Chapter 1060: Swapped

Dìlóng tilted his head back and looked at Qinglong with a calm expression.

She really seemed unafraid of death.

"Hitting a sore spot... feeling uncomfortable?" Dìlóng croaked with his constricted throat. "Isn't this exactly what you've been doing all along... poking at everyone's pain points... shredding everyone's hopes... You can laugh, but can't others?"

Qinglong didn't respond; he just tightened his grip.

Dìlóng slowly furrowed his brow, feeling that even though his body had been enhanced, his neck was on the verge of snapping.

Since things had come to this, perhaps his chaotic and exhausting life was finally coming to an end?

Yet, after waiting for over ten seconds, Qinglong still hadn't delivered the fatal blow, and his hand had even stopped moving.

Dìlóng opened his eyes and stared at Qinglong in confusion. He couldn't understand why, after saying all that, Qinglong would have any reason to hold back.

In his line of sight, Qinglong was gazing downward with a serious expression.

Down in the game arena, in the "Hong Fang" preparation area, Qi Xia had been staring up at him the whole time.

Including the moment when Qinglong was choking Dìlóng, it had all been captured by those gray-white goat-like eyes.

Qinglong hesitated.

What an absurd feeling...

Qinglong knew that the person below was just an ordinary human, someone who could be blown several meters away by a casual gust of wind from him. Yet, he couldn't see through those eyes.

"I can't understand the thoughts of a 'god'...?"

Only now did Qinglong realize how terrifying that statement was, because from the start, he hadn't understood Qi Xia's actions.

Back then, he had felt like he was watching an ant—humans not understanding ants' behavior seemed perfectly reasonable.

But now, was he supposed to believe that the reason he couldn't understand Qi Xia was because Qi Xia was more like a "god"?

"Absurd." Qinglong muttered softly as he slowly released his fingers from Dìlóng's neck.

"Cough..." Dìlóng suddenly gasped for air and coughed twice. "This is awful... You choke me but don't finish the job... and then let go..."

"You're trying to trick me." Qinglong said. "Humans can't understand both 'ants' and 'gods' at the same time. Does that mean 'ants' are 'gods'?"

"Whether 'ants' are 'gods' is something only you know." Dìlóng replied while rubbing his neck. "As for whether Qi Xia is an 'ant,' you know that better than I do."

Qinglong stared grimly downward, only to see Chen Junnan burst out of a room far away and teleport to the preparation area in an instant.

"Lao Qi!" Chen Junnan said. "Things are getting complicated. You need to hear me out—there are a few issues, first of all... Damn!"

Chen Junnan's gaze was instantly drawn to Qiao Jiujin on the ground, and whatever he was about to say vanished from his mind. He rushed over to check Qiao Jiujin's injuries.

"What the hell is this?!" Chen Junnan squatted down and yelled. "Which guy did this?!"

Han Yimo huddled at Qiao Jiujin's side, letting Qiao Jiujin's head rest on his lap, as still as a statue and not daring to speak.

Qi Xia shook his head. "The only one who could do something like this is Zhang Shan."

Chen Junnan paused slightly upon hearing that, his anger deflating with nowhere to go.

Before coming here, he had clearly seen Zhang Shan's body lying in the "river path." Now, Qiao Jiujin wasn't dead, just seriously injured... Could that be considered fair?

But speaking of "fairness," given Zhang Shan's and Qiao Jiujin's characters... forcing a life-or-death outcome here—where was the fairness in that?

Chen Junnan stood up, looked up at Qinglong, and pointed at him fiercely, mouthing a verb phrase that started with "I."

Surely, someone as clever as Qinglong would understand what he was saying.

"You old bastard..." Chen Junnan grumbled under his breath. "I'll make you pay dearly sooner or later."

"What about the progress earlier?" Qi Xia asked.

"Damn..." Chen Junnan turned back and said, "Lao Qi, as for 'progress,' it's just too weird..."

"How is it weird?"

Chen Junnan had only been gone for a few minutes, but it felt like a lot had happened, and he didn't know where to start with his heroic tale.

"I'll just give you the result." Chen Junnan said. "I lost the 'package.'"

"Um..." Qi Xia paused and said, "You should say 'lost the item' next time."

"You get it, right? I just lost the 'package.'" Chen Junnan said. "The 'package' I finally got is gone—100% loss rate, but luckily, we'd already used it, so no real loss."

"Where did the 'item' get lost?" Qi Xia asked.

"To some creepy old snake-person—that's the one who opened the door for us." Chen Junnan said. "That guy bullied me right in front of a kid, blew the whistle unfairly, and even slapped me twenty times."

Qi Xia paused. "Speak properly."

"He wants to see you."

"What exactly did he say?" Qi Xia asked.

"He didn't go into details with me." Chen Junnan said. "But from his bitter and resentful look, he's desperate to meet you... Do you have a deep connection with him?"

Qi Xia nodded. "Yes."

But a few seconds later, he felt something was off. Even if it were true, how could that snake-person show up here without being part of the game?

"Wait..." Qi Xia suddenly frowned and turned to Han Yimo. "When you and Wen Qiaoyun joined the game, did that 'Shengxiao' say anything?"

"Say what...?" Han Yimo hesitated. "Something about them being 'assistants' or something like that..."

"As expected..." Qi Xia looked up at Chen Junnan. "What questions did he ask you?"

"Uh..." Chen Junnan thought for a moment. "Overall, it was about 'survivor bias,' 'coordination attack problem,' and 'infinite monkey theorem.'"

"Tell me his location."

Chen Junnan pointed to a spot on the map on the wall. "It's this 'Si,' on the opposite side of the field."

"I'll be back soon."

"Wait!!" Chen Junnan quickly grabbed Qi Xia's arm. "Lao Qi... You're serious about this?"

"Yes, I need to see him."

"At a time like this?" Chen Junnan said. "Why not wait until the game is almost over? Or just after it ends..."

"Did he say he was in a hurry?" Qi Xia asked. "If we're talking about the same snake, I suspect we won't be able to find him once the game ends."

"How do you know...?" Chen Junnan said. "But it feels really dangerous right now... The other side is all there; what if you get trapped in the game?"

"Now that Zhang Shan is gone, I can guarantee a 100% win rate in ordinary games." Qi Xia said. "Even if I run into the other side, it won't be a problem."

"Ah... right..." Chen Junnan said. "He also asked me to pass on a message to you..."

"About what?" Qi Xia asked.

"About the venue we're in right now... but..." Chen Junnan glanced back at Qinglong up high.

"Got it." Qi Xia said. "I understand the content."

"Uh..." Chen Junnan was slightly stunned. "Wait... I haven't even said it yet..."

(Friends, tomorrow evening at 6 PM on June 1st, we'll have a live stream for book sales of the third volume, "Ten Days of Doom: Unceasing." We'll continue streaming for a while after sales end, so even if you don't buy, you can come chat.)