Players, Please Board the Train

Gu Yu, who was waiting nearby, looked astonished. She had secretly tried this thing before—ordinary item knives couldn’t cut through it at all!

”Your sword is actually more powerful than my D-grade Rainbow Gun!”

Gu Yu never intended to succeed on the first try anyway. After all, a player with such low evolution rate like Xu Huo couldn’t even get his hands on a basic potion, let alone acquire powerful items.

She had pinned her hopes on Lin Pei and the others. Those people were definitely holding back and hiding their capabilities, but there was no need to rush. Since everyone wanted to get out, if their items didn’t work, they’d have to squeeze Lin Pei’s group until they revealed their trump cards.

She never expected such a pleasant surprise to come so suddenly!

Looking at the man who remained stern and unsmiling under the red light, his previously annoying and rigid demeanor suddenly took on an air of profound mystery.

”No wonder you wanted me to come along. You were also afraid of Lin Pei’s group seeing you have such a powerful item, right?”

Xu Huo, who was dismantling the Black Metal, suddenly heard Gu Yu say: ”You’re guarding against them. You don’t trust them either.”

Her eyes sparkled brightly. ”Don’t worry, I’ll absolutely never reveal your item. From now on, we’re allies!”

The passively acquired ally Xu Huo lifted a piece of Black Metal and handed it to her. ”It’s quite heavy. Hold it properly.”The two each carried a piece of Black Metal out, with one piece given to Shen Xin. Then they crossed the street again toward the nearest Pit Cage.

”No wonder he wasn’t concerned about the gate mechanism at all...” Lin Pei murmured while staring at the metal block that was a full three inches thick yet had perfectly clean cut surfaces.

As long as they could lure the Mutants away, maybe they didn’t need to bother finding any mechanism or power switch—they could just use items to get out!

Wu Qiuyi, seeing the signal feedback from Shen Xin, stepped past him out of the toy store. ”Let’s go find the next puzzle.”

They waited another two hours before the next opportunity arrived.

As Wu Qiuyi’s side began solving puzzles, the cellar passage that Xu Huo and Gu Yu were guarding suddenly had grilles popping out consecutively. Arranged both horizontally and vertically, they sealed the tunnel with multiple layers.

Without needing a signal, Xu Huo and Gu Yu immediately lifted the metal block and placed it over the entrance. The slightly oversized metal block perfectly covered the edges of the opening. Gu Yu fired a shot at each side, watching as the metal block fused with the edge of the entrance but didn’t completely seal it tight. She was hesitating whether to add a few more shots when Xu Huo stopped her.

”Don’t waste bullets.”

Gu Yu nodded and followed him outside to find several blankets to cover the metal block, hoping they would provide some sound insulation.

Then Xu Huo used materials from the surroundings to create several simple mechanisms. If any Mutants broke out and pushed open the metal block, the ropes tied to the four corners of the blankets would trigger the surrounding sharp knives and the heavy objects suspended directly above.

”Will these be useful?” Gu Yu asked doubtfully. ”Even if all these knives stab into the Mutants, it won’t be fatal.”

Xu Huo checked the mechanisms while responding, ”Hurting it is useful enough. When it truly comes to life-or-death combat, even the thinnest line between strength and weakness could become an opportunity.”

Gu Yu immediately became serious. She originally wanted to help, but she had no experience with mechanisms and traps. Her only impressions came from movies and TV shows—excellent for entertainment value but practically useless in reality, as some seemingly impressive mechanisms were simply impossible to achieve in real life.

But the small mechanisms Xu Huo created were quite meticulous. She watched him pull one of the ropes, and a kitchen knife at the other end shot out powered by a spring—a spring he had removed from a sofa.

Catching the flying knife mid-air, Xu Huo placed it back in position.

”You even know how to do these things,” Gu Yu said, looking at him curiously.

Without looking up, Xu Huo replied, ”As an extra, you need to know a little bit of everything.”

Gu Yu choked on her words, muttered ”not even prop masters are as capable as you,” and then fell silent.

After they arranged everything, they slowly retreated from the house.

On the other side, Shen Yi, who had already received the signal, had taken the other metal piece to the next Pit Cage location. This time, Lin Pei and Wu Qiuyi were on lookout duty while Xu Huo and Shen Xin solved puzzles.

Their next destination was a home goods store. Shen Xin followed the notes on the slip of paper and entered the store that had a clock displaying blue wreaths.

”Nine o’clock, nine o’clock. Time for peaceful sleep. Lovely little ones should be in bed at this hour, while naughty little ones are secretly answering puzzle questions.”

”However, Master Nise, who dearly loves puzzle games, shows unusual tolerance toward fellow enthusiasts.”

”Today’s question is: what is Master Nise’s favorite game?”

Xu Huo’s expression changed as soon as he heard the first sentence. This location’s puzzle wasn’t within the scope of what he had previously investigated. Instead, Wu Qiuyi had told them that she had heard clock chimes before, and the original question should have been about Master Nise’s favorite shoes. Yet they were immediately confronted with a life-or-death question.

He had answered this question incorrectly at the mayor’s office building.

Signaling Shen Xin to stay quiet, Xu Huo prepared to quietly retreat from the home goods store. But unexpectedly, a wooden plank in the corner suddenly slid and fell to the ground with a loud noise.

”Today’s question is: what is Master Nise’s favorite game?”

Shen Xin looked at him in terror. Xu Huo raised his hand to signal her to stay calm, then spoke: ”Will there be punishment for wrong answers?”

However, unlike before, the clock didn’t say ”pleasant puzzle-solving time.” Instead, it directly repeated: ”Today’s question is: what is Master Nise’s favorite game?”

”The Puzzle Solver has five seconds remaining.”

The second hand on the clock face swung back and forth. With only five seconds, there wasn’t even enough time to run outside and make hand signals.

Shen Xin didn’t dare speak. She knew that wrong answers would attract Mutants. Clutching her baseball bat tightly, she stared fixedly at Xu Huo.

Five seconds. They had to provide an answer regardless of right or wrong. If they were lucky and Mutants came toward them, they would have a brief reaction time. But if Shen Yi and Gu Yu startled Mutants, those right at the Mutants’ doorstep would be practically offering themselves as delivered meals!

Save my brother!

She mouthed the plea for help.

But Xu Huo wasn’t looking at her now. Only after gripping his sword and shield did he finally answer: ”Making clocks.”

”Ding dong! Correct answer!”

Both people in the room breathed sighs of relief. Xu Huo nodded to Shen Xin, who immediately went to the window and made covert signals to Wu Qiuyi, urging her to tell Shen Yi and Gu Yu to hurry up.

”The Puzzle Solver has provided the correct answer. Master Nise has decided to reward you with a gem-embedded watch. This watch possesses a unique timekeeping method.”

A small drawer slowly extended from beneath the clock, surprisingly containing a watch made entirely from a square piece of black gemstone. The watch face was semi-transparent, allowing a clear view of the watch’s internal mechanisms. Similarly black hands moved silently, the time running about ten seconds slower than the clock on the wall.

The clock soon chimed again. ”Clever Puzzle Solver, the second question is: who was the person Master Nise hated most in his life?”