Chapter 19: Omnipotent

"I..."

Ren She paused slightly, wanting to choose an answer but realizing that any response would be futile.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Suddenly, Ren She burst into laughter, doubling over with it, before eventually stopping and saying, "You really are interesting."

"Interesting?" Qi Xia gave Ren She a cold glance. "What's so interesting about it? Haven't I already won?"

Ren She slowly made his way to the wall and pulled down the lever.

Everyone felt a sudden drop, and then they began to descend slowly.

Qiao Jia Jin looked utterly confused. He turned to Qi Xia and asked, "Swindler, what does this mean? How does this count as winning?"

Qi Xia noticed the rope was indeed lowering and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He said, "Think about it. As soon as this question was asked, no matter what, we're saved."

"If my next question was 'Would you pull down the lever,' would your answer be the same as for this question...?" Qiao Jia Jin silently repeated the question to himself, completely baffled.

"I see..." Zhao Yisheng nodded thoughtfully. "If he answered 'yes,' then the next question would also have to be 'yes,' and we'd be saved. After all, the next question is 'Would you pull down the lever.'"

"But what if he said 'no'?!" Qiao Jia Jin felt like he'd spotted a loophole. "Couldn't he just say 'no'?"

"If he said 'no,' then the next question would still have to be 'yes.'" Han Yi Mo said weakly, "The brilliance of this question is that if he answers 'no,' he's admitting the two questions would have different answers. Remember, this snake-headed person said he doesn't lie."

Qiao Jia Jin was stunned and turned back to Qi Xia, asking, "Did you just think of all this...? What kind of monster are you?"

"Monster is too strong a word." Qi Xia shook his head. "I'm just a wandering swindler."

As they spoke, the group slowly descended to the ground.

After hanging for so long, everyone's palms were stinging with pain, and the two injured people were in even worse shape.

"Congratulations to all of you for surviving the 'interview.' Push open this door, and a new world awaits." Ren She stood by the wooden door with his hands behind his back.

"Punk..."

Qiao Jia Jin stormed up fiercely, as if wanting to vent all his frustration about the "human sheep" and "human dog" on this "human snake."

Ren She turned coldly and stood his ground, watching the aggressive Qiao Jia Jin without flinching.

"Are you all a bunch of perverts?!" Qiao Jia Jin shouted, grabbing Ren She's collar. "Wearing these weird masks and trying to kill us over and over—now I've finally got you!"

Ren She smirked and said quietly, "I'd advise you to let go while you're still alive."

"What did you say?!"

Qiao Jia Jin raised his fist as if to strike Ren She's face, but Li Jingguan grabbed his arm.

"Hey, have you forgotten about that man whose skull was smashed?" Li Jingguan whispered sharply. "If they're all the same, how do you plan to beat them?"

"I..." A look of reluctance crossed Qiao Jia Jin's tough face. He gritted his teeth and muttered, "But these damn killers..."

"Don't worry, aren't we getting out now?" Li Jingguan interrupted. "Once we're out, I'll make sure they pay."

The group fell silent and slowly approached Ren She.

Up close, they could see just how eerie he was.

The air around Ren She was colder than elsewhere, and his old suit and mask emitted a strange, fishy stench.

His eyes peered out from behind the mask, clearly human, yet the odor on him was like that of a snake dead for a long time.

"Welcome to the new world."

Ren She's muffled voice came from behind the mask, and he turned to open the door.

With a creak, light from outside filtered in.

Qi Xia furrowed his brow, realizing that beyond the door wasn't the outdoors but another corridor.

"Where is outside?" Qi Xia asked.

"I told you, it's the new world." Ren She slowly raised his hands. "A future 'god' will emerge from among you! It will arise in the new world! How exciting!"

"Another god..." Qiao Jia Jin asked fiercely, "What exactly are you plotting?"

Seeing the question, Ren She perked up: "An all-powerful god...! He can make any idea a reality!"

"All-powerful?" Qiao Jia Jin's brows knitted tightly.

Zhao Yisheng subtly waved a hand at Qiao Jia Jin and said to Ren She, "Alright, we get it. Let us out now."

Ren She paused, then nodded and stepped aside.

Qi Xia led the way, and the others quickened their pace, not wanting to linger.

As soon as they stepped into the corridor, a peculiar smell filled their nostrils.

How to describe it?

Heavy—a very heavy smell.

It was as if billions of people worldwide had died and decayed in the open air, drawing countless insects to feed.

The insects multiplied massively, then died and decayed themselves.

After letting that overwhelming decay settle and mellow, it became this heavy odor.

It took Qi Xia a while to recover, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a desperately bleak scene.

They were in a seemingly endless corridor, with a low, oppressive ceiling stretching ahead.

On both sides, countless wooden doors were slowly opening.

Just like the one behind them.

Soon, figures began to emerge from the doors.

Most were blood-covered people in masks, and from afar, only a few doors revealed what looked like normal people.

Those so-called "normal people" appeared exhausted and unsteady.

Like Qi Xia, they had survived.

"What's going on..." Han Yi Mo asked weakly, "There were more than just the nine of us captured?"

Qi Xia's expression grew grave; the situation far exceeded his expectations.

This organization had captured countless people and subjected them to killing games?

"But... the survivors are so few..." Zhang Chen Ze sighed softly.

Glancing at the thousands of doors, only a handful of people emerged.

Not a single room, like Qi Xia's, had everyone survive.

"Please, go ahead."

Ren She gestured down the corridor and stood by the door with his hands behind his back, apparently not planning to follow.

"Let's go."

Knowing it wasn't safe to stay, the group formed a line and moved slowly away.

Passing the rundown wooden doors, they got a close look at those in animal masks.

There were cows, horses, dogs.

And the sheep and snake they'd seen before.

All of them exuded an eerie aura and a stench of decay. Inside the doors, there were mostly piles of bodies, remnants of whatever "games" they'd played.

After a dozen more steps, the group was startled by two more animal-masked figures.

The one on the left wore a massive rat mask and leaned against the wall; the one on the right had a massive rooster mask and stood with arms folded.

These masks were clearly not man-made but actual animal heads.

But where in the world were there rats and roosters that big?

Like the others, these two just glanced at Qi Xia and his group without reacting.

"What are these animals..." Lin Geng was a bit scared and instinctively moved away from them.

Qi Xia frowned slightly, as if something had clicked.

Sheep, dog, snake, rat, rooster...

"It's the zodiac." He murmured the words.

The group was taken aback and looked around.

Indeed, the animal masks on those in tattered suits were all from the twelve zodiac signs.