“What…?”

Zhang Shan hesitated slightly. He felt that he was receiving too much information at once and couldn’t give a proper response.

“I should have understood this earlier,” Chu Tianqiu said with a smile. “I can gather the strong together… even if the numbers aren’t large, it doesn’t matter. If I can think of it… how could Qi Xia not think of it?”

“Mr. Chu… you’re saying that Zhang Shan isn’t our teammate?” Little Glasses looked at the deranged person before him with a puzzled expression. “You’re saying he came from somewhere else?”

“What else?” Chu Tianqiu asked in return. “If he weren’t a dark horse that appeared halfway through, why would small fries like you and Lu Fengxian have survived until now?”

“This…” Although Little Glasses was unwilling to admit it in his heart, what Chu Tianqiu said was indeed the truth.

“Just with you two? ‘Hardening’ and ‘Immaculate’—these ‘Echoes’ are a dime a dozen on the streets.” Chu Tianqiu slowly removed his coat. “Sorry, even if you gave me your eyeballs, I wouldn’t really want them.”

“You…”

“Zhang Shan.” Chu Tianqiu slowly extended his hand toward Zhang Shan. “Give me your eyeballs, and I promise not to harm the lives of the three of you.”

“What kind of joke is this…?” Zhang Shan frowned as he looked at Chu Tianqiu. “Considering you’ve shown me some kindness, if you asked me for something else, I’d let it go… but what does it mean to ask someone for their eyeballs?”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu’s expression turned cold, and he slowly lowered his hand.

“Zhang Shan, why haven’t you awakened yet?” Chu Tianqiu slowly closed his eyes. “In this place, let alone one eye—even one hand, one leg, one life can all be casually discarded. Countless people have been shattered to pieces in order to finally escape, yet I’m only asking you for one eye and you won’t give it?”

“Absurd,” Zhang Shan said. “I too can be shattered to pieces for everyone to escape this place, but under no circumstances would I dig out my eyeball to give to you. I think your mental state is abnormal. Chu Tianqiu, how about before you ‘Echo,’ I send you off this time.”

“I… haven’t ‘Echoed’?” Chu Tianqiu chuckled softly. “Zhang Shan, don’t be foolish. Even if you kill me here, I’ll still remember everything.”

“What?” Zhang Shan froze. “You…”

Old Lu reacted a step ahead of Zhang Shan, immediately pulling Little Glasses behind him, then puffing out his belly. However, when the black sword flew before Old Lu, it seemed to sense something and curved around his skin.

Before Old Lu could react to what was happening, the black sword was already right before Little Glasses, its tip less than twenty centimeters away from him.

Without even turning his head, Zhang Shan suddenly reached backward and accurately grasped the hilt of the “Seven Black Swords.”

This pitch-black sword instantly became like an eagle whose talons had been seized, trembling all over but unable to advance even a fraction.

“Chu Tianqiu, these past days you’ve given me food and helped me understand this place. I don’t want to make a move against you,” Zhang Shan’s tone gradually turned cold. “But must you take our lives?”

“I said, ‘life’ isn’t important at all. I only want eyeballs,” Chu Tianqiu said. “What exactly will it take for you to believe me?”

Gripping the great sword, Zhang Shan exuded a faint killing intent: “Show me.”

“Oh? What do you want to see?”

“You said my previous leader sent me here to find a thread of hope, and you are that ‘hope.'” Zhang Shan said with a heavy expression. “How can I believe that you are that person?”

“Very simple.” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “All of us have heard the ‘Zodiacs’ in the interview rooms say that they’ve gathered everyone here merely to create a ‘God,’ and I will become that ‘God.’ When I possess all divine power, the entire ‘Land of the End’ will lose its reason for existence.”

“So how will you become that ‘God’?” Zhang Shan remained motionless, saying in a low voice, “I naturally know that with my own efforts alone, whether becoming a ‘God’ or collecting three thousand six hundred ‘Dao’ are both pipe dreams. So if you have the strength to convince me, I will surrender everything I have to you right here. Let alone one eye—even my heart, I can dig out for you.”

“Zhang Shan… you…” Little Glasses and Old Lu both looked at him, feeling he was making an extremely dangerous deal.

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu nodded: “Hearing you say this… I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. The relationship between us seems to have… changed?”

“Yes,” Zhang Shan replied. “Before today, I thought I could become friends with you, so everything I did was from the perspective of a friend. After all, I wouldn’t tell my secrets even to my parents—only to brothers who are utterly devoted. But after seeing your performance today, I’m considering whether to transform from being your ‘friend’ to becoming your ‘subordinate,’ and from then on wage war across the world for you. But how should I distinguish whether you’re a ‘God’ or a ‘madman’ wandering the streets?”

“Not difficult,” Chu Tianqiu said. “If demonstrating my abilities can regain your trust, then I’m very happy to do so.”

Under the watchful gazes of the several people before him, Chu Tianqiu turned his coat inside out, and a thick bloody smell drilled into everyone’s nostrils at this moment.

Only now did everyone discover that strings were tied inside the coat, and countless eyeballs hung on those strings, like strings of candied hawthorns.

These “candied hawthorns” dripped with blood, scanning everyone with their lifeless pupils.

“This is my ‘battle garment.'” Chu Tianqiu chuckled softly, then began searching through it. “Which one should it be…”

He spread the turned-out coat in his hands and carefully selected from it, as if holding a menu to order food.

Zhang Shan kept a stern face, gripping the “Seven Black Swords” tightly in his hand. His thought was naturally quite simple—if Chu Tianqiu couldn’t produce convincing evidence here, then this sword could unhesitatingly be brought down on his head.

After all, Chu Tianqiu looked so deranged—could he really become a “God”?

“Ah! Found it!” Chu Tianqiu smiled. “This one’s good, this one has the most.”

Under everyone’s gaze, he tore down the selected eyeball, then lightly tossed it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it.

“You…” Zhang Shan’s eyes slowly widened. “Chu Tianqiu… do you know what you’re doing?”

“Zhang Shan, I want you to thoroughly know my strength.”

Chu Tianqiu slowly closed his eyes. After a moment, a low bell sound came from the distance.

*Clang*!!

Zhang Shan slightly froze, then muttered to himself: “Chu Tianqiu… you’ve been ‘Echoing’ all along. You’re a veteran ‘Echo’ user, but what is your ability?”

Chu Tianqiu didn’t answer, only slowly extending his hand: “Zhang Shan, do not use ‘immortal techniques.'”

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Shan felt a burst of dazzling radiance erupt from his body, like a vast sea of stars.