I'm the hen?

"Good." Qi Xia nodded. "I have to survive this place. If anyone gets in my way, the consequences will be very serious."

Those words gave everyone present a real fright. After all, the look in Qi Xia's eyes was just like a murderer's.

He seemed genuinely capable of killing someone.

Even Qiao Jiajin, who was usually all smiles and jokes, turned serious.

A question rose unbidden in his mind-

What kind of person was Qi Xia, really?

After this turn of events, everyone obediently rose like a flock of sheep and moved behind the iron plate.

Seeing this, Qi Xia slowly released his grip. Still shaken, the middle-aged man and Little Glasses steadied each other.

Qi Xia knew he had achieved his goal. He was now the group's sole leader.

"How are you going to keep everyone alive?" a slightly chubby young woman asked.

"I can explain it in one sentence," Qi Xia answered slowly. "The answer is 'the eagle catches the chicks.'"

"The eagle... catches the chicks?" Everyone seemed confused.

"We have all three roles now." Qi Xia raised his hand and pointed at the black bear a short distance away. "The eagle."

Then he pointed at the two men and five women, who were looking quite bedraggled. "The chicks."

Finally, he glanced at Qiao Jiajin. "The mother hen."

"Mother hen, my ass..." Qiao Jiajin looked disgusted. "Can't you call me something else?!"

Everyone began to understand.

The iron plate on the ground was extremely heavy. The best way to use it to fend off the black bear was to roll it along the ground. But the plate only covered a limited area and was difficult to maneuver. If anyone scattered, they would be in danger.

The best approach was to have one person move the tabletop while everyone else followed behind him in single file.

While everyone was thinking it over, the black bear had already approached. It seemed to have no other target now, its eyes fixed solely on Qiao Jiajin.

"It's coming!" Qi Xia warned Qiao Jiajin quietly.

At his words, Qiao Jiajin immediately stretched his legs back, angling his body and bracing his shoulder against the iron plate.

The next second, the black bear swung its thick forelimb and slammed it into the plate.

Clang!

A deafening crash rang out. The black bear's attack rebounded, and both it and Qiao Jiajin staggered back a step.

Fortunately, Qiao Jiajin had braced himself beforehand. Otherwise, even though the blow could not break through the plate, it would have been enough to flatten him.

Seeing the danger, everyone hurriedly tightened their formation.

The four men stood at the front of the line, with the five women behind them.

Even the middle-aged man obediently grabbed Qi Xia's clothes.

"Hey, Liar Boy, how many more hits like that are coming...?"

Qi Xia glanced at the clock on the distant wall. "Don't worry. Only seven minutes left."

"Seven..." Qiao Jiajin froze. "Shit, doesn't that mean we've only just started?!"

"Black bears don't have much stamina," Qi Xia said. "I don't believe it can attack nonstop for the rest of the time. We just have to get through this first stretch. Don't let your guard down."

The black bear shifted its stance and kept moving to one side.

Qi Xia tugged on Qiao Jiajin's clothes to guide him, making the iron plate roll along the ground.

This maneuver stumped the black bear.

Though it possessed devastating strength, it was not an agile predator. It could not immediately attack from the side and could only keep shifting its enormous body.

But no matter where it moved, the iron plate always faced it.

"Grrr-"

The black bear kept growling. It had circled the group once already, yet still could not find an opening to attack.

There was actually a very simple way to beat "the eagle catches the chicks": the "eagle" could suddenly change direction. If an "eagle" moving right abruptly moved left, for instance, the "chicks" would keep moving from momentum, allowing it to catch the person at the end.

It was a tactic everyone had learned from playing the game countless times as children. Qi Xia did not believe the black bear before them could devise anything so clever in such a short time.

"Good... good..." Qi Xia murmured to himself. "Just keep this stalemate going..."

Everyone held on to the person ahead of them. Although the line was long, they all remained a perfectly safe distance from the black bear.

"This idea of yours might actually work..." Qiao Jiajin said quietly. "But I'm getting a little tired..."

"Hang in there," Qi Xia said. "Six minutes and change will pass before you know it."

"But I haven't eaten for a whole day and night. I..."

"It's coming!" Qi Xia shouted.

Qiao Jiajin immediately shifted his weight and lowered his body, clashing with the black bear once again.

Clang!!

This blow was clearly stronger than the last. Qiao Jiajin was almost knocked over along with the plate.

"This damn bear just won't stop!" the middle-aged man shouted nervously. "Hey! Young man at the front, make sure you hold it off!"

"Why don't you fucking try it yourself!" Qiao Jiajin snapped. His entire body ached from the impact, and his bones felt as though they were about to come apart.

Finding that even its full-strength blow had failed to breach their defenses, the black bear grew furious.

It paused where it stood, then began slowly backing away.

"What's happening?" Little Glasses asked. "Has it given up?"

Qi Xia frowned slightly, sensing something was wrong.

Backing away?

"Oh, shit!"

Something suddenly occurred to him. He immediately ducked down and braced himself against the plate alongside Qiao Jiajin, then turned to the middle-aged man. "Hey! You steer!"

"Huh?"

Though confused, the middle-aged man knew everyone's lives depended on the iron plate. He dared not delay, so he copied what Qi Xia had done, tugging on their clothes to control the direction of the plate.

Just as Qi Xia had suspected, the black bear was not retreating because it had given up. It was preparing to use a running start to strengthen its attack.

"It's going all out." Qi Xia glanced at Qiao Jiajin beside him. "If we can block this one, we'll most likely survive."

"That tells us nothing." Qiao Jiajin shook his head helplessly. "Our problem right now is that we don't know whether we can block it!"

The black bear kept backing away until it had nearly reached the wall.

Watching this as he steered, the middle-aged man could not help swallowing hard.

A single blow from the stationary bear was already deadly enough. If it took a running start and threw its full weight into the attack, could this iron plate alone stop its charging assault?

"Fatty!" Qiao Jiajin shouted. "Make sure you tell us when it attacks!"

But the middle-aged man seemed not to have heard a thing. His eyes darted about, as though he were thinking something over.

The black bear scraped its front paws against the ground, then suddenly began picking up speed.

At that, the middle-aged man stopped hesitating. He abandoned everyone and ran toward an empty patch of ground behind them.

"Hey... you!" Before Qiao Jiajin could curse him out, he heard heavy footfalls and could only hurriedly lower his body.

Little Glasses stepped forward, tugged on Qi Xia's clothes, and shouted, "You're facing the wrong way! A little more to the right!"

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin both widened their eyes. "There's no time to turn! Brace yourselves!"

The words had barely left their mouths when they felt as though a speeding truck had hit them. Their bodies lifted off the ground along with the iron plate, hurtling uncontrollably half a meter backward before slamming down hard.

This collision not only sent the entire line stumbling in every direction, but also knocked the iron plate over, pinning both men beneath it.