Chapter 51

Chapter 51

As the internal challenge of the game began, the entrance to the freezing chamber was immediately sealed off into a secure area, and even the sounds of the busy rescue efforts from the explosion scene nearby were no longer audible.

The NPC called Dr. Wang walked around for a moment with his arms crossed, then strangely laughed and said, "You still have companions. Who exactly wants to go in and check the situation? I only accept one person's challenge."

"We're a team, we accepted the mission together. Is that not allowed?" Luo Xi held Xi Yu, signaling him to remain calm. "What kind of challenge is it?"

Dr. Wang snorted, "No comment."

Xi Yu turned around, furrowing his brows as he analyzed, "He looks like a frail old man, dressed as a scientist. This challenge is probably focused on intelligence, maybe something related to mathematics or science."

The frail old Dr. Wang: "…………?"

Bai Qi stepped forward and said, "Then I'll do it."

In fact, Xi Yu didn't really understand him and wasn't too keen on leaving his fate in someone else's hands.

But Luo Xi, as if seeing through the thoughts of those around him, suddenly made the decision, "Then, Ah Qi, you take a break."

Xi Yu reluctantly stepped aside to watch.

Luo Xi whispered in his ear, "To go further, you have to respect the value each person can contribute, even those you might think are insignificant. Besides, Ah Qi is definitely reliable."

Xi Yu didn't argue, only retorted, "Then why do you treat Wu Zhi like that? They have no value, right?"

Luo Xi raised his hand as if to speak but stopped, finally helplessly nodding at him, "Okay, learned how to be stubborn."

Xi Yu smiled faintly, saying no more, and shifted his attention entirely to Bai Qi, who had stepped forward.

Dr. Wang disdainfully scanned the young man before him, muttering something indistinctly, then decided, "Alright, since you want to enter the freezing chamber, you have to guess the password to the door. This is the challenge, very fair."

Bai Qi nodded, "Okay, how do we guess?"

Dr. Wang finally revealed a malicious grin, raising his hand and drawing a 50-inch holographic projection screen between the two of them, "I don't know how good you are, but luck is more important than skill... There are easy guesses and difficult ones. You choose."

With that, various icons of all sizes began bouncing around on the screen.

This was probably one of those brain-burning mini-game collections from the cyber world. Although Bai Qi wasn't reliable in combat, he was quite confident when it came to using his brain. He immediately raised his hand, ready to touch the screen.

But just as he was about to, Dr. Wang's sly old eyes scanned the other three people, and suddenly he loudly stopped, "Wait, you help him choose!"The person called out, Luo Xi: "…………"

Xu Tu and Xi Yu: "…………"

Bai Qi's eyes twitched slightly, and he held his trembling glasses: "Boss, no matter what, thank you in advance..."

Luo Xi made one final attempt to resist: "No way? What’s going on? What does it have to do with me? Bai Qi is the one challenging you."

Dr. Wang snorted: "Aren't you a team? Hmph, don't try to talk your way out of this. The one who officially challenged me is this little white-haired one! If you don’t help him choose, I’ll have to kick you out!"

Little white-haired Xi Yu: "………… Go ahead, how much worse can your face get?"

"I believe in you, good luck." Luo Xi patted Bai Qi’s shoulder and extended his long fingers to tap on the holographic screen.

In an instant, a blood-red exclamation mark icon appeared in the center of the screen.

Dr. Wang laughed loudly: "Not bad, you got lucky!"

Xu Tu facepalmed: "Ah Qi, stay calm."

Bai Qi had already given up on the power of luck, and said calmly: "Alright, we’ve made our choice. Now, tell us the rules."

Dr. Wang took a few steps back with his hands behind his back, smiling as his beard shook: "In the next minute, you’ll see thirty-six sets of numbers, half black and half white. Each set contains two three-digit numbers, the black ones need to be added, and the white ones need to be multiplied! What you need is the result of the addition and multiplication!"

Bai Qi: "…Alright, anything else?"

Dr. Wang drew a long rectangular holographic screen in front of himself, showing four horizontal stripes in black and white: "The password to the freezing chamber is hidden in these thirty-six sets of numbers, arranged in the black, white, black, white sequence."

Bai Qi touched his short hair: "And then?"

Dr. Wang said: "I can tell you the first digit of the first set of numbers, the second digit of the second set, and so on! Also... the sum of each digit! As long as you calculate fast enough, you'll figure out the password. Isn’t it simple?"

Bai Qi: "…You’re not that kind-hearted to give me hints first, are you?"

Dr. Wang chuckled: "Of course, I’ll tell you after you’ve seen all thirty-six sets of numbers... It's not too late!"

Bai Qi adjusted his glasses and turned to give Luo Xi a resentful glance.

Luo Xi gave him a thumbs up.Bai Qi helplessly said, "Please begin."

Dr. Wang's eyebrows immediately danced with excitement. He snapped his fingers, and numbers of various sizes popped up in every corner of the screen, each lingering for less than two seconds before disappearing without a trace.

Xi Yu, who was also watching the game's progress, struggled to memorize them in sequence. However, just memorizing the numbers wasn’t enough to calculate the result in time, so he began to worry about Bai Qi. After all, mental arithmetic like this required long-term focused training, and he wasn’t sure if this seemingly gentle and mild-mannered teammate would be able to handle the pressure.

A minute passed in the blink of an eye.

Dr. Wang walked back and forth with his hands behind his back. "I believe you've firmly etched those numbers into your mind, right?"

Bai Qi’s forehead began to bead with sweat. "Where’s the hint?"

Dr. Wang, being just an AI, didn’t waste any more words and promptly said, "The first digit of the first group is 8, the second digit of the second group is 0, the third digit of the third group is 3, and the fourth digit of the fourth group is also 3. The sum of all digits is... 73!"

In such a rapid memorization challenge, the answer was bound to be unique, but the process was inevitably confusing.

Bai Qi remained silent for over ten seconds, then asked, "Do I have a chance to guess wrong?"

"Hahahaha, of course not!" Dr. Wang swiped his hand, removing the entire holographic projection, stepping aside and saying, "Go ahead and input the password you guessed. If it’s wrong..."

He didn’t continue, but the guns of the soldiers in black surrounding them were already raised, aimed directly at the four of them.

The punishment was obvious.

Xi Yu and Luo Xi exchanged a glance. Luo Xi clenched the bayonet and nodded.

Bai Qi rubbed the annoying stray hairs on his forehead and finally walked up to the electronic lock. He began to input a long string of numbers: 8-9-6-1-0-1...

With each beep of the numbers being entered, Xu Tu, who had been silent all this time, became uneasy and softly urged, "Ah Qi, if you mess this up, I..."

"Shut up." Xi Yu hesitated, looking at the answer Bai Qi was inputting. "It should be correct."

Bai Qi, unable to withstand the pressure, immediately sped up his fingers. As he pressed the last digit, he couldn’t help but take a step back!

Fortunately, the outcome was as hoped: the electronic door of the freezing chamber slowly slid open.

At the same moment, the surrounding noisy environmental sounds gradually returned, and the dimensional protection was lifted.

Bai Qi sighed in relief, turning around and smiling. "Come on!"The long-awaited small team immediately rushed into the cold, imposing room!

The freezing chamber occupying a quarter of the Starry River ship's space was far more surreal than imagined. After walking through the long corridor, an endless array of white shelves appeared, each stacked with three vacuum-sealed bags that were two meters long. Walking closer, one could see: each sealed bag contained a naked human! They were connected to the shelves by thin tubes, their skin pale and their hair frosted.

Xi Yu remained silent, and the others also quietly observed without speaking.

Although the freezing technology itself wasn’t inherently wrong, seeing humans stacked like this without mercy made it hard not to associate it with a similar fate for artificial humans.

Fortunately, the most "thick-skinned" Luo Xi suddenly opened up the conversation: "No matter what, I feel these frozen humans aren't humanity’s hope. They look more like merchandise."

"Agreed." Xi Yu finally snapped out of it, picking up a label from one of the frozen humans and analyzing it: "Gender, age, race, weight... Apart from these physical stats, there’s no number, name, or profession. It’s almost like those cannibalistic insect races; could they actually be food?"

Xu Tu clenched his fist: "This instance is a huge twist! No wonder I always felt Bai Sen didn’t look like a good person! So much nonsense during the meeting!"

Bai Qi nodded quickly: "Exactly, that makes sense now. Before entering the instance, we kept hearing a voice telling us to protect our fellow humans. We’re humans, so our fellows must be human too, and the enemy must be the insect race! This is the real purpose of the game. What about robbers, generals, they were probably just misleading us!"

Of course, there were the distinctions between the artificial soldiers and black-clad soldiers, the lost hearts, the sacrifices of war, and the subtle insect race... all these details made his scalp tingle. It was as if the planners were deliberately spinning the players in circles!

"The story should be simplified as much as possible, at least to help humanity score points and reduce points for the insect race. Someone like Mu Yuan, who’s particularly positive yet unscathed, must have gotten a task from Bai Sen on another storyline." Luo Xi decisively stopped their "epiphany," directing: "Enough chit-chat, let’s each take a direction, remember the layout of this place, especially the other exits, they’ll be useful later! Then, let’s leave as soon as possible. I’m worried about staying in a dangerous place for too long."

Xi Yu nodded: "It’s definitely not safe. Let’s go."

Unfortunately, just as everyone began to move, Hua Cai's sweet voice unexpectedly echoed throughout the entire Starry River ship: "Brave soldiers, here’s some good news: the intruding robbers have been exposed! Captain Bai announces—immediate lockdown and capture by the guard team! Please return to your dormitories! All key doors of the Starry River ship will be closed immediately!"

The four of them exchanged glances, and after hearing two seconds of an electronic alarm, the previously wide-open freezing chamber was really sealed!

Xu Tu immediately ran over and knocked on the door: "Hey, Dr. Wang, we’re still inside! Open the door!"

No one responded.

Xi Yu advised: "Don’t waste your energy. This might be a game bug. I guess any player who can find the freezing chamber can challenge Dr. Wang to check the information, which is Task One. The real clue about the spy was reported to Captain Bai, leading to the ship’s doors being locked, which is Task Two. Task One opens the door, but Task Two shuts it. The two tasks overlap, and we’re unlucky."

"That’s a design flaw! I’m going to report it!" Xu Tu was on the verge of tears, complaining to Luo Xi: "Boss, next time, can your sixth sense come a bit earlier?"

Luo Xi was used to such misfortunes: "It’s fine. Keep your temperature up, and as long as an NPC comes to check or another player passes Dr. Wang’s checkpoint, we’ll have a chance to get out. This freezing chamber is huge, so we can just circle around and avoid the enemies."

Xi Yu wasn’t too panicked and instead asked with a smile: "Does this happen often?"

"Does it happen often?!" Xu Tu bounced in place from the cold: "Anyway, since we’re just standing around, let me tell you the tragic history of the number one unlucky person from Cloud Platform. It’s so painful, even breathing hurts!"【Great warriors, the second judgment time has arrived】

【The bottom two hundred in this hidden score will be eliminated】

【After this, there are 1,406 survivors left】

The midnight broadcast ended. The good news was that the small team had survived, but the bad news was that they were still stuck in the freezing chamber.

Being locked in was completely accidental, but none of the four expected to be locked in until nightfall.

At first, they still had the energy to search for evidence, steal parts, and make marks.

But after six hours, they all huddled around the small fire pit that Luo Xi made, sitting obediently.

Xu Tu, wrapped in the thin coat that Luo Xi had given her, shivered as she leaned next to Bai Qi and said, "I’m going to become a frozen person too. Did all the broadcasters think of coming here like us..."

"It should be due to the gate restrictions," Xi Yu pushed the fire pit closer to her.

Bai Qi also couldn’t help but shiver: "We need to come up with a plan, or we’ll be at risk of hypothermia."

Xi Yu frowned, rubbing his stiff hands.

Saying it's not cold would be a lie. The artificial humans didn’t have animal cells; they could only hold out longer than humans for a short time due to their physical stamina.

Luo Xi, who had returned after wandering around, tiredly sat down: "I didn’t find any electronic devices, not even a phone, and the bomb was wasted."

"Heaven is abandoning me..." Xu Tu looked faint, then gazed at Luo Xi with resentment: "How about we kill the boss and offer him to the heavens? Killing the unlucky one and seeing a miracle."

"Sis, do you blame everything on me?" Luo Xi felt wronged and cursed: "Blaming me doesn’t help, in the end, I’m still a quick-frozen rabbit."

"…Speaking of electronic devices, I found a strange little black ball downstairs yesterday," Xi Yu saw the hopeful expressions on their faces and quickly explained: "I hid it in the upstairs bathroom when I changed clothes."

Xu Tu weakly collapsed into Bai Qi’s arms: "I’m so hungry..."

Luo Xi glanced around at the frozen humans: "Aren’t these all food?"

"Are you a devil?" Xu Tu cursed.

Xi Yu suddenly had an idea: "Wait, although they’re frozen, they’re not dead, right? Can they be thawed and revived?""Eh... I admire your idea!" Xu Tu immediately perked up.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the door that had been closed for most of the day slowly opened a small crack.

Someone was coming!

Luo Xi quickly extinguished the fire pit, kicked it under the white shelf, and signaled everyone to hide.

A few seconds later, hurried and chaotic footsteps entered the warehouse, indicating that there were quite a few visitors.

Xi Yu moved slowly around the shelf, trying to observe the newcomers through the gap.

To their surprise, the ones inspecting the freezing warehouse in the middle of the night were Xing Tian and Hua Cai.

Of course, behind them were still the cool-looking soldiers in black, meticulously holding guns.

Before, seeing these NPCs didn't cause much of a reaction, but now, thinking they might be disguised bugs, it gave a somewhat creepy feeling...

Hua Cai was walking quickly beside the towering General Pang, looking especially delicate. She respectfully said, "All the guard teams are fully focused on capturing the bandits. I believe there will be good news soon, and none of the frozen humans are missing. General, please rest assured, the Xinghe ship will definitely fulfill its mission."

General Xing Tian shifted his body, suspiciously sniffed the air, "What’s that smell?"

Although the fire pit had been extinguished, there was still some burnt scent lingering in the air.

Fortunately, Hua Cai didn’t care much and casually dismissed it, "It seems like some of the lights short-circuited. I'll have the guard team come fix it. General, you've had too much to drink, you should rest early."

"Hmm..." General Xing Tian nodded, put his arm around Hua Cai's thin shoulder, and said, "It doesn't matter if the others are dead, but these fifty thousand... they have to be delivered."

At this point, the conspiracy was exposed.

Xi Yu waved her hand to signal everyone to stay put. She suddenly moved quickly, taking just a few steps to a spot not far from their shelf, sliding Hua Cai’s golden medal to her feet.

With a soft, crisp sound, Hua Cai froze, then picked up the medal.

General Xing Tian squinted his chubby face, "What’s this?"

Hua Cai smiled in an ingratiating manner, "…It’s just my decoration that fell. It’s the gold you gave me, General. Let me escort you to rest."

General Xing Tian didn’t press further and, in a dazed state, was led out of the freezing warehouse by her.As soon as the door closed, Xu Tu couldn't wait to ask, "This beauty is definitely coming back, right?"

Xi Yu curved her lips into a smile. "If we haven't guessed the storyline wrong."

The wait for a glimmer of hope was not easy to endure.

The half hour after Hua Cai disappeared felt like every minute and second was filled with worry.

Thankfully, her slender figure eventually appeared in front of the door when it was reopened, and she entered alone, frowning.

Xi Yu was the first to approach alone. "Vice Captain."

Hua Cai squinted. "It's really you. What are you doing here?"

Xi Yu secretly moved her stiff fingers to keep them flexible, and seriously asked, "You're human, right?"

Hua Cai: "Obviously."

"I'm human too, and all fifty thousand people around me are human," Xi Yu said firmly. "But General Xing Tian and his guard... are not human!"

These words made Hua Cai’s body tremble. "You... you saw it?"

"Talking about protecting our fellow humans—are those bugs considered our fellow humans?" Xi Yu questioned the NPC without a doubt. "I believe our true fellow humans are the so-called 'bandits' who have repeatedly attacked the Xinghe ship, trying to rescue us. Vice Captain, please tell me, what exactly is your purpose on the Xinghe ship, and what can I do to help you?"

Hua Cai’s lips slowly trembled as she furrowed her brow, gazing at Xi Yu's gentle yet determined eyes.

At that moment, her wireless phone suddenly rang with Bai Sen’s voice: "Hua Cai, are you with the General? The intruding bandits have already been killed by us!"

Hua Cai was shocked, and then her eyes slowly reddened. She pressed the call button and answered with a sweet, gentle voice: "That's wonderful."

Although Vice Captain Hua Cai was indeed just a decorative figure, she still used the little authority she had to send the soldiers guarding the freezing warehouse away and took four players dressed in fake military uniforms back to the first floor of the Xinghe ship.

Once they made it to a hidden corner, Hua Cai furrowed her brow. "I can't stay for long. The revolutionary army's agent is dead. The whole operation is probably hopeless."

Of course, Xi Yu couldn’t let this hard-won opportunity slip by. She immediately responded, "Don’t worry, maybe we can help."

"You’re right... General Xing Tian is indeed deceiving everyone... These fifty thousand humans are meant to be sold as living food for the insect tribe. The human revolutionary army has been trying to rescue them, but General Xing Tian didn’t want to lose his fellow humans, so he went around recruiting human mercenaries and had Bai Sen deceive everyone to help with transportation. After all, humans fighting other humans only results in some insect-produced war machines being lost," Hua Cai finally softened her attitude, briefly explaining the situation before introducing herself. "To be honest, I’m an insider for the human revolutionary army. I received news that an agent would come to help me rescue the frozen humans. The hologram of that agent was very handsome, and he looked a bit like you, so I mistook you yesterday!"

Xi Yu blinked in surprise.Xu Tu murmured behind them, "Justice missions really do test looks..."

Hua Cai continued gloomily, "After two battles, the revolutionary army is in disarray. The insider has been lost, and there’s no hope left... As for you all... Once the Xinghe ship delivers to B16, your fate won’t be much better!"

Xi Yu roughly understood the situation and actively said, "It’s okay. Even if the agent is really dead, we can still find a way to carry out a rescue operation."

Hua Cai shook her head. "There’s no way. For safety reasons, only he can contact the revolutionary army. I’m just someone passively waiting for news!"

After remaining silent, Luo Xi finally spoke up. "What if we could meet the revolutionary army?"

Hua Cai widened her eyes. "How could we meet? Once the Xinghe ship’s fighter jets get close to the revolutionary army’s mothership, they will immediately be destroyed. Besides, no one can act under General Xing Tian’s nose!"

"I have an idea," Luo Xi crossed his arms. "Where is the agent’s body? Can you get his clothes?"

Hua Cai was stunned.

Luo Xi glanced sideways and sneered. "I saw how the revolutionary army rescued their comrades during the battle. As long as I wear their clothes and float out of the fighter jet to get near them, the electronic arm will rescue me!"

Hua Cai: "You should know... bullets don’t discriminate, this is almost impossible."

Luo Xi shrugged. "How would we know if we don’t try? My friends can help me, and in this world—"

He looked around at the game environment and mocked, "Every problem has its solution, doesn’t it?"