“You mean…” Heavenly-Snake’s expression became flustered for a moment, then he furrowed his brow. “That old hag actually dares to trick me…?”

Seeing his expression, Qi Xia secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Even “Heavenly”-levels had their weaknesses.

Their difference from “Participants” wasn’t that great.

Before meeting these “Heavenly-levels,” Qi Xia’s greatest worry was that these people would be united as one. In that case, he would have no way to deal with this powerful steel-forged team.

But now it seemed that each “Heavenly” had their own independent thoughts, and their relationships were not harmonious.

This was simply tremendous good news.

“But why do I feel…” Heavenly-Snake slowly furrowed his brow. “This statement you made sounds so familiar…? It seems… it seems like someone has said this to me before…”

He slowly approached Qi Xia, his cunning eyes beneath the thick glasses constantly searching for the direction of Qi Xia’s pupils.

“Your scheming runs deep…” Heavenly-Snake murmured. “Have we… met before?”

“We…” Qi Xia took a deep breath and directly lowered his head, making fierce eye contact with Heavenly-Snake’s pupils. “Probably… haven’t met, right?”

The instant their pupils collided, the information brought to Heavenly-Snake was far too overwhelming. Like a bomb exploding in his mind, it made him instantly close his eyes.

“What… what is this…?” Heavenly-Snake furrowed his brow and stepped back two paces, slowly covering his eyes. “Such chaotic thoughts… Just how many things are you thinking about?”

“I’m just an ordinary participant…” Qi Xia took a deep breath, moved his gaze away, and stared at Heavenly-Snake’s nose again. “Everything I think about is to keep myself alive. It’s just that this place is nearly driving me insane.”

“An ordinary participant…?” Heavenly-Snake raised his eyes to look at Qi Xia. Those pupils had given him explosive amounts of information in an instant, but those pieces of information were like fine threads floating in the air—in his panic, he hadn’t caught a single one. “I, I don’t believe an ordinary participant would have this kind of thinking…”

“Well then… maybe I’ve read a bit more than others?” Qi Xia said.

“Read more…?” This statement seemed to ignite Heavenly-Snake’s strange competitive spirit. “Are you very learned?”

“That depends on who I’m comparing with.” Qi Xia replied.

“What about with me?”

“I can’t say.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Based on speculation alone, I cannot judge how much knowledge you possess.”

“Then that’s too simple…” Heavenly-Snake smiled. “Listen to the question.”

“Hey!” Qian Wu stepped forward, wanting to reach out and touch Heavenly-Snake, but Heavenly-Snake dodged him. “What gives you the right to quiz my person? Did you ask my permission?”

“Hey…” Heavenly-Snake laughed. “Just making friends through knowledge, making friends through knowledge!”

“Listen to the question…?” Qi Xia also found this somewhat interesting. “What question do you want to ask?”

Heavenly-Snake walked around Qian Wu and slowly looked at Qi Xia. “What is the ‘Bamboo Principle’?”

Hearing this question, Qi Xia slowly raised the corners of his mouth. So this was the “Snake” who loved Q&A the most?

“What do you want to bet with me?” Qi Xia asked.

“What…?”

This time it was Qi Xia’s turn to press forward step by step. “Your Q&A looks very much like a ‘game.’ Since it’s a ‘game,’ why don’t we have a proper wager? If I answer correctly, what price are you prepared to pay?”

“A price…?”

This short statement immediately made Heavenly-Snake furrow his brow.

This man seemed somewhat different from others.

In the past, whenever he posed a question, all the “Participants” would frantically search for answers. But this man’s first thought was to establish the “stakes”?

“What do you want to bet…?” Heavenly-Snake asked tentatively.

“If I answer correctly, you die. How about that?” Qi Xia asked.

After hearing this, Heavenly-Snake slowly revealed a smile. “Heh, heh heh… What are you thinking? This isn’t ‘Heavenly-Snake Moment.’ It’s just a small test on my part at the ‘recruitment’ level… It’s also a special right granted to me by ‘Heavenly-Dragon’… Did you think I would initiate a game so easily?”

“Then what’s the point?” Qi Xia said again. “What benefit is there to me if I answer such a simple question correctly?”

“So you’re saying you’re very knowledgeable…?” Heavenly-Snake smiled. “Do you want to become my assistant…? We can master the most cutting-edge technology in the entire ‘Land of the End’…”

“Not interested.” Qi Xia replied. “How about this—if I can answer correctly, you tell me that method you mentioned earlier… the one for making ‘native residents’ activate ‘Echoes.’ How about it?”

“Hiss…” After hearing this, Heavenly-Snake rolled his eyes, reached up to stroke his chin, pondered for a while, and said, “That would be far too cheap for you. Three questions then. If you can answer all three questions, I’ll share that method with you.”

After hearing this, Qi Xia smiled slightly. “Then I should say this first… The questions you ask must have answers.”

“Don’t worry… I wouldn’t do something as shameless as cheating…”

“That’s good then.”

Hearing Qi Xia say these three words, Heavenly-Snake felt he might have underestimated his opponent somewhat. But there were many people in this world who loved to deceive, so he might just be bluffing.

“If you can’t answer the three questions…”

“I die.” Qi Xia said.

After hearing this, Heavenly-Snake nodded expressionlessly.

Qi Xia thought for one second and answered, “The Bamboo Law states that bamboo spent four years growing only three centimeters. But starting from the fifth year, it grows rapidly at a rate of thirty centimeters per day. Within six weeks, the bamboo can grow wildly to fifteen meters. This is because during the first four years, the bamboo’s roots had already extended hundreds of square meters in the soil. This is a commonly used law to encourage people to accumulate strength before making a breakthrough.”

“You…” After hearing this, Heavenly-Snake wanted to say something but still held his breath and said, “Second question. Listen to the question.”

“Please.”

“The Ogilvy Rule…?”

“In a team, if you recruit people who are all stronger than yourself, then that team will be invincible.” Qi Xia answered without hesitation. “This is the Ogilvy Rule.”

Having two questions broken through by Qi Xia in succession, Heavenly-Snake’s expression visibly changed.

He had lived so much longer than others, and the knowledge he had painstakingly learned from books was actually answered in one second. This was a situation he had never encountered while walking through the “Land of the End.”

“Ask the third question.” Qi Xia said in a commanding tone. “Victory or defeat will be determined soon. Don’t waste time.”

“I…” Heavenly-Snake slowly furrowed his brow. Although he really liked learned people, he liked winning even more.

He had seen many people in the “Land of the End,” but not one person was as learned as the man before him.

As his mind was in complete chaos, the figure of Zhang Chenze slowly emerged in his thoughts.

Also three questions… but that woman had won against him at the final moment?

“That’s right… I can’t be rigid either…” Heavenly-Snake slowly revealed a smile. “This question… will let you die clearly understanding why.”

“Speak.”

“When I… was still in the real world… before going to work every day, I would go to the breakfast stall downstairs to eat my favorite breakfast. No matter what season it was, I loved going to eat there… because it was really very convenient for me… What was I eating…?”

After hearing this question, Qi Xia’s expression slowly revealed a trace of contempt.

“Heavenly-Snake… you make me look down on you.” Qi Xia said. “Bringing out this kind of question—can it prove you’re smarter than me?”