Players, Please Board the Train

”Whether there is or isn’t one isn’t important.” Xu Huo understood clearly that regardless of whether they were train ticket players or players who came with the Kong siblings, their most likely fate was to be silenced. And as for the protected Dr. Deng, when the critical moment truly arrived, he too could be abandoned.

”Not important?” Wan Yunrong found it hard to believe. ”If there are still people from the Kong siblings among us, wouldn’t the others be in great danger?”

”We still have to act together. If someone turns traitor at the last moment, we might very well lose our lives.”

”What I mean by not important is that there’s no need to waste energy on internal strife right now,” Xu Huo said. ”All of us will stay together and can monitor each other. As for self-investigation, do you have any evidence?”

Wan Yunrong was left speechless. Forget about the others, she hadn’t even noticed anything wrong with Ge Pan.

”What’s the deal with the Zhu Rumin and Mao Wei you mentioned?” Miao Yu asked.

At the very least, these three were in a cooperative relationship. Ge Pan had already admitted to working for the Kong siblings, and Mao Wei and Zhu Rumin were also train ticket players who had infiltrated to help others with their tasks. This was indisputable.

”Ge Pan and Mao Wei let Zhu Rumin go,” Xu Huo said. ”Mao Wei is already dead. Zhu Rumin’s whereabouts are unknown, though of course it’s also possible she has already joined up with the Kong siblings. There’s also Qiu Xiangdong.”

When mentioning Qiu Xiangdong, his gaze shifted to Ge Pan. Ge Pan said, ”I don’t know Qiu Xiangdong.”

”Another question,” Xu Huo continued. ”Is that player with the vacuum device really dead?”Ge Pan stared fixedly at him. ”What do you think?”

Xu Huo gave a slight nod. ”This person is no longer useful. Keeping him around is just a danger.”

The implication was to kill him. The others had no objections. However, Ge Pan wouldn’t just wait for death. His body swayed, and an old-fashioned film projector appeared in front of him:

”Irreversible Rewind!”

The projector made a ”clack-clack” rewinding sound, but unfortunately, before it had rewound even a quarter of the way, it seemed to get stuck and just wobbled in place.

The moment the projector appeared, every player’s first reaction was to retreat and take a defensive stance. At the same time, Xu Huo, Wu Xiaonan, and Miao Yu also attacked the projector from a distance, though they failed to destroy it.

Assuming this item’s rank was not low, everyone could only retreat further away. But after waiting for a while, it was still repeatedly jamming in the distance. Chu Yuan then walked over and kicked the projector. ”Is this thing of yours broken?”

Unexpectedly, with that one kick, the projector directly shattered into pieces.

Ge Pan stared wide-eyed at the scene before him. Ignoring that his tongue was still skewered, he struggled violently. ”How is this possible... my item!”

Miao Yu sheathed her dagger. ”Looks like it was a one-time use item.”

”Items that can only be used once usually have very powerful effects. They’re the best high-rank items low-level players can get. This one actually didn’t work?” Gan Qing couldn’t help but comment.

”It’s a space-type item! Which one of you has a space-type item?!” Ge Pan’s eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. This was his trump card, meant for escaping with his life. He never expected it to end up like this when used. He couldn’t accept it!

”Space-type item?” Wu Xiaonan looked around. ”If it’s a similar space-type item, its rank should be quite high. Is it one of ours?”

The coverage range of space-time type items isn’t necessarily fixed, so it couldn’t be confirmed that the item that destroyed the projector belonged to one of the players present.

Xu Huo instead looked at Wu Xiaonan. ”Was it you?”

Wu Xiaonan shook her head. ”You don’t think what I meant by restraining a B-rank player referred to a space-type item, do you?”

”No, I don’t have such an item.”

”Let it go, no need to dwell on whose item it was,” Wan Yunrong said. ”Don’t forget there are still two B-rank players here. Is it strange if they have space-type items?”

That was also true. The players didn’t continue the topic. Xu Huo retracted the kite string, and Ge Pan flew to his feet. The Crimson Sword pierced through his neck. As blood sprayed out, the game prompt arrived.

Xu Huo took out several of Ge Pan’s items. ”Looks like only these few items might be of use. We can discuss the rest after we get out alive?”

”I have no objections,” Wu Xiaonan was the first to say.

Although Xu Huo had always maintained a calm and unassuming demeanor, the information Chu Yuan revealed was enough to show his strength. It was already quite good of him to take out the items for distribution. As for potions and White Bills, those were minor details.

Among Ge Pan’s items, the best was probably the ”Director’s Prerogative” he had used before—the one where shouting ”cut” reset the scene. The reset time could be within the ten to five minutes prior, depending on how the user operated it.

The effect of this item was to make people lose a very short period of memory. It had a surprising effect on predicting a person’s actions, speech, and behavioral patterns.

”This item is very useful. Maybe we can use it to figure out the Kong siblings’ trump card,” Chu Yuan said.

”The only downside is that the person holding this item cannot appear in the scene before the reset. One of us will have to hide,” Miao Yu said. ”Who will take this item?”

”Give it to Gan Qing. He’s injured,” Wan Yunrong said. ”Even if he joins in, he won’t be much help.”

”No!” Wu Xiaonan and Chu Yuan objected in unison.

”You don’t trust me?” Gan Qing’s expression darkened. ”You start suspecting me again at a time like this?”

”I’m not suspecting you,” Chu Yuan scratched his head. ”I just feel that this item should be used by someone truly clever. What if you don’t hide well, or don’t pick the right moment? Wouldn’t that waste an opportunity?”

”I feel the same,” Wu Xiaonan nodded.

To act according to circumstances, Gan Qing was clearly not the suitable candidate.

”I think Xu Zhi is fine,” Miao Yu said. ”He was the first to suspect Ge Pan. Moreover, he can avoid certain characteristic effects and is less likely to be affected. If the Kong siblings have such abilities, having him nearby makes it easier to save the situation.”

Most people had no objections, so Wan Yunrong naturally couldn’t say much more.

They divided Ge Pan’s few important items among themselves. After disposing of his corpse, the group proceeded to the underground first floor—the floor with the room containing the topic board.

It wasn’t yet time for dawn, so the lights weren’t on. However, operating in the darkness was clearly more advantageous for them, so they needed to dismantle the lights first.

”Don’t directly destroy the lights. Find and cut the circuit,” Xu Huo instructed.

The lights in the Deep Blue Laboratory had no external switches. Finding the circuit took some time, and it required some effort to pry open the metal plate.

”Why go through all this trouble?” Chu Yuan asked, puzzled. ”Knocking out the lights directly is much more convenient. Besides, if the metal plate is damaged and can’t be repaired, other players can easily find this place.”

”Try not to damage the laboratory’s fixtures as much as possible,” Xu Huo didn’t explain too much, only saying this.

Next was personnel allocation. Wu Xiaonan volunteered to deal with Kong Hui. Xu Huo’s initial task was to assist from the side. The main issue was how to arrange everyone else.