The Real One Finally Appears

As Fern said, if we only consider the "survival rate" and there is no obvious "coercion" element, the optimal solution for this Game is actually to "drag it out".

Winning only shortens the time limit, while losing could mean immediate death—although being blown up in the mine doesn't necessarily mean death, it still sounds like a difficult punishment to deal with.

However, for both of them, the current situation is indeed one that cannot be delayed any longer.

Not to mention that Moss is currently in an unknown situation that makes the two of them extremely uneasy... even ignoring the emergency situation caused by Grass's actions, they don't have twelve hours to waste!

In reality, her own body was still "losing blood"—perhaps this is why the grass would directly take the moss on the adventure.

"Come on, skeleton."

The second Game begins.

The eight bowls started spinning again, then quickly came to a stop.

This time, Fern immediately asked the question as before.

"Compared to five or six, which is more?"

The skeleton raised its head, paused for a moment, and then spoke, "There are more mine rats in the group with bowls number three and four."

"Okay, what's the sum of five and six?"

The difference in the number of mine rats in the two bowls... is zero.

The skeleton's tone wavered slightly.

"Ha, look, we're even luckier this time. Two questions have already secured the victory."

The fern smiled and spoke to the algae, then looked at the skull.

"Is this last question absolutely necessary? Can I make my selection now?"

The skeleton spoke with difficulty, "Of course."

After he finished speaking, Fern smiled and then opened her mouth.

"Then I'll choose bowl number five."

The skeleton lifted bowl number five, revealing it to be completely empty.

Fern laughed lightly, "Now I believe you, you really didn't cheat... You're quite honest."

After Fern finished speaking, the skeleton silently waved its hand, and the hand that was cranking the lever increased its speed again, causing the Mine Cart to accelerate once more.

Ten minutes later, the Mine Cart, which had accelerated to almost lightning speed, crashed into the wall with a bang and came to a stop at the bottom of the spiraling, descending mine tunnel.

During the final descent, the skeleton had already stopped and left, so only ferns and algae ended up there.

However, the two of them almost vomited from the shaking and were now panting, lying on the edge of the Mine Cart.

After Algae recovered first, she jumped out of the Mine Cart and dragged out Fern, who had almost been knocked unconscious. They found that the two of them had arrived at a place that looked like a "rest room".

A Xenon Lamp, much brighter than the previous hanging lamp, sat on a low table, surrounded by several wooden barrels that served as benches.

Meanwhile, there was a deck of Playing Cards scattered on the table.

Lin Yu and Tai were sitting at the table. When they saw the two of them coming, Lin Yu greeted them with a smile.

"Wow... you came pretty fast."

"As I suspected, if there's a 'Liar,' then they can see through the 'traps' in this Game and find the fastest way to break free."

Fern was stunned. "What trap?"

Lin Yu was also puzzled. "Of course it's the 'any bowl' it keeps mentioning... It's a very basic word Game. Although the biggest problem at first glance is that it's impossible to pinpoint the specific value of a bowl with a single question, the 'any' in 'any' doesn't specify any bowl within the current Game, nor does it necessarily refer to a number. So, you could ask questions like 'The number of bowls Number Eight is equal to the number of bowls containing a mine rat.'"

"This turns the problem into a ternary logic puzzle—for the first question, you randomly choose two bowls and ask for the difference in their quantities. The answer has three possibilities: 0, 1, or 2. The answer is 2. For the second question, you simply ask if one of them is 0, guaranteeing a win."

"The answer is 1. The second question asks if one of them is 1. The one that is not 1 must be either a win or a draw."

"If the answer is 0, ask for the sum of the two bowls. If it's 0 or 4, choose one. If it's 2, ask if any one of them is equal to any other bowl. If they're not equal, choose that one directly. If they are equal, choose from the remaining bowls. This is the least ideal situation, but it still eliminates three Error options, leaving only a one-in-five chance of getting it wrong. And even if you get it wrong, it's not a big problem because if the Mine Cart is moving fast enough before the track is destroyed, it's not fatal."

"I drew six times, won five times, and lost once."

Fern fell silent. "I hadn't thought of that..."

"So how did you get here? It couldn't have been just luck, could it?"

Lin Yu asked incredulously.

Zao sat down opposite Lin Yu: "Damn, you said it yourself, that guy is a 'Liar,' so naturally she doesn't rely on 'solving puzzles,' but on 'Deception.'"

"Although the skull is shaking very fast, the sound of two, one, and none of them is obviously different. I can't tell the difference, but Algae can," Fern said, pursing her lips. "And because it's lined up in a row, at least Algae can pinpoint whether the two empty bowls are in the middle, to the left, or to the right... down to the exact location of the two bowls."

"Knowing that one of these two must be empty, I can then ask the question with the answer in mind."

"We just need to act a little, and as long as the skeleton doesn't find out that I'm cheating by using algae's hearing, we can keep using this trick to cheat."

After listening, Lin Yu paused for a moment, then gave a thumbs up.

"Sharp."

He then realized that, in some ways, he, as a "Fraudster," was no better than a real "Liar."

With Skeleton honest and not cheating, Lin Yu forgot about actively trying to Fraud or deceive, and instead focused on finding the optimal solution to the Game.

If cheating is used, even the worst-case scenario of a one-in-five chance of failure can be avoided—after all, Lin Yu's plan still has flaws.

If you lose once at the beginning and don't quickly pick up the pace by winning a few more times, it's still very risky.

"I guess I'm still too rigid in my thinking sometimes... Unless it's an emergency, I generally won't choose to break the Rule."

"However, given the 'grass' persona, it's true that unconventional methods shouldn't be used so frequently."

Lin Yu silently reflected and analyzed.

Essentially, it was because Lin Yu knew he wouldn't die in this dream—unlike Algae, Fern, and Moss, Lin Yu had the means to escape the dream at any time.

The first time Entering Dream was because I was caught off guard.

But this time Lin Yu Entering Dream voluntarily, and Old Zheng and Hannah were watching over him.

While Lin Yu was pondering...

Another Mine Cart rattled along.

"Squeak--"

With a screech of brakes, a vehicle that looked more like a luxurious miniature train than Mine Cart came to a stop.

The bright red carriage door opened, and a figure wrapped in a cloak stepped out.

Lin Yu recognized the other person at a glance.

"Wow... the main character has finally shown up."