Chapter 432: Giant Transformation

“Hey… Qi Xia…” Zhou Liu felt something was off. “Is something wrong? Where is Qiu Shiliu?”

A hint of worry flashed through her mind, but just as she was about to lower her head to send a message, Qi Xia called out to her.

“No need to send a message. Go get the fruit.”

Qi Xia finished speaking, turned back into the room, grabbed three peaches, and came out again.

After a brief pause, the others also came out with fruit from their rooms, and everyone’s expressions looked unnatural.

Qi Xia glanced at the fruit in their hands: three bright red fire dragon fruits, three small oranges, three peaches, and… one pomegranate.

“One pomegranate?” Qi Xia furrowed his brow and looked at Luo Shiyi. “What’s going on?”

“That room only had one pomegranate to begin with, so let’s not talk about that…” Luo Shiyi frowned, staring at Qi Xia with a cautious expression. “What about Shiliu? Where is she…?”

“She got caught,” Qi Xia said. “A ‘rat’ wandering in the corridor ran into a ‘cat’ out hunting for food, so she was taken. That’s normal, right?”

“Normal…?” Wang Ba’s veins bulged with anger after hearing this. He lunged forward, grabbing Qi Xia’s collar. “What the hell are you saying?! You spouted off some half-baked plan of yours, and now you’re acting all calm and calling it ‘normal’?”

Qi Xia looked at Wang Ba coldly and said softly, “Have you noticed something?”

“What…?”

“You’re always trying to do what’s best for them, but the moment they give you a peck, you look disgusted.” Qi Xia said with a mocking smile. “I just made up some nonsense plan without promising anything, and yet someone was willing to die for that ‘nonsense’.”

“You… you bastard…” Wang Ba glared at him with wide eyes, his pupils turning red. “What gives you the right? Treating my teammates like this?”

“All these years, has pretending to be thick-skinned done you any good?” Qi Xia leaned in close to Wang Ba’s ear. “No matter how long you’ve known them, I can replace you with just one word. A loser is a loser—do you get it?”

Wang Ba couldn’t hold back any longer and swung his plump fist toward Qi Xia’s face.

Qi Xia stepped back to dodge the punch, and a voice echoed in his ear: “Deceiver, only like that can you put some power into it.”

He pulled his fist back to his waist, twisted his body for leverage, and thrust upward toward Wang Ba’s chin. At the moment of impact, Qi Xia deliberately held back his strength, but the punch still landed solidly, knocking Wang Ba to the ground.

Luo Shiyi’s face darkened at the sight. He rushed forward and grabbed Qi Xia’s arm, his expression furious: “Hey! Who told you to do that? Are you crazy?!”

Qi Xia shook off Luo Shiyi’s hands with a forceful pull, thought for a moment, and then furrowed his brow at him.

“Hmm…?” Luo Shiyi furrowed his brow back at Qi Xia, as if he had just realized something.

Wang Ba lay on the ground, breathing heavily, looking deeply wronged.

“You… you outsider, how dare you…” Wang Ba said fiercely from the ground. “You don’t know a thing… and you’re sending our people to their death…”

Clang!!

The bell rang suddenly, and “Ju Hua” descended.

“I’m going to kill you…” Wang Ba got up, slowly raising his right hand. His fist swelled like a balloon, growing several times larger in seconds, and he swung it through the air with a massive gust of wind.

Luo Shiyi saw the danger and quickly flashed behind Wang Ba, hugging his waist.

“Old Ba!” Luo Shiyi shouted, “Calm down first!”

“Shiyi, this guy is dangerous! He’s going to get us all killed!” Wang Ba said, somewhat out of his mind. “Didn’t you hear what he just said to me…”

“I know!” Luo Shiyi roared. “But just wait a second!”

Luo Shiyi held onto Wang Ba and backed up a big step, stopping the enormous fist, which was like a wheel, just a few centimeters from Qi Xia’s face.

“Shiyi, what the hell are you doing?!”

“I can’t explain it right now…” Luo Shiyi said. “But don’t fight here.”

Qi Xia didn’t even blink at the massive fist in front of him; he just smirked slightly: “Well, that takes care of one.”

“Takes care of one?!” Wang Ba heard this, and his fist slowly shrank back, though his expression was still full of rage. “Now your whole plan is messed up. The ‘commander’ isn’t working, and we can’t stand in the corridor, or the cats will catch us. So what are you going to do…?”

“It’s all part of my plan,” Qi Xia said. “Qiu Shiliu is safe. She’s in the ‘Mao Wu’ now.”

“In the ‘Mao Wu’ and safe?!” Wang Ba shouted. “Isn’t the ‘Mao Wu’ the most dangerous place in this game?!”

“It’s not convenient to talk here,” Qi Xia said quietly. “Let’s head back to the ‘Shu Wu’ with the fruit.”

Watching Qi Xia’s back as he walked alone toward the ‘Shu Wu’, Wang Ba clenched his fists so hard they nearly bled.

“Don’t get too worked up…” Luo Shiyi patted Wang Ba on the shoulder. “I think this guy’s got something real. Let’s follow and see.”

“Shiyi, you too…?”

“Even though his methods seem problematic, you did have a ‘Hui Xiang’,” Luo Shiyi said. “This time, your ‘Hui Xiang’ didn’t come, and even Wu Ge couldn’t think of a way. But this guy did.”

“He didn’t think of jack!” Wang Ba was still furious. “What’s his deal? Liu Jie might act annoyed with me, but she always saves my life in a pinch. What does this outsider know? Does he get our bond at all? It’s just blind luck!”

“Tsk, enough arguing.” Zhou Liu glanced thoughtfully at Wang Ba and Luo Shiyi, and said softly, “Let’s go inside first.”

The four of them entered the ‘Shu Wu’ one after another. The moment the door closed, it locked, and the lights on everyone’s collars went out one by one.

Next came the second round, the “cat’s” daytime period.

No one had the mind to think about the “cat’s” actions in this round; instead, they all cast complicated glances at Qi Xia.

“Go on, explain…” Wang Ba gritted his teeth and said. “I want to see how you’re going to cover up your lies.”

“The ‘commander’ has to exist,” Qi Xia said patiently. “It’s just that her job is to observe the ‘cat’s’ area, but not in the corridor—it’s somewhere else.”

“Somewhere else?” Zhou Liu asked, puzzled.

Luo Shiyi nodded at this point: “You mean… the ‘Mao Wu’?”

“That’s right,” Qi Xia nodded. “Over six rounds, we need to send different people to the ‘Mao Wu’ each time to accurately track the ‘cat’s’ movements.”

Everyone’s eyes widened after hearing this.

Zhou Liu felt uneasy: “Are you sure you can see the ‘cat’s’ actions from the ‘Mao Wu’?”

“I’m sure,” Qi Xia said. “I confirmed it the first time I entered the ‘Shu Wu’. When the ‘cat’ is moving, their ‘Mao Wu’ should be like ours—the door is open, and the ‘rats’ inside can clearly see all the ‘cat’s’ actions.”

“You…”

“And entering the ‘Mao Wu’ is actually safer than observing the ‘cat’ from anywhere else,” Qi Xia explained. “What just happened was just a ploy to trigger Wang Ba’s ‘Hui Xiang’. Now, that’s the real plan.”

“I get it…” Zhou Liu nodded. “I’ll send a message to Shiliu right now and tell her not to panic…”

“No…” Qi Xia said sternly. “Tell her I’ve completely given up on her.”