The LED strip lights were still on, the balloons floated in mid-air, and as soon as Nana pressed the start button, four sets of numbers immediately appeared on the projection screen on the wall. Cards slid out of the dispenser one by one, landing softly on the tables in front of each team.
Chen Hao stood in the center of the game area and clapped his hands three times.
"Flip over your initial resource card, roll the dice in three seconds! Don't dawdle, time waits for no one."
The first group was the fastest; all three flipped over their cards simultaneously, the dice rolled on the table, and the number landed face up. The second group, however, was still arguing.
“I’ll roll.” A tall technician reached for the dice.
"Wait!" The person next to him stopped him. "It's Li's turn to go first this round. The rules state that it's a rotation."
"That depends on the situation," the tall man insisted. "I have a gathering advantage now, and missing this round would be a huge loss."
The two were deadlocked, while a third person sat there frowning.
Chen Hao walked over, squatted down, and pointed to the "Cooperative Action" card on the table: "You haven't used this card yet, have you? It needs to be declared by both of you to be activated. How about this—let Xiao Li take the lead once, and you cooperate. If it's successful, you'll get double points."
The tall man was stunned for a moment: "You can do it like that?"
"Of course," Chen Hao laughed. "It's not like a fight where one person has to make all the decisions. When you guys repair equipment, don't you just hand me the wrench and I tighten the screws?"
The man laughed: "I have indeed done that."
“Then let’s do it now.” Chen Hao patted Xiao Li on the shoulder. “Come on, lead the team once and show them what teamwork really is.”
Xiao Li nodded, took a deep breath, and said, "I'm initiating a collaborative data collection effort, targeting the mining site in the eastern district. Anyone responding?"
The other two immediately raised their hands: "Yes!"
The card flips over, and a system notification sounds: "Cooperation agreement established, action efficiency increased by 30%."
Several groups of people around looked over, and someone whispered, "Hey, that's a good move."
Chen Hao stood up and winked at them: "The team isn't just for filling numbers, it's for lending a hand."
He turned and walked towards his group's table. Nana was already seated, the camera pointed at the desktop, data streaming rapidly across her screen. His teammates were a female operator and a young maintenance worker, both looking somewhat nervous.
"How do we fight?" the female operator asked.
"Take it easy." Chen Hao picked up his initial card and glanced at it. "Don't rush. Figure out your opponent's rhythm first."
Nana said softly, "The third group is trying to expand on two fronts, while the fourth group has chosen a conservative defense. We are in the middle and have the ability to intervene."
“Listen to her.” Chen Hao grinned. “She said ‘possesses the ability to intervene,’ which means we can cause trouble.”
The repairman laughed: "Then who should we deal with?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the two opposing teams simultaneously played a combined suppression card.
"Target locked: Chen Hao's group," the system announced. "Double interference event triggered; right to act in the next round is delayed by one round."
The surrounding crowd erupted in an uproar.
"Holy crap, they're teaming up to ambush us?"
"Isn't this targeting the champion candidates?"
Chen Hao scratched the back of his head: "Looks like I have a winner's face."
Nana didn't speak, but tapped her fingers lightly twice under the table, which was their pre-arranged code.
He understood the meaning—give up this round and prioritize maintaining the rhythm.
“We abstain.” Chen Hao raised his hand. “We won’t take any action or build anything; we’ll just sit and wait.”
The teammate was taken aback: "Really wait?"
“Yes,” he said. “They want us to be in chaos, but we’ll refuse to be.”
Nana then used the "Shared Vision" card, and an area on the map instantly lit up, showing that there were untriggered traps buried below the resource point that the enemy was about to enter.
“They’re about to fall into a trap,” she whispered.
"Then what?"
“Then we’ll close the net.” She looked at Chen Hao, a faint blue light flashing, “just like when we were testing the power supply lines last time.”
He understood.
That time, in order to troubleshoot a short circuit, they deliberately made the current take a longer route to expose the fault. Now it's the same; the opponent is greedily pushing forward and has just run into the pre-set area.
Sure enough, at the start of the third round, the two teams were vying for the same piece of land. With a roll of the dice, both teams triggered trap cards.
"Negative events compounded: 50% of resources were lost, and operations were interrupted."
The audience burst into laughter.
"What a coincidence."
"Isn't this digging a hole for ourselves to jump into?"
Chen Hao slowly stood up and patted his pants: "It's our turn."
He played a "Reverse Guidance" card, which, combined with Nana's "Information Misdirection," lured the remaining enemies to the empty mining area. At the same time, the team quietly advanced into the core area and captured three stable production points in one fell swoop.
"Chen Hao's group has risen to first place in total resources," the system announced.
Applause erupted, and some people even whistled.
"This coordination... even dating a robot is this smooth?"
When Nana heard this, the camera paused for a moment, but she did not refute it.
Chen Hao just chuckled: "If she's really going to date, she'll probably even calculate the optimal time for the date."
As he was speaking, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that something was off with the atmosphere in the third group.
The two sat back to back, ignoring each other. A small mountain of cards lay on the table, clearly indicating they had missed several opportunities for collaboration.
He walked over, pulled up a chair, and sat down.
Why didn't that 'mechanical linkage' work just now?
The female operator didn't even look up: "He insisted on rushing to the front line himself. I told him to wait for support, but he ignored me."
The man retorted, "What are we waiting for? Opportunities are fleeting."
"Was it like this when you were repairing reactors before?" Chen Hao asked.
The two were taken aback.
"Remember that time the cooling pipe burst?" he continued. "One of us climbed up to remove the old pipe, and the other was below to attach the new one. We were five meters apart, and we relied entirely on shouting and hand gestures. You two didn't argue back then."
The female operator whispered, "That's because we're afraid something might happen."
"Aren't you afraid of losing now too?" Chen Hao laughed. "It's the same principle. You take over, he takes over, don't steal the job. The game requires more teamwork than the machine, otherwise even the best player will be useless."
The man was silent for a few seconds, then turned to his teammate: "Next round... do you want to lead the way? I'll cover you."
The woman looked up at him and said, "Okay."
The two rearranged the cards, their movements becoming more coordinated. They quickly completed a two-person task, and a cheerful system notification sounded: "Cooperation successful! Reward: one extra action point!"
They gave each other a high five, and smiles finally appeared on their faces.
On the other hand, the situation in the fourth group was quieter.
Almost all three of them abstained from the game. With the progress bar nearing its end, no one spoke.
Nana walked over and stood by the table.
“A potential collaboration path has been detected,” she suddenly said, her voice gentle. “I suggest trying a ‘two-person support’ agreement. The risks are manageable, and the expected returns are positive.”
The three of them looked up at the same time.
"Are you... encouraging us to take action?"
“I’m just stating the data,” she said. “The current passive strategy has resulted in a resource accumulation rate that is 62 percent below the baseline. If this continues for three rounds, the probability of elimination will rise to 87 percent.”
"It sounds like a doctor's verdict."
“But she’s right,” someone sighed. “If we don’t act now, we’ll just become spectators.”
One of them gritted his teeth and typed out a support card: "I'll go! Anyone want to come with me?"
The other one immediately responded: "Count me in!"
The third person hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand: "I'll join too."
If all three cards are flipped over simultaneously, the system will determine that the pass has been achieved.
"Collaboration mission countdown: three, two, one... Execution successful! Basic resource pack and one tactical marker obtained."
Cheers erupted.
"You've finally moved!"
"I thought you were planning to stay until the end of the show!"
The three looked at each other and laughed.
Chen Hao watched from a distance, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders swaying slightly.
At this point, the first group encountered another problem.
The team that was initially in the lead lost the lead due to a misjudgment and subsequently collapsed. One player threw his card on the table and said, "I'm not playing anymore, do whatever you want."
His teammate snapped, "What are you doing! What round is this?!"
"Since we can't win anyway, why bother?"
Chen Hao walked over, bent down, picked up the card, and put it back on the table.
"You said you can't win because you made a mistake just now, right?"
The man nodded.
Do you know where you went wrong?
"...We shouldn't have advanced alone."
“Yeah, right.” Chen Hao sat down. “But you forgot, no one acts alone in this game. Even if you rush in, if no one is there to support you, you’re just wasting your time. You didn’t lose because of your decision-making, you lost because you thought you could handle it all by yourself.”
The man lowered his head and remained silent.
“When have we ever repaired anything at our base by one person alone?” he continued. “Even changing a light bulb requires one person to hold the ladder while the other screws in the bulb. If you quit now, it’s like removing the ladder, which harms the whole team.”
A moment later, the man reached out and took back the card: "One more round, this time follow orders."
Chen Hao patted him on the shoulder with a smile: "That's more like it."
He stood up and looked around.
All the teams were moving. Some were discussing strategies, some were redistributing tasks, and some were already planning the next counterattack. Laughter, arguments, and system notifications mingled together, making the restaurant feel like it was boiling over.
Nana stood by the control panel, the camera panning across the entire room.
“The current collaboration index continues to rise,” she said softly. “The peak occurred during the transition period between the third and fourth groups.”
"Does that mean everyone has learned to lend a hand?" Chen Hao asked, leaning closer.
"Data shows that the proportion of people who proactively share their right to act has increased by 54 percent."
"Ha." He scratched his head. "Looks like I'm not the only one who can reason."
She turned to look at him: "You used seven analogies to guide, five memories to evoke memories, and two rule reconstruction explanations. The efficiency is acceptable."
"You still keep track of your expenses?"
"I'm just documenting effective intervention methods."
"Could you please not say 'efficiency is acceptable' next time? It's too discouraging."
She didn't answer, but instead projected the next countdown onto the wall.
"Ten minutes to prepare, a new round is about to begin."
A commotion arose among the crowd, and each group scrambled to adjust their strategies. Someone shouted, "Chen Hao! Are you still recruiting for your group?"
"No way," he shouted back. "Go find your teammates, stop trying to ride on their coattails."
Amid the laughter, Nana suddenly took a step closer.
"Pay attention to the left side area."
"What's wrong?"
"They are preparing to join forces against us."
"Oh." He squinted at his opponent's direction. "Again?"
"This time they changed the order of play in an attempt to avoid trap predictions."
“Then let’s change it too.” He grinned. “You’re in charge of predicting their next move, and I’ll trick them into believing the feint.”
She nodded, and blue light flowed around her.
"Activate the decoy protocol."
He picked up a card, twirled it twice on his fingertip, and then slammed it heavily on the table.
"Let them think we're going to take over the North District."
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