Chapter 980: Choosing Sides

"Tsk, I had a few military advisors tell me that although you asked me to get in touch, you actually have nothing to say to me, is that right?"

"That's right," Qi Xia said. "I don't have anything to discuss with you."

"Well, that lines up perfectly," Zhou Liu said. "Tsk, as expected, smart people rely on their brains, and I just make guesses."

Qi Xia chuckled softly but didn't reply.

"Tsk, big smarty," Zhou Liu continued. "So, you had me send you a message just to hear the results of our discussion?"

"Yes," Qi Xia replied.

In his heart, he thought that "Mao" truly lived up to its name. When everyone could unite, even some second-rate strategists could achieve first-rate results.

After all, every point raised by each person was for the good of the team or leaned towards self-sacrifice. Their minds would synchronize at that moment, multiplying their strength.

This synchronization of minds demanded an extremely high standard from the team. If anyone raised a point out of self-interest, it would immediately create a "bucket effect," dragging the entire team's overall strength down to the level of the selfish individual.

"Tsk, big smarty, we have the results now," Zhou Liu said.

"Tell me."

"Uh... hang on a second..."

He heard rustling and talking on her end for a few seconds, then she said: "Tsk, I double-checked, the targets to eliminate: first Xuan Wu, then Zhu Que. Right?"

"Yes," Qi Xia agreed. "What's the second result of the discussion?"

"Tsk, damn it..." Zhou Liu said, sounding confused, "How did you know there's a second result?"

"Go on," Qi Xia said.

"...In the 'strike plan,' Qing Long and Xuan Wu aren't included, right?"

Qi Xia paused for two seconds and nodded: "Right."

"Damn, it really is..." Zhou Liu was stunned. "Tsk, but what the heck is that about? There are four Shen Shou in total, so why do we only need to kill two? And what's with this strike order? Did you think of all this too?"

Faced with Zhou Liu's barrage of questions, Qi Xia simply said lightly: "You mentioned earlier that some things you have, I don't. So, who is speaking, and who is listening?"

"Tsk..." Zhou Liu sighed. "You're right... You can't answer my questions no matter how many I ask. But if you know all this in such detail, why didn't you just have that jerk Chen Jun Nan tell us? Do you know how long we discussed to reach these two conclusions? Even Nineteen is exhausted."

"This conclusion only counts if you discuss it yourselves, so you'll believe it's absolutely correct," Qi Xia answered. "Otherwise, even if you knew the conclusion, you'd still have a bunch of doubts to resolve."

"Alright then..." Zhou Liu said. "Since you think it's fine, we'll proceed with this plan."

"Thanks for your hard work," Qi Xia said.

Zhou Liu's side fell silent, and Qiao Jia Jin and Chen Jun Nan approached.

They could clearly sense that Qi Xia was deep in thought and didn't speak rashly.

After a few seconds, Qiao Jia Jin asked: "Deceiver... Everything going smoothly?"

"No big problems," Qi Xia said. "You two should rest early tonight; tomorrow you need to come with me to participate in the Di Long game."

"No problem," Qiao Jia Jin nodded.

"Is there anything I need to do, young master...?" Chen Jun Nan asked.

"I..." Qi Xia thought for a few seconds and said, "Do you have to protect someone tomorrow?"

"Damn..." Chen Jun Nan muttered under his breath, "Did you bug me? Old Qi, you're going too far—pull the line out right now."

"I didn't do that," Qi Xia said. "I just figured you might get such a request, but you don't have to follow it."

"Huh...?" Chen Jun Nan paused slightly. "But that doesn't seem right... Do you even know who I have to protect...?"

"It doesn't matter who it is; you don't need to protect anyone," Qi Xia said. "I'll handle that."

"You... you're going to...?"

"Chen Jun Nan, you just focus on protecting me," Qi Xia said. "And I'll protect everyone."

Chen Jun Nan and Qiao Jia Jin were both slightly taken aback and glanced at each other.

Qiao Jia Jin understood what Chen Jun Nan meant, so he spoke up: "Deceiver, aren't we going to participate in the game tomorrow?"

"Yes," Qi Xia nodded.

"Participate in the game... but you're going to protect everyone?" Qiao Jia Jin asked again.

"That's right... Now that we've reached this point, I'll do my best to save everyone," Qi Xia said. "Tomorrow's Di Long game isn't just a simple match, so take it seriously, make sure you 'win,' and leave the rest to me."

"Okay..."

Both agreed, then went to a corner of the room to rest, while Qi Xia kept staring out the window.

Even when everyone else had rested and the "train" had quieted down, Qi Xia couldn't let his guard down.

Although all the "Tian Ji moments" had been blocked by Qing Long, each Tian Ji had their own self-interests, and no one could rule out the possibility of a defecting Tian Ji suddenly activating a moment.

This was their critical moment.

At this point, anyone with eyes could see that Tian Long and Qing Long were starting to break ties, and the many Tian Ji would have to choose sides at this key juncture.

Choosing the right side wouldn't bring them glory and wealth, but at least it would keep them alive.

Even if they were temporarily intimidated by Qing Long's power, it didn't mean they'd stay on Qing Long's side forever. As long as the opportunity arose, someone would choose to serve Tian Long.

However, these Tian Ji who had been free for many years would never imagine that whether they sided with Qing Long or Tian Long, they were all wrong.

Only by standing with the "participants" would they have a real chance of survival.

Perhaps only seventy years ago, those on this land believed that the "participants" could win.

Aside from that initial moment, for many years afterward, the "participants" had no chance of winning, which was the conclusion drawn by the many Tian Ji based on their long-term experience.

"There should be some randomly appearing 'wild needles' by then..." Qi Xia thought to himself. "Even if the team is stable, the Tian Ji mindsets are still in turmoil... If a Di Ji shows up to attack at that time... sparks will fly."

Qi Xia mentally simulated the events to come while keeping a watchful eye on the sky, guarding against any possible "Tian Ji moment" at every second.

The entire night passed until the sky began to lighten, and he finally moved his stiff body, stood up, and rotated his neck.

Then, he woke Chen Jun Nan and Qiao Jia Jin. After a quick freshen-up, the three of them met up with Yan Zhi Chun in her room and headed toward the Di Long game venue.

(I'm sorry to everyone (o(╥﹏╥)o), yesterday there seemed to be some technical issues that prevented the live stream from syncing to my Douyin account, but I was already on stage and couldn't help fix it... So the live content is on the Tomato Novel Douyin account, not mine. This made it look like I didn't do anything and didn't update yesterday... I sincerely apologize; I was really busy. Maybe a lot of family and friends have already switched to the right live room, and some are messaging me privately, but I truly couldn't respond to each one at the time. I'm really sorry.)