Xu Liunian was perhaps the most hesitant person among everyone so far.

At that moment, she stood on the rooftop of “Heaven’s Gate,” overlooking this riddled and rotting city.

If she truly had to choose, she would join neither Qi Xia nor Chu Tianqiu.

As one of the people who had preserved their memories the longest, she knew clearly that these two people were completely not on the same level as her.

Getting involved in their game was almost like actively making herself into a leaf in the middle of a storm, with absolutely no possibility of resistance.

Every time she thought she had seen through the other party’s scheme and made a different choice, she would immediately discover she had voluntarily fallen into another trap.

This dangerous yet helpless feeling terrified her immensely.

She knew more clearly than anyone that neither of these two people considered her a teammate, but where else could she run to?

The terrifying degree of the words “Earth Dragon” was completely no less than “Qi Xia” and “Chu Tianqiu.” The experience brought by long-term memories told Xu Liunian that if she chose to flee at this moment, the consequences would be even more tragic.

“Can’t you just let me go…?” Xu Liunian asked the pitch-black glowing door. “I’m clearly just an ordinary person… Why do all of your choices need to include me…?”

Unfortunately, when a storm sweeps through the forest, it doesn’t ask for the opinions of the falling leaves.

Earth Dragon couldn’t answer Xu Liunian’s question. She merely waited quietly for her decision.

How should Xu Liunian choose? She only knew she had no choice at all.

After flashing through fear, despair, and helplessness, her eyes ultimately dimmed as if she had died.

Chu Tianqiu’s team had finished assembling.

He came before Qi Xia’s device, his brain spinning rapidly.

The person who absolutely couldn’t be chosen at this moment was Lin Qin. Otherwise, this exchange of “selecting generals” would lose its meaning.

The ultimate goal of his move was to disrupt Qi Xia’s plan of having all seven people be his own, so he had to insert someone completely unrelated to him.

But while this matter sounded easy, thinking it through carefully proved somewhat difficult.

If he wrote down people who had no connection with Qi Xia, the other party would most likely refuse. Qi Xia’s team would very likely be short one person. Although his own chances of winning would increase, this way both sides would form an unequal game, and even if he won, it would be utterly boring.

“I’ve got it…” Chu Tianqiu suddenly thought of something. “Your team already has quite a few old, weak, sick, and disabled people… one more shouldn’t make a difference, right?”

Chu Tianqiu knew this person had some friendship with Qi Xia, but didn’t have any practical use, so he wouldn’t refuse this invitation and would instead choose to join.

After he joined the team, Qi Xia wouldn’t sit idly by—he would only expend energy to take care of him.

But this person’s “Echo” was support-type, and now Qi Xia had fallen into a relatively passive position.

Among his team, “Ten Thousand Laws Breaker,” “Scapegoat,” “Soul Migration,” and “Ingenious Object” were all support-type. The only “Echo” that could have some killing power would only be “Disaster Attraction.”

Now adding this person… that would be just perfect.

“Zheng Yingxiong.”

After seeing this name, Qi Xia paused for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This smile made Chu Tianqiu somewhat unable to figure it out.

“What the hell…” Qi Xia laughed wildly. “This is the result after your deep consideration…?”

Only then did Chu Tianqiu feel he might have overlooked something. Looking at Qi Xia’s completely unconcerned expression, could it be that he had once participated in a game together with Zheng Yingxiong?

He had clearly disrupted the other party’s plan, but now it looked like Qi Xia had no plan at all.

Had Lin Qin never needed to join the team from the very beginning?

Zhang Shan had once said that Zheng Yingxiong’s “Echo” was most likely able to sniff out the types of “Echoes” on other people. Even if Qi Xia truly had a friendship with Zheng Yingxiong, how could he use this seemingly chicken-rib “Echo” to defeat his own team?

Currently, his team had “Heaven’s Vigorous Motion,” “Soul Seizure,” “Leap,” “Separation,” and “Transformation.”

The only support-type “Echo” was Wen Qiaoyun’s “Energy Storage.”

But Wen Qiaoyun’s sharp thinking could completely compensate for the weakness of her support-type “Echo,” plus his own walking “Echo warehouse”… Why could Qi Xia still be so calm?

Earth Dragon turned around and reached out to pull open that door standing alone behind her, but this time the situation was somewhat special.

After the door opened, it was pitch black, as if it didn’t lead anywhere—merely an empty door frame.

Neither Qi Xia nor Chu Tianqiu knew what had happened, and they saw Earth Dragon furrow her brow.

After a few seconds, she turned back and asked, “Is the name written incorrectly?”

Qi Xia and Chu Tianqiu naturally believed the name was correct. After all, a name like “Zheng Yingxiong” was unforgettable after hearing it once.

“It should be correct,” Chu Tianqiu answered. After all, he had been in contact with Zheng Yingxiong. The other party looked less than ten years old—how could he possibly be scheming enough to use an alias?

“There is no ‘Zheng Yingxiong’ among all the people in ‘Taoyuan,'” Earth Dragon said. “Are you certain the name is correct?”

Qi Xia pondered for a few seconds, seeming to think of something, and said, “Try homophonic characters.”

Earth Dragon nodded, closed the door again, muttered in her heart for a while, then reopened the door.

This time, there was finally light outside the door.

Zheng Yingxiong was sprinting along the road, and this door followed him as he ran, like an action camera in motion.

He quickly noticed the change before his eyes, then gradually stopped, gasping for breath in large gulps.

“What characters…?” Zheng Yingxiong murmured. “Receive… Order… what does it mean?”

Fortunately, there weren’t many characters between the black glowing doors—a total of five characters that Zheng Yingxiong could all recognize. Apart from his own name, there were the words “Receive Order.”

Earth Dragon hadn’t expected that the last person pushed back and forth by both sides would actually be a child of a few years old. Upon seeing the other party, she couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment. Setting aside what combat ability this child had, he simply couldn’t understand the “rules.”

Earth Dragon quickly recovered and said as usual, “Main General ‘Qi Xia’ has specifically selected ‘Zheng Yingxiong’ to enter ‘Cangjie Chess’ to assist. To accept the order, please walk through the door. To refuse, please step back five paces.”

“Qi Xia…?” Zheng Yingxiong was startled and subconsciously reached up to remove his crown, his manner showing complete humility.

No matter what, Earth Dragon would never have thought that Qi Xia was the “master” recognized in the heart of this eight or nine-year-old child before her.

Zheng Yingxiong first turned his head to look into the distance, where crowds were hurriedly gathering. Then he looked at the glowing door before him, as if he wasn’t trying to retreat but rather confirming which side he should commit to.

He wanted to go to the large group to protect everyone, but equally wanted to act according to Qi Xia’s instructions.

After hesitating for a while, he chose to enter the glowing door.

Thus, both teams had now completely finished assembling.

After closing the door, Earth Dragon said, “Next, please wait here for a moment, you two. I will take you both to the ‘inspection.'”