Chapter 77: Top-Tier Parts
On the other side of the corridor, the "Sender's" room.
Old Lü had already been beaten black and blue. Blood streamed from both nostrils, and one of his fingers had been snapped.
"Stop... stop hitting me..." Old Lü begged. "If you beat me to death, no one will deliver your letters for you... spare me..."
"You old dog!!" A Mu grabbed hold of Old Lü's thinning hair and snarled viciously, "Haven't I been good to you?! Huh? I gave you the 'Path,' I gave you 'Trust'! And you actually dared to shred my key?!"
"I'm truly sorry..." Old Lü forced a bitter smile onto his face. "I had already delivered all the boxes before I realized there was still a key I hadn't sent... I meant to send it over right away, but the three-minute countdown only had three seconds left. If I hadn't thrown the key into the shredder, I would have died..."
"You think I'd believe that?!" A Mu yanked Old Lü by the hair and slammed him hard against the wall.
The blow caught his eye socket, and blood began to stream from Old Lü's brow.
"Ouch... stop hitting..." Old Lü clutched his forehead and wailed on the ground. "If you keep hitting, you'll really kill me..."
A Mu steadied his breathing and slowly released his grip.
"You old dog... Good thing I didn't fully trust you." He rose slowly and pulled a letter from inside his coat.
"What—?" Old Lü stared at the letter, frozen in place. "You didn't put the letter in?!"
"Your little tricks are like child's play to me." A Mu squatted beside Old Lü with a furious smile on his face and said, "Old dog, I'll give you one more chance. If this letter doesn't reach the other side this time, I don't care about any 'Sanctions' or not—I'll rush to the corridor at the first second, poke out your eyes, and tear open your throat. Understand?"
Old Lü trembled all over and nodded.
That A Mu was absolutely capable of it.
He was a true desperado. Even if he lost the game, he would never let him go.
"Young Qi... this old bag of bones can only help you this far," Old Lü muttered to himself.
On the other side, Jiang Ruoxue was hugging the box, stalling for time.
She had no other options left.
She hadn't expected that young man to be surprisingly clever.
It was only a matter of time before the box with two locks in her hands was cracked. The only thing she could do now was delay as long as possible, hoping her team could gain victory first with this extra time.
Time ticked by. When there were only ten seconds left until the countdown ended, Jiang Ruoxue knocked on Lin Qin's door.
Lin Qin seemed surprised to still receive a "reply" and looked puzzled.
She had just sent out the locked box, hoping Qi Xia might have suitable tools to open it. But now the box was not only intact but had come back with two locks attached.
"Hurry, take it! I don't have much time!" Jiang Ruoxue said.
Afraid that no one would deliver the letter if the "traitor" died, Lin Qin quickly took the box.
She stared at the two locks on the box, her eyes slowly widening.
"I see... So he had a second lock? I understand!"
Lin Qin quickly pulled out her own golden key and unlocked the golden lock.
Now only a single silver lock remained on the box.
"Hurry!" Lin Qin handed the box back to Jiang Ruoxue. "Quick, send it back to the 'Receiver'!"
Jiang Ruoxue gritted her teeth and looked at the box in her hands, knowing things had taken a bad turn.
This woman had seen through the tactic in just a few seconds—she was no ordinary person either.
"Hey... let me join your side..." Jiang Ruoxue said with an awkward expression. "Let's cooperate. Only by working together can you win."
Lin Qin stared intently into Jiang Ruoxue's eyes, then broke into a slight smile and said, "How strange. If you really wanted to cooperate with us, Qi Xia probably wouldn't have come up with this plan."
"Qi Xia...?"
"Things have reached this point. Even if you don't cooperate with us, we won't lose the match." Lin Qin smiled apologetically. "Sorry, not this time."
Jiang Ruoxue gazed at Lin Qin, her mind seemingly pondering something.
"Ruoxue, the only thing you can do now is stall for time." Lin Qin slowly closed the door. "I'm sorry."
But once she was back in the corridor, the expression on Jiang Ruoxue's face vanished. She walked slowly to the center of the hallway, muttering softly to herself.
"So he's Qi Xia? That was easier than I thought."
After a few seconds, she seemed to be talking to someone, nodding repeatedly.
"Yes, I can die. But what about what comes next?"
"Okay." Jiang Ruoxue nodded. "Need me to leave him a little surprise?"
"Understood."
She carried the iron box in her hands and walked forward slowly, stopping directly at Qi Xia's door.
Jiang Ruoxue closed her eyes slightly and raised her hand to knock.
When Qi Xia opened the door, he first glanced at the box in her hands and smiled with satisfaction.
Only one silver lock remained on the box.
This team was full of "top-tier parts"—no matter what, they couldn't build a "bottom-tier fighter."
"What, giving me the box now? Or are you going to stall for a bit more time?" Qi Xia asked.
Jiang Ruoxue slowly opened her eyes, but suddenly a loud bell sounded from somewhere in the distance.
「Dong」!!!
Qi Xia froze, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart. He quickly looked around but found nothing unusual.
"I'll give it to you now." Jiang Ruoxue said. "You know that even with this, you can't open the door immediately, right?"
"Of course." Qi Xia took the box cautiously, still watching her warily. "Old Lü on the other side should have delivered the letter long ago, but we haven't lost yet. That means even after the Receiver sees the letter, he can't open the door right away."
"Let me see your method," Jiang Ruoxue said.
Qi Xia looked at her suspiciously. "If you see my method, you might lose your life."
"Doesn't matter." She smiled. "It's still uncertain who will lose."
"Fair enough."
Qi Xia took out his silver key and easily unlocked the last lock on the box.
He pulled out the envelope, opened it, and read the contents. His expression didn't change. Then he walked over to the large microwave oven and carefully examined the prompt on the display screen.
It was a very advanced touchscreen that supported handwriting input.
The space for entering the password was four blank cells. The only uncertainty was whether they needed to input four numbers, letters, or Chinese characters.
Qi Xia turned back and took out the encrypted letter.
The next step was to crack the code.
He spread the letter flat, revealing a single, isolated line of letters.
「MLGDRZDQVXL」
Apart from this line of letters, there was no other hint on the paper.
Jiang Ruoxue looked at the line of letters with some confusion, apparently not understanding the principle of this cipher.
"Every game has a 'path to survival,'" Qi Xia muttered to himself. "Setting a password that's too complicated would cut off that 'path' for the contestants. So the method to crack this password can't be too difficult."
"And among the simple decryption methods I know, there's only one that doesn't involve numbers."
"The Caesar cipher."