Hearing Qiu Tu's words, Larilo lowered her eyelids, tilted her head, and absentmindedly played with the lace on her skirt, exuding an air of casual elegance.
After a moment, she grinned and said with a half-smile, "Qiu Tu... do you know?"
"Ever since the last few times I suffered losses at your hands, I've thought a lot."
"You... are even more elusive than us Deities."
"To avoid being calculated by you, the best way is to refuse all your bets and proposals."
"I won't interfere with whatever you do. I'll just quietly be an onlooker."
Hearing Larilo's words, Qiu Tu laughed.
With just one sentence, he completely fried Larilo's CPU, "How can you be sure that my goal is to have you just quietly observe?"
Upon hearing this, Larilo's brain entered a logical loop.
Yeah... how could she be certain that Qiu Tu talking to her wasn't precisely to make her an onlooker?
Then, shouldn't she get involved?
But no... how could she know that what Qiu Tu is saying right now isn't deceiving her?
Instantly, because logic was stacking layer upon layer, Larilo couldn't tell at which layer Qiu Tu really was. The first layer? Second layer? Third layer? Or the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth... layer.
It was a completely undeterminable infinite loop.
And just then, Qiu Tu spoke again.
He looked at Larilo with a light smile and said, "Guess... could it be that your entire logical meltdown is actually the goal of my 'bet' with you?"
When a new logic emerged, Larilo found her chain of thought even more muddled.
She realized that not following Qiu Tu's rhythm seemed just as futile.
But luckily... she figured out a permanent solution to not be manipulated by Qiu Tu: going deaf! If she doesn't listen to Qiu Tu, she won't be tricked, right?
'Terrifying... too terrifying. Like whispering with the Devil...'
Thinking this, Larilo covered her ears, putting on a "I'm not listening, I'm not listening" attitude.
Seeing Larilo like that, the corners of Qiu Tu's mouth curled up with a smile: little thing... I still got you.
While the two were playfully bantering, a Black Shadow blinked into existence in front of Qiu Tu.
He knelt on one knee, then spoke in an aged voice, "Your Highness. Last night, the Whale Shark summoned four hundred and thirty Zhou Bings."
"Then he had them quietly split into dozens of teams to secretly draw the map of the 'Xinjie Territory'."
"And he himself was at the lake, quietly setting up a Catastrophic Array."
"The specific effects are unclear, but it likely involves defense and early warning."
After hearing the Elder's report, Qiu Tu nodded slightly and then said, "Have the Dark Soldiers ready themselves, carry out the plan I set in the beginning."
"Then... wait for my signal to directly eliminate those Zhou Bings."
"Yes." The Elder responded and then in the next second, he stood up and disappeared, using his 'Instantaneous Movement' ability.
Watching the Elder's vanishing figure, Qiu Tu couldn't help but lift his gaze toward Larilo.
Larilo, apparently lost in thought, had a pensiveness in her expressionless crimson eyes.
Seeing this, Qiu Tu curiously asked, "What is it? Come up with something?"
Upon hearing him, Larilo slowly came back to her senses.
Then she looked at Qiu Tu and said, "When your subordinate mentioned the Whale Shark setting up an Array, it reminded me... the Whale Shark indeed has a famous Array."
"Called the 'Surging Waves Formation'."
"The function of this Formation is singular, which is to escalate the defense to the highest."
"It can withstand attacks from Peak Fourth Rank Catastrophe, no problem."
"More importantly, this Formation doesn't consume much because it eliminates attacks like the waves in the sea, so it doesn't require much energy."
Having said that, Larilo spoke with a quirky expression, "Hence... the Whale Shark has always been known within the circles of several nearby Deities as timid and cautious."
After explaining the Formation, Larilo turned to look at Qiu Tu and added with a tinge of sympathy, "So... your plan probably went bust."
"After all... before you even attack, they've already set up the shield."
"With such a strong shield, how would you break through?"
Hearing Larilo's analysis, Qiu Tu was initially a bit surprised, followed by an urge to laugh.
He didn't explain but repeated the initial subject, "Your Highness, care to wager?"
"Hehe..." This time, Larilo was wiser. She hesitated for a moment, possibly fearing being bewitched by Qiu Tu, so she covered her ears, refusing to listen at all.
Although 99.99% of her believed Qiu Tu couldn't breach the Formation, but... wasn't creating miracles what Qiu Tu did best?
Why would she take such a bet for no reason? Losing would be so embarrassing.
Seeing her reaction, Qiu Tu didn't mind and said, "Okay, since you're not betting, let's go and see what's up with the Whale Shark."
After saying that, Qiu Tu activated 'Infinite Vision', located the Whale Shark's position, and flew there together with Larilo.
Nightfall draped down like a vast black velvet cloth slowly spreading across the vast 'Xinjie Territory'. The cool and bright moonlight, filtering through the sparse cloud cover, spattered mottled light upon the Primitive Forest.
Under the moonlight, the shadows of trees stretched long and twisted, cast upon the ground, adding a sense of somberness and solemnity. A gentle breeze passed, and the whole Primitive Forest let out a series of mournful wails as if singing an elegy for tonight's great battle....