Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 5680 - 4704: Deadly Escape (37)

As the compartment lights flickered on one by one, the game commenced in earnest. A contraption slowly ascended, retrieving a slip of paper from beneath an overhead lantern before descending to hover above the compartment. A mechanical hand detached from the mechanism, grasping the paper and lowering it. The compartment's ceiling featured a small aperture, just wide enough for the mechanical hand, revealing a transparent panel rather than glass, possibly a high-transparency resin, designed for strategizing based on the mechanism's rotational direction. This opening, centrally located, was notably small, presumably to minimize sound leakage. The mechanical hand paused above this gap, releasing the paper slip downwards.

Superman positioned himself in the center of the compartment and collected the slip. Turning to Batman, he inquired, "What do we do now?"

"Exit, clockwise," Batman replied curtly from a corner where he was recuperating. Superman, without further questions, scanned the compartment for a writing implement but found none, prompting him to gesture towards Batman.

He pointed to his collarbone. Superman's eyes widened in alarm. "What are you doing? Your wound was nearly healed..."

"It cannot heal, Clark," Batman stated, shaking his head. "Use the tip of the iron to collect a bit of blood for writing."

Superman's displeasure was evident as he pouted his lips. However, unwilling to prolong a debate that would expend Batman's energy, he approached angrily, dabbed a small amount of Batman's blood, and scribbled two marks.

"How do we return the paper slip?" Superman asked, looking up in confusion. "We can't just toss it up; I can't throw it that precisely."

"Wait a moment," Batman advised. "There should be a timing."

Indeed, after approximately three minutes, a small door materialized in the rear wall of the compartment, revealing a passage beyond. This passage, roughly half a meter square, sloped downwards into darkness, rendering its contents invisible.

"Ugh, why is it like this?" Harley grumbled. "I thought the mechanical arm would come inside."

"It's to prevent people like you," Pamela quipped. "If it entered, you would simply grab it, breach the ceiling defenses, and launch yourself upwards, killing everyone above, wouldn't you?"

"Tch," Harley pouted, her intentions exposed. Above, Stark let out a sigh of relief. His initial design had indeed intended for the mechanical arm to enter, but witnessing the group's actions prompted a hasty modification to the mechanism.

The passage behind the wall was originally meant for bleeding or making offerings, not for returning paper slips. Stark, given the circumstances, absolutely refused to allow any part of the mechanism into the room, regardless of its height. Who knew if they might leap, seize the mechanical arm, and refuse to let go.

The complication, however, was that these offerings were meant to be discarded into a waste bin below, not sent upwards. Modifying it now was impossible. Therefore, someone had to retrieve the paper slip by taking the employee passage they had used, descending to the mechanism's maintenance room, and collecting the slip from the waste bin.

"I'll go," the agent volunteered. He stood, opened a floor-level door, and began descending a ladder. The hidden employee passage was located within the column supporting the lantern at the back of each compartment.

The agent had only descended a few steps when, nearing the bottom, he jumped. The sudden descent startled the compartment's occupants, the sound echoing audibly.

This was because, to prevent communication, the compartment's side walls and ceiling were soundproofed, making it impossible to identify anyone within by shouting.

However, the rear column and the floor below were not soundproofed, as logically, no one was expected to be there. The design had not accounted for occupants ascending or descending during the voting process. The expectation was that the six individuals above would remain seated. This oversight revealed the game's first vulnerability – the agent's discovery.

The agent returned with the paper slip from the waste bin. Without examining it, he carefully placed it in a box and resumed his climb. Just as he was ascending, a rhythmic knocking sound emanated from the wall of the central column.

"Tap tap tap... tap tap... tap tap..."

A simple Morse code, but knocked rapidly, making it somewhat hard to distinguish. The agent still listens with his strong professional ability and discerns it. The word is simple: "Who are you?"

It turns out that the players didn’t think the agent was an employee; they thought the agent might be the hidden ghost, deliberately informing them of his existence in this way. And they immediately thought of a way to respond.

Although directly shouting is possible, as the others mentioned earlier, anything said here will be heard. Directly shouting about the ghost would expose them, wouldn’t it?

But even if direct communication isn’t possible, indirect communication is. Anatoli is the quickest to react, to be fair, it’s his KGB background. He starts chatting with Lucifer about past events, the two of them exchanging one sentence after another, completely covering up the sound of knocking on the wall.

The five sitting above are also eagerly listening to the gossip. What could be more interesting than the Soviet and Satan teaming up to resolve a series of murders as a bedtime story?

The agent didn’t initially want to respond but thought about the fact that he has to run up and down at least six times, which was all due to those guys above designing the levels poorly. He slows his pace and knocks back with extreme speed.

"Hunter."

When Anatoli knocked, the two groups beside him could hear it, but those farther away couldn’t, as the walls had limited sound conduction. But when the agent knocked, he knocked on the metal ladder he was holding, and this sound echoed in the circular tunnel, heard by almost all teams.

The Hunter was the mole. Everyone started thinking, but no one spoke. Now they understood why they originally could have just hung a sign at the compartment door, but those people wore different masks themselves. If not for this, the mole wouldn’t have had a clean way to explain his identity.

"Help."

"Yes."

The crowd immediately began to think again. They mainly pondered what this mole could do to help them. They also knew that in a one-to-five situation, the mole absolutely couldn’t reveal their identity, or they’d surely be beaten up. So, manipulating mechanisms or directly leaking questions was definitely out. The only option was to tamper with the voting process.

But, how can one person make a difference when voting is subject to majority rule?

Still, after thinking it over, even though the others weren’t moles, they might also vote randomly, so every extra vote counts.

Almost every group knocked on the wall to signal the number they wanted: "One."

Then there was silence, not knowing if the others heard. But by listening to the knocking sounds from the walls of the nearby two rooms, they all understood that the others were thinking the same way, and everyone had the same solution idea.

They still wanted to continue knocking on the wall to introduce themselves, but soon another note was dropped down for them to vote. This time, they were voting for the direction of the rotation. Everyone was somewhat speechless. Couldn’t they have just dealt with it in one note? Why make it so troublesome?

Stark was also a bit embarrassed and explained in the team channel, "I originally thought that relying on the mechanism to deliver and retrieve notes in multiple steps would make things clearer and increase the tension. Who knew..."

This time the agent went to collect the notes, thinking, great, now he had to make twelve runs.

Again, with a thud, he jumped down. Others wondered what excuse he was using to go up and down here; going to the bathroom that frequently seemed excessive?

However, since he landed right after the notes were retrieved, most people guessed that he was probably going to get the notes. But this was even more glaring. Really, if they built a mechanism, couldn’t they make an automatic retrieval device? Just short of a little budget?

But the players were also quite good at persuading themselves. They thought there might originally be a retrieval device, but since the mole wanted to tamper, if he used an automatic retrieval device, he’d have no chance to run outside. So, he must have broken the retrieval device beforehand and then volunteered to fetch the notes, using the opportunity to communicate with them and collude to cheat the rich.

It could only be said that the whole process was wrong, but the answer was right. There actually was an automatic retrieval device; it simply didn’t dare to come in. The agent wasn’t the mole at all; he was just a disgruntled worker.

They all voted clockwise. Greed said, "Alright, next we should vote. Who besides me is playing the mole?"

Mephisto raised his hand. Greed nodded at him, "Alright, stick to the script. Let’s start the voting."

A sheet of paper was also found to meticulously record the number of squares for rotation. This step was deemed crucial, as any player disputes concerning a puzzle after a level’s completion would necessitate the administrator presenting evidence to validate the level's design. Therefore, the role-playing wasn't merely for pretense; concrete proof was a necessity.

Following the voting process, the tally commenced. One vote favored two squares, another supported three squares, a single abstention was noted, and the remaining three votes were cast for one square.

Greed arched an eyebrow. Subsequently, an examination of the individual action plans revealed that all six groups had elected to move out.

This led to a peculiar outcome—a switcheroo.

Each of the six animal groups advanced one square clockwise. With no one remaining stationary, every participant moved, and each stepped to a neighboring square. This effectively meant that everyone exchanged identities, transforming into the animal of one level lower. Consequently, Hunter became Tiger, Tiger became Wolf, Wolf became Weasel, Weasel became Chicken, Chicken became Scorpion, and Scorpion became Hunter.

A decorative paper was then presented, illustrating the animal occupying their position for the current level. It also included notations regarding successful predation or succumbing to it. Charles unfurled the note, observing two crossed marks beneath the animal symbols.

These marks signified that they neither became prey nor achieved a successful hunt. It also implied that their designated animal would not be returning home for the evening meal, and another would dictate their actions.

"Our strategy was successful," Charles declared, exhaling with relief. "Those intending to prey on us failed to capture us, and we caught no one when we leaped. It remains uncertain if anyone was captured today."

"It's difficult to ascertain," Erik responded. "After all, the results aren't revealed to everyone; it's all conjecture. Perhaps someone has already been caught."

"Then tomorrow..." Charles paused briefly before continuing, "I believe they will still rotate clockwise, so we should choose not to move out. What are your thoughts?"