“As for the ‘Strategists,’ I’ll reiterate the rules once more! At the start, you each hold five cards. Each round you play one card, and the next round you draw one card!” The Earth-Chicken’s voice was very noisy, making it difficult for the two to focus. “To ‘play’ a card, please place it on the table surface. Do you have any questions?”

“No questions,” the two said in unison.