Chapter 2100: The Oddity of 23 Streets
Meng Wenguang was a man of action. He felt it was better to go back and check Sunshine Tree No. 12 than to waste time here. "According to what you said, the time on Street 18 should be a little past 10:40 right now. If I go back, then Street 17 should be 10:32, Street 16 should be 10:17, and by the time I reach Street 12, it should be exactly 9:17. I'll go back and check first. If the time is still 10:40, I'll notify you with a green light."
With that, he headed straight for Street 12, since it wasn't too far away anyway.
Soon, a green beam of light shot up from the location of Sunshine Tree on Street 12.
As time ticked away second by second, the players grew increasingly anxious. No one knew what would happen when it reached 12:03. If their memories were wiped clean again, their situation would be no better than before, still trapped in Pumpkin City, endlessly repeating the same day.
"Is there something wrong with 12:03?" Yue Rui looked at Xu Huo and the others. "According to the 15-minute increment per street, by the time we reach Street 23, shouldn't the time be 12:02?"
"A one-minute difference, spread across the streets, is only a few seconds. Our estimates aren't precise," Wang Ling said.
Yue Rui nodded. "I was thinking, maybe Pumpkin City is using this method to remind us that the time rules aren't consistent. Maybe one street jumps by 15 minutes and 1 second, and the next street jumps by 15 minutes and 7 seconds. And the chaotic clocks—maybe they're telling us that time isn't that important."
"Because nothing that happens here can become reality. Time travel isn't valid either. And we all went to Sunshine Tree No. 12 ahead of time, but the general direction of events hasn't changed. This shows that the key point set here isn't in the details..."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Tang Ming interrupted her impatiently.
Yue Rui timidly lowered her head, then mustered her courage and said, "The Time Tower makes us focus all our attention on the 9:17 time point and the home invasion case. If this space was really set up by Dr. Wu, maybe there's another purpose. I've heard Brother Long talk about Dr. Wu. Since Dr. Wu is so formidable, how could he not know that time cannot flow backward?"
"Unless he solved the problem of time not flowing backward, or he simply didn't focus on that aspect," Xu Huo continued.
"Is there another angle to approach this from?" Wang Ling was much calmer. He asked Yue Rui, "Do you have an idea?"
Yue Rui glanced at Tang Ming and Xu Huo before saying, "I'm not sure if Dr. Wu really left something here, but if we really can't find a way out, we could try the Time Tower."
"The Time Tower is the key to triggering this Pumpkin City space. If we destroy the Time Tower, the space might collapse. Even if it doesn't completely collapse, as long as a single crack appears, it could create an opportunity to use the tickets."
"The fact that 'time cannot flow backward' is common knowledge for everyone, so they hadn't even considered it as an option to discuss. They simply skipped over it, assuming Dr. Wu's focus wasn't on the complex and chaotic time rules. But so far, they had no other clues. Yue Rui's suggestion was more in line with everyone's thinking—finding the exit was the most important thing.
"Do you think the people before you never thought of destroying the Time Tower?" Tang Ming said. "People who are starving to death dare to eat human flesh. Would they be afraid of the consequences of destroying the Time Tower? The fact that Pumpkin City still exists is proof enough."
Yue Rui knew that too. "But we can't get out. We have to try every method."
"...We do have to try..." Xu Huo, who had been staring at the Pumpkin City map, finally looked up and said to Yue Rui and the others, "You go to Sunshine Tree first to find Meng Wenguang, and go to the Time Tower together. I'll catch up with you later."
Yue Rui hesitated for a moment, but seeing that he had no intention of explaining further, she decided to take her younger brother Hong Chen and leave first. Feng Hui, who was more familiar with them, also decided to go along.
"We're not going now?" Shen Liang asked Xu Huo after they left. "What else do we need to do?"
"You take Street 16. Don't cross streets. Just follow Street 16 straight north and meet up with Meng Wenguang and the others," Xu Huo said. "Yue Rui and her group aren't fast. You don't need to rush over either."
With that, he put away the map and turned to walk toward the southeastern corner of the city, a direction that was far from the Time Tower.
Shen Liang wasn't interested in knowing what Xu Huo was thinking. He called Kong Ying and a few others to go with him. Even if they went, they wouldn't be able to participate, so it was better to obediently follow the arrangements.
Tang Ming, Wang Ling, and Long Jianfeng naturally chose to follow Xu Huo immediately.
The few players who had been tailing him nearby split into three groups as well, tracking the three separate parties.
Xu Huo quickly arrived at Street 23. He didn't do anything unnecessary, simply following this curved street toward the Time Tower.
The streets of Pumpkin City looked somewhat like the grooves on a pumpkin. The closer to the edge, the greater the curvature of the arc, and the longer the street. With 11 streets on one side alone, and given the large capacity of the city's buildings, just looking at the map, Street 23 was at least three times longer than Street 12.
After entering Street 23, Xu Huo moved at a leisurely pace, roughly matching the speed of Yue Rui's group.
But no matter how long it was, it was still just one street. It wouldn't take the players long to run it. Around 11 o'clock at night, Xu Huo and his group arrived at the Time Tower.
The moment they saw him, not only Meng Wenguang and his group, but even Shen Liang and the others couldn't hide their surprise. "You got here so fast? We just arrived!"
"Be specific. Did one of your groups just arrive, or did all of you just arrive?" Xu Huo said.
"We arrived one after another," Meng Wenguang said. "We just got here, and you arrived too."
"Did you speed up?" Shen Liang guessed where Xu Huo's group had gone. Meng Wenguang's group took Street 12, they took Street 16, so the remaining people must have gone to a farther street.
"Why is this happening?" Wang Ling was completely confused. "We deliberately started from a farther point. Why did all three groups arrive at the same time?"
Even considering the length difference between Street 12 and Street 23, this result was absurd!
"What's going on now?" Tang Ming looked at Xu Huo with an unpleasant expression. "Stop being cryptic."
Xu Huo glanced at him. "If I told you, would you understand?"
Tang Ming's eyes narrowed slightly, a murderous intent in his gaze.
"Brother, I advise you not to start anything. We're all counting on this guy to get us out. If you want to take control, you need to have the ability. If you don't, just stay put." Shen Liang's tone carried a warning. "Don't get in the way of us all getting out."