Chapter 428: The One Who Wavers
"What about the other two actions of the 'Cat'?" Qi Xia looked up and asked again. "What do 'Setting Traps' and 'Patrolling' mean?"
"Regarding 'Setting Traps,' I will set a 'mousetrap' in a room," the Hamster said with a smile. "Since real-world mice can hardly distinguish a mousetrap, we need to simulate this phenomenon as well."
"Tch, how do we simulate that?" Saturday asked.
"The room with a 'mousetrap' looks no different from any other room. But if you press the 'Search' button in the room and a red light flashes, that means I have set a 'mousetrap' there. This will cause your 'Search' to fail, preventing you from taking away food or escaping the room. There are only two ways to get rid of the 'mousetrap': one is for a teammate to come to the rescue and open the door from the outside; the other is for me to take you back to the 'Cat House.'"
"So..." Qi Xia confirmed, "Even if you're caught by a 'mousetrap,' you won't be eliminated immediately, but you'll still need to be taken back by you?"
"That's right." The Hamster nodded. "That's called 'Setting Traps.' As for the third action, 'Patrolling,' I will designate two rooms and open their doors at the same time, simulating that I am 'patrolling' within those two rooms and attempting to catch the 'Mice' inside. But note that... although I open the doors of these two rooms, unlike 'Searching,' this does not guarantee that the mice in those rooms will definitely be caught. You can do everything possible to run back to the 'Mouse House' the moment the door opens."
Qi Xia nodded. "So 'Patrolling' expands the 'attack range' but reduces the success rate of catching the 'Mice.'"
"Having a smart leader really does speed up my explanations." The Hamster nodded. "Just like you, I will choose one of these three actions to take each round."
Seeing that everyone seemed to understand, the Hamster led them out of the room again and brought them to the door of the 'Mouse House.'
"Since I said I won't enter the 'Mouse House,' please open the door."
Qi Xia stepped forward without a word and pushed the door open.
Inside, there were five chairs, and on the wall were five palm-sized holes, each with the numbers 'One, Two, Three, Four, Five' written below them.
"Dear leaders, this is your safe room. All the food you steal can only be eaten inside the 'Mouse House.' And by 'eating,' I mean throwing these fruits into the holes corresponding to your numbers."
Everyone looked at their collars and indeed saw their numbers written in inconspicuous places.
It seemed that by throwing fruit into the hole matching their own number, their 'Satiety Value' would increase.
"Tch, so stingy..." Saturday pursed her lips. "I thought with so many fruits, we could at least eat one..."
"Oh!" The Hamster suddenly remembered something and said to everyone, "Dear leaders, that's my oversight. I forgot to mention earlier that if you survive, you not only get to split thirty 'Dao,' but you also get to keep all the 'fruits' you put in."
"Ah?!" Saturday was stunned. "A-all the fruits?"
"That's right, that's right." The Hamster nodded. "It's precisely because of this feature that my game has many 'return customers.' They come here not just for the 'Dao,' but also for the fresh fruits."
"'Return customers'...?" Qi Xia found this phrasing intriguing.
What kind of return customers were these?
Five people, each handing over five 'Dao,' splitting thirty at the end. The Hamster would lose five 'Dao' every time he ran the game.
If everyone survived, this game would be meaningless. But the Hamster deliberately offered 'fruits' to entertain the participants.
In a situation where no food could be found for ten days, a single fresh, sweet fruit was enough to make people risk their lives.
If the 'Zodiacs' really didn't care about 'Dao,' would they care about 'food'?
The answer was obvious. No one in this world would do a losing deal. If five people walked out of here safely, the 'Zodiac' would not only lose 'Dao' but also lose 'fruits.'
A 'Zodiac' who could come up with a way to attract 'customers' like this was definitely no philanthropist.
He would absolutely kill them in the game.
"By the way, just so you know..." the Hamster said, "Only you yourself can feed your own hole to get the 'Satiety' effect. That means you cannot eat for another 'Mouse.'"
"Understood." Qi Xia nodded and then asked, "Can we store the 'fruits' we get in this room?"
"Of course." The Hamster nodded. "Dear leaders, you're being a bit distant. This is the 'Mouse House,' basically a 'mouse hole.' Naturally, you can store food here. Just use it when you need it."
Everyone now had a general understanding of the rules.
Although it was called a 'Cat and Mouse Game,' it seemed that the 'chasing' and 'physical exertion' parts were minimal. It was more about testing the strategies of the 'Cat' and the 'Mice.' To survive in this game, one had to consider much more than just 'filling one's stomach.'
"Since you all understand the rules, the game will begin in ten minutes."
The Hamster gave everyone a last cold glance and was about to leave when Qi Xia called him back.
"Wait."
"What is it?"
"You seem to have forgotten to mention something," Qi Xia said.
The Hamster thought for a moment and said, "I believe that's everything."
"Is that so...?" Qi Xia slowly narrowed his eyes.
"Dear leader, I've said 'what needs to be said.' As for the rest, even if you ask, I won't tell you." The Hamster said. "With these rules, you have enough to survive in this game."
Qi Xia nodded after hearing this and then asked again, "I have a personal question for you."
"A personal question...?" The Hamster frowned. "Now?"
"That's right." Qi Xia nodded. "This question will affect my subsequent game strategy."
"I may not answer, but you can go ahead and ask." The Hamster said with a furrowed brow.
Qi Xia stepped forward, getting close to the Hamster's furry face, and whispered, "If you found out you could never become 'Heaven,' would you choose to rebel against those above you?"
The moment the words were spoken, the Hamster's eyes twitched violently, and he quickly stepped back two paces.
He could never have imagined that a participant would ask a question that could shake the 'Zodiac's' resolve.
What did this matter have to do with the participant?
"You... you..." The Hamster blinked, slowly calming himself, and then said with a strange expression, "I don't know what you meant by that, but my leader is my 'Heaven.' I would never do anything to harm my leader."