Chu Tianqiu waved his hand, and Xiao Nian and Zhang Shan walked out of the classroom.

“Song Qi, have a seat.” Chu Tianqiu gestured with his hand.

Song Qi nodded and unceremoniously dragged over a chair to sit down.

“What do you want to ask?” Chu Tianqiu smiled.

“We’re looking for a ‘massive Echo,'” Song Qi said. “Brother Wu personally gave the order.”

“Oh?” Chu Tianqiu raised his eyebrows. “A ‘massive Echo’?”

“That’s right,” Song Qi nodded. “Brother Wu suspects that this ‘Echoer’ triggered the ‘Echo’ because of our large-scale attack, so you should know something about it.”

“Yes, of course I know,” Chu Tianqiu smiled with some delight. “I spent ten million to buy the lives of the entire Cat team, naturally for this ‘massive Echo.'”

“I want to know who he is,” Song Qi said.

“Is that possible?” Chu Tianqiu extended his slender fingers to touch his reddened lips. “I’m the one who paid, so the ‘answer’ can only be seen by me.”

“We can exchange with you,” Song Qi said with a frown. “Although we can’t come up with ten million, we can help you do things of equivalent value.”

“Ha!” Chu Tianqiu laughed loudly. “Do you think I care about ten million?!”

“Then you…?”

“Song Qi, whose assignment did Qian Wu take this time?” Chu Tianqiu changed the topic and asked.

“This… according to the rules, we cannot disclose client information.”

“Hahahaha!” Chu Tianqiu laughed several times, then leaned back and said softly, “Song Qi… this ‘client’ personally went to find Qian Wu and had the ‘Cats’ mobilize again in full force except for the leader and deputy leader, killing their way to ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ with such aggression. Is he richer than me?”

Song Qi remained silent.

“So he very likely didn’t pay at all,” Chu Tianqiu said. “To be able to make Qian Wu do such a thing in the ‘Land of Finality’ without spending a penny, he must be a ‘big shot,’ right?”

“Stop guessing,” Song Qi interrupted. “To protect client privacy, even if you guess correctly, I won’t admit it.”

“Protect privacy… ha.” Chu Tianqiu’s expression suddenly changed, and he asked with some ferocity, “Tell me, what about them is worth protecting?!”

Song Qi pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “In any case, the ‘Cats’ cannot break the rules.”

“Fine.” Chu Tianqiu nodded, put away his smile, and changed his tone. “Then I want to know what the ‘Cats” stance is. After finding that ‘massive Echo,’ what will you do?”

“I don’t know that,” Song Qi shook his head. “I never ask about the details when Brother Wu does things. I only know we need to bring that person to see him.”

After a moment of silence, Chu Tianqiu spoke. “Song Qi, if this action would make the ‘Cats’ enemies with all the ‘Participants,’ would you still do it without hesitation?”

“What do you mean?” Song Qi asked.

“You and I both have two years of retained memories and should know that an ‘Echo’ of this magnitude has never appeared before. He could very likely change the pattern of the ‘Land of Finality’ and could even be everyone’s hope of escape.” Chu Tianqiu wiped his lips again. “And the purpose of the ‘big shot’ who hired you is naturally to prevent this from happening. Even so… will you still help him?”

Song Qi was silent for a long time before speaking. “Chu Tianqiu, you should know… the reason the ‘Cats’ have been able to survive peacefully until now is precisely because we don’t interfere with changes in the ‘Land of Finality.’ Whether it’s the ‘Zodiacs,’ the ‘Extreme Path,’ the ‘Participants,’ or any other organization, we treat them all equally.”

“So you treat the ‘Land of Finality’ as your workplace?” Chu Tianqiu found the person before him so pitiful it was laughable. “Going home once every ten days, and spending the rest of the days earning money for your families here?”

“Isn’t that good?” Song Qi moved his shoulders to make himself more comfortable in his seat, then smiled bitterly. “We know we’re deeply sinful. Even if we go back, we’ll die. Moreover, in the real world… we couldn’t possibly earn this much money for our families.”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu nodded. “So the ‘Cats” ultimate motive is similar to the ‘Extreme Path’? You want to protect this place? After all, for you, this is a ‘coal mine’ where you can dig for gold.”

“That’s not quite right either,” Song Qi shook his head. “We can only say we go along with fate. If we can make money, naturally that’s best.”

“Good, then I understand.” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “This ‘massive Echo’ is the key to my ‘escape.’ It’s very difficult for me to tell you who he is.”

“Is there completely no room for negotiation?” Song Qi asked again.

“We can negotiate…” Chu Tianqiu pondered. “But my price is very high.”

“Tell me.”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu looked at the many Cat team members sitting in place on the playground and spoke. “How many people did you bring?”

“Eighteen,” Song Qi answered.

“How many have ‘Echoed’?”

“Six.”

“Ha…” Chu Tianqiu laughed again. He slowly stood up, walked in front of Song Qi, bent down, brought his face close to the other’s, and spoke word by word. “I want all of your right hands, one per person. Leave them with me now.”

Song Qi’s brow furrowed slightly, then he showed an angry smile. “Chu Tianqiu… you’re truly mad enough…”

“Don’t misunderstand, Song Qi.” Chu Tianqiu straightened up. “This isn’t a threat or a declaration of war, just ‘business.’ You can refuse, and you can also haggle.”

“One right hand per person—what will I get?”

“I’ll tell you who that person is,” Chu Tianqiu said. “If you’re willing to pay more and leave both hands from each person, or the corpses of six ‘Echoers,’ I’ll rally all of ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ to help you capture him together.”

Song Qi’s expression gradually darkened. “In other words… if we want to complete the mission, we need to leave at least eighteen hands.”

“You can also break the rules.” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “We can directly declare war on each other. ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ currently has about five or six ‘Echoers,’ so we can be considered evenly matched.”

“That doesn’t align with the mission. Brother Wu won’t be satisfied.” Song Qi quickly pulled out a dagger from his waist. “I’ll offer my right hand first.”

Chu Tianqiu slowly moved closer to Song Qi. “Can such an old blade even cut off a right hand?”

Song Qi looked at his right wrist and remained silent for a moment.

“Cut it…” Chu Tianqiu stared straight at Song Qi’s right hand.

“Standing so close, be careful blood doesn’t splash on your face.”

Chu Tianqiu slowly extended a finger and pointed at his left eye. “My eye is very cold. Splash it here.”

Song Qi frowned, then the dagger entered flesh with a muffled sound. A small jet of blood spurted up, splashing precisely onto Chu Tianqiu’s left eyeball.

Chu Tianqiu didn’t blink. Instead, with a smile on his face, he moved his pupil slightly, letting the blood spread evenly across his eyeball. Then, staring with his red, warm left eye, a trace of bloody tears flowed down. This bloody tear made his refined features look even more bizarre.

Song Qi threw his right hand on the ground, then removed his belt and wrapped it tightly around his wrist. Throughout the entire process, he didn’t make a sound, but his forehead already had a thin layer of sweat.

“I take back what I said.” Chu Tianqiu smiled as he wiped away the bloody tear, then lightly licked his finger. “Your blade is excellent.”

“I also take back what I said earlier…” Song Qi said with a pale face. “You truly do have the bearing of a ‘leader.'”