Die, Replay, Repeat

Chapter 246: Without Fang Xiu

"What about Liu Shuai?" someone asked.

"Easy," Xia Chuxia responded as she strolled over to him. "He's drunk, then get him puke."

With a wave of her hand, she used her power on Liu Shuai.

Liu Shuai, already out cold and not exactly a powerhouse, offered zero resistance. Xia Chuxia's ability worked like a charm.

Suddenly, Liu Shuai's stomach lurched violently. He spewed out a nasty mix of half-digested food and yellow bile, filling the air with a stench that made everyone around gag.

Not long after, Liu Shuai woke up. He was still a bit tipsy, but at least he could move again.

As he blinked away his confusion, both he and Zhao Hao started acting like they were completely sober—maybe even sharper than usual.

Normally, just the sight of Specters would freak them out. But now, something had changed.

Liu Shuai, usually the most cowardly of the group, suddenly turned fearless. He grabbed an assault rifle from a nearby unconscious soldier and began firing at the Snakeworms.

Zhao Hao, still a bit dazed, saw some illusions and, after being single for way too long, somehow found the Specters appealing. Fear? Nah. If anything, it was the Snakeworms that should've been scared of him.

"Good, keep going! Let's fight our way out!" Xia Chuxia cheered, unleashing her dual powers of fire and ice against the surrounding Specters.

Yang Ming joined in, efficiently taking them down. Even without Fang Xiu's leadership, their team wasn't weak.

Battles like this were raging all over the headquarters, plunging everything into chaos.

Snakeworms were everywhere, along with a mix of B-class and A-class Specters, and members of the Pokers were also clashing with the headquarters' crew.

Before long, Xia Chuxia and her team fought their way out of the hall, thinking they'd finally reached safety. But outside, the fight was even more intense. The captains were all engaged in fierce combat.

Ace of Hearts was up against Luo Qingxin, Ace of Clubs was fighting Li Xiaoru, Ace of Diamonds was clashing with Xiong Tianguang, and Joker was locked in battle with Fang Moli.

On top of that, a terrifying S-class Specter was tearing through the battlefield.

The entire area was fractured into powerful domains, with the real world barely holding together.

Xia Chuxia and the others froze in shock, a flicker of panic crossing their faces.

But Zhao Hao, always unpredictable, was different. Spotting his latest crush, Luo Qingxin, his eyes lit up, and he sprinted toward her.

"Qingxin! Qingxin! Where are your stockings? When did you take the—mmph!"

Before he could finish, Yang Ming clamped a hand over his mouth and yanked him back.

"This place is way worse than inside! Sure, there were more enemies in there, but they were mostly small fry! Out here, it's all heavy hitters, and we could get killed just from the crossfire. Damn it! Xiu's not here, and I've got no clue what to do!"

Yang Ming's eyes darted around, desperately hoping Fang Xiu would show up like a hero to save them. They'd gotten so used to Fang Xiu's leadership that without his voice guiding them, they felt lost.

If they could just hear him give one command, they'd charge forward even if an S-class Specter was in their way.

"You guys head back. I'll find him," Xia Chuxia suddenly said.

Yang Ming and the others stared at her in disbelief. "You're going to find him? Alone?"

Xia Chuxia nodded. "Yeah, alone. If we all go, we'll be too easy to spot, especially with these two drunks. I'll move faster on my own. Don't worry—I can turn invisible."

"Invisible? I thought you only had two abilities, fire and ice? Since when could you turn invisible?" someone asked, surprised.

Xia Chuxia replied with a smirk, "I've been lying to you all along. I'm not just a dual ability user; I actually have three abilities, and invisibility is one of them."

As she spoke, she vanished into thin air, shocking everyone around her.

"She really can turn invisible!" someone exclaimed in disbelief.

But Zhao Hao shouted, "That invisibility is fake!"

Xia Chuxia, hidden from view, paused, thinking her ability had been exposed.

However, Zhao Hao's next words made her furious.

"I saw this in a movie! When people go invisible, their clothes don't disappear, so they have to take them off first!"

Before he could finish, Zhao Hao was curled up on the ground, screaming in pain.

"Are you just pretending to be drunk?" Xia Chuxia's cold voice came from the empty air.

"I'm done talking with you guys. I'm going to find Xiu. You all go back to the hall."

"Big Black, even if you can turn invisible, those domains are indiscriminate in their attacks. What if—"

"You're all so clueless," Xia Chuxia interrupted. "Think about it carefully. With Xiu's abilities, don't you think he already predicted what's happening now?"

Yang Ming hesitated, but then, out of his blind trust in Fang Xiu, he nodded.

"If he foresaw this, then why didn't he warn us earlier?"

"Why?"

"Because he must have seen that we wouldn't be in danger. That means whatever we choose to do now is the right choice, so Xiu didn't need to warn us. It's like taking an exam—if you're going to get a perfect score on your own, does Xiu need to give you the answers?"

Xia Chuxia's reasoning completely convinced Yang Ming and the others.

Although they had no evidence, what she said seemed to make perfect sense. When she spoke the next words, all their doubts disappeared.

"Do you understand now? Xiu must have already seen the future and that's why he's so confident in us. All we need to do now is trust our own judgment!"

Hearing these familiar words, the group seemed to switch into a thoughtless mode, blindly following her logic.

Xia Chuxia chuckled to herself, pleased at how easily she could manipulate them. She had gained more power from her lies.

After deceiving everyone, Xia Chuxia immediately set off to find Fang Xiu. She wanted to find him because she knew being near Fang Xiu was the safest place to be.

She remembered how Fang Xiu had once shrunk her down to fit in his pocket and how he had pointed out Yan Changshou at the awards ceremony, and she could tell that Fang Xiu was definitely up to something big in this battle.

He might even be one of the masterminds behind everything. That's why she believed there was no safer place than by Fang Xiu's side.

As for why she didn't bring Yang Ming and the others—it wasn't that she didn't want to, but she couldn't.

Outside the hall, several fourth-tier powerhouses were in a chaotic battle, and an S-class Specter was rampaging. Even with her versatile lying abilities, there was no way she could lead a large group of people safely through that.

Besides, Xia Chuxia wasn't entirely lying about what she said; maybe Fang Xiu really had seen the future.

After leaving Xiao Zhenhua, Fang Xiu headed straight to where the Specter Gate had opened. He wanted to check if Yan Changshou was dead.

He had arranged for the Ace and King of Spades to take care of it, but Yan Changshou was, after all, a captain of the headquarters; he had deep and mysterious powers far beyond that of an ordinary fourth-tier psychic.

Yan Changshou had coveted the Genesis Mask for a long time, and Fang Xiu had also been eyeing Yan Changshou's body for quite a while.

If he could turn Yan Changshou into a Specter and then devour his body, Fang Xiu might even break through to the third tier.