Chapter 193: The Special Thirteenth Floor
The two players following Dai Wenqian did as he instructed—one put a flashlight inside, and the other aimed a phone camera at the gap to film. But the moment the phone touched the elevator door, a sudden change occurred. A shadow as fast as lightning flashed through the crack, followed by a spray of blood. The phone was sliced in half, and the player holding it had half his palm and head chopped off!
"Ah!!!" The group scrambled backward in panic, and the nearest player immediately slammed the elevator doors shut.
There was no sound from the elevator shaft. The attack had been too fast for the naked eye to catch, but the corpse of their companion lay right there. Dai Wenqian and the others wore grim expressions.
In less than ten hours since entering this instance, they had lost four players.
"That must have been a mutant animal," Zheng Liang said. "We need to find another way. We can't let the game keep leading us by the nose."
"Are we really going downstairs?" Tie Ge touched the wound on his face from the man-eating flower. "If we stay on the fifteenth floor, maybe there's no danger at all."
Dai Wenqian didn't even glance at him. Staring at the dead companion on the ground, he said coldly, "The mutant animal that killed Wu Kun couldn't have been confined to the elevator shaft. Otherwise, with the elevators moving up and down, it would have died long ago."
"He's right," Wei Bin, who also wore glasses, analyzed. "No one can guarantee those elevator doors won't open and let the mutant animals out. If we stay on the fourteenth floor, other dangers might appear."
"I think you're overthinking it," Zhang Biao said. "If those things could move freely through the building, they would have shown up on the fifteenth floor when we arrived. Since they didn't, they must be trapped."
Some agreed with him, suggesting they stay on the fourteenth floor.
Gu Yu couldn't unify both sides. The other twelve players were divided.
Dai Wenqian, Wei Bin, Xiao Ba, and three others planned to continue downward, while Zheng Liang, Zhang Biao, Tie Ge, and three others wanted to stay on the fourteenth floor.
"Gu Yu, think it over. The windows on the fourteenth floor are sealed. It's safe here. If you go downstairs, who knows what's on the thirteenth floor," Zhang Biao said.
Gu Yu hesitated. She glanced secretly at Xu Huo, who was staring at the elevator as if he hadn't heard the conversation. After a pause, she said, "I'll go with Dai Wenqian."
Hearing this, Zheng Liang wasn't as confident as before. He scowled and shouted at Xu Huo, "Hey! Are you going down or not?"
Xu Huo turned his head and looked at him. "Of course I'm going down."
Zheng Liang's expression showed reluctance, but after two seconds, he also sided with Gu Yu and Dai Wenqian.
Zhang Biao and Tie Ge's side now had only five players. With most players choosing to go to the thirteenth floor, the remaining non-players also joined the larger group.
Zhang Biao and Tie Ge exchanged glances, stepped back, and said nothing.
"Creak..." The friction sound came from the elevators again. All fifteen elevators opened simultaneously, and an electronic alarm sounded: "The Little Flower Red Red Fourteenth Floor is about to close. All personnel must proceed to the thirteenth floor."
"No more than thirteen people per elevator," Xu Huo reminded them before stepping in first. The Flower Girl and her companion, Kang Hong and the tall woman, followed closely.
Gu Yu and Dai Wenqian's group also entered. After hesitating for a while, Zhang Biao and Tie Ge's group finally chose to step into the elevator.
"Ding!" When the elevator reached the thirteenth floor, everyone tensed up, fearing a repeat of the fourteenth floor scene. But when the doors opened, the thirteenth floor was calmer than they had imagined.
A few still-functioning light tubes remained lit. Though the light wasn't bright enough, it was sufficient to see the layout of the floor.
This floor was a plant cultivation room.
Directly opposite the elevators were all glass rooms. From outside, the crops inside were visible. Directly in front of Xu Huo was a small potted plant. Unlike common flowers in the real world, this plant looked like a miniature sunflower, but its flower disc was covered in dense small flowers. The colors of these flowers changed depending on the viewing angle.
He walked over, picked up the record book hanging by the door, and flipped through it.
"Ultra-small carnivorous flower. Each flower can display up to thirteen colors. Usually, it appears mostly blue when viewed head-on and mostly brown from the side. Its colors vary with temperature, making it more deceptive."
The rest of the book scattered records of plant discoveries. The research base seemed to be trying to study a method to change temperature from this plant. On the back cover was a sponsorship logo from a certain military equipment organization.
"Buzzing Flower?" Next door, the Flower Girl was looking at a flower that resembled a bee. She looked up from the data curiously, "If you touch these flowers, can they really make a buzzing sound like bees?"
The burly man beside her quickly stopped her, "Don't touch anything!"
No sooner had he spoken than a crash came from nearby—someone had accidentally kicked over a potted plant placed by the corridor.
The person who kicked it tripped and fell. Before he could say anything, deep blue powder flew from the plant's leaves. The powder quickly attached to his calf and rapidly burned through his skin!
The man screamed in pain. The area touched by the powder not only began to ulcerate, but the surrounding blood vessels also turned blue, spreading rapidly along his limbs toward his chest and abdomen.
The people around retreated in horror, not daring to approach the poisoned man or the plant on the ground. They watched helplessly as he convulsed on the floor for half a minute before dying.
Dai Wenqian picked up the record book on the wall, flipped through it a few times, and said, "This plant releases toxic powder when attacked. As long as you don't get the powder on you, it's safe."
"This place is full of fucking traps!" Tie Ge scratched his face.
Wei Bin glanced at him, "Your face is bleeding. Stop scratching."
Tie Ge didn't stop, "You think I want to? The wound itches!"
Dai Wenqian frowned instinctively and immediately said, "Look around for any plants that emit toxic gas."
Everyone's faces changed. Gu Yu and the other players immediately split up to check each glass room. But not every glass room had a record book. The entire thirteenth floor had eighteen glass rooms, seven of which had no record books.
Not only that, but the thirteenth floor was also sealed. The glass rooms had different temperatures, and even the outside felt somewhat stuffy.
"There's a ventilation device here!" The Flower Girl found a gate mechanism at the far right end. She pulled it down hard, and a dozen rectangular hidden panels popped open on the ceiling. The fans inside began to run, and the stifling air in the room quickly dissipated.
When Tie Ge finally stopped scratching his face vigorously, everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"Let's look around some more," Gu Yu said to those nearby. What they lacked most now was information about this building.