"If Deceptive Rules really exist..."
Chen Xu's face blurred in the thickening fog, making it impossible to tell what expression he wore as he said those words.
"How can we be sure that Li Cheng appearing as a clue isn't itself a deception?"
Silence fell. Only the faint sound of white mist spreading could be heard.
Everyone stopped walking, including Li Cheng, who was leading the way ahead. The subtle atmosphere seemed to turn strange the moment those words left Chen Xu's mouth.
Luo Ge silently turned his head. A streak of silver flashed across his lenses. His face remained expressionless as he quietly stared at Chen Xu.
Ping Wenbin seemed to forget how to breathe. His face turned pale as he pondered those words, and his hands slowly began to tremble.
"A notebook led to two difficult choices, corresponding to a sense of crisis;
Entering the white mist without being able to determine a route forward corresponded to a sense of the bizarre.
All of this was too similar to the Elevator Rules Ai Chan experienced..."
If entering the white mist to resume the trail of clues had itself been a deeply concealed Deceptive Rule, then...
"No."
Luo Ge narrowed his eyes, concealing the deeper emotions in his gaze, and gave his answer in two cold words.
"If we do not embark on the White Mist Operation, it means the Male Dormitory Clue has been severed.
This step has to be taken because Mission Progress forces us to take it, not because the operation itself is dangerous.
That slight distinction makes all the difference."
Luo Ge had been the one to propose the idea of "Deceptive Rules," so he had naturally considered and tested it thoroughly long ago.
Thus, when facing the question Chen Xu raised, he gave a