Chapter 87 They survived; they won their gamble.

The device will slowly rise to its highest point at a constant speed.

The seat will stay at the highest point for a short time—it could be a minute or just a few seconds—before suddenly dropping, like falling from a tall building, hence the name "free fall machine".

Unlike a high-altitude swing, this doesn't rotate at high altitudes; it simply moves up and down rapidly. This reduces the dizziness experienced by participants, but the feeling of weightlessness is increased exponentially.

After losing his things, Shao Feng felt somewhat anxious and uneasy. Although he had followed his heart, for some reason, he always had a sense of urgency, as if he would be caught doing something wrong.

He gripped the horizontal bar in front of him tightly with both hands, his fingertips turning white with tension.

Jiang Zhiling sat steadily beside him, and when she caught a glimpse of Shao Feng's little actions during takeoff, she was still a little confused.

"What's wrong? Are you scared?" She freed one hand and placed it on the back of Shao Feng's hand. "Don't be nervous. We've ridden the drop tower so many times before, this will definitely be no different from the last one."

Shao Feng swallowed hard and nodded reluctantly.

He suddenly felt incredibly hot, as if he were being burned by a raging fire. Beads of sweat, as distinct as sago pearls, appeared on his skin. He dared not raise his hand to wipe them away, but could only let the beads roll into his clothes, soaking half of his body.

The drop tower's vertical height seemed slightly greater than that of a high-altitude swing. Without the solid feel of footholds, and looking around, it was no different from being on an airplane. Gu Keke could only desperately close her eyes, trying to erase all memories from her mind.

But the more she tried to forget something, the more she remembered it. Gu Keke's voice trembled, "Sister, all we have is this one iron rod in front of us, is it really sturdy...?"

"You've asked me this question four times already."

Liang Jun sighed softly, but still gave the answer, "Don't worry, it will be sturdy."

The safety measures on this project don't seem as comprehensive as those on roller coasters. At least roller coasters have shoulder-pressing safety bars; regardless of their quality, they at least provide sufficient psychological reassurance for safety.

But this time, the drop tower only had one large iron bar shared by ten people, loosely resting in front of their lower abdomens. It felt like any strong gust of wind could easily blow the bar away.

The drop tower ride usually ends within three minutes. Although Liang Jun had never ridden one before, she at least knew some basic physics calculations.

The ascent at a constant speed may be slow; judging from the fact that they have only progressed halfway, it will take about forty seconds to reach the top.

The fall from the top to the bottom takes no more than five seconds. Even if it takes several attempts, it will generally be finished within a few minutes.

The premise is that they will not encounter any unexpected situations.

Sitting next to her, Qi Zhixia frowned slightly, as if she had noticed something. Her delicate nose wrinkled as she sniffed carefully.

"Have you smelled anything strange...?" She leaned forward and sniffed around, but couldn't find the source of the smell she was looking for. "It's like... a burnt smell..."

"The smell of burning?"

Sitting next to Gu Keke, Luo Chuange chimed in, "That's normal. This area looks like it's been renovated from scorched earth; the ground is pitch black. When we were searching just now, we could already vaguely smell a burnt odor. I guess you're just not used to it, which is why you found it strange."

After saying this, Luo Chuange habitually shifted his position, and a strong, pungent smell emanated from beneath him.

Ignoring any possibility of safety, Luo Chuange immediately pulled out a hand and covered his nose, exclaiming, "Something's not right! Why does this smell so pungent!"

The drop tower has steadily climbed to its highest point, offering an excellent view.

The majestic mountains filled the entire field of vision, and the magnificent scenery of layered peaks was breathtaking. Due to the high altitude, they were even able to observe different changes in vegetation on the same mountain.

If the seats could remain fixed in this spot, and if the increasingly strong smell of burning stopped, this might indeed be a good viewpoint.

The roller coaster seats remained still for only fifteen seconds before suddenly plummeting downwards.

The cold wind transformed into sharp blades, slicing through everyone's exposed skin, causing a pain that felt like both ice and fire.

The turbulent airflow caused by their descent rendered them unable to open their mouths to speak. Everyone was forced to bite their lips tightly, and even the most basic screams were silenced in their throats.

After the rapid descent, there were two more extremely fast ascents and descents.

The safety bar in front of his abdomen, bearing a heavy responsibility, went up and down, seemingly about to fall apart under the turbulence like a spin dryer.

This is the only safety device that can restrain them in their seats.

The seatbelts that had been fastened by the user before the fall broke all at once a second before the descent.

After the final climb of this phase, everyone finally had a chance to catch their breath.

Tang Cailei, who was sitting at the very edge of the row, shouted loudly towards the very end of the row: "Hey you over there, are there any signs that your railings are loose?"

Old Ren responded to him.

Old Ren wiped the sweat from his brow, still shaken, and carefully examined the welded joints of the safety bar. "No, the connections aren't loose, but for some reason, the whole bar just feels shaky..."

"Me too."

Tang Cailei lowered his voice slightly, "I guess this pole was designed this way. We shouldn't worry about it falling down; it looks quite sturdy so far."

Upon hearing this, the remaining eight people all breathed a sigh of relief.

This temporarily solved the safety bar problem, but what lay ahead for them was an even more serious situation.

Along with the increasingly strong, pungent smell, plumes of smoke continued to drift out from under the seats.

It's called "smoke" because it even contains many visible particulate matter. This dense fumes seemed to be vying to enter everyone's respiratory tracts, and within just a few seconds, they were already struggling to breathe.

"Quickly cover your nose!"

Wang Jianping was the first to react.

He immediately grabbed Qi Zhixia's arm, and then, incidentally, helped the slightly slow-witted Lao Ren.

"This is thick smoke from a fire, containing a large amount of toxic substances. You must avoid inhaling it!"

The others were perhaps a little too slow in filtering the air, and Jiang Zhiling and Shao Feng were choked by the thick smoke, coughing until their eyes watered. The deep breaths caused by coughing forced them to inhale even more toxic substances.

This repeated itself, creating a vicious cycle.

Sitting next to Jiang Zhiling, Jiang Chunhua felt truly sorry for her.

She bent down high in the air and tore off a piece of fabric from the hem of her dress with her teeth. Although the stench made her extremely uncomfortable, Jiang Chunhua still wrapped the piece of fabric around Jiang Zhiling's mouth and nose.

"Cover it! Ling'er, cover it!"

Jiang Chunhua's figure was indistinct in the black smoke. "Don't breathe directly through this cloth!"

After receiving the very simple but surprisingly useful "mask," Jiang Zhiling's breathing became much easier.

But Shao Feng, who was sitting next to her, was not so lucky.

Thicker and thicker black smoke rose from under the seats, and Shao Feng's lips and nose were covered with a thick layer of black powder. He felt as if his lungs were filled with black smoke, and he began to have difficulty breathing.

To make matters worse, he vaguely sensed flames licking at his calves.

During operation, the drop tower generates heat through friction. Excessive heat cannot be dissipated quickly, and once the temperature reaches the ignition point, it begins to burn rapidly.

They were being treated as if they were being tortured.

The iron plate had been transformed into a grill. Flames spread fiercely beneath, while the players above struggled desperately to escape.

No kidding, Shao Feng felt like his butt was about to be roasted.

He writhed in agony, but the temperature around him was unbearably hot. Now, high in the air, he had only two choices before him—

They would either be burned alive or fall from a great height.

In his despair, through his tear-blurred vision, Shao Feng caught a glimpse of a blurry figure in mid-air.

It appears to be a semi-transparent shadow, or perhaps "ghost" would be a more apt description.

If Liang Jun and others were to discover this first, they would immediately realize that it is no different from the ghost who drove and rode the bumper cars back then.

But Shao Feng was unaware of this. Tears continued to stream down his face as he gazed hopelessly at the ghost before him, as if he were seeing his own soul after death.

The ghost had the body of a child, and looked to be at most fifteen years old.

His entire body was almost entirely intact except for his face; the rest of his body resembled a burnt roast duck, with dark, everted skin revealing half-cooked flesh underneath.

Shao Feng's intermittent sobs drew everyone's attention. Wang Jianping's expression froze the moment he saw the ghost.

"This child suffered extensive burns all over his body. At this level, it's like throwing him into a furnace and burning him alive; there's no way to save him."

Liang Jun also noticed the horrifying marks on the ghost's body, but she subconsciously associated them with the fake yellow-clad staff member.

The other person also had the same burn marks on their arm.

"grandson……"

She murmured, "This is the old lady's grandson..."

Liang Xun originally wanted to continue to sort out her thoughts, but if they continued to delay like this, they would probably really be burned to death on this tall tower.

Rules... rules...

The only rule for self-preservation is laid out before everyone.

No unauthorized personnel should be present within the drop tower area. Yet this elusive, ghostly figure before us defies this very rule.

In contrast, only rule number three applies—they need to choke themselves and pretend to be suffocating in order to escape danger.

Although the connection between the two is not yet clear, they have reached a critical point and have no choice but to take a desperate gamble.

The moment you release your hands from your mouth and nose, thick smoke rushes into every part of your body.

They don't even need to deliberately act out the feeling of suffocation, because they can't breathe right now.

This kind of high-stakes gamble involves risking one's own life.

Fortunately, they won their gamble.

The expressions of pain and struggle that made it hard for everyone to breathe appeared one by one before the ghost.

The little ghost's only intact feature, his face, betrayed a hint of hesitation. He darted forward and backward in mid-air, seemingly struggling with whether or not to go forward.

At that moment, the flames beneath the seat reached their most intense peak. Flames coiled around Shao Feng's calves, and the sizzling sound of roasting meat filled everyone's ears.

"ah--"

Amidst Shao Feng's agonizing screams, Liang Xun noticed that the ghost's hands, which had been hanging at its sides, clenched into fists. Then, without hesitation, it flew directly into the space under his seat.

As if ice water had been poured over the highest point of the flames, there was another sizzling sound, and the flames on Shao Feng's calves turned into a cloud of black smoke.

The flames that had been generated internally had all been extinguished. Almost instantly after the ghost entered, the scorching heat of the iron plate slowly subsided.

Not only that, the drop tower also began to slowly descend from its highest point.

Everyone was just one step away from their feet touching the ground.

Under the influence of adrenaline, Shao Feng has temporarily lost the sensation of pain.

His joy outweighed his sorrow. "Thank goodness, I finally survived..."

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The author's note: The seats on the drop tower, from left to right, are: Ren E, Wang Jianping, Qi Zhixia, Liang Jun, Gu Keke, Luo Chuange, Shao Feng, Jiang Zhiling, Jiang Chunhua, and Tang Cailei.