With three hours left until the next rotation of the Cube, Yu Xunge began methodically unlocking one player after another.
But some strong-willed players who preferred to take charge asked her directly to lend them Soul Fire, intending to unlock their cuffs themselves.
Yu Xunge lent Soul Fire to those players without hesitation. Once they unlocked their handcuffs, they would say so in the chat channel, and she could then rename them.
But she had yet to unlock her own handcuffs. Whether they were learning games or prisoner games, she was interested in both. The former let her learn things, while the latter let her poach people from this prison. Other games could also help her better understand this prison's style of games.
The Ash Inspector remained silent, but Yu Xunge had no intention of letting the subject drop.
Star Sea Prisoner: [If I hadn't had my players hide and go offline, would this prison's Cube game have started early?]
Ash Inspector: "What led you to that conclusion?"
Yu Xunge glanced at the prison's occupancy rate. It was still below 70%.
If the Order Pendulum periodically repaired the Star Sea and the Mountains to reduce Soul Fire, then the prison probably served the same purpose.
If they had truly changed the rules of the First Epoch, they would not have left behind such an enormous tragedy, forcing the living beings of the following epochs to face war and suffering.
Then there was only one explanation: war and destruction could not be avoided.
Either the prison's order had not been fully overturned, or it was to delay the discovery of this prison's condition.
The most effortless part of talking to someone smart was that there was far less pretense.
Once Yu Xunge shared what she had deduced, the Ash Inspector neither