Infinite Game - Start With SSS Rank Class

Chapter 236: The pawns

Inside the room, Morie gently pressed her finger down on the control panel.

[Tactical Coordination Status: Activated.]

[Marble Launcher - Formation Disruption Mode.]

[Crossbow Shooter - Target Lock Mode.]

[Titan Soul-Sealing Tower - Low-Range Suppression Mode.]

Outside, Vance had just been about to continue speaking when the ground beneath his feet suddenly felt heavier.

Not just him.

Everyone standing within ten meters of room 2705’s door felt their bodies sink, as if an invisible hand had pressed down on their shoulders.

Not painful.

But very heavy.

Like someone had suddenly placed a stone on their souls.

Vance’s expression changed.

All four drones immediately rose higher, but in that instant, a small silver-gray marble had already fired from the tower slot beside the door.

It wasn’t so fast it was invisible.

But its trajectory was far too strange.

The marble struck the left wall, bounced to the railing on the right, then tapped the ceiling, and finally precisely impacted the first drone.

BANG!

The drone didn’t explode.

It froze.

A thin layer of gray frost covered the drone’s body, making it lose balance and fall straight to the ground.

Immediately after came the second marble.

The third.

The fourth.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

In just two seconds, all four of Vance’s drones had fallen to the ground.

The crowd went dead silent.

Vance also went dead silent.

He hadn’t even had time to react when a black arrow quietly pierced through the air, embedding itself in the floor right before the tip of his foot.

Didn’t hit anyone.

But the arrow had pierced straight through the corridor tiles, leaving only the tail end vibrating gently.

Then, small cracks appeared in the floor around the arrow.

Vance looked down.

Cold sweat ran from his temple.

Because he understood very clearly, if that arrow had deviated upward by just a few centimeters, his energy reaction armor layer might not have activated in time.

Not because the arrow was too powerful.

But because his entire body had just been forced to slow down.

0.3 seconds.

Exactly 0.3 seconds.

But in combat, 0.3 seconds was enough to decide between life and death.

Room 2705’s door remained closed.

Rover still didn’t come out.

But his voice finally rang out.

"Are you done talking?"

The corridor went terrifyingly quiet.

The people who had just been shouting for Rover to come out and explain suddenly felt their throats go dry.

Rover continued: "If you’re done, then get lost."

Vance gritted his teeth.

His face flushed with humiliation.

He wanted to say something, but looked down at the arrow before his feet, then at the four drones frozen on the floor, and ultimately couldn’t produce a complete sentence.

Someone in the crowd tried to speak up: "Rover, you’re going too far. He just wanted to have a fair conversation..."

Whoosh!

A silver-gray marble fired.

It didn’t hit that person.

It only grazed past their ear and embedded itself in the wall behind them.

The person immediately went silent, their legs going weak, nearly sitting down flat on the floor.

Rover said calmly: "I don’t recall inviting any of you to my door."

No one answered.

"I also don’t recall owing you resources, routes, lanterns, or an explanation."

Rover’s voice wasn’t loud.

But very clear.

"If you want to watch the show, stand further back. If you want to probe, prepare to pay the price. And if you want to pressure me with a few cheap words about fairness, then next time don’t bother bringing your mouths."

Morie stood before the control panel, her gaze still on the screen.

She didn’t deactivate the towers.

The Titan Soul-Sealing Tower maintained low pressure, making those outside feel increasingly uncomfortable the longer they stood.

Not physical pain.

But the feeling of being looked down upon by something far heavier.

That was Titan pressure.

Very thin.

But enough to distinguish who was merely watching the show, who carried malicious intent, and who was using something not belonging to their body to observe.

Suddenly, Morie raised her brow slightly.

"Caught something."

Rover turned to look at her.

On the secondary screen, a very thin black strand of hair was being pressed out from the wall crack by silver-gray light. It struggled like a small worm, trying to burrow back into the darkness, but was held in place by an invisible layer of force.

Nanoe looked at that strand of hair. The smile on her face grew even gentler.

"As expected, someone is behind this."

Selina immediately asked: "Should I cut it?"

Rover looked at the hair strand for a few seconds, then said: "No."

He stood up and walked to the control panel.

"Morie, can a message be transmitted through that thing?"

Morie thought for a moment.

"We can try. But I’m not certain the other party will hear clearly."

"Doesn’t need to be clear." Rover said. "As long as it’s enough."

Morie nodded.

The silver-gray light around the hair strand vibrated slightly.

Very far away, in a dark room, Amed who had been sitting in his chair suddenly opened his eyes.

A heavy sensation abruptly pressed down on his consciousness.

Not powerful.

But very strange.

Right after, a voice transmitted through the suppressed hair strand, ringing in his mind.

"Amed."

The smile on Amed’s face slowly disappeared.

Rover’s voice continued.

"Next time you want to watch, come yourself."

The black hair strand in the wall crack immediately burned to ash.

At the same time, Amed tilted his head slightly. A drop of blood flowed from the corner of his left eye.

He used a finger to wipe away that trace of blood, looked at the red on his fingertip, and was silent for a very long time.

Then, he burst out laughing.

A very faint laugh.

But in the dark room, it sounded like a razor scraping across bone.

"Interesting..."

"Truly interesting."

Before room 2705, the Titan pressure vanished.

Vance stood there, his face alternating between white and red.

He knew he had failed.

Not just failed, but been defeated in the most humiliating way.

Rover hadn’t left the room.

Hadn’t explained.

Hadn’t argued.

Hadn’t even acted himself.

Had only used the defense towers to make him lose all face before the entire crowd.

The onlookers began backing away.

No one was still calling for fairness.

No one was still talking about sharing resources.

Because only now did they truly remember one thing.

Room 2705 wasn’t a storage warehouse that could be pressured open with moral arguments.

It was the den of a monster.

And what was most frightening was that the monster hadn’t even stepped outside.

Vance lowered his head to pick up the four broken drones. His hands trembled slightly, but in the end he still gritted his teeth and turned to leave.

No one stopped him.

No one laughed at him either.

Because everyone understood, if any of them had been standing in that position instead, the result could only have been worse.

Inside room 2705, Rover returned to the sofa and sat down.

Sunako immediately gave a thumbs up.

"Great Lord Rover, you just now were extremely similar to a final boss at the end of act one."

Rover glanced at her.

Sunako immediately corrected herself: "What I mean is, you were like a calm, noble Apocalypse Lord who without saying much still made the fools understand their place."

Selina burst out laughing.

Nanoe then looked at Rover and said softly: "Amed won’t stop."

"I know."

"Vance was also only a pawn."

"I know that too."

Rover looked toward the screen.

The crowd had dispersed, but the cracks in the corridor floor from the arrow were still visible before room 2705’s door.

He was silent for a few seconds, then said: "But at least from today, if anyone wants to try room 2705, they’ll have to think about whether they’re worth more than four drones."

Morie then said: "It’s not just that."

Rover looked at her.

Morie pointed to the Titan Soul-Sealing Tower’s control panel. After Amed’s hair strand had burned away, a very faint energy fluctuation trace still lingered there. Not coordinates. Not a map. Only a brief energy interference trace, like when a hand had briefly touched the surface of water then immediately withdrew.

"Someone else had touched that hair strand." Morie said.

Nanoe slightly narrowed her eyes.

"Not Amed?"

"Doesn’t match." Morie shook her head. "Amed’s trace is very cold, thin, and sticky, like something clinging to another person’s body. But the remaining trace is different. It’s very stable, very clean, and also very deep. The feeling is like... Amed was only holding the string, while behind him there was still another person watching."

Selina frowned.

"You mean Amed is also being used by someone else?"

"Possibly." Morie answered. "Could also be that he knows clearly but still accepted the cooperation."

Rilia sat nearby. Her gaze cooled by several degrees.

"In a wolf pack, not every wolf at the front is the alpha."

The room was quiet for a moment.

Rover leaned back against the sofa, his fingertip lightly tapping the armrest.

Amed was already troublesome enough. A cunning and scheming person with the ability to observe from afar. But if even Amed was only one piece of this probing move, then whoever stood behind him was far more dangerous.

Nanoe said softly: "That person doesn’t want to appear. They used Vance to agitate the crowd, used Amed to observe our reaction, then let the whole matter conclude before they revealed any clear trace of themselves."

Monica tightened her hand slightly.

"Someone like that is very frightening."

"Not just frightening." Nanoe said. "They’re very patient."

Sunako swallowed.

"So... do we know who they are?"

No one immediately answered.

Because the answer was very clear.

No.

They only knew someone like this existed. Possibly a higher-level Survivor. Possibly someone who had cleared more rounds than them. Possibly someone who had always stayed hidden behind names like Amed, Damon, Hudson, Jonathan, or Survivors who had appeared in the third round.

But they hadn’t shown their face.

They had only left a feeling.

A feeling that room 2705 had been placed on someone else’s game board.

Rover was silent for a few seconds, then laughed coldly.

"Doesn’t matter."

Nanoe looked at him.

Rover said: "They want to watch, so let them watch. But next time, if they still send pawns to my door..."

He raised his head, his gaze looking toward the tightly shut metal door.

"I’ll break the hand holding those pawns."