Players, Please Board the Train

”This has nothing to do with color blindness.” Xu Huo looked at him and said, ”Those two doors weren’t traps.”

When he and Dai Wenqian separated at the doors, he had already guessed this person was overthinking things. Dai Wenqian believed the building was full of traps everywhere, so naturally the red and green doors could also be traps, but this actually made no sense at all.

Professor Hao named the small cabin ”Holiday Cabin”—it was his place for relaxation and observing the man-eating flowers, more free and relaxed than an ordinary workspace. There was simply no need to tamper with the doors leading back to the building. The two doors likely just led to different places.

So whether Professor Hao was colorblind or not wasn’t important.

”The green door leads to the second-floor bedroom, and the red door goes to the hall?” Dai Wenqian immediately guessed.

Xu Huo nodded.

Dai Wenqian didn’t say anything more. He had outsmarted himself—unlucky enough to choose the green door, encountered a mutated animal in the bedroom, got caught by man-eating flowers during the struggle, Wei Bin was seriously injured, and he himself lost an item in the process.

Gu Yu had already bandaged Wei Bin’s wounds and briefed both of them on the current situation.

”So it was because of them.” Dai Wenqian adjusted his glasses, stood up with an unfriendly tone, and went to knock on the elevator doors. When he reached the fifth elevator, knocking sounds of the same frequency came from inside.

Dai Wenqian opened the elevator door. Brother Tie, who had already climbed up, immediately forced a smile when he saw him. ”It’s great that you’re okay...”Before he could finish speaking, Dai Wenqian grabbed him, knocked him to the ground with one punch, then pressed his head and slammed it hard against the floor. ”People don’t have to be smart, and they don’t have to be good people, but they should at least understand human language.”

”I told you long ago not to mess with the exterior walls. Even if your brain is full of water, you should know whether this statement is right or wrong.”

Brother Tie’s face was covered in blood from having his head smashed against the floor. After several hits, he reacted, swinging his knife backward at Dai Wenqian. Forcing him back, he shouted, ”Dai Wenqian, have I been giving you too much face!”

Dai Wenqian sneered coldly, throwing a glass bottle from his hand. Taking advantage of Brother Tie’s dodge, he intercepted him from the front, delivering a knee strike to his chest and abdomen, disarming him and pressing the knife against his neck. ”No brains, and not my match—what use is trash like you alive?”

Brother Tie, humiliated and enraged, said, ”Dai Wenqian, don’t forget we’re from the same player organization! Brother Qiao said no internal fighting!”

As he spoke, he looked toward the elevator. ”Gu Yu, say something!”

Neither Gu Yu nor Zheng Liang reacted. Zhang Biao, who had come up later, quickly said, ”Dai Wenqian, even if you kill Brother Tie, it’s useless...”

”Crunch!” Dai Wenqian snapped Brother Tie’s neck.

No one expected him to kill without even discussing it. Gu Yu and the others immediately stiffened their expressions.

Dai Wenqian tossed aside the corpse, clapped his hands, and said in a cold tone, ”Anyone who wants to avenge him is welcome to try.”

The others remained silent. After a few seconds, Gu Yu and Zheng Liang went to check the other elevators, while Zhang Biao and the Bald Player silently moved to a corner.

They gradually found some people in the other elevators. Including Xiao Ba and Kang Hong, fewer than fifty people had survived.

After finding Xiao Ba, Gu Yu asked Jiang Yihua about what happened after they disappeared from the elevator.

Jiang Yihua briefly explained the events. After listening, Gu Yu said, ”So these man-eating flowers grew from that giant one?”

”Most likely, the roots, stems, and flower vines of the man-eating flowers have covered the entire building exterior.” Jiang Yihua nodded. ”Fortunately, the thirteenth-floor windows are all sealed, otherwise we’d have nowhere to hide.”

Indeed, the Giant Man-eating Flower wasn’t just attacking a single floor—it had directly enveloped the entire building.

”But the thirteenth floor isn’t safe either.” Gu Yu frowned. ”The mutated plants in the glass room are poisonous.”

”It’s safe for now.” Xu Huo had already retrieved his phone and quickly finished watching the recorded video. ”Except between 10 PM and 4 AM the next day, the thirteenth floor should be safe during other times.”

Gu Yu instinctively looked up. ”What did the phone record?”

”The source of the poisonous powder.” Xu Huo handed her the phone. As he had guessed, the ventilation ducts were likely blocked by the man-eating flowers’ roots and stems. Now that the Little Flower Red Red Building was occupied by man-eating flowers, the mutated animals from other floors had been cleared out, making the building safer than before.

But it couldn’t be ruled out that there were still mutated animals. After all, with so many people fleeing into the elevator shaft, it wouldn’t be strange if there were other enclosed spaces.

So staying on the thirteenth floor was best.

After watching the video of Brother Tie and the others being driven out of the thirteenth floor by poisonous powder sprayed from the ventilation ducts, Dai Wenqian asked, ”How do you plan to deal with the ventilation ducts?”

”The best method is to shut down the ventilation system.” Xu Huo said. ”The window gaps can provide air exchange, and for now we don’t need to worry about mutated animals coming up from other floors.”

”After 10 PM, we’ll first go to the sixth floor, then return to the thirteenth floor.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhang Biao and the other two. Of the four-person faction, the Square-Faced Man was missing, Brother Tie was killed, leaving only the two of them now.

”As for whether the sixth floor is safe or not, we can send people down first to check.”

Zhang Biao and the Bald Player widened their eyes in anger, but facing the cold stares of the other players and non-players, they had no choice but to lower their heads and back down.

”If there are no other unexpected incidents, we should be able to hold out until the dungeon ends.” Xu Huo added.

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. Gu Yu walked over to him and quietly said, ”Thank you.”

Xu Huo glanced at her. ”Whether you’re here or not, we still have to clear the dungeon. No need for thanks.”

But Gu Yu shook her head. ”Clearing it alone wouldn’t actually be difficult for you, would it?”

If the floors had electronic sensors, with the items he possessed, clearing the dungeon alone wouldn’t require taking big risks.

In comparison, the players on their side were too disappointing.

Gu Yu couldn’t help but feel her convictions wavering. When she first established the player organization, every player wanted to both survive by sticking together and do something for their fellow humans. Compared to ordinary people, players had more self-protection ability.

But one random dungeon made her realize that reality couldn’t be changed by beliefs alone.

”You’re right. For players like us, being able to protect ourselves is already quite an achievement.” She said self-mockingly. ”How could we have the ability to protect others? When players from other regions invaded, we also survived by hiding in places others couldn’t find.”

Xu Huo handed her a cigarette and lit one for himself.

”How many people do you think one person can protect in a dangerous situation?” he asked.

Gu Yu took a drag, thought for a moment, and said, ”At most, maybe one person.”

”What about ten people?”

Gu Yu paused, curled her lips, let out a long exhale, and suddenly changed the subject. ”Do you smoke cigars? I have a box of premium cigars a friend gave me. I’ll bring them for you later.”

Xu Huo waved his hand to indicate he didn’t need them.

Gu Yu looked somewhat surprised. Zheng Liang, standing nearby, said, ”He doesn’t even like smoking. If you want to curry favor, you’d be better off gambling a couple rounds with him.”

Xu Huo narrowed his eyes and looked over. ”Zheng Liang, you’re going to get beaten up sooner or later.”