# 165
Chapter 165 – The Pattern
The moment Baili Pangpang saw Molly, his eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously.
Another female soldier took Molly’s hand; Molly took Baili Pangpang’s, and the three of them soundlessly retreated toward the wall. A ripple spread across the surface and they vanished inside.
Passing through the wall, Baili Pangpang found himself on a dormitory balcony. He was about to speak when Molly clamped her hand over his mouth again and shook her head.
Scrape—scrape—scrape—!
On the other side of the wall, heavy footsteps and the sound of something being dragged drew closer. It stopped outside the wall they hid behind, as though sensing something.
Baili Pangpang realized what was happening and held his breath, standing motionless; Molly and the other girl did the same.
A moment later the noise resumed, moving slowly away…
Only when she was sure it was gone did Molly finally release Baili Pangpang’s mouth. He blinked, looking vaguely regretful, almost nostalgic…
“You scream like that again and you’ll get us all killed,” Molly hissed, remembering his idiotic yelling.
Baili Pangpang felt wronged. “How was I supposed to know noise was fatal… What is that thing anyway?”
“A mystery, River Realm,” Molly said grimly. “We call it the Sound-Hunter.”
“Sound-Hunter?”
“It hunts any source of sound, automatically tracks it, and the louder the surroundings, the stronger it becomes.”
“You know all that for sure?”
Molly glanced at him, then answered quietly, “This intel cost the lives of more than a dozen sisters…”
Baili Pangpang froze.
“We don’t know when it appeared. Most of us were asleep. Someone spotted it first and screamed—she was instantly cut in half.
That scream woke the rest. We rushed in without understanding its rules. After losing a dozen sisters we finally learned how it kills.
Luckily a girl named Zhang Xiaoxiao’s Forbidden Ruins can link minds; we fell silent and spoke through thought.
That’s when we discovered: the quieter it is, the weaker it gets. Just as we planned to use sound to kill it, space twisted and we were scattered.”
Baili Pangpang’s face paled. “You mean… over a dozen recruits really died? But this is supposed to be an exercise.”
“Exercise?” Molly sneered. “When you watch that thing murder, when you see friends sliced in half, do you still call it an exercise?
What exercise costs a dozen lives?”
Killing intent flared in her eyes. “I will kill that mystery myself.”
Baili Pangpang was silent. “What now?”
“Follow me.” Molly seized his wrist, nodded to the other girl, and the three slipped through a dozen more walls until they reached the boiler room.
It was the largest room in Building Three, originally for hot water on the ground floor, equal to three normal rooms combined.
Dozens of female recruits sat inside, divided into three groups, each holding drawing boards, recording something in total silence, communicating with glances alone.
Baili Pangpang stared, stunned.
Molly signaled one girl; a faint light flickered from the girl’s fingertip and suddenly voices filled Baili Pangpang’s head as if earphones had been planted there, crystal clear.
“No, no—Sis Molly’s recon says room 46 isn’t next to a dorm, it’s a corridor rotated ninety degrees.”
“Sis Ling, the map of Zone Five is almost done—see if it fits Zone Four.”
“Show me the master map from ten minutes ago, I think I see it…”
“Right! That’s a ninety-degree twist! That cross-section was flipped two-seventy, so it’s upside-down…”
“…”
No one spoke aloud, yet Baili Pangpang heard every word; the sensation was surreal.
“That’s Zhang Xiaoxiao’s mind-link—direct thought-talk. Range is only two rooms,” Molly’s voice sounded in his head.
“What are they doing?”
“Drawing a live spatial map of Building Three.” Molly watched the busy girls. “The space-twisting mystery and the Sound-Hunter are working together. Every time we almost kill the hunter, space shifts, so we’re hunting the pattern between changes.
Xiaoling’s Ruins let her walk through walls; we act as scouts, numbering every room, then report back for them to draw and analyze.”
Baili Pangpang gaped. “That brutal? How’d you come up with it?”
“Everyone has strengths. Among us girls there’s a brain like Lin Qiye.” Molly looked proudly at the girl in the center studying sheets of drawings.
“Thanks to A Zi’s command, we first learned the hunter’s rule, found this room, and started tracking spatial shifts. Lin Qiye fights as well as he thinks; A Zi is pure strategist.”
“Have you found it?”
“A Zi says we’re close.”
Surrounded by dense sketches, A Zi compared two maps from different times, eyes brightening.
Suddenly she sprang up.
“I’ve got it.” Clutching the paper, she trembled with excitement. “I know the pattern of every spatial shift!”