Chapter 26: Bounce Ball
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With only ten minutes left until the one-hour boarding time limit, interest in the advertising screen’s jigsaw puzzle had waned. The three major forces had stopped participating, and even the sporadic challengers had given up.
Countdown: 09:59. The three leaders finished their conversation and gathered their respective team members.
Countdown: 09:00. The three major forces finally took action.
Nearly 23 members simultaneously raised their hands and clicked on their password grids in mid-air, while the remaining 13 remained motionless but vigilant.
Seeing this, Tang Lin confirmed his suspicions. The lengthy conversation between Dai Xiaoliang, He Lu, and Cui Zhan was not just about sharing the mystery of the World Tree but also about discussing the allocation of seats for the upcoming subway ride.
Currently, the number of people who had boarded the subway was 32, leaving only 68 seats for the three major forces. However, the Ten Societies, Iron Blood Camp, and Huanxiang Society together had over a hundred members. If they were to compete solely based on strength, it would undoubtedly lead to a violent confrontation, potentially benefiting outsiders. Pre-negotiating the number of people each group could bring on the subway, just like they did when entering the checkpoint, not only prevented internal conflicts but also presented a united front to the outside.
However, things don’t always go exactly as planned.
Tang Lin stared coldly at a seemingly inconspicuous corner. Lu Jue and a few White Team members were quietly clicking on their password grids.
[Hey, someone entered the correct password, the doors are opening!”
Amidst the lively mechanical sound, the door slowly opened.
The six members of Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts moved slightly to the side, considerately giving way at the entrance while still allowing themselves to observe closely.
On the platform, Cui Zhan, Dai Xiaoliang, and He Lu were leading their respective team members towards the door. Other challengers who wanted to intervene hesitated when they saw the 13 team members standing guard but didn’t dare to make any rash moves.
Just as the three major leaders boarded the subway one after another, a group of rats suddenly darted onto the platform. Instead of going elsewhere, they crawled onto the feet of those preparing to board the subway.
The challengers who were following behind, not yet on the train, were startled by these scurrying rodents, and their boarding rhythm was disrupted. In that split second, Lu Jue, along with a few White Team members, rushed over from the side. He was at the forefront and managed to squeeze into the subway car, while the others in white shirts behind him were blocked by the Ten Societies members who reacted quickly, leaving them with no chance.
The entire incident, from start to finish, was just a brief moment.
But Lu Jue succeeded.
Without even looking back at the team members who were blocked, he immediately pushed into the middle of the subway car, where there were fewer people. He let out a sigh of relief and, across the gap, apologized to the three major leaders near the other door, “I’m sorry, our group is small, so we had to take advantage of the situation.”
He Lu, Dai Xiaoliang, and Cui Zhan were naturally displeased, but they didn’t bother to say much to him.
Lu Jue didn’t get a response, but he didn’t seem to mind. He found an empty seat and sat down, appearing quite relaxed.
Although there was some distance between Lu Jue and the four members of Tang Lin’s group, every polite word he exchanged with the three major leaders reached their ears.
Zheng Luozhu snorted. “Now that they have fewer members in their group, it’s quite different from how they boasted when they tried to recruit us.”
Tang Lin said, “You speak differently to different people. Being adaptable and knowing when to raise your energy level and when to lower it is also a skill.”
Zheng Luozhu continued to grumble, “It’s just that he bullies the weak and fears the strong. We thought he was so powerful, but it turns out he only has a cheap stationery like [Crossing Street Mouse] in his arsenal.”
“Is that stationery called [Crossing Street Mouse]?” Tang Lin asked. “Apart from using it to release rats for eavesdropping and causing trouble, does it have any other functions?”
Zheng Luozhu: “I don’t know. I just made up a name.”
Tang Lin ：“……”
“The name is quite good,” the usually quiet President Fan affirmed.
Nan Ge, unaware of the connection between the three and Lu Jue, asked Zheng Luozhu, “Do you know him?”
“Not only do we know him,” Zheng Luozhu said with no trace of humor, “thanks to him, we almost met our end in the Underground Well.”
After Tang Lin and Fan Peiyang discussed the incident where they suspected Lu Jue had led them to encounter the Night Roamer in the Underground Well, they shared the story with Zheng Luozhu. Now, he was vividly recounting their near-death experience that night, adding a layer of “heroic filter” to his own performance.
During this time, the situation on the platform had undergone a sudden change. Several members of the White Team, who had been blocked by the three major forces, unexpectedly revealed the answers to the [Password Grid]. This immediately reignited the hope of the remaining dozens of scattered challengers who had previously given up. Although the three major forces had the numerical advantage, the chaotic flight of stationery made the outcome uncertain.
In the final few minutes, the conflict on the platform had escalated to a boiling point. Blood was shed, and some even lost their lives. However, the number of successful entries into the subway continued to dwindle. Whenever someone approached the subway door, they would be fiercely obstructed by others, plunging the entire platform into a vicious cycle of “If I can’t board the subway, neither can you.”
Countdown 00:00
[Oops, time’s up, the doors are closing~~]
This time, the subway doors closed completely.
The total number of people who entered the subway was locked at 68 out of 100.
[Sky Lantern] – 19 people
[Huanxiang Society] – 11 people
[Iron Blood Camp] – 11 people
[Ten Societies] – 9 people
[Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts] – 6 people
[VIP] – 4 people
[Nightwalker] – 3 people
[Other Challengers] – 5 people
The turmoil on the platform came to an abrupt halt, leaving behind a scene of chaos.
The three major leaders and their teams took their seats, so the last available seats were filled, leaving only a dozen or so people standing.
The subway car, which could accommodate over two hundred people, still seemed somewhat empty.
The subway began to move with a continuous and gentle vibration.
It was about to depart.
Tang Lin shifted his gaze away from the chaotic platform and noticed that Nan Ge was staring at him.
“Hmm?” Tang Lin was puzzled.
Nan Ge pointed to his shoulder and said, “It looks like there’s some dirt here on your shoulder.”
Tang Lin lowered his head to look, and indeed, on the right shoulder of his clothes, there was a faint black stain, like when you accidentally dye a light-colored garment with a darker one.
He patted it a couple of times with his hand, but it didn’t come off. He shrugged it off and said, “Probably got it when I boarded the subway.”
Nan Ge also thought it made sense; after all, there was dense fog at the time, and getting dirt on them wasn’t surprising at all.
As they were talking, there was suddenly an explosion outside the subway car. The massive shockwave made the subway sway. The explosion was so deafening that everyone’s ears were ringing.
Tang Lin hesitated for several seconds before turning his head to look out the window.
The three major factions had already stood up and rushed to the windows in disbelief.
The platform was engulfed in smoke and nothing could be seen clearly, only the eerie silence after the explosion.
Tang Lin’s heart sank.
The rules only mentioned that one needed to solve the password to board the subway but didn’t say what would happen to those who remained on the platform. This had become almost a psychological blind spot for everyone.
For those who couldn’t enter the challenge entrance, they could come back next time, which naturally made people assume that those who couldn’t board the subway could also come back next time.
He Lu, Cui Zhan, and Dai Xiaoliang definitely thought the same way; otherwise, they would never have shared the answer and discussed the quotas.
[Congratulations, everyone, on successfully boarding the subway~~ Hoot, hoot~~]
The long screen above the door displaying the station and route rolled out a cute little owl, just as it always did.
[For those challengers who couldn’t board the subway, they have already been dealt with, and now everyone can continue to focus on the challenge~~]
He Lu, Dai Xiaoliang, and Cui Zhan stood there, silent.
The owl’s announcement shattered their last glimmer of hope. To treat the lives of so many brothers as if they were trash, with a casual “dealt with.”
The subway began to move forward, and the platform quickly disappeared from view outside the window, as if it were a fleeting nightmare.
[Cheer up~~]
The little owl seemed to sense the heaviness in the subway car and rolled around to liven up the atmosphere.
[Now, we will announce the rules to reach the next subway car. Listen carefully; only then will you have a chance to survive~~ First, please sit near the door of the next subway car and automatically leave. Keep a safety zone of two meters in front of the door~~”
The door to the next subway car was actually at the very front of the last car. In a normal subway, it would be the connecting point between cars, but here, it had turned into a pure white metal door.
No one challenged the owl’s authority anymore. The members of the Sky Lantern, led by Zhou Yunhui, stepped back reluctantly with their group.
As they retreated to two meters away, the ground in front of the door marked a red area indicating the safety zone, and in the middle of the pure white door panel, a pale purple key-shaped recess gradually appeared.
The little owl flapped its wings—
[The rules are very simple: you need to obtain the key to enter the safe zone. The challenger who successfully places the key in the recess can enter the next subway car. Other rules: none. Good luck~~]
The display screen flashed once and then stabilized, returning to the route station map.
Sixty-eight people, all silent.
Get the key, enter the safe zone, put the key in, and proceed to the next subway car—okay. But where’s the key?
“Ding—”
Sixty-eight dings sounded together, like a school bell.
: The key will be distributed shortly. Please pay attention, challengers.
Tang Lin pursed his lips, momentarily unsure of the hint’s meaning.
Zhou Yunhui from Sky Lantern and Guan Lan from Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts, on the other hand, immediately scanned the subway car.
“ka-da-da.”
A sound reminiscent of a drawbridge hinge came from the ceiling in the middle of the subway car.
Sitting right underneath were Tang Lin’s group, along with the three members of Nightwalker and several members of the Huanxiang Society.
They all looked up together.
The gaze of everyone else in the subway car was also fixed on this spot.
Slowly, a small square compartment appeared in the ceiling. It was about the size of half a palm. From inside this compartment, something dropped, landing on the floor and bouncing, bounce, bounce…
A transparent bouncing ball, containing a key.
The subway car fell eerily silent. Even the mechanical noise of the vehicle’s movement was almost non-existent, leaving only the sound of that one bouncing ball, merrily rebounding.
After about a dozen bounces, the bouncing ball finally settled on the ground, rolling and coming to a stop at the feet of the Nightwalker trio.
The atmosphere in the subway car was tense. It seemed like everyone was waiting for someone to make a move.
There was one key for sixty-eight people, and whoever made a move now would become the target.
However, there were always those willing to take risks.
Just as Wang Zhengming was considering whether to kick the bouncing ball away for safety, the floor of the subway car suddenly turned into a quagmire. Regardless of whether they were sitting or standing, everyone’s feet sank deeply into the muck, making it impossible to pull them out no matter how hard they tried. It was a very vivid “muddy predicament.”
In the next moment, a figure quickly rushed forward, picked up the bouncing ball, and sprinted towards the safety zone. The “muddy trap” immobilizing others posed no hindrance to him; it was as if he were walking on solid ground.
Those who had reacted immediately ceased their struggle with the “muddy trap” and immediately activated their stationery.
But the situation had occurred suddenly, and the other party was too fast. By the time they had established control over their stationery, he had already entered the safety zone…
“Whoosh—”
The sound of the air being sliced through interrupted everyone’s thoughts.
Then came a soft “thud,” as if a sharp weapon had struck flesh.
Just a couple more steps away from sprinting into the safety zone, the screaming runner fell to the ground, clutching his right shoulder in agony, rolling and howling.
The pain rendered him unable to control his stationery, and the “muddy trap” on the ground disappeared in an instant.
Blood oozed from between his fingers as he held his shoulder, but there was no sign of the weapon.
Air sniping.
Tang Lin’s immediate reaction was to look at Strawberry Sweet Doughnuts.
The slender man was still standing there, his outstretched arm aimed in the direction of the sprinting man, maintaining the sniper pose without any haste. It seemed like he wanted to wait for the man to get up before taking another shot.
But Tang Lin knew that he wouldn’t take another shot because his objective had already been achieved.
He wasn’t just blocking one person; he was representing Strawberry Sweet Donuts and intimidating the entire subway car.
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