"This place seems to be...?" Just as they were about to enter a desperate situation, with both sides closing in, Ren Yifei suddenly noticed something.
He seemed thoughtful, then turned around and asked, "Hey, do you still have any bombs?"
"What?" The player looked wary, thinking that the other player was eyeing his last remaining item.
"Can your bomb blast through the ground?" If there's no way to move forward, backward, left, or right, then the only option left is to try going up into the sky or down into the ground, right?
This location on the map corresponds to the stairwell entrance to the fourth-floor laboratory. If it were inside the laboratory, he was worried about some kind of metal interlayer, but the stairwell entrance...
After they go down, they could run to the third floor or to the lab. No, perhaps running to the lab is the best option; it contains important machinery, and these people are hesitant to do anything there.
"That's right!" The player suddenly realized. Although he was very reluctant to take out his items, he couldn't care less at this point.
Three objects flashing with purple electricity were thrown out one after another. The soldiers and civilians in front didn't take it seriously, but the soldiers and civilians chasing behind had seen it before and instinctively wanted to run.
"Where are you going?" The bomb was too powerful, and even the owner could be accidentally injured. The player immediately found someone to take the fall and shield him.
He looked up and saw that the player who had been brought in halfway through was even more ruthless, using one NPC in each hand as cover.
Very good, a very desolate corner.
With a deafening roar, the sound was so loud it made our ears go numb. The bomb blasted a hole in the spot where it landed, and debris from the building and the patrol team fell into it, giving the soldiers and civilians working below a huge fright.
"Ah—" A nobleman in the distance stomped his feet and screamed.
The soldiers and civilians downstairs immediately took out their weapons, but they were all cold weapons.
This wasn't the first explosion; the people on the fourth floor had already felt the tremors. It's just that the last one didn't penetrate the surface, so they didn't know what had happened.
Now I know, there's a hole in the floor too.
"Shut up!" A nobleman was thrown in by these two unscrupulous players.
While these people were busy rescuing the nobles, Ren Yifei and the player jumped into the cave one after the other, stepping on the corpses of soldiers and civilians underground for cushioning.
One of them ran downstairs, while the other rushed into the laboratory.
"Sorry, buddy."
A quick glance was enough to tell who the leader of this group was. Ren Yifei took a step forward, raised his hand and fired two arrows, taking out the two guards. He grabbed the one with the highest rank, and held an arrow to his neck: "Don't move if you want to live."
He threatened the researcher, pressing against the man's carotid artery, and a soft, bitter aroma wafted around his nose.
Ren Yifei: ...
What a coincidence!
Wearing a white coat and glasses, Saman, who exuded an aloof and ascetic air, adjusted his glasses. The two players who had barged in were either running down the stairs or threatening him. The guards split into two groups: one went downstairs to chase them, while the other surrounded them.
The enemy's arrow was aimed at his carotid artery, and his hand holding the arrow was very steady.
This player has sharp eyes; he spotted him in the crowd at first glance and managed to subdue him so quickly. His mental fortitude is also impressive, or perhaps he has some kind of trump card.
However, the more this happened, the more Saman wanted to dash the player's hopes.
He hates being threatened the most.
The soldiers and civilians surrounding Ren Yifei dared not move. The hostage he had captured was the person in charge of the entire laboratory and also the commander of the soldiers and civilians.
To put it bluntly, these are the true rulers of this anthill; the nobles are merely canaries kept in captivity.
No, the adjective "canary" doesn't capture the importance of nobility. It was simply a necessity.
Saman's fingertips twitched, and a card appeared in his sleeve. The arrow, however, pierced his skin and went straight inwards. The player behind him sneered, "I advise you not to act rashly."
Did this player notice his little trick?
Then Samantha felt hair-like vines wrap around his body, their sharp points piercing his skin and releasing some kind of anesthetic. His hands were also bound; though these things were slender, they were difficult to break free from.
Control skills?
"Should we reveal our player identities?" Saman hesitated.
This character's personality and behavior are remarkably similar to his, so he hasn't revealed his player identity yet.
Moreover, this character's advantages are simply too strong. If things continue like this, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he might even achieve a grand slam, taking home both gold and silver.
The only requirement for perfect disguise in a dungeon is that no NPC suspects anything or notices anything amiss while you're playing your role. This might not be difficult for an individual, but for someone like Saman, it's largely a matter of chance.
If he doesn't resist, the player has already partially anesthetized his hand, and things will get out of control.
Resisting might arouse suspicion and doubt among the NPCs, resulting in the loss of silver coins.
Is it worth it?
"Neither of us wants to die, so why should we both suffer?" The person behind them was still saying nice things, his voice very low, so low that only the two of them could hear it.
"You also want to know... what's on the sixth floor, right? Players."
Um?
The word 'player' made Saman's muscles tense. He wondered how he could be discovered so easily, and why no NPCs had noticed that he wasn't the original in the past two days.
"Of course I know what's there. Your threats and inducements don't seem to be working." Saman said calmly.
In fact, he hadn't found a suitable reason to go to the 'restricted area' in the past two days. But of course, he wouldn't say that out loud.
Who are they trying to fool? Ren Yifei thought to himself, the lie is told so convincingly.
The sixth level holds the biggest secret of this instance, or perhaps its very core; it's obvious that players won't be allowed in so easily. Entering might expose their location.
The dessert connoisseur spoke so convincingly that he almost believed him.
"Really? Your heartbeat doesn't say that." Ren Yifei turned his body to the side, the two of them very close, their breaths brushing against each other's necks, raising goosebumps all over.
Ren Yifei laughed even harder when he discovered this phenomenon: "What goes around comes around. You didn't expect this when you dressed him up in women's clothing in the last dungeon, did you?"
Heartbeat? Is it a way to test for lies using heartbeats?
Saman's fingers twitched. His wrists were wrapped in green, hair-like vines, which were probably what transmitted his heartbeat.
After thinking it over, Saman decided to hold back for now and see what this player was up to.
Ren Yifei didn't do anything; he simply summoned He Gui and had him drug everyone present. As for Saman, because he wasn't sure if Saman had any hidden cards, and also out of a bit of morbid humor, he didn't take action.
"Now it's just us," Ren Yifei said in a low, ambiguous voice.
"You'd better stay away from me." Saman couldn't take it anymore. Seeing that the NPCs had all fallen, he immediately used a skill to gain his freedom and pushed him away.
Saman rotated his wrist, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
As someone with a phobia of germs who dislikes direct physical contact with anyone (except Afei), this player is practically dancing on his grave, crossing his bottom line.
"As expected, the anesthetic injected by He Gui had no effect on him," Ren Yifei thought.
Seeing that Saman was really about to make a move, he raised his hand and said with a grin, "The drug's effect is very weak; they'll wake up in a bit. Killing me would be hard for you to explain, wouldn't it?...Are you a master of disguise?"
"So what if it is?" Saman retorted.
"Nothing much. But... it's not worth losing ten silver coins for me." Ren Yifei said sincerely. The Dessert Player isn't a disguise-based character; to perfectly disguise oneself in this dungeon requires absolute perfect timing, location, and circumstances, so it's best not to ruin it easily.
Speaking of which, since the dessert player holds such a high position in this secret laboratory, he might also hold a high position in the entire Anthill. If we want to overthrow the whole system, shouldn't we also overthrow him along with it?
Ren Yifei thought about this and actually felt a little expectant.
This was the first time their roles had been so diametrically opposed, and the other party hadn't even recognized him yet...
The temperature and humidity in the laboratory remained just right, but Saman suddenly shivered. He turned around and saw that the player had opened a 3D map and seemed to have found the way to the sixth floor.
but...
Entering the sixth floor is no easy feat; most methods of brute force are ineffective. Even Saman, the lab's head, cannot freely enter or leave, otherwise he wouldn't have gone two days without checking on it.
One had to resolve the issue before the ghost card expired, while the other turned a blind eye; in the end, they chose to cooperate.
There are no permanent friends, but there are permanent interests.
Ren Yifei quickly figured out how to enter the sixth floor.
It's quite simple: use a drop of noble blood, a drop of blood from soldiers or laborers, and a key held by the administrator.
Two drops of blood, representing different social classes, can unlock the key ring, and then the key can open the door to the sixth floor.
The key is in Saman's hands; he is the current manager.
"The blood is in your hands now," Saman said businesslike, adding a perfunctory smile.
"Simple," Ren Yifei said. He had Manteng drag down a nobleman who had fainted from fright from upstairs, took a drop of his blood, put it on a metal plate, and then dripped a drop on himself.
"Beep—" Red, not approved.
Ren Yifei: ...
Saman: ...
"It's malfunctioning," Ren Yifei said, pointing to the gate.
"..." Saman began to scrutinize Ren Yifei. "A nobleman?"
"Of course not!"
But no matter what, it's a fact that it didn't pass. Ren Yifei gritted his teeth and said, "Try again. Something must have gone wrong just now."
They tried again, and this time they successfully got the green one. Ren Yifei breathed a sigh of relief and gestured for Saman to open the door.
With the key, the door opened smoothly. Ren Yifei looked at the slowly opening world and took a deep breath.
The ghost card has less than ten minutes left to expire.
"He's here!" The other soldiers and civilians who had reacted rushed over. One group jumped down from the hole above, while another group went up the stairs. They had arrived at the laboratory and were less than ten meters away from Ren Yifei.
The arrow pressed down on Saman's neck again, and the door to the sixth floor began to close. Ren Yifei, in a vicious and thuggish tone, said, "Behave yourself, or I'll kill you!"
Saman raised his hands as a dutiful hostage: ...Wait, player.
It only takes half a minute to run from the fourth floor to the sixth floor, but it's a bit tiring. Ren Yifei felt like he had run a week's worth of distance in one night.
He stood on the sixth floor, panting heavily, and looked inside. His eyes widened in disbelief.
In front of him was a transparent, spherical device containing a huge, three-meter-tall body lying down.
This mountain of flesh was layered upon layered, trembling, with thick, black hairs growing on its skin, and its pores glistening with oil, making one reflexively nauseous.
"Princess ants and male ants, will eventually... become queen ants and disposable products, right?" Ren Yifei opened his mouth, but could only utter this question in the end.
"Perhaps?" Samantha pushed up his glasses.
Author's Note: Afei:
Fortune changes every thirty years~