There was one thing the players had gotten right: this game did indeed uphold the principle of fairness.
The difference in numbers between the two camps was too great, and the larger camp also controlled access to the advanced laboratories and above. That could hardly be called fair.
But they had overlooked one thing. Understanding why the rose vines were immortal was not the point. The point was why they disappeared.
That meant the reason for their disappearance had to lie with the smaller camp.
Only when Guan Wenyue announced that the immortal rose had been successfully developed did Shen Ru finally understand this.
Research on the immortal rose depended on a supply of Nutrient Solution. What if that supply was cut off?
He did not believe Mo Yu had failed to notice that the human figure inside the glass vessel was Mrs. Leon, who had welcomed them in at the beginning.
"Rescue" was too weighty a word, but a tea party ought to have a host.
Mrs. Leon's survival was the ultimate reason the rose vines disappeared.
So, in the end, their task should have read: To ensure that the tea party proceeds smoothly, please rescue Mrs. Leon.
Shen Ru and Mo Yu split up. Since neither of them had permission to enter the Top Floor, one of them had to stay behind to rescue Mrs. Leon.
In Shen Ru's eyes, Mo Yu was a bastard who only wanted to keep his own hands clean. It all boiled down to one sentence: the Dark Night Guild would not take the blame.
In the end, they decided that Shen Ru would remain upstairs while Mo Yu returned to the Bottom Floor to notify Wei Lanxing and her companion, and change back into his formal attire.
Since he had decided to bring this Selection Phase to a close, Shen Ru deactivated the Disguise Item Card.
He preferred his endings spectacular.
Just like the life he longed for.
Everyone's attention was now fixed on the wall, as though they could bore a hole through the concrete with their stares.
The young man emerged from the room with a smile, humming the Symphony he had heard in the car that morning as he walked toward the enormous glass vessel.
The game's Shop offered plenty of functional Cards for B-rank players. One of them was an Enhancement Item.
It could enhance any nonliving object.
Shen Ru chose to enhance the Stun Baton in his hand.
Bang!
Perhaps even the young man himself had not realized it, but as the glass shattered with a tremendous crash, the Symphony of Fate reached its climax.
The wailing alarm became an accompaniment to his excitement. People shouted, footsteps scattered in chaos, and all of it was a gift from fate.
Guan Wenyue stormed out of the office. At the sight before him, he felt his blood pressure rising.
The violent rose finally revealed his thorns, blooming with seductive splendor. His dark red eyes held the utmost danger and an uncanny allure.
"Shen Ru, how did you get up here?"
Guan Wenyue had always disdained pretty boys who traded on their looks, so when he first met Shen Ru and saw him clinging to Mo Yu's side, his judgment was already made.
Fragile, worthless, filthy-those labels had been firmly nailed onto the young man.
Only those fools in the A and B ranks would consider this glass doll a threat.
Yet now this delicate flower was baring his fangs and claws, lunging viciously at him.
Guan Wenyue's talent was beast transformation. He was deeply reluctant to display a talent so at odds with his own bearing in front of everyone.
But anger had overwhelmed him now. All he wanted was to teach the young man a painfully unforgettable lesson.
His expanding body tore through his clothes. Black fur covered his smooth skin, and his face twisted hideously as it took on a beast's features. Amid a terrifying roar, an enormous black bear appeared before Shen Ru.
The black bear glared viciously at the young man with scarlet eyes, then opened his jaws, exposing jagged teeth, and lunged at Shen Ru.
Shen Ru nimbly dodged from side to side, repeatedly striking the black bear's vulnerable spots with the Stun Baton.
The Red Diamond in his right ear flashed. Time abruptly stopped, then returned to normal a moment later.
Only now, a black, electrified baton was embedded in the black bear's right eye.
The young man seized his head and wrenched the Stun Baton sideways with his right hand, stirring it inside the socket. Scarlet blood instantly spurted out, tracing an elegant arc through the air.
"The secret behind the rose vines' disappearance is that Mrs. Leon must survive."
Shen Ru forcefully yanked the Stun Baton free with his right hand, then seized the moment while the black bear howled in agony to scoop up Mrs. Leon and run.
"I'll give you the answer. I hope you can keep me entertained in the next game."
Those dark red eyes brimmed with cloying malice, as though he longed to shove the other man into an abyss and leave him forever trapped in a cage of immortality.
The young man activated his talent again, using Instant Teleportation to reach the elevator doors.
He knew Guan Wenyue would not let him off so easily, so he had thoughtfully prepared a gift for the man.
Bang!
The instant the elevator doors closed, the enormous, intricate machine collapsed in an explosion.
From that moment on, the roses fell, and humanity returned to the mortal world.
Shen Ru successfully reunited with the others. Wei Lanxing thoughtfully offered him a damp towel, handed him his suit, and said quickly:
"There's no time. Just wipe yourself down. We need to submit our answer."
The young man nodded and quickly straightened his attire.
As the wall collapsed, a familiar mechanical voice sounded in their ears:
"Players' answer verified as correct. Congratulations on successfully passing the Selection Phase."
"The Leons eagerly await your arrival!"
The Top Floor.
The players who had entered this game all came from the top eight guilds, but only a handful had seen Mrs. Leon's true appearance. As it happened, Qi Ning was one of them.
Guan Wenyue had gathered everyone together, seemingly to complete the task as a group. In reality, he had merely wrung every scrap of information out of them without mentioning Mrs. Leon's existence.
Aside from Mo Yu, Guan Wenyue had secured second place not only through his calculating nature, but, more importantly, because he craved power more than anyone else.
Qi Ning had done business with him a few times. The man's desire to dominate and control made him uncomfortable, so afterward they had kept out of each other's affairs and rarely interacted.
Naturally, Qi Ning did not believe Guan Wenyue's nonsense. He was certain Mrs. Leon was the key to a breakthrough, but he had yet to figure out how to achieve it.
So after the crowd dispersed, he did not go downstairs. Instead, he remained on the Top Floor.
Just as Qi Ning and his subordinates were wondering where to begin, someone beside him suddenly exclaimed, "Ning, look! Isn't that Shen Ru? Has he lost his mind?"
Qi Ning followed the other man's gaze and saw an exceptionally beautiful young man. Even the same uniform everyone else wore could not conceal the danger and allure he radiated.
For some reason, despite Shen Ru's smiling face, goosebumps instantly rose all over Qi Ning's body, and a faint chill crept down his back.
What exactly was he trying to do?
"Having Mo Yu backing you really is something, huh, Ning? Even a pretty boy dares act so recklessly." The man beside him spoke with disdain.
Qi Ning frowned without answering. The young man was undoubtedly courting death. How powerful a talent could a newcomer possibly awaken? And Guan Wenyue had not become Guild Leader of the second-ranked guild by being a pushover.
Just as Qi Ning was about to intervene and stop Shen Ru, the young man shattered the glass vessel, making him pause.
Too late.
Qi Ning closed his eyes.
He valued talent, and it saddened him to see the young man recklessly overreach.
"Holy shit!"
The startled cry beside him made Qi Ning snap his eyes open.
But the scene before him completely proved him wrong. The murderous intent and malice radiating from the young man, along with his terrifying, inhuman speed, left him stunned.
When the iron baton pierced Guan Wenyue's eye socket and kept twisting inside it, even the air seemed to constrict, like an enormous invisible hand clamping down on Qi Ning's throat, leaving him unable to make a sound.
Then the young man's excited, delighted voice reached their ears.
It carried a clear answer and blatant mockery.
The lofty Guan Wenyue had been reduced to this wretched state, played like a toy in the hands of a mere newcomer.
As the machine shattered, the researchers' immortal rose project was utterly destroyed.
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