[Escape Room] Alliance

Outside the door, Lu Zihan's heavy chopping blows pounded at the tense air in room three.

Meanwhile, in the Ghost Net, the conversation between the two people responsible was unusually cheerful.

[Lu Zihan: Haha, I'm pretty damn good, huh? Teleport and decapitate, one slash apiece!]

[Ren Yi: That was so cool, Old Lu! How come your true body is such a good fighter... By the way, how's your wound?]

[Lu Zihan: No big deal, it's already healing. But the location's a bit troublesome. That Old Deng aimed right at my foot, so I'm afraid it'll slow me down for a while.]

[Ren Yi: It's fine. Keep chopping at the door, and I'll figure out the rest.]

[Lu Zihan: What about the two left in room two?]

[Ren Yi: Leave them for now. They're already done for. We'll harvest them after we deal with this side.]

At that moment, room three was in chaos.

"We're doomed, we're doomed! Did you see that? That monster can teleport! None of us can escape!"

The terrified-looking young man had collapsed onto the floor, his eyes vacant and his mouth still murmuring. He had completely broken down.

"Enough. If he could keep teleporting, why didn't he just teleport in here? There must be some restriction on it," Old Deng snapped. He had just lost a companion, and his expression looked grim.

"Everyone, be quiet." An unexpected voice spoke up. It was Chen Fang.

But what she said next shocked everyone, Ren Yi included. "I might know the logic behind that anomaly's actions."

Her words immediately drew everyone's attention.

"We all know anomalies have special abilities." Her voice was low, but every word was clear. "But abilities need conditions to trigger them. Especially in a beginner Instance, the rules are usually simple, direct, even crude."

She paused to make sure everyone heard what came next.

"Remember what that thing did? After it started moving, it didn't teleport right away. It chopped at the door for a while, until..." She looked at the terrified young man slumped on the floor beside her.

"Only after that kid screamed did he teleport straight behind that big brother. And since we came in, this kid has been muttering to himself, so the monster hasn't come in."

"I suspect its ability might be something like teleporting toward loud noises."

Among those left, the nurse asked in a trembling voice, "S-so as long as we don't shout, we're safe?"

Old Deng made an immediate decision and lowered his voice. "Everyone, from now on, talk as little as possible. If you have to speak, whisper. If anyone dares argue loudly or scream again, don't blame me for what happens!"

Whew, good thing she didn't guess right. Ren Yi, who had been listening in all along, let out a soft breath.

"Don't underestimate humans." Aunt Lu Qing's words still echoed in his ears.

He really had underestimated them a little. After sharing the information with Lu Zihan, he grew wary. These survivors from the "Pasture" might be weak, but their survival instincts and resilience were not to be underestimated.

But Chen Fang's guess had accidentally caused them considerable trouble all the same. Now that the participants were all trying not to speak, getting their "rebuttals" was naturally even harder.

The chopping outside the door was the only sound in the background, urging the survivors to act.

Room three had been decorated as a bizarre children's playroom. Colorful foam blocks were scattered across the floor, and oddly shaped dolls grinned as though mocking the intruders.

The door to the fourth room had a combination lock marked with a circle, a square, and a triangle, each with two digits beneath it.

It was a very simple puzzle. The participants needed to quickly gather the blocks of the corresponding shapes in the room, count them, and enter the numbers into the lock.

The search proceeded in an eerie silence, broken only by glances, gestures, the rustle of clothing, and the clang, clang in the background.

Ren Yi's mind raced. He had only one shot of illusion "ammunition" left and had to use it where it counted most. To keep using the ability, he needed to obtain positive emotions from others.

Ideally, he would obtain positive emotions while killing someone, allowing him to keep up his "combo."

Old Deng was undoubtedly the priority target, but Ren Yi still needed to consider how to ensure the attack would kill him outright.

Just then, his perception "saw" Chen Fang carrying a pile of blocks as she approached Lin Feng, seemingly by chance.

"What is it?" Lin Feng asked quietly, somewhat wary.

"There's something I want to discuss with you." Chen Fang sorted the blocks in her hands and, without waiting for Lin Feng to respond, continued in a voice only the two of them could hear. "I know some inside information. These beginner Instances often have a limit on how many people can clear them."

Lin Feng's pupils contracted, shaken by the news. Imitating her, he lowered his head and replied, "What do you mean? What are you planning?"

"An alliance," Chen Fang said succinctly. "I don't know how many slots there are in total, but Old Deng and his companion will definitely take two. Everyone left without a slot will have to die."

A hint of killing intent flickered in her voice.

"Besides, we both know how people from the Holy City treat 'outer-city people' like us. They're only keeping us around now because they need cannon fodder to scout the way. Once the final door opens, do you think the gun in his hand will be pointing at the monster, or at our backs?"

What slots? Inside the jade token, Ren Yi paused in surprise. As the temporary boss of this Instance, how could he not know?

He had seen the door to the fifth room too. Any number of people could escape; there was definitely no limit.

Chen Fang was lying. He quickly reached that conclusion.

As for her purpose, was it perhaps for the "reward"?

"I don't think you're simple," Chen Fang continued. "Work with me, and we'll take them out first. As a show of sincerity, I can share a crucial piece of information first."

Lin Feng barely hesitated.

"All right." He agreed readily.

Who couldn't make an empty promise? Besides, the system's mission was still there: "Become the team leader." Forming an alliance with Chen Fang was one of the steps.

"Heh." Chen Fang seemed to see through his halfhearted response, but she merely smiled faintly, unconcerned. "Look carefully at the shape of this room. What does it look like?"

Lin Feng took a look. All the rooms were the same shape, roughly the length and width of two basketball courts joined end to end.

He thought for a moment, then realized. "A coffin?"

"That's right." Chen Fang nodded. "The clue in the first room said, 'The key is in the third coffin.' The 'coffins' are the rooms. The key must be in the third room. And these dolls on the floor..."

Her gaze swept over the toys with their stiff smiles. "They have nothing to do with the combination. I suspect the 'key' is hidden among them. We'll split up and search. I'll take the left, you take the right. Don't let anyone notice."

An interesting development. Ren Yi put aside his original plan to intervene. He wanted to see how far these two "allies," each with their own hidden agenda, could take this little play.

He even kindly made a subtle adjustment to Lin Feng's vision, making a teddy bear in one corner particularly "conspicuous" in the edge of his sight.

As Lin Feng collected blocks, he quickly felt over the dolls on the floor, outwardly acting as though nothing were happening. Just then, he felt that a teddy bear some distance away seemed oddly conspicuous.

When his hand touched the teddy bear, his fingertips felt something unusually hard inside.

He paused, turned sideways to block everyone's view, and deftly tore open the seam on the doll's back.

Sure enough, a key lay quietly inside the doll's chest.

Lin Feng put it in his pocket and gripped the key and the white jade token representing the system. Only then did he feel a little more at ease.