Chapter 937: Chapter 889: Using Power for Personal Gain
After Gu Mian and Liu Ruyan entered the Gold Coin Square, 007, who had disappeared for a long time, finally sent a message.
[007]: The Treasure Box Square is right next to the left of Room 3 in the initial room
"The second group of chess pieces and the Chess Player can’t communicate, right? It shouldn’t be the second group of chess pieces that entered the initial room telling 007 this." Liu Ruyan curiously looked at the message sent by 007, not understanding why 007 suddenly knew the location of the treasure box.
She and Gu Mian didn’t know about the second group delaying their entry into the initial room in the previous round, so they couldn’t make a judgment based on the group’s behavior.
then fully explained in the group what happened in the last round and told his analysis to the two.
"So that’s how it is." Liu Ruyan also understood, "The second group’s rebirth cannot reach by walking nine steps from their initial room on the left side, so the Chess Player in the second group wanted the piece to go and be killed by 007, then send a new piece towards the treasure box square, making the steps just right."
But 007 saw through the second group’s intentions, so he didn’t kill the second group’s piece but simply restricted their actions, making their wish to change pieces unsuccessful.
Hao Laoshi entered the tired square in the last round, so he didn’t take action this round; only their group and the second group acted this round.
"Although the second group lost the opportunity to get the treasure box, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will die. As long as another group can get the treasure box before their countdown ends, they can survive." Liu Ruyan analyzed the situation, "Now we’re very close to the Treasure Box Square; two steps down and one step right will get us there."
The fourth 605 room is also very close, just two squares to the left.
Gu Mian has already lost hope in the 605 room, but he also won’t go directly to the treasure box square to take the treasure box.
The Evil God hasn’t been found yet...
He thinks the Evil God may not be in any specific room or square, or even in this instance; perhaps he needs to do something to summon the Evil God.
Just like in ancient legends where humans need to perform a ritual before summoning a deity.
To be honest, Gu Mian has wished many times after entering this instance that the Evil God would appear in front of him in the next second.
But those wishes didn’t seem to work, which shows that the conditions for the Evil God appearing in this instance aren’t through wishing.
"Now that you haven’t found the Evil God, you definitely won’t take the treasure box. It’s clear that the third group’s Chess Player is a smart person, and he might have already analyzed that the treasure box is next to his initial room on the left square. Unfortunately, the third group’s pieces all died, leaving only the Chess Player; the third group has lost the chance to compete. I don’t know if the fourth group’s Chess Player has analyzed anything from the information in the last few rounds; if he’s a smart person, he might also have deduced the location of the treasure box from the confrontation between the second group and 007 in the last round."
Gu Mian thought of Guigu he knew: "Based on how I used to know him, he’s not a very smart person."
But Han Shan, who always followed Guigu, had a very agile mind. Unfortunately, Han Shan has been dead for who knows how long now.
Yet time has passed so long, people change, and Gu Mian is not sure how Guigu has changed.
Anyway, in Hao Laoshi’s description, Guigu is a brave and wise intellect that supports the entire organization as if inheriting Han Shan’s former character.
"If the fourth group’s Chess Player is smart enough to deduce the treasure box’s location, he might send their group’s pieces directly to the Treasure Box Square." Liu Ruyan pointed with her fingers in the void a few times, as if drawing a chessboard in the air, "Next, we should go left, walking in the opposite direction of the Treasure Box Square. Then, the fourth group’s Chess Player just needs to take the opportunity to send his piece to our current position, then go down two squares and right one to get the treasure box."
The price is that the fourth group’s piece needs to go through two unexplored squares, and the Chess Player cannot determine if there is danger in those squares.
"You knew the fourth group’s Chess Player before; in your understanding, will he seize the opportunity when we are far from the Treasure Box Square, risking danger to let his group’s piece walk towards the Treasure Box Square?" Liu Ruyan spoke, focusing her gaze on Gu Mian’s face.
Even if Guigu does this, Gu Mian wouldn’t have much to say. Compared to the other two or three groups, Guigu is practically a good person in this instance, at least wouldn’t intentionally send pieces to die.
Listening to Hao Laoshi, their organization has many members; judging by Guigu’s profession, there must be many elderly, weak, and disabled among them who cannot enter instances. It’s not easy to support so many people, and the treasure box must have abundant resources; the opportunity to vie for the treasure box is a natural thing to pursue.
Gu Mian just hopes Guigu doesn’t get the treasure box before he finds the Evil God.
Evil God, what exactly is needed for him to appear...
As Gu Mian was pondering, he saw 007 sending a message in the group chat again.
[007]: By the way, when the second group’s piece came to my room in the last round, a ghost hurried over
What?
[007]: At that time, I had just controlled the second group’s piece when I heard the sound of a door opening from the wall next to me, the same wall you passed through in the first round. I looked over and saw a door appear on that wall, with a ghost opening it and peeking in from outside
[007]: I was very puzzled why a ghost would come to the initial room. I wondered if I had violated some taboo. But the ghost just peeked in for a look, saw the second group’s piece knocked to the ground by me, and then walked away relieved.
was silent for a while, and after a few seconds, he continued to send messages.
[007]: I don’t know if it’s just my illusion, but I feel like that ghost seems to want to help me.
This illusion is seriously wrong.
Gu Mian knows very well that the hatred of Low-Dimensional World NPCs towards him has deeply rooted in their bones, to the extent that even those around him keep a respectful distance.
Toy Goose Publishing Company even published the book "Guide to Avoiding Dangerous Personalities," specifically to introduce people around Gu Mian, warning NPCs that if they see anyone from the book, they should start getting ready to run.
The sales of this book have been unusually hot. The last time Gu Mian saw it, it was already in its eighth edition.
As someone who occupies a large portion of "Guide to Avoiding Dangerous Personalities," 007 naturally receives resentment from NPCs and ghosts alike. So why would a ghost be worried that 007 couldn’t handle the chess pieces from Group Two and rush over to cheer for her?
Unless the powers above assigned the ghosts a task they had to cheer for.
"The instance seems to not want 007 to die," Liu Ruyan also noticed this point, revealing a meaningful expression, "Why? Afraid that if your dear teammate dies, you would retaliate against the instance?"
"How could I retaliate? I can’t just bring in an excavator and tear this place down."
Liu Ruyan thought for a while: "That’s true. Besides fearing offending you, there may be other possibilities. 007 is our group’s Chess Player; if the Chess Player dies, what happens to us?"
There hasn’t been a precedent of a Chess Player dying while the chess pieces are still alive.
While the two talked, a door appeared on the wall beside them.
The twelfth round had started. 007 made her advancement route according to the path planned in four 605 rooms, and this time the door opened on the left wall.
Gu Mian stepped forward to push the door open, and behind the door was an empty room.
"Empty square?" Gu Mian looked at the empty room before him, his brows slightly furrowed. "Is it starting again, replicating the situation when we first entered the instance?"
Liu Ruyan also came up: "Another empty square, huh? That’s quite the coincidence. There’s another door on the opposite wall; it seems 007 rolled a two, and we need to advance two squares to the left."
Gu Mian stared at that door. Passing through it would lead to the last 605 room.
Soon, he and Liu Ruyan entered the second door.
As expected, there was no Evil God behind this door, and it was yet another empty square.
"No Evil God, and the ghost ran away?" Gu Mian looked at the empty room.
Liu Ruyan, however, was pondering the message that 007 had just sent in the group chat: "Didn’t 007 just say that when she was fighting the chess pieces from Group Two, a ghost wanted to cheer her up? I think it’s very likely that the instance gave some order to let the ghost help 007, allowing the ghost in the square to slip away while handling official business."
Such a good move to exploit authority for personal gain.
The guessing from Liu Ruyan is indeed the most reasonable explanation. But why is the instance going to such lengths, summoning so many ghosts to help 007?
It seems the instance is very afraid that 007 might die because she couldn’t defeat the chess pieces from Group Two.
Then he remembered what Liu Ruyan said earlier.
"What happens if the Chess Player dies?"
Liu Ruyan looked at Gu Mian in surprise: "Didn’t I ask you that just now?"
If the Chess Player dies, we’ll be stuck without anyone to command, remaining on the square where the Chess Player fell." Gu Mian pondered.
"But each round also has a countdown; each round piece must leave the current room within a minute after the Chess Player makes a choice. If someone stays in one room indefinitely..." Liu Ruyan suddenly paused, realizing the flaw in her words.
She figured it out: "That’s right, the countdown in the chess piece starts after the Chess Player makes a choice. In the initial room, it was only after 007 made a choice that we saw the minute countdown, so the minute countdown regarding the chess pieces can actually be nonexistent? If the Chess Player dies and cannot make a choice, the chess piece won’t have the one-minute countdown and should skip this segment, allowing the chess piece to stay in one room indefinitely."
Then Liu Ruyan thought of something else: "But it can only stop for a maximum of ten minutes, as the rules clearly state that chess pieces cannot stay in one room for more than ten minutes."
Gu Mian shook his head: "No, some chess pieces have stayed in one room for more than ten minutes since the first round."
Upon hearing Gu Mian’s words, Liu Ruyan first frowned and then suddenly remembered: "I remember now, it’s the tired square."
