Puppet in the Mirror (6)
Professor Pan said, "I think we must first make one thing clear: being able to clear the level is more important than who clears it. I have indeed thought of a way, but it can only allow one person to clear the level at most, and there are still several puppets left. If you want to make a contribution, feel free to think of a way; I won't stop you."
I didn't say it explicitly, firstly because I wasn't sure if the method would work, and secondly because I was afraid of leaking information. However, if I succeed, it will be in everyone's best interest. I think you won't continue to obstruct me.”
Professor Pan's words made sense, and Li Zhe couldn't say anything more. He could only say, "If you want to find a puppet to test your method, don't use my puppet. I will figure out a way to pass the level myself."
Professor Pan: "No problem."
Professor Pan entered Jian Tanxi's room. The remaining six puppets were all there.
They all looked at Professor Pan and said, "Professor Pan, you've arrived."
Professor Pan nodded, then walked towards Qu Chen's puppet and said to it, "Can you shake my hand?"
"Mirror in the Morning" said, "Okay."
As it spoke, the puppet stretched out one hand.
Although Qu Chen cannot speak, this "Qu Chen in the Mirror" has an intelligent artificial brain and speaks just like a normal person.
Professor Pan said, "I'd like to shake both of your hands."
The puppet stretched out both hands and clasped them together with Professor Pan's hands.
"Mirror in the Melody" said, "As far as I know, humans usually shake hands with only one hand. Why are you shaking hands with both hands?"
Professor Pan smiled and said, "This is my habit."
At this moment, a third hand suddenly grew out of Professor Pan's neck. This third hand pinched the mouth of "Qu Chen in the Mirror" and stuffed something into his mouth.
Before "Mirror in the Morning Star" could react, it swallowed it.
He asked Professor Pan, "What do you want to do? Why do you have three hands? What are you giving me to eat?"
However, Professor Pan left without saying anything.
Professor Pan possesses a special ability called "cloning," which allows him to replicate any body organ and grow it anywhere at will, lasting for 10 minutes. That's why a hand suddenly grew out of his neck.
After Professor Pan left, the other puppets asked "Qu Chen in the Mirror," "What did Pan Xian give you to eat?"
"Mirror in the Morning" said, "Let me scan... I know, I ate the fruit of the Phytolacca acinosa. This fruit is poisonous; humans who eat it will vomit and have diarrhea, but I'm fine. I'll just clean myself up in a bit."
Another puppet asked, "Why did Professor Pan give you this to eat? He should know that puppets can't be poisoned."
"Mirror in the Morning" said, "I don't know either."
At this moment, Jian Tanxi rushed in, looked at all the puppets, and asked, "Who among you ate the fruit of the Phytolacca acinosa? That was mine. Professor Pan took it for some reason... Who ate it? Don't be afraid to admit it."
At this moment, "Qu Chen in the Mirror" said, "I'm convinced."
No sooner had the words left its mouth than "Mirror in the Melody" sensed something was amiss. However, by the time it realized it, it was too late.
A mechanical voice announced: "Congratulations to player Qu Chen for completing the mission. Please wait 9 days."
Jian Tanxi smiled and said to "Qu Chen in the Mirror", "Now, please spend a few days with the other two companions who have completed the mission".
She brought the puppet to Zhou Wangliang's room, where it stayed with "Pan Xian in the Mirror" and "Zhou Wangliang in the Mirror".
Now, there are five puppets left.
Jian Tanxi and Professor Pan shared their methods for clearing the game, which impressed the other players.
Xie Wei said, "'Fu' not only means 'to accept', but also 'to take or consume'... How come I didn't think of that? Even if I did, there's no such special item as the pokeweed fruit."
Dora: "Chinese is truly profound! It seems I still have a lot to learn!"
Lucy: "There are still five left, what should we do?"
After discussing it for a while, they couldn't come up with a good solution. Since everyone was tired, they decided to go to sleep first and discuss it again the next day.
Jian Tanxi's room was occupied by the puppets, so Jian Tanxi, along with Qu Chen, shared a room with Lucy.
Lucy asked Jian Tanxi, "If we sleep like puppets, will we... kill someone?"
Jian Tanxi said, "Probably not. The rules are already written down; we just need to make the puppet say 'I surrender.' If there's a rule about the puppet secretly killing someone, they should tell us."
"Oh, time to sleep."
Lucy's thinking was simple; once she felt there was no danger, she quickly fell asleep.
Qu Chen had a lot of exercise today, and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Jian Tanxi kept thinking about how to pass the level, and ended up having insomnia for several hours before finally falling asleep very late.
The next day, when Jian Tanxi woke up, she felt a little tired.
It took her a lot of effort to get out of bed, and she felt like she didn't want to move.
She muttered to herself, "What's wrong with me... Am I starving? That shouldn't be the case, I only need to eat once a month now..."
She didn't pay any attention and just washed up quickly.
Qu Chen also woke up, but for the first time ever, he didn't run around. Instead, he lay on the bed without moving.
Jian Tanxi pulled him up and wiped his face with a towel.
Lucy was still asleep when Jian Tanxi woke her up. But Lucy didn't really want to get up and said lazily, "I'm tired, I'll sleep a little longer."
Jian Tanxi said, "We still need to discuss how to deal with the puppets today."
"Okay, get up."
Not long after, Jian Tanxi, Qu Chen, and Lucy arrived at Professor Pan's room.
The others arrived one after another.
Everyone looked listless and their complexions weren't good.
Jian Tanxi asked, "Didn't everyone sleep well?"
Xie Wei said, "No, I went to bed very early... but I don't know why, when I woke up today, I felt a bit heavy and couldn't exert any strength."
Dora: "Me too."
Zhou Wangliang: "Me too."
Everyone has the same symptoms; it doesn't seem to be a coincidence.
Professor Pan analyzed, "I think it might be because our physical fitness has declined?"
Jian Tanxi: "Possibly. Could it be because you were too tired yesterday?"
Professor Pan said, "That might be the reason, but there might be another reason: the longer we stay in this instance, the lower our physical condition will be. By the tenth day, we might not wake up and will be unconscious."
Xie Wei was a little scared: "Is this true? Don't scare me."
Professor Pan: "Don't panic, this is just my guess. On the surface, our condition for passing the level is to get all the puppets to say 'I surrender.' But why keep them in the instance for ten days? If these ten days have no negative effects on us, there's no need to add this condition."
Mathematics Professor Zhou Wangliang said, "What you said makes sense. However, if it's just a decline in physical fitness, it's already a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. I'm afraid there might be other problems."
Xie Wei said, "Even if there are pitfalls, we don't know them. We can only take it one day at a time."
Zhou Wangliang: "If our physical condition continues to decline, we must complete the task within these few days. Otherwise, even if we come up with a good solution in the later days, we may not have the strength to implement it."
Everyone else agreed with this statement.
Li Zhe said impatiently, "But there's no other way! If we could clear the game, would we have waited until now?"
Dora said, "I think we should secretly monitor those puppets and see if we can find a way to break through. It's not enough to just discuss it behind closed doors."
Xie Wei: "How do we monitor them? Do we drill a hole in the puppets' room? But wouldn't they notice? First of all, drilling a hole is noisy; secondly, with a hole, light will seep through, making it easy to spot."
Jian Tanxi said, "How about we dig little by little, then we won't make any noise?"
Professor Pan touched the wall and shook his head, saying, "It's impossible to dig it out bit by bit. This wall is very hard, probably made of steel or something similar. Unless you use your interstellar triangular chisel, but that will make a sound when you chisel."
Jian Tanxi said, "Yes, it's quite difficult..."
Xie Wei suggested, "Why don't we take out all our props and see if any of them come in handy?"
Everyone else agreed, but Li Zhe said, "No, I can't reveal my props."
Xie Wei said dismissively, "Then you can just not participate. I don't believe that the few of us can't come up with a solution. Anyway, when the rewards are settled, you can just get a smaller share."
Li Zhe: "As for the settlement rewards, you have to be able to clear the level first, right?"
Xie Wei: "What do you mean by that?"
Li Zhe: "It doesn't mean anything."
Xie Wei didn't bother arguing with Li Zhe; he simply dumped out all his props.
The other players, except for Li Zhe, also poured out their items.
Everyone had a lot of props, which were piled up together and made people dizzy.
Li Zhe also peeked around, wanting to see the other people's props.
Xie Wei said to him, "If you don't bring out your own props, you have no right to look at ours. Please go to the corner and turn your back to us."
Li Zhe: "What's so great about it?"
As expected, Li Zhe walked to a corner, with his back to the other players.
The others examined the items one by one. However, most of the props were useless.
At that moment, Dora picked up a rusty pair of scissors and asked, "Whose scissors are these?"
Jian Tanxi said, "It's mine."
Dora exclaimed in surprise, "How do you have the rusty scissors from Barber Ridley?"
Jian Tanxi said, "So that strange barber was called Liliqi... I saw him when I was on a mission before."
"My God, you actually met that legendary barber... Is he like the legend says, with three bumps on his head but only one eye?"
"Yes."
"I heard he has a really strange temper, why would he give you his scissors?"
"Dora, you still haven't told me what these scissors are for."
"Oh, look at me, I got so excited that I forgot the important thing... Anyway, if I need to make a hole in the wall, this pair of scissors is perfect. It's very sharp, but because it's rusty, it won't make a sound when you make a hole."
Jian Tanxi asked, somewhat puzzled, "Can rusty scissors be used to make holes?"
"Yes, that's the magic of these scissors. The rust doesn't affect their use; in fact, it makes them silent when used."
"But the wall is so hard, these scissors shouldn't be able to pierce it, right?"
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