But the next moment, something suddenly extended from the stone benches—like two hands—and seized them with a violent snap. They were clearly mechanical hands.
Of the thirty people, only Lin Chen, Tang Hao, Zhang Yan, and Zhegu Shao reacted in time and left their seats. Everyone else was caught.
Immediately afterward, the walls on both sides began squeezing inward at roughly ten centimeters per second. The room was about ten meters long and wide; at that rate, the walls would meet in a minute and a half, crushing everyone inside into pulp.
Everyone struggled desperately, but none of them could break free.
Fortunately, the four of them had already gotten to their feet. Otherwise, they would all have been doomed together.
Zhang Yan hurried forward, intending to rescue Guan Xiao, but the mechanical hand was incredibly strong. Even using all her strength, she could not pry it open. Panicking, she called to Lin Chen, "Brother Lin, I can't pry it open. What do we do?"
Lin Chen took a deep breath. He had to stay calm. Whoever had designed this mechanism must have considered everything carefully. Ordinary strength would never be enough to force it open.
Even if he could pry them open, there was no way he could rescue thirty people in such a short time.
So if Lin Chen wanted to save them, he first had to shut down the mechanism that was driving the walls inward.
Lin Chen activated his X-ray vision again. Since there was a mechanism, its control area had to be below them or inside the stone walls.
Sure enough, under Lin Chen's observation, he quickly found the mechanism's core. It was inside the stone wall on the left, where there was also a small door.
The small door had a press-type mechanism switch.