“Oh?”

I knew I had piqued Qinglong’s interest once again.

Why hadn’t Baiyang been erased despite saying so many treasonous words? Just as Qinglong said… he liked smart ants.

As long as I made Qinglong interested enough in me, then I might survive.

If Qinglong really had some kind of cooperation with Baiyang, then it meant that when Baiyang first appeared, the “backer” that Shar Pei Dog and Sheep mentioned was Qinglong.

He had always valued smart people.

“Qinglong, I’m stronger than most of the ‘Participants’ here,” I said. “Although killing me wouldn’t be a loss to you, keeping me alive would benefit you. I’m smarter than you imagine.”

“Indeed interesting…” Qinglong took a step forward. “What exactly gives you the confidence to say such things?”

“I…” I paused, then said, “I’ve had an inferiority complex my entire life. It’s time I was confident for once.”

“Yan Zhichun.” Qinglong called out again. “How tragic? A life that’s been toyed with, yet you treasure it as if it were a gem. Your inferiority is correct—you should remain inferior forever in the days to come.”

“What…?”

Qinglong slowly extended his hand, spreading it into a palm, suspending it before my forehead.

I felt a wondrous power probing my brain.

“What a chaotic life?” Qinglong said expressionlessly. “Your memories are wrong, your thoughts are chaotic, even your wisdom isn’t your own. Your brain has activated a powerful self-repair ability, fabricating chaotic memories into what seems like a complete life, but this has also deceived you.”

“I…”

“I, I don’t understand,” I said. “I know what kind of life I’m living, and I know how I got to where I am today. Baiyang is my benefactor. Even if he’s done something inappropriate, I could never betray him.”

“But he’s been toying with you all along,” Qinglong said. “He’s toyed with many people here. The reason I’ve been ‘monitoring’ all along is precisely because I need to see through Baiyang’s every move. Baiyang will throw this place into utter chaos—no one will be spared… You should have sensed that in that ‘Silence,’ right?”

“So what?”

“You’ve aroused my interest,” Qinglong said. “What’s the point of working for Baiyang? Why not work for me instead? I can offer a higher price.”

“That sounds truly tempting, but no,” I said. “The first impression you and Baiyang gave me are completely different. I have no way to work for you.”

“What’s the difference?” Qinglong said. “Both are equally powerful people in your eyes coming before you to seek cooperation. I actually lost to Baiyang?”

“Yes… on the surface, there doesn’t seem to be a difference.” I smiled bitterly and replied. “But from the beginning, Baiyang treated me as a person—it was I who considered myself a dog. Yet from the start, you wanted to treat me as a dog. If I cooperated with you, I could only use every method possible to prove I’m a person.”

“Hahahaha!” Qinglong laughed loudly. “Unfortunately, you’re not even a ‘dog,’ just an ant!”

“It’s precisely this attitude of yours…” I said, “that makes no one want to work for you.”

“Is that necessary…?” Qinglong said. “Yan Zhichun, do you know how dangerous your situation is right now?”

My expression darkened, then I pulled out a map from my pocket and said: “Qinglong, although I won’t work for you, I’ll use this to buy my ‘reason.’ If after seeing it you want to kill me, I have nothing to say.”

I knew that if Qinglong found this map on my corpse, its final value would be gone.

Right now, I could still take it out as a bargaining chip. This was my last chance.

Qinglong paused slightly, then waved his arm lightly. The map in my hand actually floated up, coming before him and unfolding on its own.

“A map…?” He murmured. “A map Baiyang gave you?”

His gaze rapidly swept over the eight locations on the map, then revealed a contemplative expression.

“Don’t you like smart people?” I asked. “The map is yours—let you crack the puzzle Baiyang left behind. How about it?”

“Interesting…” Qinglong slowly revealed a smile. “He called for ‘Silence,’ then gave you a map… Was the conversation that followed all centered around this map?!”

“Yes.” I nodded with a calm expression, but my heart was beating very fast.

Brother Yang, this is all I can do.

“‘Ox,’ ‘Rabbit,’ ‘Dragon’…” Qinglong immediately frowned. “‘Dragon’…?!”

I stared at Qinglong cautiously, not knowing why he would react so strongly to “Dragon.”

“Good… very good, Earth Dragon…” Qinglong suddenly turned his head to look at me. “Little ant… you’ve really helped tremendously…”

“Really…?” I said ambiguously.

“Too interesting. Handing over such important intelligence so readily—I’d like to see how you’ll explain this to Baiyang.” Qinglong revealed his maniacal smile again. “Interesting… insects tearing at each other—who wouldn’t watch with interest for an entire day?”

I knew Qinglong probably wasn’t lying. This information that only I knew in the entire world… this most important yet safest mission had been ruined just a few minutes after I left Baiyang’s game venue.

But the problem was I had absolutely no way to resist Qinglong… even my “Echo” had no way to affect him. After all, he himself possessed “Soul Seize,” and was even much more powerful than me.

In this situation, the only thing I could do was stay alive.

Qinglong put away the map, left me with a meaningful expression, then suddenly disappeared before my eyes.

Before disappearing, he was still muttering “Dragon.”

I recalled that Baiyang said among those eight people, there was one of his own… Now that Qinglong had obtained the map, they were probably going to be caught in one fell swoop.

I had to hurry and think of a solution…

Thinking this, I hurriedly ran toward Baiyang’s game venue, pushed open the door, and came to the office.

Baiyang sat expressionlessly in his seat, eyes slightly closed, as if contemplating something.

“Brother Yang… something’s happened…” My voice trembled as I spoke.

Baiyang slowly opened his eyes and looked at me: “Speak slowly. What’s wrong?”

“That map… Qinglong got it!” I said. “It’s all my fault… but I really had no way to resist. I only had two paths to choose from—either ‘lose the map’ or ‘lose my reason and lose the map’… I… I really had no choice…”

“What…?” Baiyang frowned slightly. “The map was taken by Qinglong?”

“Yes… I’m sorry.”

“You can’t even handle this small matter?” Baiyang said to me sternly. “I trusted you so much… You’ve disappointed me greatly.”