The Conspiracy in Three Rooms

Time passed slowly, and the spots for the few fake paintings were all filled, leaving the others with no motivation or interest to continue their efforts at the museum.

After Ning Feng and his two companions returned from the third floor, they completely entered a period of inactivity, huddled in different lounges waiting for the time to pass and for the art museum doors to open so they could go back.

Besides a few paintings, the second floor also contained dangerous items like samurai armor and red silk, so no one intended to do anything pointless given their current strength. The experience testers were scattered in two rest rooms, with Yu Xing and Zhao Yijiu occupying one each, seemingly undisturbed and enjoying a peaceful time.

"Ugh... It's been so long and my whole body still aches. It's so annoying. This time, not only did my injuries and pain get amplified, but I also became weak when I encountered ghosts. Why am I the only one suffering like this?" After playing the victim appropriately in the lounge and resting on the sofa for more than half an hour, Yu Xing noticed that Zhao Yijiu was very concerned about his condition, so he sighed even more vigorously.

Life is peaceful and serene.

It felt so good that it was as if all the dangers of this instance had quietly vanished.

With only one hour left

"Why haven't they found anything after resting for so long? Is it really that simple?" Yun Si, without a gun, was itching to grab something, so he picked up an apple and tossed it around in his hand.

He sat with his legs crossed, completely lacking in proper posture. His striking gray hair, combined with his flamboyant and bright appearance, made him look like a spoiled brat partying with his friends. In contrast, the chess player sitting upright next to him seemed like a well-behaved high school student who had accidentally wandered into a bad club, but the way he was holding the rabbit made him look rather unserious.

Ning Feng sat elegantly, his posture somewhere in between. Hearing Yun Si's question, he lowered his head slightly in thought, then smiled after a long pause, "How could it be so simple? Didn't Xiao Yuzi say that the larger the area of these buildings, the higher the danger? The art museum has three floors, so luxurious... how could it only house five ghosts besides inflexible armor? And they weren't even attacking proactively."

"I also feel that. Ever since we entered this place, my warning has never completely disappeared. There's definitely going to be another... boss battle?" Yun Si twirled the apple in his hand. "What does Xiao Jiang think?"

The player holding the chess piece had a dark, unfocused gaze. "Two possibilities: the spectator, or the painter."

"The fact that the viewers haven't shown any aggression so far doesn't mean they'll remain harmless by the end of the exhibition. The artist and the organizer are on the same side, and they might very well turn on us and silence us when they lead us into the so-called collection room." He calmly listed the terrifying possibilities. "Whichever side becomes the final attacker, we have absolutely no chance of winning if we confront them head-on. That's the real challenge of surviving this instance."

"Hmm... well said." Ning Feng gave the player a token round of applause. "So, how should we respond?"

"..." The player who held the chess pieces got angry every time he saw Ning Feng's expression of having a brain but just not wanting to move, but a cultivated Buddhist nature always made him choose to forgive him. In comparison, Yun Si was the simpler one. He chose to face Yun Si and speak, "Logically speaking, which side do you think is more likely?"

"Anything is possible... As for the painters, at least five of them failed to find the forgeries hidden in their own paintings, which embarrassed them. They tend to listen to the person in charge, and the person in charge was also full of malice when dealing with us." Even when questioned, Yun Si maintained his nonchalant, school bully-like demeanor. "They're very likely unwilling to offer their collections as a reward and might even try to silence us at the last minute."

The player holding the chess piece was silent for a moment. "The motivation is quite strong, but what about the spectators?"

"The spectators..." Yun Si choked for a moment. Yes, if we're talking about motives, why would the spectators harm them?

Judging from their reactions while searching for the paintings, these viewers could tell they were outsiders. They'd been getting along peacefully for so long; surely they wouldn't suddenly become hostile towards them after the show ended?

The spectators had no reason to attack them...

"If you want to discuss the possibilities between the two from a single perspective, you need to be able to find a conclusion for each side. If one side cannot be analyzed by this perspective, then you've gone in the wrong direction." The player's voice was calm, and despite having the face of a high school student, he spoke with the kind of teachings and guidance that only an elder Yun Si would utter.

Ning Feng listened attentively, and casually picked up an apple that Yun Si hadn't ruined, wiped it clean, and took a bite.

"Then which direction should we look from?" Yun Si asked.

He was already used to it anyway; as long as Yu Fengchen wasn't around, he would just listen to his younger brother.

Unless Ning Feng suddenly experiences a resurgence of energy and expresses his opinion.

"Don't forget, the source of all this in the art museum replica is actually an organization unknown to us." The chess player said the same thing as Yu Xing, very certain that the mastermind behind it all was a group.

"If we were targeting someone else, and our carefully laid plans were destroyed by a group of time travelers from who-knows-where, wouldn't we retaliate?" His voice was like a flat, unwavering line; if it weren't for his human-like tone and enunciation, he would truly sound like a robot.

"Moreover, every instance has rules, and rules must be followed," Ning Feng suddenly interjected with a smirk.

Yun Si's expression turned serious.

When he suppressed his lazy demeanor, he shared a similar characteristic with Yu Xing: they both appeared somewhat aggressive. Yun Si, like prey extending sharp claws, coldly asked, "Do you know what you two look like right now?"

"I know, patient parents who teach their sons to do their homework step by step." Ning Feng was very self-aware. Although his answer made the chess player give him a somewhat displeased look, it earned Yun Si's approval.

"That's right, so can you please stop insulting me like that?" Yun Si's eyelids twitched, and his deliberately serious expression instantly crumbled. "If you want to discuss it, then discuss it yourselves. Don't give me a test paper. I just need the answers."

"... What I mean is, if the organization behind this wants to retaliate against us and cause one last problem for the art museum, then their choices are either the four remaining painters whose works haven't been forged, or all these viewers." The chess player felt sorry for Yun Si, after all, this guy was really not good at reasoning and thinking compared to them, but when it came to fighting, Yun Si was arguably the strongest ranged attacker in their team, and they couldn't afford to offend him, so they abandoned the test of intelligence and started explaining themselves.

"If the organization's backup plan is among the painters, it means that at least one of those four painters must be an undercover agent planted by the organization. When the person in charge invited these painters to hold the exhibition, they must have investigated their backgrounds, especially after being threatened. Unless the person in charge is an idiot, they will definitely investigate these painters again, because these painters are the people closest to the paintings, and it is convenient for them to do anything they want."

"So it's unlikely." Ning Feng swallowed the apple in his mouth and said leisurely.

"I understand." Yun Si pursed his lips. At this point, he connected the dots with his teammates' thought processes. "The advantage of having a backup plan among the viewers far outweighs the disadvantages. Although they can't get up close to all the paintings before the exhibition starts, the backgrounds of the viewers don't need to be investigated by the museum. Besides, they're all strangely shaped, and some of them are obviously aggressive. But since they're paying to visit, the museum can't stop them from carrying weapons. So, as the exhibition is about to end, if that organization infiltrates the viewers and stirs up a topic to anger the crowd, they can create massive chaos."

"Whether this chaos is aimed at us outsiders or the art museum is highly debatable; it all depends on what we say." The chess player nodded, and the rabbit in his arms nodded in agreement, startling Yun Si so much that his pupils contracted.

Yun Si: "Your rabbit is nodding, quickly hold it down!"

Ning Feng turned his head away. "You little brat, watch yourself!"

These experience testers all knew the chef's euphoric state after receiving the offering. The chef mistakenly believed he was the strongest among the Combat Power testers, but that wasn't the case. Only Ning Feng's team knew that, in terms of current combat strength, the chess player was the most terrifying.

The rabbit doll belonging to the player was not only an evil spirit, but also had a spiritual connection with him, and was judged to be part of the player's body during the judgment process.

Although the evil rabbit's power was greatly suppressed due to the chess player's ability being withdrawn, it could instantly become a deadly weapon that would not recognize anyone except its master if the player was not careful.

That's why the player holding the chess piece constantly presses down on the rabbit doll's head to prevent the evil spirit inside from waking up.

Normally, even if the evil spirit awakens, the team members can suppress it using various methods, since their own Combat Power is no less than that of the evil spirit. But now they are unarmed, and it would be a real injustice if their necks were snapped by the evil spirit rabbit doll.

The player obediently placed both hands on the top of the rabbit doll's head. The glint that had just appeared in the doll's ruby-like eyes vanished again, and Ning Feng and Yun Si finally relaxed.

"Continuing from where we left off," the chess player said, remaining remarkably calm as if nothing had happened. "In conclusion, I believe that the unknown organization is the real boss of this instance, more so than the motives of the two groups themselves. And if this organization wants to cause trouble, there's an 80% chance it's infiltrated among the spectators."

Yun Si reluctantly pulled his attention away from the rabbit doll. "... And the rule Ning Fengzi just mentioned, I understand. You're telling me that if we help the people in charge find the fakes, they'll give us a reward, and that's a rule they can't break, right?"

Ning Feng shrugged. "You made sure you had to take the test yourself, I didn't force you. Sigh, the rich man's foolish son."

"I warn you not to verbally insult my intelligence!" Yun Si bared his teeth, like a ferocious beast about to unleash its fury. After a second of fierceness, he feigned grievance, a strange glint in his eyes. "Damn, Yu Fengchen wouldn't call me a stupid son."

"I was wrong. Put away that idea in your head that you'd shoot me as soon as you get a gun." Seeing that the high-level combatants in the team were going to hold a grudge against him, Ning Feng was flexible and apologized immediately, showing no trace of his captain's authority.

"That's how it is." The chess player remained unaffected, summarizing to himself, "As expected, the attacks we'll face later will come from the incited viewers. My advice is to stay near the end of the exhibition at the stairwell between the second and third floors. If anything happens, rush into the Art Appreciation Room for protection."

"Will the person in charge and those painters protect us?" Yun Si couldn't imagine that scene no matter how hard he tried.

"The rules," the player reminded him.

"Should we tell the others?" Yun Si asked again. The three of them had occupied a lounge and reached the final conclusion of the attack. Given that they were all barely allies, they couldn't just keep quiet.

"No need," said the player.

Ning Feng smoothed his slightly wavy, side-parted bangs and spoke up for the chess player, "The others are staying with the Blood Source, so it won't be difficult for them to reach the same conclusion as us. As for the deducer, it's Yu Xing. What's there to worry about?"

Why do you think the person in charge will protect us because of the rules?

In another room, a female tester was somewhat puzzled after hearing the analysis of the Blood Source.

"If they don't say anything, of course there won't be any rules stipulating that the person in charge must protect outsiders. When the ghosts and ancient armor in the painting attacked us, the museum staff didn't intervene either." Blood Source, pale-faced, analyzed for a long time without showing any impatience. "Actually, logically speaking, we are indeed not within the person in charge's protection scope because we didn't find a fake for them. So if something happens later, the first thing to do is stick close to the people who got the spots."

"I believe that the five people who got the spots all thought of this, and after entering the third floor, they will use the fact that 'the rewards haven't been issued yet, and if they are killed inside the art museum, it would be a breach of contract by the person in charge' to force themselves into a protected state."

Killer Number Thirty-Seven asked, "Follow those three from the Mad Doctor's team, or...?"

The container shuddered. "I'm scared to follow Xing!"

"Follow whomever you can. Don't be so picky at a time like this. As long as the other party doesn't explicitly say they're going to abandon you, then be a little thick-skinned." Blood Source glanced at the container, then at the other three experience testers in the room. "All of you here were once very famous experience testers, but I believe you all came from a weaker period. You shouldn't be too ashamed to admit it."

"That's true, and it's not about showing weakness to those weaker than us. We're all on the same level, there's nothing shameful about it." It was the same female experience tester who had raised the question earlier. She had already concluded that the key to survival lay in the final attack. Those of them who hadn't found the fakes were clearly in far greater danger than those who had a spot. This was probably a reward for those who had a spot.

Yu Xing yawned.

Zhao Yijiu had just taken a short nap, and when he woke up, he saw Yu Xing looking lazy. He paused for a moment and asked, "Sleepy?"

Yu Xing shook her head. "It's not that I'm sleepy, it's that I'm bored."

"Will this instance end so uneventfully?" Zhao Yijiu shared this concern. "What are the others doing? Should I use my shadow to eavesdrop?"

To use the Shadow Wizard's abilities, he would need to transform into a vengeful spirit.

Yu Xing immediately refused.

Then he smiled and said, "It's okay, it'll be less boring later, Brother Jiu. My whole body aches and my mouth is sore, so I won't go on and on with you. Anyway, I'll make sure you stay close to me later."

"By the way, if I can't walk as fast as you, then you'll have to find a way to make me keep up with you~"