Chapter 76: Smart at Critical Moments
"Old dog, you're pretty smart." A Mu's face instantly darkened.
"Of course... I'm smart at critical moments." Old Lyu showed an ugly smile.
"I really hope your teammates could see this side of you." A Mu took out five Dao from his bosom and scattered them on the ground like feeding pigeons.
Old Lyu quickly crouched down, picked up the Dao one by one, and stuffed them into his pocket.
"Hehe... my teammates will understand me." Old Lyu brushed the dust off his hands. "I already warned them that 'I'm smart at critical moments.' If they didn't expect me to betray them, that's not my problem."
A Mu showed a forced smile, then handed the locked box along with the golden key to Old Lyu.
"Then leave the rest to you."
...
On the other side, in the "Receiver" room.
Qi Xia was sitting on a chair, resting with his eyes closed.
"A Prisoner's Dilemma?" he muttered to himself. "No, it should be the 'Bucket Law'..."
"The weakest member of the team determines the overall strength of the team..." Qi Xia's fingers tapped lightly on the table, mentally counting the time. "But which 'plank' belongs to our bucket..."
"The spies on both sides should have already met with the 'Senders.'" He still had his eyes closed, simulating the meeting scenes between the two sides in his mind.
"About ten minutes have passed, and our spy hasn't delivered the letter yet. That means Lin Qin's persuasion failed. After all, a woman in love has no reason to kill her own lover."
"As for the other side..."
Qi Xia opened his eyes and toyed with the silver key on the table.
"Old Lyu has most likely defected."
His expression gradually turned cold as he spoke. "From now on, the enemy will have the help of two spies at the same time. Things are heading in the worst possible direction."
"The good news is that the 'Bucket Law' has officially failed. There are no more weak points in our team." Qi Xia slowly revealed a cold smile. "Next comes the 'MiG-25 Effect.'"
Just then, a voice came from the doorway: "When the Soviet Union built the MiG-25 fighter jet, all its components were inferior to those of the United States, yet by enhancing overall performance, it became a world-class fighter. That's the 'MiG-25 Effect,' right?"
Qi Xia turned his head. The spy, Jiang Ruoxue, was standing outside the door, looking at him expressionlessly.
In her arms was a box, locked with a padlock.
"Do you think the 'MiG-25 Effect' is correct?" Jiang Ruoxue asked.
"I'm not entirely sure." Qi Xia also replied without expression. "I'm not sure if the 'components' I have now are good or not, but the moment you appeared, all my doubts vanished."
"The moment I appeared, you had an epiphany? You really are a once-in-a-century genius." Jiang Ruoxue placed the box on the table in front of Qi Xia with a hint of sarcasm. "Now, please use your 'MiG-25 Effect' to open this box."
Qi Xia carefully examined the box. A golden lock firmly secured it.
He tried the silver key in his hand, but it didn't open at all.
He then picked up the box and gently shook it, hearing a rustling sound inside.
There was a letter.
"What's your name?" Qi Xia asked.
"Jiang Ruoxue."
"Jiang Ruoxue, did you crush your key just now?" Qi Xia asked.
"Do you think your teammate would give the key to me?" Jiang Ruoxue crossed her arms, as if watching a good show. "A smart guy like you—can't open the box without a key?"
"She didn't give you the key? That's great." Qi Xia smirked and said to Jiang Ruoxue, "Did you hear that just now?"
"Hear? Hear what?"
"Footsteps." Qi Xia said, "This old hotel's soundproofing isn't good. Before you made your move, you should have heard footsteps, right?"
"So what?" Jiang Ruoxue pursed her lips. "The only people moving around in this building are me and that old man. Footsteps are hardly surprising."
"But why did he leave earlier than you?" Qi Xia tapped the table, looking at Jiang Ruoxue with a meaningful gaze. "Why did our spy set off immediately?"
"You..." Jiang Ruoxue's expression froze, as if she had thought of something.
"How likely do you think you are to survive in this game?" Qi Xia kept tapping the table, trying to break her psychological defenses with his words. "If your team cooperates with our spy, do you still have a chance?"
"I get it." Jiang Ruoxue's eyes gradually turned icy. "You can't open the box, so you're shifting your target to me? Isn't that a bit childish?"
Qi Xia nodded and said, "Did you see through that?"
"Don't try to deceive me." Jiang Ruoxue took a step back. "There's no way I'll believe you."
Qi Xia stopped talking and instead looked at the fingers tapping the table.
"Almost time..." His expression turned cold as he muttered, "Let me verify if the 'components' are good to use..."
Before Jiang Ruoxue could understand what he meant, noises came from another corridor—shouts and screams, like someone was fighting.
Unfortunately, it was too far away to make out the details.
"Excellent. They're 'top-grade components.'" Qi Xia stopped tapping the table and slowly stood up. "Miss Jiang, if you had agreed to cooperate with us just now, the outcome would have been entirely different. But now, there's no chance. You're just a 'spare component.'"
"Heh, how interesting." Jiang Ruoxue shook her head helplessly. "Then I'd like to see how you're going to get the letter."
Qi Xia didn't bother trying to open the lock at all.
Instead, he took his own silver lock and locked it onto the box as well.
Now the box had two locks.
"Have you gone insane?" Jiang Ruoxue asked. "Adding another lock—are you trying to make 'two negatives make a positive'?"
"Me, insane? That's possible." Qi Xia picked up the box and shoved it into Jiang Ruoxue's hands. "If you'd be so kind, help me return this to the Sender."
"What?!" Jiang Ruoxue was stunned.
Return the box with two locks to the Sender?
"So that's it..." Her face instantly changed drastically as she realized Qi Xia's strategy. "Wait, you—"
Before she could finish, Qi Xia pushed her out of the room and locked the door.
Jiang Ruoxue stepped into the corridor, and the countdown timer on the wall lit up—three minutes.
She held the box with a complicated expression.
If she had known he was that kind of person, she should have pretended to agree just now...
As she entered the corridor, the sounds from the other corridor became clearer.
Jiang Ruoxue came to her senses and slowly pressed her ear to the wall to listen.
After a moment, her expression turned grave.
A Mu sounded very angry, shouting loudly: "You old dog, you destroyed the key?!"