After being separated for four days, the three reunited for less than four hours when the fifth-floor assistant knocked on the door again.
"Your battle will begin in half an hour. Please proceed to Gate Number Three on your own." The assistant gave each person a simple route map. Red dots represented their rooms, and blue dots represented gates. The signs on both sides of the road only indicated the room numbers. By following the numbers shown on the map, one could find their way to the gate.
The assistant glanced at Cheng Shuang, who was looking down at the map, and suddenly asked, "By the way, are you going to choose a team leader?"
Du Lanshan frowned. "Is it mandatory to choose?"
The assistant looked away and said meaningfully, "It would be best to choose, but whether you choose or not is your choice, and the advantages and disadvantages are different for each."
"Could you tell me about the drawbacks?" Liao Yuewei asked gently.
"No, you can't!" The assistant shook his head. "I don't have the authority to say anything unless you make a choice."
“I’ll be the captain.” Cheng Shuang put down the map and said without hesitation, “Besides having the right to make decisions, what responsibilities does the captain bear?”
The assistant looked at her again in surprise, "Are you sure?"
Upon hearing this, Du Lanshan and Liao Yuewei exchanged a knowing glance and said in unison, "We're not choosing a team leader."
"Tsk!" The assistant explained somewhat awkwardly, "This child's application will automatically return to the AI. There is no procedure to withdraw the application. That is, the moment she agrees, the AI has already defaulted to her as the team leader."
Her expression grew increasingly sympathetic. "Teammates can request a rest when injured. Then the captain and his teammates will be responsible for dealing with his ten opponents and completing the mission. That's the benefit of having a captain. I really didn't expect that two adults wouldn't be as proactive as a child when faced with a problem." Her last sentence was quite disdainful.
Liao Yuewei and Du Lanshan regretted their actions. They were used to following Cheng Shuang's judgment, so much so that they didn't react immediately.
Cheng Shuang didn't care too much. If the two companions could take turns resting and acting separately due to their serious injuries, it would be more beneficial for them. Unfortunately, their serious injuries would probably require a medical report from the medical office.
After his assistant left, Du Lanshan rubbed his face. "It's okay. As long as neither of us rests, the captain's burden isn't as heavy as we imagine."
Liao Yuewei was more perceptive than Du Lanshan. "I think there's more to this than meets the eye. It seems like the captain has the right to approve the rest requests of seriously injured team members, but in reality, the severity of an injury is hard to judge. If we were both injured, what do you think the captain should do?"
It's unrealistic to let anyone rest, but if they can't rest, and there's this prerequisite in front of them, they might be able to understand once or twice, but in the long run, the number of enemies will increase as they go higher, and once the life-saving White Pills are used up, the only outcome of fighting while wounded is death.
Fundamentally, the captain's authority undermines the foundation for harmonious coexistence within a team.
"That woman!" Du Lanshan glared at the doorway. He believed that the fifth-floor assistant had deliberately lured the three of them into a trap. Although he would never abandon Cheng Shuang and Liao Yuewei to fight alone because their lives were in danger, it did not mean that he would let go of someone who was full of malice towards them.
Du Lanshan was originally impulsive, but when faced with a life-or-death situation, he restrained all his negative emotions. Later, the way the small team at the convenience store got along became more and more like family. He was more patient and less irritable only when dealing with his family, so much so that he became more and more honest and kind. Even Cheng Shuang almost forgot the doubts that Uncle Du had had about her at the beginning.
Liao Yuewei was startled by Du Lanshan and subconsciously looked up at the ceiling.
Cheng Shuang immediately tugged at Liao Yuewei's hand and whispered two words: "Smart Brain!"
Although Du Lanshan was furious, he didn't ignore his companion's every move. He repeated Cheng Shuang's words, "AI brain? You mean the surveillance cameras hidden in the ceiling?"
Liao Yuewei said with a complicated expression, "At first, I guessed that the technological civilization of this land of death was equivalent to that of the 1960s and 70s in the present world, but some of the technology was not intelligent enough. It seems that I was one-sided. They just did not show it to the 'prisoners'."
She looked at Du Lanshan and said, “Brother Du, I don’t think the assistant is targeting us intentionally. On the contrary, the three managers I’ve met are very hostile to the ‘Invaders’ themselves. They are wary of superpowers, and the ‘Invaders’ are in trouble despite having superpowers, so they mostly have a mentality of kicking someone when they’re down, which leads to their condescending and indifferent attitude.”
Du Lanshan thought for a moment and nodded honestly, "Yes, that's right. The managers I've encountered only sneer at me. When I ask them anything, they either don't answer or they make sarcastic remarks. The police said things like, 'Aren't you guys very powerful? Guess what!', which makes you want to punch them."
Liao Yuewei shrugged, “The three levels of managers never said a word to me from beginning to end. The first and second levels, they did ask me once if I had a younger colleague, but they didn’t say anything more.”
Therefore, Liao Yuewei was single-mindedly trying to climb up the ranks, hoping to find a loose-lipped guy who could glean some useful information from her.
"So, that woman was trying to remind us..." Du Lanshan suddenly realized, touched his nose, and lowered his voice very low, "She wouldn't be trying to make me or Liao Meizi the captain, so that Bao'er could have a chance to avoid the battle and recuperate, right?"
He muttered to himself, somewhat incredulously, "Are they... really that kind-hearted?"
“Decades ago, they were just human beings, and they had a natural protective instinct towards the young,” Liao Yuewei remarked with a double meaning.
The three of them ate something simple, rested for ten minutes, and then, following the map, set off for the gate.
The assistant was already waiting at the door. Upon seeing them, he took out a name tag with the room number on it and handed it to Cheng Shuang, saying, "Representing the team leader."
Cheng Shuang thanked her and accepted the gift, then took the opportunity to ask her about the rules for advancing to the sixth floor.
The assistant looked at her with a start, and asked, "The sixth floor?"
Seeing the three of them looking determined, she curled her lip and said, "Aren't the thirty opponents on the fifth floor enough for you? If you want to advance to the next floor, it's not like playing house below the fifth floor. You need to wipe them all out, understand? Two rounds, a total of sixty opponents, wipe them all out, leave no one alive."
Cheng Shuang lowered her eyes, concealing her emotions. She wouldn't naively ask if there were any humans inside. Asking would only allow the omnipresent AI to detect it and identify it as her weakness, potentially turning all her opponents into humans.
The little girl now seriously suspects that this wanderer is a high-tech, high-IQ individual. She should have realized that someone capable of cultivating all sorts of strange monsters wouldn't have much difficulty developing an AI.
The more truths uncovered, the more detailed the information provided to the Gate of Reincarnation, the greater the hope for Sister Juan's resurrection.
The current situation may seem difficult, but it is actually much easier than the Death Land that even 1000 spiritual power couldn't get through. It would be a fool not to seize the opportunity.
The three looked at each other and silently made up their minds that they would not give up until they reached the ninth floor.
We'll see what this so-called 'master' really is!
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