Chapter 482: Black Fur
Chen Junnan led the remaining five people slowly turning their backs, then naturally split into two teams.
Seeing this division, Earth Rabbit couldn't help but frown.
The two teams were no different from what he had imagined—six people split into two groups of three.
This seemingly clever team had actually adopted the most mediocre tactic. Was there really no better strategy?
Or... were they hiding something?
"What little trick are you trying to pull?" Earth Rabbit frowned at the group. "Don't think you can win the game just like that."
"We'll take it one step at a time." Chen Junnan turned his head back with a smile. "You probably don't know me yet. Just wait and see—I never make plans."
"Then what are you so proud of?" Earth Rabbit looked at Chen Junnan in confusion, feeling that the man before him was truly bizarre. "Forget it, do as you please."
Hearing this, the others said no more and split into two teams, standing in front of the doors.
As the announcement "Game Start" echoed from the broadcast, Song Qi and Jiang Shi simultaneously opened the doors and walked into two different rooms. The others followed them in, then turned around and closed the doors behind them.
The advantage of having three people per team became evident at this moment.
Among the three, one was responsible for opening the door, one for closing it, and one for locking it. Moreover, everyone could move once—this was the most optimal formation so far.
Earth Rabbit watched both doors being locked simultaneously and shook his head with a faint smile.
Even if they could keep locking the doors, could they really win the game this way?
Seeing the doors locked, Earth Rabbit slowly walked to the door in the direction Chen Junnan's team was heading and waited. At that moment, the broadcast sounded again:
"All 'Participants' have completed their actions. 'Zodiacs' may now begin their actions."
Hearing this, Earth Rabbit reached out to unlock the door in front of him, paused for a moment, then opened it.
Chen Junnan, Jiang Shi, and Cui Shisi now stood face-to-face with Earth Rabbit.
Since the "Zodiac" also had movement restrictions, after "unlocking" and "opening the door," he would have exhausted all his action points and could no longer move. So for now, their situation was safe.
"Oh, what a coincidence?" Chen Junnan took a few steps forward on the sticky blue floor, blinking as he looked at Earth Rabbit. "What are you doing here? Working the night shift?"
Earth Rabbit took a deep breath. "Are you looking for death? Don't you know I've already chosen you?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Chen Junnan nodded. "We're honored, I guess. Take it easy, don't go bursting a blood vessel."
"Bursting a blood vessel?" Earth Rabbit sneered. "Then I'll be watching with great interest."
Before long, the broadcast sounded again, signaling that it was the "Participants'" turn to act.
"Let's move." Chen Junnan gave the two of them a wink. Jiang Shi understood and immediately closed the door.
A few seconds later, a crisp locking sound came from the door. Its construction was unusual—both sides had door locks and handles.
"Oh...?" Earth Rabbit felt a bit puzzled. Choosing to lock the door at this critical moment—wouldn't that mean someone could no longer "move"?
Was this team truly different from the others?
There was someone among them willing to die.
"Have you lost your minds?" Earth Rabbit asked through the door. "Do you even know what you're doing right now?"
"Mind your own damn business!" Chen Junnan's muffled voice came from the other side. "Think I'm gonna tell you our strategy? Who do you think you are? Come get me!"
"You're really asking for it..." Earth Rabbit gritted his teeth. "But fine. Go ahead and court death all you want."
Following their agreed-upon plan, the group split into two paths starting from the current room. On Song Qi's side, he signaled the other two teammates to continue forward while he stayed behind to close the door and then lock it.
Now, Earth Rabbit had lost sight of the remaining people. Not only could he not get out of the room, but even if he somehow managed to escape by a one-in-a-million chance, he wouldn't have enough time left to catch them all.
Chen Junnan calculated the directions. They were currently in Room "Five." To reach Room "Sixteen" as quickly as possible, it would take at least five rounds. Song Qi's team was in a similar situation—they would also reach the endpoint in five rounds.
For now, all they could do was hope to meet at the finish line.
Chen Junnan walked to the east door of the room and opened Room "Six." Before he even stepped inside, a single glance made him frown.
This room seemed different from the others. At some point, a small table had appeared on the floor. On it lay a tuft of black fur, tied together with a red string. It looked somewhat like a lock of dark hair with a hint of brown.
Chen Junnan exchanged a glance with Cui Shisi beside him. If nothing was out of the ordinary, they had passed through here during their earlier "wandering," but they didn't recall seeing any small table. Could it have been placed here just now? Or... had the room triggered some mechanism after the game started?
"Captain, this is...?" Cui Shisi stepped forward to take a look, sensing something odd.
"This..." Chen Junnan put on a fearless expression, stepped forward, and picked up the fur to examine it.
The curl of fur really did resemble hair, but it felt tougher and more resilient than ordinary hair.
"What the hell is this?" Chen Junnan frowned as he looked at it, even bringing the fur to his nose and sniffing it. There was no distinct smell—only the surrounding stench of decay that filled his nostrils.
Too many people had died in these small rooms. The smell here was even stronger than outside, and the floor itself was sticky underfoot.
Cui Shisi crouched down beside Chen Junnan. Bravely, she also picked up the tuft of fur and carefully examined the red string at its end. Attached to the string was a very small metal tag with two tiny characters inscribed on it.
"Divine Power."
"'Divine Power'...? What the hell is 'Divine Power'?" Chen Junnan saw the two characters and felt even more confused.
"This fur is 'Divine Power'?" Cui Shisi racked her brain, but she couldn't make heads or tails of it.
A few seconds later, Chen Junnan's eyebrows suddenly shot up. He felt a sudden spark of inspiration.
"Sis, give me that fur. I think I've got an idea."
Hearing this, Cui Shisi handed him the tuft of fur. "What idea?"
"This is obviously Sun Wukong's monkey fur! The divine power of 'blowing on fur to summon troops'!" Chen Junnan said. "Stand back. I'll toss it on the ground and call out all the monkey kids from Mount Huaguo. Let 'em show us what they've got."
"Huh?!" Cui Shisi was clearly startled by Chen Junnan's words. "Captain, are you serious?!"
"What else could it be?" Chen Junnan held up the black fur. "In your memory, what else is a tuft of fur called 'Divine Power'?"
Cui Shisi lowered her head this time, carefully considering Chen Junnan's words. While his reasoning did make some sense from his perspective, she still felt something was off.
A tuft of black fur... called "Divine Power"? But Sun Wukong's fur wasn't black either.
"Captain, here's my thought," Cui Shisi said. "This thing wasn't displayed while we were 'wandering,' and it wasn't mentioned when Earth Rabbit explained the 'rules.' Obviously, he deliberately hid it. If we had seen this tuft of fur earlier, it might have reduced his chances of winning."
"Hmm..." Chen Junnan rubbed his chin and nodded. "Sis, you've got a point."
"Maybe we should put it away for now and check if there are similar items in other rooms." Cui Shisi glanced toward the exit and added, "Once we find more items, we'll definitely understand why this fur is called 'Divine Power.'"