Ilena, Stunned by Qiu Tu (Monthly Ticket Draw for an iPad)

Ever since Ilena arrived tonight, Qiu Tu had known that all his guesses and deductions were correct. It finally put his mind at ease.

It even left him in the mood to flirt and chat with Ilena.

So, faced with Ilena's question, Qiu Tu did not answer immediately. He merely looked at her, took a drag from his cigarette, and asked with a faint smile, "What would you like to hear about first, Your Excellency?"

At that, Ilena's eyes widened slightly. She lazily looked at Qiu Tu, an almost imperceptible smile playing on her lips. "I want to hear how you judged the current situation first."

This question was at the heart of everything. If Qiu Tu got it wrong, there was no need to hear the rest.

Qiu Tu did not waste many words. Instead, he summed it up in one concise sentence. "The Immortal Heavenly Tomb is setting up a scheme, while one of the Your Excellencies in the Order Shrine wants to set up a scheme within that scheme."

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, the smile on Ilena's face slowly blossomed.

She truly liked this side of Qiu Tu—calmly strategizing, brimming with confidence. It made him especially charming.

Of course, that was contingent on him actually being right when he showed off.

Thus, she looked at Qiu Tu, nodded slightly, and said with a smile, "As expected of the man I favor."

"Even while trapped within the scheme, your instincts are still so sharp."

"Congratulations. You guessed right."

With that, she leaned back in her chair and watched Qiu Tu with interest as she continued, "Since you guessed this much, you must also know that you are already deeply trapped in the scheme and have been made into a chess piece."

Qiu Tu nodded slightly at Ilena's words. "Of course."

"I know that giant wants to use my death—or my being trapped—as an opening to intervene in this matter."

There was even more admiration in Ilena's eyes. As an outsider, she could clearly see the entire chessboard because of her lofty position and the abundance of information she possessed.

Yet Qiu Tu was clearly trapped within the scheme, and the intelligence and information available to him were fragmented. Even so, he had managed to piece together the full outline of the matter. That was true skill.

More importantly, judging from Qiu Tu's words, he had not merely pieced together the overall situation—he had even thought of how to deal with it.

Someone who could spot a problem was not necessarily talented, but someone who could spot a problem and solve it certainly was.

And talent deserved sufficient respect.

So, seeing that Qiu Tu had guessed everything, Ilena began to explain the current situation.

Her full, vivid lips parted slightly as she said, "Your guess was correct."

"After discovering that the Immortal Heavenly Tomb was plotting for the attributes of the next era, one of the Your Excellencies keenly sensed this opportunity."

"In truth, only three Paths are qualified to compete for the attributes of the next era: Order, Mystery, and Immortality."

"On the surface, our Order Path is the strongest and has the greatest chance."

"But... you should know that the High-Level God Kings of the Mystery Path and the Immortal Path are each more devious and scheming than the last."

"Moreover, the Shrine has not only been investigating the Immortal Path over the years; it has also been investigating the Mystery Path."

"That matter has nothing to do with our West, so I do not know much about it."

"I merely inferred from Mo Se Your Excellency's scattered remarks that the Mystery Path has likely made many preparations as well, intending to make a big move."

"You could say that both of our Path's competitors are holding unknown trump cards."

"Therefore, the four Your Excellencies have been making all kinds of preparations over the years to deal with the changes ahead."

"But who would have thought that the intelligence you uncovered would not only let the Your Excellencies learn of the Immortal Heavenly Tomb's plan, but would also force the Immortal Three Giants to launch it ahead of schedule?"

"Under those circumstances, everything changed."

"The Immortal Heavenly Tomb's disrupted plan will expose a great many flaws. And the Mystery Path, affected by the slightest movement, will likely be forced to enter the fray early as well."

"Under those circumstances, everything instead becomes extremely favorable for us."

"Because the first two sides to enter the fray can easily antagonize the other Paths, causing their strength to be depleted."

"That is why the Your Excellencies formulated the plan to go with the flow."

"They actively helped fuel the Immortal Heavenly Tomb's plan to blockade the West."

"They not only deliberately allowed themselves to be blockaded, but even used Special Treasure Items to expand the scope of the blockade."

"Now, not only have the major Paths' important Divine Kingdom gathering places in the western part of the Ancient Continent been sealed off by that White Mist, but the important Divine Kingdom gathering places of the major Paths in the south have also been blockaded."

"Moreover, this White Mist is now showing signs of gradually expanding."

"Although I do not know how the Your Excellencies are arranging things, I guess their direction is most likely to blockade every Divine Kingdom location whose coordinates have ever been exposed."

Hearing Ilena's words, realization flashed through Qiu Tu's eyes, and he nodded slightly.

He was smart, but he was not a god. He only knew that the four giants of the Order Divine Kingdom were going with the flow; he did not know exactly how they were doing it.

Now, it seemed that their approach was the simplest and most effective one: escalation.

To stop a plan, one did not necessarily have to stand up and oppose it. Doing so could easily make one the obvious target, the person the plan's creators focused their attacks on.

On the contrary, excessive compliance could be an excellent approach.

A plan that originally only mildly harmed most people's interests would, through excessive implementation, end up damaging everyone's interests. Naturally, more and more opponents would emerge.

The Order Four Giants were clearly using this tactic: Didn't the Immortal Path want to control the impact and gradually test the limits of the other Paths? Then they would simply escalate it, directly affecting the interests of every Path. Once it incurred public outrage, the Immortal Path would naturally be besieged by all the Paths.

Of course, the plan sounded simple, but carrying it out was surely delicate work that required all kinds of support.

This was very likely only one link in the tightly interlocking plan of the Order Four Giants, with a whole series of plans to follow.

For example, they could deliberately isolate every divine kingdom exposed by the various Paths.

Qiu Tu thought of many terrifying possibilities.

Just as Qiu Tu was thinking this, Ilena spoke again.

She said, "Of course, before considering victory, one must first consider defeat."

"When devising a plan, Their Excellencies must first add a layer of insurance to it."

"After all... no one knows whether this plan will ultimately draw in the other Paths."

"In that case, Their Excellencies must ensure that they can step in at any time with a legitimate reason and clean up the mess."

"Or... once the plan has reached a certain stage, they can step in with a legitimate reason and reap the fruits of victory."

At this point, Ilena paused. She gestured at Qiu Tu with her chin and said, "And the insurance they chose was you."

"Or rather, your deaths."

Qiu Tu had already figured everything out, so upon hearing Ilena's words, he naturally picked up the thread. "I understand."

"The people chosen as the pretext can neither be too important nor too insignificant."

"If they were Garrison God Kings, even the Shrine would suffer a serious blow."

"But if they were merely First or Second Level God Kings, it would be too easy for others to see through the excuse."

"The best choice is an envoy team like ours: several First and Second Level God Kings, a group of Celestial Gods, and someone like me with extraordinary potential."

"This excuse can be put to use when needed, without the losses being too severe."

At that, a smile appeared in Ilena's eyes.

She nodded, indicating her agreement with Qiu Tu's analysis, but then added, "And you've forgotten one thing."

"There are two more reasons they chose you—or rather, all of you."

"First, your plan to exchange prisoners came before the Immortal Heavenly Tomb's plan was launched, making it a better disguise."

"Second, don't forget that you've never cleared yourself of the suspicion of being a spy."

"Although everything you've done has been in the Shrine's interests, your identity still bears some stains. Whether you truly support the Shrine, are a Double Agent, or are an ordinary spy loyal to the Chaos Path, at a time like this, you are all expendable."

At this point, Ilena paused again before saying, "So... once the other three God Kings chose you, even the Ink God King had no way to defend you or fight for you."

Qiu Tu smiled indifferently. "It's not just that you can't defend me or fight for me, is it?"

"If I'm not mistaken, you and the Ink God King would have to be even more ruthless toward me in this matter. Otherwise, it might even implicate you."

Perhaps because they had not seen each other for several days, Ilena genuinely liked Qiu Tu's state tonight.

She neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, she nodded and smilingly imitated the Ink God King's assessment.

"At a critical moment like this, what he needs is to be hard—to be able to stand up and take it!"

"He's so soft and useless. What a waste of the Shrine's training!"

Qiu Tu gave Ilena a strange look upon hearing that.

Setting aside how much training he had actually received from the Shrine... wasn't that statement really suggestive?

She needed him to be hard? Needed him to step up?

Then when he really got hard and stepped up, the Ink God King had better not start crying out!

Thinking this, Qiu Tu coughed and said, "I understand your difficulties."

"So, I prepared a way to break this deadlock long ago."

Ilena became curious upon hearing Qiu Tu's words. She could not help asking, "What method?"

Since Ilena had come to see him late at night, Qiu Tu knew she could be trusted.

Thus, Qiu Tu did not hide anything from her. He simply and directly said, "I've actually already brought back the prisoners."

Ilena froze for a moment upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, then looked at him in surprise.

To be honest, Qiu Tu's words truly caught her off guard.

Because of the White Mist, the Order Shrine had no way to transmit intelligence in real time, nor could it know what Qiu Tu had done in Chaos West Capital.

Yet to bring back the prisoners, Qiu Tu would not only have had to pass through the White Mist, bypass the Immortal Heavenly Tomb's blockade, enter the battlefield of Chaos West Capital, and meet the Shepherd Heart God King. He would also have had to persuade the Shepherd Heart God King to honor their agreement during such a crisis—and even alter it into an agreement more favorable to the Order Shrine.

One had to know that the two sides had previously agreed to exchange prisoners together. Now, the Chaos Faction's prisoners had yet to be returned, but Qiu Tu had already brought back the Order Shrine's prisoners. This agreement was inherently unequal.

Thinking that, Ilena could not help glancing at Qiu Tu.

Although during this period, Ilena had long noticed that aside from spending more time than others on official matters, Qiu Tu spent less time than others on everything else. Moreover, he handled matters with exceptional thoroughness.

Even so, the fact that he had brought back the prisoners during this time still shocked her somewhat.

But as she considered it, another doubt arose in Ilena's heart.

Although Qiu Tu said he had brought back the prisoners, there were no prisoners in Qiu Tu's team.

Just as she was thinking this, Qiu Tu promptly took out the World Orb that White Robe had given him.

At the sight of that glass-marble-like "Special Treasure Item," Ilena first froze, then her expression changed.

She reached out to take it, but just as her hand extended, she remembered that this "Special Treasure Item" belonged to Qiu Tu, and abruptly stopped.

She remained motionless for two seconds before finally relaxing and leaning back in her chair. Then she looked at Qiu Tu with an unreadable gaze and said, "Qiu Tu... I'm actually starting to suspect that you're an undercover agent for the 'Chaos Path.'"

To be honest, whether it was Ilena's arrival tonight or her reactions throughout the Entire Process, almost everything had been within Qiu Tu's expectations—except this.

But Qiu Tu was quick-witted. In just a moment, he guessed the reason for Ilena's reaction:

Is there something wrong with this pearl?

Or rather, is this pearl so valuable that even a Garrison God King would lose her composure?

Thinking this, Qiu Tu frowned slightly.

That bastard Lao Bai was actually trying to screw me over!

Good thing I met Ilena early and didn't hide it from her. Otherwise, something might have happened.

Qiu Tu had his reasons for thinking so.

From what he knew of Lao Bai, Lao Bai was someone who handled matters thoroughly. This pearl was so important and so sensitive that, if Lao Bai had only been considering things from Qiu Tu's perspective, he definitely would have told him.

But Lao Bai had not. That meant he had his own plans and Thoughts.

And judging from Ilena's reaction, it was easy to infer Lao Bai's objective: it was nothing more than proving, before the Order Four Giants, that Qiu Tu had deep ties to the Chaos Path.

That way, the Order Four Giants, who already did not trust Qiu Tu, would naturally become even more suspicious of him. And Qiu Tu would have no choice but to "more firmly" choose the Chaos Path.--

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