Chapter 426: Strange Mouse
"Five Tao tickets per person. If you win, the surviving participants can split thirty Tao."
"And the number of participants...?" Qi Xia asked, frowning. "It can't be that coincidental... exactly five people, right?"
"Not at all..." Ground Rat said with a smile. "Since the leaders from 'Cat' have never caused me any trouble, I'm being generous and giving you a choice... You can choose to have five people participate, or six."
"Oh...?"
This was the first time Qi Xia had heard of a game with a variable number of players.
"Let me state in advance," Ground Rat continued. "If five people participate, I will play the role of 'Cat.' If six participate, then one of the participants will have to play the 'Cat.'"
Qi Xia thought for a few seconds, then spoke: "Can we choose for ourselves...?"
"Yes," Ground Monkey nodded. "Since we're open for business, we have to deal with different situations. I can take on jobs with either five or six people."
"Then how should we choose...?" Luo Shiyi asked quietly from behind. "Do we need to go borrow someone from another team now?"
"I think we can," Saturday nodded. "If all six are our own people, this game will become much easier."
Qi Xia listened and frowned.
This time, the purpose of participating in the Earth-level game was not to make the game easier, but to increase the difficulty as much as possible. So he absolutely couldn't consider a situation where all six were their own people.
"Five of us is enough," Qi Xia said. "Although I know this might be a trap, I'm willing to take the bait."
"Huh...?" Saturday looked at Qi Xia with some confusion. "There's an easy path for you to take, and you don't want it... Are you trying to get us killed in the game?"
"Even though I'm a liar," Qi Xia said, "as long as you follow my arrangements, there's a very high chance I'll keep you all safe."
"In that case... I just hope you leaders won't regret it." Ground Rat smiled.
Saturday didn't hesitate any longer. She gave a signal to the last member of the team, Qiu Shiliu, who then pulled a pile of Tao from his waist pouch and handed it to Ground Rat.
"Alright!" Ground Rat took the Tao and tossed it into a box beside him, then turned back to open the building's door. "Shura Field, please come in, leaders."
Looking at the dark corridor inside, the group took a deep breath and walked in one after another. "Shura Field" didn't matter—as long as they were still alive in the Land of the End, everywhere was a shura field.
In just a few seconds, they noticed that the smell here seemed different from other places. There was no foul odor, but instead a sweet fruity scent.
This kind of smell almost never appeared in the Land of the End, making them feel a bit dazed.
They had only walked about ten meters, and when everything around them was pitch black, Ground Rat slowly stopped and pressed a button on the wall. An old light in the room flickered on.
"We're here, leaders."
Ground Rat led them into the main hall, then took out six collars from a cracked box behind him.
"I need to explain in advance..." Ground Rat said. "Since I truly respect you leaders very much, I won't use violent means to harm your lives during the game. But as I said, I also have leaders above me. All things considered, I can only offer these 'Explosive Collars' for you to wear. Please don't take offense."
Qi Xia silently took the collar and asked a question he had been holding back for a while: "Are you this courteous to all 'participants'?"
"Me?" Ground Rat shook his head. "Leader, you flatter me. You are leaders of 'Cat,' in other words, Qian Wu's people. I'm only this polite to you few. Please put it on first."
Qi Xia shook his head after hearing this. Apart from the rules, every word this man said was a lie—a typical slick veteran in the workplace.
The group looked at the collars in their hands. Saturday looked up and asked, "Tsk, why six? One spare?"
"Oh, what are you saying? I have to wear one too!"
Before they could react, Ground Rat took the largest collar and snapped it around his own neck. With a click, the collar was firmly fastened.
Qi Xia carefully examined the sizes of the collars and quickly shot Ground Rat a suspicious look.
"Leader, don't mind it." Ground Rat grinned, showing his teeth. "These are 'Explosive Collars.' Mine is bigger than yours, meaning I have more explosives inside. You leaders only need a little bit of explosive to die cleanly, but I can't. Please bear with me."
"State the rules," Qi Xia said.
"Alright, alright. Please follow me."
Ground Rat led them a few steps through the empty hall, and they noticed there were many rooms around the hall—seven wooden doors in total.
"The rules of my game are very complicated, but playing it is very simple," Ground Rat said. "We are divided into two factions: I am 'Cat,' and you are 'Mice.'"
"Tsk, we already know that," Saturday said.
"The game is divided into six rounds," Ground Rat continued. "Each round is further divided into 'Night' and 'Day.'"
Seeing that no one responded, Ground Rat nodded and added, "All 'Mice' can only move during 'Night,' while the 'Cat' can only move during 'Day.'"
"How long are 'Day' and 'Night'?" Qi Xia asked.
"Ten minutes each," Ground Rat said. "Do you leaders think that's enough?"
Qi Xia calculated carefully. Each round was twenty minutes, six rounds would be two hours. With time being so tight now... they had to find a way to crack the game faster.
"Damn it..." Luo Shiyi cursed. "If it's not enough, can you extend it?"
"That's rather difficult to manage. It really can't be extended easily. If you need it, I'll try my best to apply for you," Ground Rat said expressionlessly. "We'll act according to the rules. Please bear with me."
"Stop the nonsense," Luo Shiyi scratched his ear. "We're divided into cat and mice, then what?"
Ground Rat pointed to the room on the far left, which had a black door, and said, "That is the 'Mouse House,' your 'base.' You can discuss plans there, or hide from the 'Cat's' pursuit. I will never enter the 'Mouse House,' so after the game starts, that will be the safest place."
Qi Xia looked around and noticed that the seven doors in the room were all different colors. Although they were all dark tones, under the dim light, they could roughly distinguish seven distinct colors.