Players, Please Board the Train

”It’s simple. Separate into groups of forty people each.” Brother Feng scanned the surrounding crowd. ”Not many people died in this shopping mall, which is a good thing.”

His cryptic statement made the already panicked and terrified people even more fearful, huddling together in clusters, too afraid to move.

Seeing them stall for time, waiting for someone else to make the first move, Brother Feng sneered and fired a shot into the air. ”You have five minutes. Anyone left over after five minutes will be killed!”

The people in the mall scrambled like frightened rabbits, strangers and acquaintances squeezing together. Some kept loudly counting heads, pulling people randomly from nearby if they were short, pushing people out if they had too many. Within moments, the two hundred or so people divided into five groups. The remaining individuals who couldn’t form a full group of forty dragged women and children out of already-formed groups to take their places, creating even more chaos than before.

Brother Feng and his two companions watched this scene with great interest, their expressions pleased.

”At least let the children in!” a mother begged tearfully to those around her, but a large man shoved her away, causing both her and her child to fall to the ground.

”Why did you push her!” someone nearby spoke up to stop it, but the large man sneered, ”If you’re so noble, why don’t you go out and let her take your place!”

The person immediately fell silent.

At least twenty elderly people, women, and children were pushed out this way. With nowhere to go, two elderly people even knelt and kowtowed, begging Brother Feng and his men to spare their lives.

The bustling mall quickly fell silent, leaving only the crying of women and children and the pleading of the elderly—sounds that made one’s hair stand on end.”The remaining people plus us make more than thirty. We’ll count as one group.” Xu Huo spoke up at this moment, looking directly at Brother Feng. ”Save your bullets for others. Who knows if there are other players around here.”

Brother Feng put away his smile. ”Think carefully. If you’re grouping with these people, you’ll have to take responsibility for their matters.”

Xu Huo’s expression remained neutral. ”I don’t find tormenting a bunch of non-Evolvers interesting. Why don’t you get straight to the point.”

Brother Feng stared at him for several seconds before laughing. ”Haha! I appreciate smart people like you! All of you, come over here.”

The remaining people hurriedly gathered behind Xu Huo and his companions. Baseball Cap and the female player also moved closer, giving Xu Huo slightly ashamed glances before quietly standing to the side.

Surprisingly, Brother Feng and his two men also walked toward them, maintaining some distance before shouting at the other four groups to move farther away.

After the five groups had established relative distance, Brother Feng checked the time, muttered that it was about time, then looked up and said to Xu Huo, ”You probably don’t know the origin of this black and white roulette wheel. It’s an item belonging to the Undertaker, an A-rank member of the Phantom Sound Knights. The first half hour after the game starts is a Single-player Life-or-Death Game.”

”After half an hour, if more than a hundred people remain in the large roulette, it automatically enters the second round—a Multiplayer Life-or-Death Game. Each round requires at least twenty-four people.”

”So we didn’t actually need exactly forty people per group?” Baseball Cap couldn’t help but ask.

Brother Feng smiled. ”Of course not. Only those who obtained survival opportunities matter. The others are completely unimportant.”

And now the five people who possessed survival opportunities were standing together.

The people in the other groups who had been eavesdropping were stunned, but the next second, several quick-thinking individuals tried to run over. However, before they could take more than a few steps, the black and white checkered floor suddenly began to twist. The two colors blended together, forming several black and white roulette wheels over ten meters in diameter on the ground. The people who had run out exploded into bloody mist the moment they touched the edges!

The frightened crowd pushed backward, and several people at the edges were squeezed out of the roulette area, dying one after another. In just a few breaths, the mall floor was soaked with blood.

Xu Huo glanced briefly before looking away. He lowered his gaze to the newly formed roulette beneath his feet. Unlike the small roulette he’d seen in the pure white space, this roulette’s pointer was attached to the wheel itself. From the moment it appeared, it had been spinning across the ground like a beam of light without stopping.

He looked up and asked Brother Feng, ”Does each person take turns spinning in this round?”

”Correct.” Brother Feng stomped his foot, stepping on the pointer as it flashed past. ”When the time comes, this pointer will stop. Each time it stops, someone must come out to stand at the center of the roulette and spin the pointer.”

”There are five of us here with five survival opportunities, but to break through the Multiplayer Life-or-Death Game, five people alone aren’t enough.”

He glanced at the cowering people behind them. ”Everyone must take a turn spinning. Since you brought so many people in, why don’t you go first in this round?”

Xu Huo didn’t refuse but asked instead, ”When does the Multiplayer Life-or-Death Game end?”

”That I don’t know.” Brother Feng said. ”The intelligence I have only goes this far.”

Xu Huo noted his expression and faintly frowned.

This Brother Feng was clearly not telling the truth. They were also trapped in the life-and-death game but showed no urgency.

The black and white roulette wasn’t a dungeon. Train tickets most likely could provide an escape. Having train tickets as backup was one thing, but these men didn’t want to leave—they genuinely wanted to break this life-and-death game.

They had gathered so many people together for a reason.

His gaze swept over the three men, and Xu Huo now felt slightly troubled.

Having encountered genuine high-level players, he finally understood how difficult outside players could be to deal with.

The fact that these three could be trapped by an A-rank player meant they were at least below that level. As they moved through the mall, they appeared casual but actually coordinated seamlessly, not missing any blind spots.

From beginning until now, he, Baseball Cap, and that female player had been surrounded by these three. If they tried to break through by force, they’d probably be stopped immediately.

Naturally, he couldn’t leave now that he was in the life-and-death game.

After a pause, he spoke again, ”Aside from the rules announced by the Undertaker, do you know any other relevant information?”

This time Brother Feng remained silent.

”I can take the lead, but you don’t want to waste a survival opportunity either, do you?” he continued. ”If this life-and-death game continues until the last person without stopping, what do you plan to do then?”

”What else can we do? Of course we’ll use our train tickets to leave.” the tall, sturdy soldier in camouflage uniform spoke up. ”You’re being dishonest, trying to pump us for information.”

”If you wanted to use train tickets, why would you wait until now?” Xu Huo said calmly. ”After going through all this trouble, could you really be satisfied returning empty-handed?”

Brother Feng thought for a moment before saying, ”I don’t know anything else, but the Undertaker’s item is called ’Seeking Life Is Worse Than Seeking Death’.”

”That name is ridiculous. Who would seek death when they could live?” Wang Chaoqing muttered.

”The Undertaker naturally wants others to seek death.” Brother Feng said casually. He glanced at the gradually slowing pointer on the ground and made a gesture of invitation to Xu Huo.