Balance

Everyone fell silent at that, and the arguing died down considerably.

At a time like this, sticking together for warmth was worse than fighting alone. The team's trust was hanging by a thread, and Qin Shang had deliberately pushed things in this direction.

After all, only by separating from these people could he investigate the clues in Carriage No. 2.

Besides, the assistant's information had mentioned the team leader. Perhaps the real team leader would reveal a flaw after hearing this information!

He was almost a hundred percent certain that Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green had abandoned the security officer during the hand-holding segment. She must have had her own source and reasons for doing so!

And those reasons were definitely related to Carriage No. 2...

In any case, there were still more than thirty hours left. He wasn't in such a hurry that he had to carry out the exploration mission in a short time.

Finding the traitor in the team was the most important thing.

Otherwise, continuing to follow this group would be like a headless fly charging around blindly. There was no guarantee that the next time they entered the tunnel, he wouldn't be the one who died.

"I'm a passenger..."

"A passenger..."

"I'm a passenger too."

"Passenger."

After a brief exchange of awkward glances, several people announced their identities one after another.

A hint of mockery immediately curled across Qin Shang's face.

These people... really were all plotting their own schemes.

There were four passengers in front of him?

Then who were the God Slayer and the accomplice? Could it be him?

As his thoughts turned, Qin Shang also observed everyone's expressions.

Unfortunately, everyone looked perfectly normal. By now, they all knew that at least three people in the team had lied.

The team leader, the God Slayer, and the accomplice were definitely still hiding among them.

In other words, when Qin Shang had suggested revealing their identities, at least three people had lied.

The scant trust between them had completely collapsed.

"The God Slayer and the passengers are hiding their identities to protect themselves. Anyone with a brain wouldn't admit to being one of them."

"But the team leader's reason for denying it is intriguing. Are they afraid of being killed?"

"Or perhaps they're afraid of the Trickster class?"

"I just don't know whether, besides the three people who lied, there was a fourth person who lied as well."

"That person is the most terrifying of all. They could be the accomplice, a passenger, or the assistant."

Neither wholly good nor wholly evil...

"All right, Cockroach Jade Feet, stop deepening the suspicion between everyone!"

Just then, the security officer, who had always played the role of leader, frowned as he spoke.

Qin Shang curled his lip.

"I was honest with all of you, but every one of you held something back. The team's trust was gone a long time ago."

"Since this is how everyone wants to play, I don't think there's any need for me to follow the group anymore. Go on without me."

With that, Qin Shang plopped down on the floor.

"What are you doing? Exploration is the main mission. If you don't complete the main mission, you'll be erased!"

"Complete it? Do you think that's possible in our current situation? Compared with being erased by the game, being killed by teammates who barely know one another and are already plotting against each other is at least preferable."

"I don't want to make it halfway there, suddenly black out, and die without even knowing why."

"With a God Slayer, a Trickster, and an accomplice mixed into the team, who knows who's good and who's worth entrusting your back to?"

Qin Shang finished his indignant speech. As if speaking up for the two dead, he mentioned the Trickster again.

Without realizing it, he had also washed away some of the suspicion that he himself was the Trickster.

Afterward, he pointed at the noblewoman and the hoodlum who had already died and said angrily,

"Did those two not trust everyone?"

"You told them to hold hands, and they held hands. You told them to call out numbers, and they called out numbers. And what happened?"

"I thought an old player like the security officer would have a solution, but he still died in the dungeon!"

He looked like a frightened bird. No one noticed anything unusual in his performance.

It was true. Seven people had entered the dungeon together, and in less than half an hour, two had died.

Their corpses were still warm...

To the others, it was perfectly normal that this young man called Fiercely Licking Cockroach Jade Feet, an ordinary person, had poor mental fortitude and suffered an emotional breakdown.

The next moment, Qin Shang said coldly,

"Regardless, I've made up my mind. You can continue with whatever damn exploration mission you want. I'm staying in this carriage and not leaving. No one can make me!"

Hearing this, the security officer swept him a dark look.

The Elder Priest raised his brows.

"If that's the case, perhaps you'll soon be crying and begging us to trust you. Until we leave Carriage No. 2, we probably won't receive any new Background Story prompts. Who knows what else is in this carriage..."

Qin Shang said no more, as if he had made up his mind to remain in Carriage No. 2.

The Elder Priest sighed and said nothing more. He looked at Qin Shang with pity.

"Take care of yourself. I hope we'll meet again someday!"

The others were about to leave when the security officer suddenly seemed to think of something. He turned around and gave Qin Shang another long look.

"If someone in our group of four is killed later, then you, acting alone, may actually be the greatest suspect."

"After all, you're also a priest, and you can see in the dark. The four of us will be holding hands, and we can form a circle by crossing our arms."

"In that situation, one person letting go would be too obvious. Besides, with our arms interlocked, even if the God Slayer and the killer wanted to cooperate, the other two would notice."

"So if anyone in the group dies, the attacker definitely won't be one of us."

"That means you're the killer..."

As soon as he heard this, Qin Shang narrowed his eyes.

The security officer wasn't stupid!

He had thought these people would continue lining up like before and hold hands to clear the dungeon.

If they continued like that, the team would lose a member every time they entered a tunnel.

But the security officer was clever. The four of them stood at the four corners and crossed their hands.

That way, everyone's arms were touching. To give a simple example, A would hold B and C's hands while also placing his palms over D and B's. The others would do the same...

It was like drawing crossed diagonals inside a square—a large X.

If one person let go, the other three would feel it. Even if the God Slayer and the accomplice covered for each other, anyone who tried to attack would immediately be discovered by the other two.

Then among those four, there should still be at least one team leader and one passenger.

Qin Shang had figured out part of this just now, after inheriting Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green's hidden talent through the Trickster.

The Divine Path game had a certain mechanism for maintaining balance.

That was right—balance.

As far as classes were concerned, when the Trickster obtained the clues of a dead teammate, he also had to complete that dead teammate's mission.

Because of this, Qin Shang couldn't become a traitor, viciously kill everyone in the team, obtain all the independent clues, and clear the game. If one person inherited six people's side missions, there would always be some that couldn't be completed.

This indirectly protected the game's balance.

Just a moment ago, Qin Shang had suddenly had a wild thought.

He had genuinely considered it.

That was...

If he killed everyone, wouldn't the threat from the God Slayer and the accomplice be eliminated as well?

If the God Slayer and the accomplice were both dead, who could threaten him while he explored the dungeon?

In other words, he could clear the game perfectly!

But clearly, the game's developers had realized that this was too absurd and shameless, and would even destroy the balance.

That was why the Trickster class received the side missions of dead players when inheriting their clues.

Qin Shang gradually understood why the security officer had been scared witless when he first heard about the Trickster, yet hadn't been especially panicked.

The security officer was an old player. To a large extent, he probably knew about this.

So he understood that as long as the Trickster wasn't the accomplice, the Trickster's threat might not be the greatest!

From the fact that he could casually explain the priest's skills and the teacher's skills, Qin Shang already understood.

To maintain balance, the God Slayer's existence was itself the greatest threat to the players. With an accomplice, he could kill people with ease. In other words, if there were more than two accomplices, then the three of them could immediately kill three passengers and one team leader at the very beginning of the game.

That would disrupt the balance far too much!

Therefore, Qin Shang was almost a hundred percent certain that among those four people, besides the team leader, there was also a passenger.

Buddha Saves the Predestined, Grandpa Niu cosplaying as a maid to seduce Zhuangzhuang's mother, Heart-to-Heart Sister, and Eagle of Justice...

Among the four of them were a passenger, a team leader, a God Slayer, and an accomplice!

The security officer's crossed-hand method could clear the game...

Qin Shang had three reasons for wanting to stay. First, he wanted to look for clues inside Carriage No. 2.

Another was to give them a chance to stay alive. Of course, his true intention was the opposite. Every man for himself, and Heaven would destroy anyone who acted otherwise. His wife's whereabouts were still unknown, and Qin Shang didn't want to die without knowing why.

He wasn't the God Slayer or the accomplice, so that person had to be among the four of them. Acting alone allowed him to avoid all the risks.

Third, he was considering whether to inherit the hoodlum's clues and mission. Of course, that was still undecided.

If he discovered any breakthrough clue, Qin Shang naturally wouldn't want to take on another side mission.

He had perfectly valid reasons for wanting to act alone.

He had simply overlooked one point: while he suspected the others, they suspected him as well.

Yes, if someone else died after this...

Then this lone "priest" of his would be the greatest suspect in everyone's eyes...

But with the method mentioned by the security officer, there was absolutely no chance for the God Slayer and the accomplice to kill anyone!

The instant they attacked, they would be discovered.

The God Slayer shouldn't be stupid!

In other words, if someone else died from this point onward, then the person who had acted was someone other than the four of them—"me."

The reasoning was sound, but I wouldn't attack.

I wasn't the God Slayer or the accomplice. I had no reason to kill anyone!

As long as those four stayed together, there shouldn't be any more casualties.