The Puppet in the Mirror (7)
Dora said, "Honey, don't worry, this pair of scissors is an S-class item! It's the scissors of the barber Ridley... Good heavens, I still can't believe you've met him... Why would he give you this item?"
"Maybe it's because I gave him 30 meters of long, smooth hair?"
"My God, how do you have 30-meter-long hair? You have to tell me about that experience when you have time."
"OK."
Jian Tanxi was about to take the scissors to chisel at the wall when she suddenly remembered another problem: "After chiseling the hole, how do we solve the problem of light penetration?"
Professor Pan said, “The room where the puppets are is next to my room, so we definitely can’t break through this wall. You can sneak out and break through another wall, make a small hole, observe them during the day, and then block the hole at night so they won’t be able to find out. We don’t need to turn on the lights during the day, only at night.”
Xie Wei picked up a piece of black clay and handed it to Jian Tanxi, saying, "This is my tool, deformable clay. It can plug any small hole. After you chisel out a small hole, put the clay in, and it will automatically fill in all the gaps so that no one can see it. When you want to use the small hole, just pull the clay out."
Jian Tanxi nodded: "Yes, with this, there shouldn't be any problems."
Jian Tanxi quietly went out and came to her room.
She chose a spot on the wall and then used the barber's rusty scissors to chisel a hole.
She dared not exert too much force, for fear of making a sound.
Unexpectedly, the moment the scissors touched the wall, they cut a small hole as easily as a knife cutting tofu.
Jian Tanxi peeked into the room through a small hole and could see all the puppets. They were all standing still, without moving.
Jian Tanxi plugged the small hole with modeling clay, then came back and told her teammates that the hole had been dug and they would now take turns keeping watch.
Professor Pan said, “In order to prevent the puppets from discovering the small hole, we can only keep an eye on them during the day. We don’t have clocks, so how about this, starting with me, everyone takes turns keeping watch. When you feel tired, come back and let the next person take over, there’s no time limit. If you find anything unusual about the puppets, or if you find any breakthrough, come back immediately and tell the others.”
This is currently the best solution, so no one has any objections.
Professor Pan went out to keep watch first, while the others stayed in the room to wait.
Dora asked, "Jian Tanxi, when you were digging the hole just now, did you see what the puppets were doing?"
Jian Tanxi: "They did nothing, they didn't say anything, they just stood there."
"Why? Don't they chat in private? Don't they discuss how to deal with us?"
"I'm not quite sure, maybe it's because they're puppets, they don't move or talk unless necessary."
Zhou Wangliang said, "Actually, those puppets don't need to discuss how to deal with us at all. As long as they refuse to say 'I surrender,' we can't pass the level, so they don't need to use any other strategies."
Dora said, "I thought they would be discussing in private how to kill us."
Zhou Wangliang shook his head and said, "Have you noticed that in all the games we've participated in, not a single one is designed to kill players? Although some games are very dangerous and difficult to complete, there is always a way out in the end; it just depends on whether you can find it."
Dora: "That's true..."
After a while, Professor Pan returned and Jian Tanxi took his place.
Jian Tanxi observed the puppets through a small hole. After watching for a long time, the puppets remained silent and motionless.
Just as Jian Tanxi was about to give up, "Jian Tanxi in the mirror" spoke: "Jack is still not working. I've already changed the filament."
"Lucy in the Mirror" said, "Then let's try a different charging cable."
Xie Wei in the Mirror said, "I've tried several different charging cables, but it still doesn't work."
"Li Zhe in the Mirror" asked, "Are you sure those charging cables are good?"
"Xie Wei in the Mirror": "Of course, those are all brand new charging cables."
"Jian Tanxi in the Mirror": "Could it be a problem with the light bulb? Try changing the light bulb."
"Dora in the Mirror": "It definitely has nothing to do with the light bulb."
Jian Tanxi, standing outside the door, was completely bewildered, having no idea what the puppets were saying.
She didn't know who "Jack" was, nor did she know why these puppets were discussing charging cables, filaments, and light bulbs.
She continued watching and saw "Jian Tanxi in the Mirror" pick up a wooden lamp and look at it from left to right.
The wooden lamp was shaped like a mushroom, with a solid wood base, while the light bulb on top was probably made of another material.
"Jian Tanxi in the Mirror" said, "Could it be a problem with the charging port? Is it because the charging port is dusty, which is why it's not working?"
"Li Zhe in the Mirror": "I cleaned Jack's charging port, and now there is no dust there."
"Jian Tanxi in the Mirror": "Then why isn't Jack's light up?"
Upon hearing this, Jian Tanxi realized that the "Jack" mentioned by the puppets must be this wooden lamp.
Why does the lamp have a name? Does it have a smart chip inside that can talk to the puppet?
However, the puppets kept talking about the lamp, but the lamp didn't respond. Moreover, the way the puppets handled the lamp was just like handling an ordinary lamp, turning it upside down, which wasn't how they treated another "person".
At this moment, "Jian Tanxi in the Mirror" spoke again: "I need to fix Jack as soon as possible. I'll wait until these players leave. I'm going to apply to leave here and find the best electrician to fix it."
"Li Zhe in the Mirror" let out a strange laugh: "Or we can wait until this batch of players dies, then we'll be free."
"Jian Tanxi in the Mirror": "How could I die so easily?"
"Xie Wei in the Mirror": "Given the performance of these players, some of them will definitely not survive the ninth night. And if there aren't enough surviving players, they won't be able to leave."
Jian Tanxi's heart pounded as she listened. She hoped the puppets would say more, but they stopped talking about anything related to the players and continued discussing the lamp.
Jian Tanxi plugged the small hole with clay, then quietly returned to Professor Pan's room and told everyone what she had seen and heard. In order not to cause panic too early, she did not mention that some people would not survive the ninth night, and only talked about the wooden lamp.
Li Zhe said, "Don't spread such trivial matters."
Professor Pan said, "No, this is not a trivial matter. Those puppets value that lamp so much; if we can fix it, won't they voluntarily say 'I give up'?"
Li Zhe: "Those puppets may not be living people, but they all have intelligent brains. If they can't be repaired, what ability do we have to repair them? As far as I know, none of us have ever worked as electricians or repairmen."
Jian Tanxi said, "Of course not, but Professor Pan will definitely be able to find out why that lamp is not lighting up."
Li Zhe: "Why?"
Professor Pan: "Because I have a special ability—the storyteller."
Even if you can communicate with objects, the puppets might not say 'I submit'.
Jian Tanxi: "With my ability to modify scripts added on, the probability of success increases significantly."
Professor Pan and Jian Tanxi, along with the other players, knocked on the puppets' doors.
A puppet came to open the door and asked, "What is it? If you've come to force us to say those three words, no matter what means you use, it won't work. We don't feel pain."
Jian Tanxi said, "We just came in to take a look and we won't hurt you."
With that, the players went inside.
Jian Tanxi casually picked up the wooden lamp on the table and said, "This lamp is very beautiful."
"Xie Wei in the Mirror" said, "This lamp won't light up anymore; otherwise, it would be even more beautiful when it does."
Jian Tanxi: "Why isn't it lit up?"
"We don't know either. This lamp is our friend, and we will definitely fix it."
Why is your friend a lamp?
"A puppet's friends are things made of wood, of course."
Does this lamp have an intelligent brain?
"No, it's just a lamp, but that doesn't stop us from being friends with it."
"I see. Professor Pan can find out the cause of the lamp's malfunction; let him give it a try."
The puppets were skeptical, but they did not stop it.
Professor Pan picked up the lamp and activated his "Storyteller" ability.
After a while, Professor Pan said, "The lamp isn't broken, but there are some rats near the power lines that feed on electricity. The rats eat the electricity, so the current can't flow, which is why the lamp won't light up."
The puppets were very surprised. One of the puppets asked, "Really?"
Professor Pan: "It's true, this is what the lamp told me."
"Dora in the Mirror" said, "So it was the electric rats that were up to it. We caught the rats once before, but we didn't expect there were still some we missed."
"Xie Wei in the Mirror" said, "I'll go look for it."
"Xie Wei in the Mirror" went out. About twenty minutes later, he returned carrying a rat that was covered in electricity and said, "There really are electric rats. I'll catch them again when I have time, and I must catch all of them."
Then, it took out a bag and threw the electric mouse into it. The electric mouse struggled desperately, but couldn't break free.
The puppets all looked at Professor Pan with admiration.
Jian Tanxi guessed that the puppets were going to say something, so she immediately activated her script modification ability: "Script modification ability activated. 'The puppets are all preparing to say a few words to express their admiration for Professor Pan.' Change 'several' to 'three', 'The puppets are all preparing to say three words to express their admiration for Professor Pan.'"
The superpower has taken effect.
"Mirror in the Sandalwood Creek" said, "Truly amazing."
"Dora in the Mirror": "You're great."
"Lucy in the Mirror": "I admire you."
Xie Wei in the Mirror: "I'm convinced."
"Li Zhe in the Mirror": "Me too."
At this moment, a mechanical voice announced: "Congratulations to player Xie Wei for completing the mission. Please wait for another 8 days."
Xie Wei looked surprised: "Huh? How did it get finished...?"
Only then did he realize that his puppet had just said, "I give up."
Xie Wei also said to Jian Tanxi, "I'm impressed... Your superpower is really amazing..."
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