“Oh…?” Qi Xia slowly raised the corners of his mouth. “If that’s your answer, then your collar… will probably need to be replaced with a new one.”

“You…!” Earth-Mouse once again widened those pure black eyes of his, and the whiskers on his face kept trembling.

“I saw it,” Qi Xia said. “I saw the ‘path’ to victory in this game.”

Earth-Mouse was left speechless by Qi Xia’s few short words.

“So what if you saw it…?”

“I’d rather ask you—what’s your purpose in doing this?” Qi Xia reached out to fiddle with Earth-Mouse’s collar and continued in a low voice, “Did someone threaten you? Do you have to wear this collar yourself to obtain fresh fruits as bargaining chips?”

“I… don’t understand.” Earth-Mouse swallowed slightly and stepped back two more steps. “Wait here. The game will begin in ten minutes. I’ll start my actions in advance and initiate the first night.”

He turned around dejectedly, closed the door on everyone, and before leaving, gave Qi Xia one last strange look.

Only after the door was completely closed did Qi Xia walk to a chair beside him and sit down without another word, having already formed a plan in his mind.

Not a single ‘Zodiac’ would directly agree to this request, but their expressions could reveal a lot of information.

The four people beside him were clearly somewhat confused seeing him so calm.

“Hey, team leader,” Luo Shiyi called out. “It’s time for you to show your skills.”

“Show my skills?” Qi Xia raised his eyebrows and asked back, “Is there really a need to show skills in such a simple game? Everyone just improvise.”

“Improvise…?” Luo Shiyi felt somewhat angry after hearing this. “If we’re all just improvising ourselves, what’s the point of you leading us?”

“Qian Wu said he wanted me and you all to understand each other. Isn’t this a good opportunity?” Qi Xia raised his head and asked, “The game is about to start. Why don’t you tell me—what strategy do you all plan to use next?”

After hearing this, Qiu Shiliu directly reached out and pulled Luo Shiyi. “Damn, he wants to freeload off our ideas. Don’t bother with him. We can discuss it ourselves!”

“Hey hey! Count me in! Count me in!” Wang Ba twisted his body and came to Qiu Shiliu’s side. Qiu Shiliu looked impatient and dodged aside.

They said they would ‘discuss,’ but the four people just stared at each other blankly, all waiting for the other to speak first.

“How about… Sister Liu comes up with a plan…” Luo Shiyi said. “You have the highest seniority. Even if what you say is wrong… we’ll damn well accept it.”

“Tsk, what do you mean?!” Zhou Liu’s temper flared up immediately. “I haven’t even said a damn word yet—how is it already wrong?”

“Sigh!” Luo Shiyi shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. After all, we haven’t participated in ‘games’ for many years, let alone ‘Earth-level’ ones. What Earth-level games are like now is just hearsay. It wouldn’t be strange to lose.”

“Tsk!! How did we already lose?!” Zhou Liu swung the iron rod in her hand and pointed at Wang Ba, saying to everyone, “Don’t we still have this damn turtle?”

“Huh?!” Wang Ba slowly opened his eyes after hearing this, but his eyes were truly too small. Even after trying hard to open them, they were barely visible. “What does it have to do with me? What difference does having me make?”

“Tsk, you have a smart brain!” Zhou Liu turned and shouted at him. “Aren’t you highly educated? Quickly help think of a strategy!”

After hearing this, Luo Shiyi also nodded. “That’s right! Damn turtle, it’s time to use you!”

Wang Ba looked at Luo Shiyi after hearing this. “Why are you also calling me ‘damn turtle’? Shouldn’t you call me ‘Brother Ba’?”

“I really can’t bring myself to say it,” Luo Shiyi shook his head. “In the past, someone like you would have been beaten to death by me.”

Wang Ba rubbed his chin after hearing this and said, “Sigh, such disrespect. But it’s not impossible for me to come up with a plan… If my plan is reliable, I want Sister Liu to kiss me once.”

After saying this, he extended his chubby finger and pointed at his cheek. “Just kiss here.”

After hearing this, Zhou Liu’s face showed a trace of cold laughter. “Tsk, come here now.”

“You want to kiss now?!”

“Tsk, I’ll open a hole in your face right now so that when you drink water, it all spills out.”

Wang Ba showed an extremely exaggerated fearful expression after hearing this. “Sister Liu! I’m so cute! How can you hit me?!”

“Haven’t I hit you enough times already?!” Zhou Liu picked up her rod and was about to walk forward. “Tsk, as soon as I knew I was on a team with you, I got inexplicably furious.”

“No, no, no!” Wang Ba really seemed to submit. “I have a plan, I really have a plan.”

Qiu Shiliu said with tightly furrowed brows on the side, “Then hurry up and say it! Sister Liu is getting angry…”

“Hehe, it’s very simple. Each round, we only send out one ‘Mouse’ to search for food, and each time we bring back three fruits. This way it’ll be very safe.”

Zhou Liu was slightly stunned after hearing this. “That doesn’t seem right… We have five people, but we only send one person out each time?”

“Yes, Sister Liu.” Wang Ba nodded. “If all five people enter different rooms, the probability of losing one teammate is one hundred percent. But if we only send out one person each time, his failure probability is one in five, which is twenty percent.”

Qi Xia shook his head helplessly after hearing this but still didn’t speak.

“That still doesn’t seem right,” Zhou Liu asked. “There’s also the ‘mousetrap’ thing… which means this person’s chance of being caught is at least two in five.”

“Two in five is only forty percent! And even if they’re caught, it’s not a problem.” Wang Ba shook his head. “This is the most steady and safe method. Once we discover the next day that our teammate hasn’t returned, we’ll know they were caught. At that point, we still only send out one ‘Mouse’ to ‘search,’ and additionally send one person to ‘rescue.’ This way we can guarantee our teammates can be rescued every time.”

After hearing this, everyone felt Wang Ba’s plan seemed feasible, but Zhou Liu always felt there was a slight flaw somewhere.

She lowered her head and thought for a while. Unable to figure it out, she turned and asked Qi Xia, “Hey, what’s your opinion?”

After hearing this, Qi Xia nodded and said, “Before I give my opinion, I want to confirm—is this man called Wang Ba already the smartest among you?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Qiu Shiliu said. “Do we look like educated people to you?”

“Good, very good.” Qi Xia nodded, then looked at Wang Ba and said, “I don’t quite understand something—are you planning to use such a crude plan to lead your colleagues here to their deaths?”

“To their deaths…?” Wang Ba frowned after hearing this. “What are you saying? How could I possibly let such a beautiful Sister Liu die?”

“How truly sad. The Sister Liu you speak of trusts you so much, saying she’ll follow your plan…” Qi Xia sighed helplessly. “But as soon as you open your mouth, you reveal your stupidity. Looking at your physique, you’re not good at combat either. Now I’ve discovered you’re not smart either… I may be a bit abrupt, but I really want to ask—what’s the point of you staying in ‘Cat’…?”

“You!!” This time Wang Ba was truly enraged. He extended his chubby finger and pointed at Qi Xia, shouting loudly, “Are you trying to sow discord here?!”