Chapter 37: Team Division
"Here it comes!" Little Glasses exclaimed happily. "Finally!"
A burly man slowly approached. He was about 1.9 meters tall with a crew cut.
Yawning and patting his pockets, he asked the Minotaur, "How much?"
"One 'Dao' as entry fee."
The big man pulled a small ball from his pocket and flicked it with his thumb to the Minotaur, who caught it steadily in his hand.
"Had enough sleep... Let's begin." The man stretched and rolled his neck, saying in a low voice, "Let me see what tricks you've come up with this time."
Qi Xia and his three companions looked at the fierce-looking man and sensed he was no pushover.
Qiao Jiajin didn't pay much attention to him. He had seen too many people like this on the streets—bullies relying on their strong physique. Qiao Jiajin had even beaten a few of them to tears.
But he wondered if this big guy was just a paper tiger.
With twenty people now gathered, everyone began stepping forward to pay the entry fee.
Qi Xia thought for a moment and also took out four "Dao."
This was no small amount for them. After paying these four, they would only have one "Dao" left.
"Are we really going to join this game?" Qiao Jiajin asked. "What about our strategy?"
"I'm struggling with it too," Qi Xia said. "Although it's risky, I feel that a game with twenty participants isn't easy to come by. It's worth a gamble."
After getting the consent of the other three, Qi Xia dropped four "Dao" into the box in front of the Minotaur.
"Very good." The Minotaur nodded, then turned back and opened the door, revealing a staircase leading down to the basement.
"Participants, please enter."
He turned around and slowly descended the stairs.
The participants followed cautiously, each wearing a wary expression, heading into the depths underground.
"This venue looks huge... It's on a completely different level from the 'Human Rat's'," Tiantian whispered softly.
"Be careful," Qi Xia replied. "I have a bad feeling."
The middle-aged man had predicted before the game that this game would lead to "death," which bothered Qi Xia.
But right now, he wasn't afraid of death—he was afraid of being buried forever in this strange place.
As a swindler, he had experienced many life-risking adventures, but he had always survived without exception.
Thinking about it, this time was no different from before. It was just licking blood off a knife's edge.
Soon, everyone reached the bottom of the stairs.
It was a small room, dimly lit with an old, musty smell. In the center of the room were twenty chairs.
On either side of the room were two doors, painted with yellow and green paint.
"Please, everyone, have a seat," the Minotaur said. "Don't worry. The game hasn't started yet."
The group sat down with mixed feelings. Qi Xia and his three companions sat side by side.
Only then did they notice that each chair had a small lamp on both armrests, one yellow and one green.
"Since this is a team game, to ensure fairness, we will now conduct a 'random team division.' Please stay seated and do not move, or we will impose 'sanctions' on everyone in advance."
At these words, everyone's expressions turned uneasy.
The strongest reaction came from Little Glasses and the middle-aged man: "What?! Team division?!"
Qi Xia stroked his chin and pondered briefly, realizing that this setup only benefited the organizers.
If this was a "gambling" game, they would want the participants' winning chances to be as low as possible. The best way to achieve that was to disrupt everyone's original teams.
The Minotaur walked to a corner of the room and found a button switch. He turned back and gave the group a meaningful look before saying, "The game officially begins."
With that, he pressed the button. The lamps on both sides of everyone's chairs began to flicker, yellow and green lights alternating in a bizarre display in the dark space.
Qi Xia watched the small lamp on his own armrest, feeling a bit nervous.
If the "Ox" truly represented a physical game, that wasn't his forte. This round would likely rely on Qiao Jiajin's brute strength.
But if he could think that way, so could others.
For example, Little Glasses and the chubby middle-aged man had brought that big guy as their helper.
But it seemed the Earth Ox had anticipated everyone's little schemes and wanted to prevent them, hence the "random team division."
Qi Xia knew that if he was extremely unlucky and got separated from Qiao Jiajin, the outcome of this game would become unpredictable.
Before Qi Xia could fully formulate a plan, the two-colored lights stopped flickering.
Some people's yellow lamps lit up; others' green lamps lit up.
So this was the random team division.
Qi Xia turned around and scanned the division of his four-person group, feeling a mix of joy and worry.
The good news was that both he and Qiao Jiajin had yellow lamps—they were on the same team. The bad news was that both girls had green lamps—they were on the other team. If this really was a physical game, it would be very disadvantageous for them.
Murmurs of surprise rose and fell among the crowd. It seemed that besides Qi Xia's group, the team divisions of others were also less than ideal.
"Now I will announce the game rules," the Minotaur said in a low voice. "Both teams will play independently, each in their own field, unrelated to each other. As long as you can last ten minutes in the field without being eliminated, you pass. Finally, each person will receive an amount of 'Dao' equal to the number of people who pass."
After hearing these rules, many people became restless.
"Hey!" The middle-aged man stood up abruptly. "That's the same as saying nothing! What kind of game are we actually going to play? What are we going to encounter?"
Everyone looked at the Earth Ox, expecting him to elaborate on the rules. But he just glanced at the middle-aged man and said flatly, "Yellow lamp team, follow me."
"You—!" The middle-aged man gritted his teeth but didn't dare to curse out loud.
He hadn't been grouped with his teammates, which already made him furious. Now he couldn't even understand the rules. His emotions were extremely unstable. Little Glasses beside him kept tugging at his clothes, trying to calm him down.
Qi Xia turned to Tiantian and Lin Qin and said, "Whatever is behind that door, be careful. Remember to prioritize survival."
"Mm." The two girls nodded nervously.
"Let's go." Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin stepped forward.
They looked at their "teammates" and found the situation unoptimistic. Among these ten people, six were women. If this truly was a "physical" team game, it would be a tough battle.
Besides Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin, the other two men were Little Glasses and the middle-aged man. Meanwhile, the opposing team only had two women: Tiantian and Lin Qin.
"Damn..." Qiao Jiajin glanced at the builds of those two teammates and muttered to himself, "A skinny guy and a fatso..."
"Don't say that," Qi Xia said. "We can only rely on ourselves."
The ten people lined up in front of the yellow door.
The other ten stood in front of the green door under the Minotaur's direction.
With a low clanking of chains, the doors in front of everyone opened, revealing another staircase leading downward.
Qiao Jiajin went down without a word, and the others in the team quickened their pace to follow.
The staircase wasn't long but was somewhat steep. After descending about a few dozen steps, they arrived at an open space about half the size of a basketball court. In the center was a circular iron plate the size of a table.
Qi Xia quickly surveyed the environment. The place was surrounded by high walls, with a large iron door straight ahead. Above that iron door was an electronic countdown clock set at ten minutes.