Chapter 457: The Strongest Strategist
"It's a pity that Sixth Sister isn't here..." Ning Shiba said, holding her right hand. "If we had that iron rod, plus Sixth Sister's skills, those things should..."
"Don't be naive," Qiu Ershi said. "Eighteenth Sister, it's precisely because we're not good at this kind of game that Fifth Brother sent us here."
"But this thing can't be caught or blocked!!" Ning Shiba said, her eyes reddening from the pain. Even more terrifying was that after the intense pain, her fingertips were slowly losing sensation.
"There will be a way..." Qiu Ershi said, then looked towards Bai Jiu. As the "brain" of the team, he could only place his hopes on Bai Jiu at this moment.
But Bai Jiu had not participated in a game for a long time. How could she come up with all the countermeasures instantly?
Qiao Jiajin also stood up on the 'Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse', looking worriedly in Ning Shiba's direction.
"Diu... Stargazer Girl... you..." Qiao Jiajin stared at the pure white frost on the ground, feeling dazed. Could something like this really exist in reality?
Isn't this the kind of icy internal energy that only appears in Hong Kong comics?
"What on earth should we do..." Qiao Jiajin wished he could jump off the cart right now and kick all those eerie white balls to pieces for them.
But even if it were him... could he handle these freezing liquids?
Bai Jiu was about to say something when she heard a whisper in her ear: "Tch, Xiao Jiu, we've reached the big tree you mentioned. Which way do we turn...?"
"Sixth Sister...?" Bai Jiu seemed about to cry. "Turn left, turn left is fine... but... but now..."
"Tch, why are you stammering?" Zhou Liu's tone on the other end changed noticeably. "What happened?"
Bai Jiu could only treat a dead horse as a live horse doctor—she briefly explained the situation to Zhou Liu in simple terms, but that was all. Zhou Liu and the others were still a few minutes away, and the game only lasted fifteen minutes. How could they get outside help?
Zhou Liu was silent for a few seconds on the other end, then said, "Tch, Xiao Jiu, describe that white ball again."
"Ah...?" Bai Jiu nodded and quickly said, "A pure white ball. According to Ershi, it seems to be dry ice. There's an extremely cold liquid inside, colorless. The whole white ball emits thick white smoke, looking very eerie."
Qiao Jiajin also noticed Bai Jiu whispering and quickly turned his head to look at her.
"Is it Iron Rod Girl? The liar boy is with her..."
"Shh!" Bai Jiu raised a finger to her lips to interrupt Qiao Jiajin, then listened carefully to Zhou Liu's suggestion. "What?"
"Tch, I said you can just smash the ball directly. Nothing will happen," Zhou Liu repeated.
"Ah?!" Bai Jiu was startled. "No, no way, Sixth Sister. Didn't I just tell you? Shiba smashed the ball and got frostbite immediately. Now her whole hand seems to have lost sensation."
"Tch, about two seconds," Zhou Liu said again. "If you shake off the liquid on your hand within two seconds, nothing will happen. I guarantee it."
Bai Jiu thought it over carefully but still found it too absurd. "Sixth Sister, it's not that we don't want to try. We tried once and failed... So can I ask why you're so confident?"
"Tch... Reason? Hang on a moment..." Zhou Liu paused for a few seconds again, then said in a low voice, "The reason is the 'Leidenfrost Effect'. Go ahead."
"Ah?!" Bai Jiu immediately frowned. Even after hearing the reason, she didn't understand it at all. "Wh... what effect? What do you mean 'go ahead'? If I don't know the specifics, how am I supposed to convince everyone to..."
"Tch, fine, fine, fine." Zhou Liu said impatiently. "I'll explain it to you... Hang on..."
Zhou Liu paused for a few seconds again, then said, "Hiss... I think I've got it... Xiao Jiu, have you ever tried dropping a drop of water on a hot iron pan?"
Bai Jiu thought for a moment. The question was quite out of the blue, but she did have that experience.
"What happens to that drop of water? Does it evaporate instantly?" Zhou Liu asked again.
"It doesn't seem to..." Bai Jiu thought for a moment. "That drop of water seems to move quickly across the iron pan, then slowly disappears."
"That's the Lei..." Zhou Liu paused for a few seconds, then said, "Tch, the 'Leidenfrost Effect'. Simply put, your hand that smashed the ball is the 'iron pan', and those extremely cold liquids are the 'water droplets' falling into the pan. They will only roll rapidly on your hand at first and won't emit cold. Shiba was frostbitten just now because she touched those liquids with her hand."
Bai Jiu thought carefully and realized that was indeed the case. Initially, Ning Shiba wasn't injured. It was only after she wiped the liquid on her palm that she screamed in pain.
"Sixth Sister... how do you know so much?" Bai Jiu asked tentatively.
"Tch... If you ask why... it's probably because I'm standing next to the 'strategist' in the entire 'Land of Ending' who I admire most."
Bai Jiu hesitated for a moment after hearing this, thinking: Could that person be their team leader today, Qi Xia?
She could only nod and then shouted to Ning Shiba and Qiu Ershi: "Just smash the ice balls. If you shake off the liquid inside within two seconds, it won't hurt your skin... because of the Lei... something effect."
The two in the distance were stunned for a long time after hearing Bai Jiu's words, feeling that Bai Jiu didn't seem to understand the danger of these liquids.
"Trust me, this is Sixth..." Bai Jiu was about to say that this was Sixth Sister's strategy, but Qiao Jiajin suddenly reached out to stop her.
"This is a strategy I came up with using my 'brain'!" Qiao Jiajin shouted to the two. "If this idea doesn't work, I'll be the one to slit my own throat this time."
Seeing his confident expression, the two felt that the credibility of this strategy seemed higher.
"Brother Qiao, are you serious?" Ning Shiba said, holding her right hand.
"Seriously... but you..." Qiao Jiajin thought for a moment. It seemed that Ning Shiba's condition would make it hard for her to block the next balls. So he turned to look at the few people beside him. "Is anyone willing to replace Stargazer Girl?"
The four people beside him raised their hands almost simultaneously and said, "I'll go."
Bai Jiu looked at the three who raised their hands along with her and said, "I'm the oldest here. Put your hands down. I'll do it."
Luo Shiwu, Feng Shiqi, and Yun Shijiu silently put down their hands upon hearing this.
Bai Jiu gave Ning Shiba a meaningful look, then quickly walked up. "Shiba, let me take over. You rest first."
"Okay, Ninth Sister..." Ning Shiba replied with cold sweat on her forehead. "You must be careful. These things are not simple..."
"I trust Sixth Sister." Bai Jiu nodded and stood in front of 'Wenqu'.