Chapter 437: The Cat's Action
"That's exactly what I mean," Qi Xia nodded. "If you don't agree, your probability of dying today is one hundred percent. If you do agree, it's only ninety percent."
"You..." The Groundhog gritted his teeth. He wanted to form a retort, but felt like he was about to be overwhelmed by anger.
"That ten percent is my gift to you," Qi Xia said in a low voice. "If my plan goes smoothly, that ten percent will keep increasing, eventually reaching twenty percent."
"You're far too naive," the Groundhog sighed. "If you want to go against that person... the probability of survival can't even reach twenty percent."
He paused, then muttered almost to himself, "Probably not even two percent..."
"Time is almost up," Qi Xia said. "This round, I'm going to completely cut off all your paths to survival. If you don't come up with a countermeasure soon, these will be your final moments."
"You're a master at manipulating people," the Groundhog sneered. "But I can't fully believe you've seen through this game. This is a game I designed after racking my brains."
"Oh really?" Qi Xia sneered back. "I even guessed 'Papaya,' and yet you don't believe I can cut off your 'path to survival'?"
"I..." The Groundhog clearly hesitated. After a long pause, he said absently, "Being blown to bits by the collar is still better than being killed by them."
"Is that so?"
Qi Xia slowly furrowed his brow. He didn't understand—he had pushed the threat to this extent, yet the Groundhog still wouldn't budge. What exactly was he resisting?
"That's how it is," the Groundhog said, his face filled with sorrow. "Dying here at least proves I tried my best to get out. I failed, that's all. I won't regret dying on the path to chasing my dream, but I would regret doing something outrageous."
As the footsteps outside gradually faded away, Qi Xia knew the Groundhog had made his choice.
"Really a shame..." Qi Xia said forlornly. "Someone with such cunning can't be my pawn..."
The footsteps disappeared down the corridor, and Zhou Liu's voice came to Qi Xia's ear: "Turtle's fine now."
"It should be so," Qi Xia said.
"Tsk, but I didn't expect the Groundhog to actually give up," Zhou Liu said in confusion. "He could have gone back on his word. Is the word 'Papaya' from Turtle really that scary? Even if he guessed it, so what? If I were the Groundhog, I'd still catch him."
Qi Xia shook his head helplessly. Was the Groundhog afraid of Turtle?
No. What he feared was that someone in this five-person team had seen through his game.
Once someone could break through layer after layer of fog and see that truth, he couldn't win.
Qi Xia turned his head to look at the fruits on the table. Earlier, they had obtained three small tangerines, three dragon fruits, three peaches, and one pomegranate.
He and Luo Shiyi had each consumed one small tangerine and one peach. Now the most important thing was to "rescue" Zhou Liu.
"Zhou Liu," Qi Xia called out. "You still have a dragon fruit in your room, right?"
"Tsk, yes."
"Take it with you," Qi Xia said. "Next round, I'll come rescue you."
"Take it...?" Zhou Liu was a bit stunned. "Aren't I controlled by the 'Mousetrap'?"
"You've been misled by the rules," Qi Xia said. "Even though you're controlled by the 'Mousetrap' now, you were 'Searching' before you were controlled. In theory, you should get the fruit."
"Will that really work...?" Zhou Liu looked at the dragon fruit on the table, skeptical. "Then wouldn't I trigger 'Carrying'?"
"No," Qi Xia shook his head. "You don't need to carry it. Just give the fruit directly to Turtle when he passes by your door."
"Then what should I do next?"
"You go to the second room," Qi Xia said. "I'll go to the third room. This round, I plan to move all the food."
"Tsk... all the food?" Zhou Liu rubbed his chin, thinking. "That's not right, is it? Is that even possible?"
"What's the problem?"
"Tsk, right now the fruits in the five rooms... if I'm not mistaken, the numbers are one, one, four, zero, and one. Except for the pomegranate, which is almost gone, the others are either down to one or four..."
"So what?"
"Tsk, so how are you going to take away all the fruit?" Zhou Liu looked at the dragon fruit in his hand. "Even if Turtle and I each take one of the 'ones,' there's still one 'one' and one 'four.' If Turtle performs 'Carrying,' we'd need at least three more people to take the fruit from those two rooms..."
"Oh?" Qi Xia raised an eyebrow.
"Tsk, but do we have enough people?" Zhou Liu said. "Luo Shiyi is in the 'Cat Room,' Turtle is carrying. Next round there'll only be three of you total. Don't we need a 'Commander' anymore?"
"None of that matters anymore," Qi Xia said. "The game doesn't need six rounds. It's about to end."
"Huh?"
Qi Xia thought for a moment, grabbed a small tangerine from the table, and said to Qiu Shiliu, "Take any fruit except the pomegranate to fill one point of 'satiety.' Next round, just wait here."
"Wait here?" Qiu Shiliu frowned at Qi Xia. "You don't need me to go 'Searching' anymore? Hasn't this game just started?"
"Of course not," Qi Xia said. "This game was already over once the rules were explained."
*Click.*
The lock gave a crisp sound, and the door to the "Rat Room" opened again. The third round had quietly arrived.
Qi Xia went to Zhou Liu's room and opened the door. At the same time, the door to the "Cat Room" also opened.
Zhou Liu stood there holding a dragon fruit, and happened to see Luo Shiyi holding a pomegranate.
"Huh...?" Both of them were a bit stunned.
"What's going on?" Zhou Liu asked. "Tsk, how did you take fruit out of the 'Cat Room'?"
"I..." Luo Shiyi gave a wry smile and shook his head. "Last round, Qi Xia went to the 'Cat Room' to rescue me, and I followed his instructions and went in to 'Search'..."
"Huh?" Zhou Liu was startled again by the situation. "Searching in the 'Cat Room'...? Did the rules mention that?"
"Whether the rules mentioned it or not..." Luo Shiyi sighed, "the 'Cat Room' does have a 'Search' button... When the round ended, I wanted to leave with the pomegranate, and that Groundhog didn't stop me."
After speaking, Zhou Liu turned to Qi Xia: "Was this also your plan? Tsk, but why would there be fruit in the 'Cat Room'?"
"Because even the 'Cat' needs to eat," Qi Xia said. "But its food isn't just fruit. It can also be 'Rats.'"