The Nightingale in the Golden Cage (1)
Professor Pan: "I think they're still alive. Putting ourselves in the aliens' shoes, they finally found some geniuses, so they certainly wouldn't kill them easily. Instead, they'd squeeze every last drop of value out of them. After that group of players were taken away, their lives definitely won't be too good."
Qin Man: "We can only protect ourselves first, and then try to save the other players."
After studying the ecosphere for a long time, everyone realized that it was very hard and that breaking it directly was definitely not an option.
Furthermore, after breaking it open, no one is sure if the people inside will be enlarged proportionally. If they don't, wouldn't it become a land of little people? The players outside would all be giants to them, making peaceful coexistence impossible.
Everyone started looking for people they knew in the ecosphere again, but they couldn't find them. Or rather, the people inside were too small to notice.
Everyone was a little disappointed, but no one showed it.
What we need most now is morale; only with high spirits can we face the next round of the game.
Qin Man muttered to herself, "I hope the next round of the game will be easier, preferably one that can be completed in an hour or two."
Jian Tanxi: "Haha, a short time doesn't mean it's easy. Maybe the next round will be like knives falling from the sky, and we'll have to dodge them for an hour."
Qin Man: "That's too terrifying, I can't even imagine it."
Based on past experience, there can be many days between two games.
So everyone felt at ease and rested.
Now that they don't have to go to work or school, their daily routine consists of exercising and playing.
Qu Chen's props include building blocks, which he can use to build powerful props, but when others build them, they are just ordinary building blocks.
Jian Tanxi and the others took out Qu Chen's building blocks to play with and pass the time, since Qu Chen wasn't very good at playing with them anyway.
Jian Tanxi and Qin Man would assemble things into a small train, a hospital, or a robot, having a great time.
Qin Man said, "I didn't have many toys when I was a child. I never thought that I would be playing with my own child's toys when I grew up. It's quite interesting, haha."
Jian Tanxi asked, "Didn't Sister Qin Man have building blocks when she was little?"
"Yes, but they were very simple building blocks, and there were very few of them. My parents never bought me expensive toys. I never imagined that when I grew up and had money, I could buy my own children many expensive things. Temporary difficulties are not scary. As long as we keep living, there may be surprises in the future."
"Sister Qin Man is right..."
Jian Tanxi felt that Qin Man's words were most appropriate for the current situation.
Jian Tanxi suddenly thought of a question: "Sister Qin Man, if Earth returns to order in the future, will we still be able to keep our money, education, and homes? There is no electricity on Earth now, and the economic system has collapsed, so it will probably be difficult to recover our previous data. Maybe by then, our bank account balance will be zero, and our homes will have already collapsed."
"Don't worry about that. If we really help rebuild Earth after the disaster, we'll be great heroes for humanity. We'll definitely have money, and we'll be living better than before. Maybe there will even be statues of us."
"Haha, that's right. One should think positively."
"Yes, they might even erect a monument for us with the inscription 'So-and-so will live forever' on it."
"Ha ha ha ha……"
At this moment, they noticed that Qu Chen squatted down, touched the ground with his hand, and then tasted it with his mouth.
Qin Man quickly ran over and said, "Xiao Chen, you can't eat the dust on the ground... really..."
She quickly pulled Qu Chen to the lakeside and washed his hands.
Jian Tanxi was laughing when she suddenly noticed that Professor Pan was sitting on a rock, quietly watching the sunset, looking somewhat sad.
Jian Tanxi walked over to Professor Pan and asked, "Professor, what's wrong?"
Professor Pan turned around and smiled, "It's nothing. People like to watch the sunset when they get a certain age."
The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it's nearing dusk. [Note 1]
Jian Tanxi said, "You can watch the sunrise too, instead of staring at the sunset."
"That makes sense. We'll go out to watch the sunrise tomorrow morning."
However, Professor Pan still did not see the sunrise the next day.
Because that very night, they entered the next instance.
After being teleported into the instance, Jian Tanxi landed on a soft bed. When she woke up, she found that she was no longer in her original bed.
She fumbled to turn on the bedside lamp and found herself in a luxurious residence.
Her room had three beds, each two meters wide. They were covered with ice silk mats and quilts with silk swan designs.
The interior is spacious and tastefully decorated; everything looks expensive.
Jian Tanxi felt that she should be living in some wealthy family right now.
She slept on the leftmost bed, while the other two beds were occupied by other people, one being Qin Man and the other surprisingly being Du Jiaojiao.
She hadn't seen Du Jiaojiao for a long time, and of course, she wasn't looking forward to seeing her.
Professor Pan and Qu Chen are both gone; we don't know where they went.
Logically, they should not be separated for the time being, since they have a strong companion spray on them.
Besides the decorative paintings, there were also many brooches hanging on the walls.
These brooches are all exquisite, but strangely, they are all in the shape of humans. Moreover, some are beautiful, while others are ordinary in appearance.
Jian Tanxi also has several brooches, but they are all in the shape of butterflies, ginkgo, deer, etc. She has never bought a human-shaped brooch.
Soon, Qin Man and Du Jiaojiao woke up as well, and Jian Tanxi went to see them.
The three knew each other, so there was no need for further introductions.
Du Jiaojiao was a little surprised and said, "It's you guys... Where's my boyfriend?"
Jian Tanxi: "..."
Qin Man: "..."
Du Jiaojiao hasn't changed at all; she's always looking for her boyfriend, a doting wife who can't live without him.
Jian Tanxi said, "I don't know. You broke up with him a long time ago, so I estimate that the chances of you meeting again are not high."
Du Jiaojiao said, "No, we met in the previous games, and he even sprayed me with a powerful companion spray. We won't be separated for the time being."
Qin Man added, "Yes, we also have the powerful companion spray with Professor Pan and Xiao Chen, but where are they?"
At that moment, the door opened, and Professor Pan, Qu Chen, and Du Jiaojiao's boyfriend Hong Zicheng all walked in.
Jian Tanxi then realized that they were staying in a large suite with several bedrooms.
Just now, Professor Pan, Qu Chen, and Hong Zicheng were in another bedroom, separated from their bedroom only by a door.
Upon seeing Qu Chen, Qin Man quickly hugged him.
Du Jiaojiao quickly ran to Hong Zicheng's side, took his hand, and said, "Zicheng, I almost thought we had broken up again."
Hong Zicheng said, "They didn't separate us; they must have assigned rooms according to gender. Just now, I shared a room with Qu Chen and Professor Pan, and we each had a two-meter-long bed. It seems this place belongs to a tycoon."
Du Jiaojiao: "I don't care about whether it's tacky or not, as long as I can be with you, that's enough."
Then, Du Jiaojiao said to the others, "We all know each other, so there's no need for introductions. Don't worry, with my boyfriend here, we can clear this level quickly no matter what game we play."
Others: "..."
Everyone tacitly remained silent, allowing Du Jiaojiao to indulge in her own self-admiration.
Hong Zicheng explained somewhat awkwardly, "Jiaojiao, I'm not as amazing as you think."
Du Jiaojiao: "No, you are the most powerful in the world. No, you are the most powerful in the entire universe."
Others: "..."
At that moment, a piece of paper appeared, on which was a handsome but pale-faced prince.
He addressed the crowd: "Welcome to the game—The Nightingale in the Golden Cage. I am Prince Ivor, the referee for this event. Contestants: Jian Tanxi, Qin Man, Du Jiaojiao, Hong Zicheng, Qu Chen, and Pan Xian."
Game Background: The Rong family, the richest family in City C, owns a beautiful nightingale, which is imprisoned in a golden cage. The nightingale doesn't want to be caged and wants freedom. Players need to rescue the nightingale.
Game Rules:
Success is achieved if the nightingale is rescued.
Killing is forbidden.
I wish you success.
If it doesn't work, it will be made into brooches, which are what you see on the wall.
Life is short, but brooches are eternal. I am Prince Ivor, who loves making brooches. Welcome! Have fun!
Then, Prince Ivor disappeared.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Just now, everyone thought the brooches on the wall were exquisite, but the human figures weren't necessarily attractive.
Surprisingly, these human-shaped brooches are actually made from people; no wonder each one is unique.
Now, everyone who looked at the brooch felt a chill run down their spine.
Du Jiaojiao murmured, "Are those brooches... still alive?"
Qin Man: "They were all in this state, of course they died."
Suddenly, Du Jiaojiao stared at one of the brooches. Then, she burst into tears.
Hong Zicheng quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
Du Jiaojiao was both scared and sad, and said, "That... seems to be my cousin."
Hong Zicheng frowned: "Where's your cousin? Aren't all the players here?"
Du Jiaojiao pointed to the wall: "My cousin... is over there..."
Hong Zicheng then understood what Du Jiaojiao was talking about.
He mustered his courage and looked at the wall. Sure enough, he saw a brooch with the name of a young boy. The boy looked to be in his early twenties and was very energetic.
The others were also stunned, unsure of what to say for a moment.
Jian Tanxi felt her body trembling slightly, and she couldn't control it.
It turns out that death is so close.
Du Jiaojiao's sobs could be heard intermittently, but no one stopped her.
Du Jiaojiao sobbed, "My cousin is the smartest kid in our family. He was supposed to be studying for his PhD at an Ivy League school, but unexpectedly..."
Du Jiaojiao had lost her previous lively demeanor and was like a deflated balloon.
After a while, she suddenly said, "I'm going to kill that prince!"
Hong Zicheng said, "Calm down! You can't kill the referee. We can only listen to him, find Nightingale, and then survive."
"Why can they kill people at will, but we can't? I don't want any missions, I want to chop those aliens into mincemeat!"
Qin Man advised, "Du Jiaojiao, be rational. We are too weak right now. If you want revenge, you can have another chance."
Du Jiaojiao said, "I'm not weak! I have a lot of superpowers now, and a lot of gadgets too!"
"But your powers and gadgets were given to you by aliens. Do you think they can't take them back? Don't they think they can defeat you? If they can give you five powers, it proves they have at least five hundred, five thousand, fifty thousand powers..."
Du Jiaojiao calmed down. She also knew that Qin Man was right.
Now, there's nothing she can do except continue playing the game.
She cried herself to sleep and could only lie down to rest.
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