Chapter 24: Into the Mist
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How skilled must someone be to complete thousands of puzzle pieces without a reference image in less than half an hour?
Wang Zhengming was incredulous, “Could it be the Stationery Tree…?”
“No, it’s just a hobby,” Tao Wenyu replied somewhat reluctantly. “Besides, he hasn’t completed it at all. He’s pieced together less than a quarter, and he figured it out.”
Wang Zhengming immediately showed concern, “Figured out what?”
Tao Wenyu sighed, “I have no idea. He’s piecing together fragments here and there, and I can’t make sense of it.”
Tang Lin quickly organized the information, “So, what you mean is that among the five screens, the Four Powers have already decoded one, and now this expert is helping to piece together the others, right?”
Chai Ye also nodded.
Tang Lin continued, “For the piece they’ve decoded, the one that’s less than a quarter complete, what does the completed part look like?”
Chai Ye carefully recollected, “A gray-blue piece, a gray-black piece, and a yellow-green sphere.”
Tang Lin：“……”
Fan Peiyang：“……”
Wang Zhengming rubbed his temples and, feeling somewhat inadequate in expressing himself, turned to a more articulate teammate, “Taozi, you explain.”
Tao Wenyu thought for a moment, “One gray-blue piece, one gray-black piece, a sphere, and yellow-green mixed in.”
Wang Zhengming: “……Thank you.”
No matter how good Tang Lin’s analytical skills were, the level of description left him futile, “Do you have a photo?”
Tao Wenyu and Chai Ye: “……”
Tang Lin shrugged it off, “That’s okay, I’ll go take a look.”
Chai also stopped him, “It’s been destroyed.”
“That fox, Zhou Yunhui, destroyed the table after he decoded it himself, leaving no clues,” Tao Wenyu complained indignantly.
“I took photos,” Nan Ge’s voice approached from a distance, accompanied by Zheng Luozhu.
“In terms of attention to detail, it has to be my sister.” With Nightwalker present, Zheng Luozhu had to give his people a boost.
The seven of them formed a circle.
Nan Ge took out her phone, pulled up the photos, and handed them to everyone to see.
Tang Lin, Fan Peiyang, Wang Zhengming, Tao Wenyu, Chai Ye：“……”
Even Zheng Luozhu couldn’t provide support this time, “Sis, your phone is… quite nostalgic.”
A flip phone, a colored screen, a touchingly small screen size, and an even more touching photo resolution.
One look at it, and it would surely bring back memories of their youth from ten years ago.
“I asked you to look at the photos, not the phone.” Nan Ge’s tone subtly hinted at something, with a storm on the horizon.
Zheng Luozhu lowered his head, kept quiet, and looked at the photos.
Tao Wenyu and Chai Ye also hadn’t lied at all; they could only describe these three pieces like this – melancholic blue-gray, gray-black, yellow-green ball. Although the pixelated quality of the photos had cast a grainy veil over these descriptions.
“Is this… a lollipop?” Zheng Luozhu could only make a guess about the yellow-green ball, “Banana kiwi flavor?”
Tao Wenyu: “You have a free-spirited taste.”
“It’s a dragon,” Tang Lin whispered, even though they were already in a secluded corner, his voice was still kept extremely low, “A Western dragon.”
“You figured it out?!” Wang Zhengming tried hard to contain his excitement but still leaked a trace of it.
Tang Lin gathered everyone even more closely, blocking the phone from view, and then pointed to the three partial images, “Look carefully at this yellow-green spherical pattern. You’ll notice that there’s a bit of gray-blue on the edges. The gray-black pattern also has gray-blue on the edges. As for this gray-blue piece, it’s only gray-blue, and no other color. There’s only one explanation for this situation…”
While others were still thinking, Fan Peiyang calmly interjected, “The gray-blue is a background for something extensive.”
Tang Lin continued: “And this gray-blue color has layers, making it look like it’s flowing. So the most likely possibilities are either a sky filled with dark clouds or a sea surface with surging currents…”
Zheng Luozhu asked, “So what about this banana kiwi ball?”
Fan Peiyang: “It’s a hot air balloon, so the background of this puzzle is the sky.”
Zheng Luozhu looked up at Fan Peiyang, “Boss, did you come up with this yourself, or did Tang Lin secretly tell you?”
Fan Peiyang didn’t understand his question, “Once the dragon was, didn’t it all come together?”
Zheng Luozhu：“……”
Three people of the Nightwalker：“……”
Nan Ge sighed in amazement. She might not have fully understood their friendship, but she had already witnessed their chemistry.
With the final piece, the oddly shaped gray-black one, there was no need for Tang Lin to explain. Everyone understood it was a wing portion of a Western dragon with its large, curved-edged wings.
In fact, after the answer was revealed, the deduction was straightforward. The high-skill participant in the lantern must have been confident that these partial images contained crucial information. After careful examination, it became clear that the strangely shaped gray-black piece was the most suspicious. All that was left was to identify the gray-blue as dark clouds and the yellow-green as a hot air balloon. Once it was established that the animal was flying in the sky, the answer was pretty obvious.
Among the one hundred animals in the password grid, many of them could fly, but only insects like butterflies, moths, and Western dragons lacked feathers. Combined with the partial images, it became quite evident which animal this was and also provided clues about its size.
Nan Ge put her phone away.
Wang Zhengming whispered, “If this one is a dragon, could the remaining four be mythical creatures?”
If that were the case, it would be easier since there are only a handful of mythical creatures among the one hundred animals.
Tang Lin shook his head, “Sky Lantern must have been tried already. They chose to let that high-skill puzzle solver continue piecing it together; it can’t be that simple.”
[Oh my, someone has entered the correct password, the doors are about to open~~]
Suddenly, the sound of an owl echoed in the subway station. Although the owl didn’t appear on the advertising screens, its voice seemed to be right next to every challenger.
With the owl’s voice, the five doors at the end of the train carriages really opened all at once!
The brothers from the Sky Lantern guarding the door exchanged glances, and even Zhou Yunhui was caught off guard by this sudden turn of events.
However, the person who entered the wrong password didn’t have the patience to wait for their reaction. Led by Guan Lan, the six members of the Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts swiftly arrived at the subway door.
Zhou Yunhui tried to intervene, but Wheat-skinned young man was faster and pushed him aside, causing him to be thrown to the ground.
Zhou Yunhui urgently used his protective gear, preventing him from suffering a catastrophic bone fracture, but he still fell heavily to the ground, in excruciating pain.
As for those who tried to follow and enter the subway car, as soon as one foot crossed the threshold, they convulsed as if being shocked by electricity. They had to retreat to the platform in agony, and the dreadful sensation of electric current only disappeared when they were back on the platform.
[I told you, the subway door only opens for those who input the correct password. Be good now~~]
[Keep up the good work, everyone~~ Hoot hoot~~]
After sending off the winners and taunting the losers, the little owl once again fell silent.
The six members of the Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts took control of the last subway car, each occupying a row of seats and waving leisurely outside.
Zheng Luozhu watched them with gritted teeth, saying, “They really deserve a good beating…”
Tao Wenyu chuckled, “When you entered the challenge entrance, you were no less audacious.”
The entrance of the Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts into the subway brought about a significant change in the overall situation. Most members of the four major factions immediately withdrew and began to heavily guard the five subway doors, leaving only the young man with the pot-shaped hat and a few others to continue solving the puzzle.
Zhou Yunhui’s carefree demeanor changed, and he wore a gloomy expression.
Cui Zhan exchanged glances with the Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts through the subway door, his expression unpredictable.
Dai Xiaoliang and He Lu were engaged in a hushed discussion.
Countdown: 27:34
Passengers on board: 6100
Now everyone knows that you don’t need to solve the puzzle to obtain the password.
The crowd pressed onto the platform, and the location of VIP and Nightwalker were at the outermost edge.
The downside was that they were far from the subway doors.
The upside was that it was quieter.
“As you said,” Wang Zhengming had to believe, “solving the puzzle isn’t the only way.”
Tang Lin lowered his eyes, gazing at the fine lines on the marble floor. “The key is what we’ve overlooked…”
From start to finish, the level didn’t provide them with any clues. The only information they had was from the owl’s words. Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts, on the other hand, chose to “meditate to solve the puzzle” right from the beginning, indicating they had detected something in those words.
Tang Lin forced himself to calm down and reviewed the owl’s words——
[The door password is right in the password grid~~ Hint: The password consists of five animals…]
[The time to enter the password is only one hour, and there are only 100 spots to enter the subway car…]
[Finally, here are a few pieces of advice for you…]
Tang Lin suddenly raised his eyes, focusing on the last piece of advice.
[First, pay attention to the advertisement screens; Second, establish clear roles; Third, make good use of the Stationery Tree, the tree is your world~~]
It did feel a bit strange, but what was strange about it…
“I’ve been thinking,” Fan Peiyang spoke as if he had contemplated for a long time, “until now, I still find that sentence very awkward.”
Tang Lin immediately looked at him, “Which sentence?”
Fan Peiyang said, “Stationery Tree. If it wanted us to use the Stationery Tree to prevent the person who enters the correct password from getting on the subway, there could have been a more clear and fluent expression.”
This tree is your world?
Apologies, but in President Fan’s case, such ambiguous expressions would be sent back to the secretary’s office for rewriting.
“What if it was intentional?” Tang Lin’s brow relaxed, and the storm in his eyes finally cleared.
Countdown: 22:09
Number of entrants on the subway: 6100
The four VIP and three Nightwalker members regrouped into a tightly knit small team.
Tang Lin revealed the answer, “The password is Eagle, Deer, Dragon, Snake, Squirrel.”
Six faces looked confused, including President Fan. Between “noticing the awkwardness in that sentence” and “deciphering the password,” there were a hundred secretarial steps.
“Why?” Someone finally asked the soul-searching question on behalf of everyone.
“There’s no time to explain it in detail,” Tang Lin raised his eyes, “look over there.”
Everyone turned their heads and saw Bowl cut running back from the advertising screen, quietly whispering in Zhou Yunhui’s ear.
Zhou Yunhui first listened attentively, then straightened his back, and the last trace of doubt disappeared from his face.
Zheng Luozhu：”Has the second picture been completed as well?”
“It’s likely that someone from the Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts guessed it as soon as they entered,” Tang Lin could almost be certain, “the answer to the second picture was just for confirmation.”
Sure enough, as soon as Tang Lin finished speaking, the members of the Sky Lantern began to exchange whispers, not discussing, but rather transmitting answers within their group.
Tang Lin looked at Fan Peiyang, “It’s time to get on the subway.”
Fan Peiyang nodded lightly, “Be careful.”
Tang Lin then looked at Zheng Luozhu and Nan Ge, saying only four words, “Emergency plan.”
Both of them understood instantly, “Got it.”
“No, what plan?” Representing the Nightwalker, Tao Wenyu looked innocent and puzzled.
Tang Lin shook his head, “It’s not important, just remember one thing: once you enter the password, run onto the subway.”
The members of the Sky Lantern had started to open the password grids one after another, although they were being discreet, they couldn’t avoid being conspicuous due to the large number of people.
The Iron Blood Camp, Huanxiang Society, and the Ten Societies all noticed it.
Tang Lin immediately said, “Now is the time, enter the password.”
The seven of them simultaneously opened their password grids, selected the eagle, deer, dragon, snake, and squirrel, and their actions were almost synchronized with the Sky Lantern.
[Oh dear, someone entered the correct password, the doors are about to open~~]
The lively little owl was back.
It was unclear who completed the input first, but this time, the door opening would welcome a large number of passengers.
Most of the Sky Lantern members were almost standing at the subway door, and as soon as the door opened, they surged inside like a tide.
However, the other three major forces were also guarding the doors, immediately trying to block them.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t enter, but leaving the other three behind and monopolizing the situation was not an option.
A battle was about to break out, and the scene immediately descended into chaos.
“Now is the time,” Tang Lin decisively said.
Fan Peiyang, who was already prepared, clicked instantly.
The entire subway station was suddenly filled with dense fog!
“Damn, where did this fog come from—”
“Hey, who stepped on me—”
“I swear, stop pushing, this door is electrified—”
Initially, there were only sounds of people colliding in confusion, but soon there were strange noises like “swoosh, swoosh.”
“What the hell is flying around?!” A man became frightened, and his voice changed pitch.
“Damn, it hit my face, it hurts like hell—”
“Is it rocks—”
“Who the hell—”
No one answered.
As the dense fog cleared, the total number of passengers on board became 32,100.
Among them, there were 6 people from the Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts, 19 from the Sky Lantern, 4 VIP, and 3 from the Nightwalker.
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