Chapter 89

Chapter 89

It had to be said—the hiding place for the nutrient fluid on the final day was clearly something the game planners had painstakingly arranged.

Because from midnight until 2 a.m., the temporarily allied group of four searched hard and yet not a single one of them found anything.

Until, except for Luo Xi, the rest were all pulled into the "Darkest Hour" game space right on time, and their search efforts were forced to come to a halt.

The grid-shaped square of the Darkest Hour looked no different from the first day.

But the five who had survived till now looked at each other with a bit of awkwardness.

After all, at this point, nothing else mattered anymore—whoever got the guiding agent that could control Ying Zhixing would gain complete control of the situation!

Tonight’s NC host was Dr. Fan. He didn’t show the slightest hint of his closeness with Xiyu—he just impatiently curled his lip and said, “Really don’t want to do this boring crap. Let’s get it over with. Xiyu, what are you staring at?”

Xiyu was standing on Grid 34 and, upon hearing this, looked ahead—the nearest and only reachable guiding grid was the glowing orange Grid 40.

He silently picked up the dice and threw it.

Unfortunately, the result was a three: Grid 37, a damage grid.

Xiyu stepped onto it and endured the brutal assault of the air blades, inevitably casting a glare at Dr. Fan.

After all, at this point, even he couldn’t help but start thinking like Zhou Rong—that the NC was supposed to help. Couldn’t this so-called “tainted witness” do something useful?

But Dr. Fan only uneasily shot back, “What are you looking at? Keep going!”

Xiyu rolled again: a one—Grid 38, a free grid.

As the owner of that free grid, Sun Xiuyá was already without desire or demands. She shook her head and said, “I have nothing to ask.”

Fu’er shrank into his own grid and let out a sinister smile.

Xiyu picked up the dice again, silently chanting: Two... two... I need a two!

But heaven didn’t grant his wish.

The dice slipped from his hand and mercilessly rolled out a four.

Xiyu was disappointed, but he still maintained his composure and strode forward.The owner of Free Grid 42 was Ying Zhixing. He gave Xiyu a sharp look and questioned, “Where is the sun-patterned guiding agent?”

Ma Guanshan, leaning on his cane, spat, “Didn’t I already tell you?”

Xiyu knew Ying Zhixing wasn’t ready to give up. He answered honestly but deliberately provoked him: “Ma Guanshan dumped it in the toilet and flushed it. I saw it with my own eyes. You can forget about clearing the game perfectly now.”

Ying Zhixing wasn’t fazed and sneered, “Most people can’t clear it perfectly. You’d better worry about yourself.”

Dr. Fan stepped in to interrupt, “What are you all talking about? Can we focus on playing the game? I’m really exhausted!”

While they were playing the game during the Darkest Hour, Luo Xi had already dragged her sluggish body to Nurse Chun’s hospital room.

In just a few hours, Nurse Chun looked drastically more haggard.

Luo Xi didn’t waste words. She went straight up and asked, “How are you? Xiyu can’t come right now, so I came to help in his place.”

Nurse Chun shook her head in pain. “The head nurse… injected me with gene medication… I can’t move now… it hurts so much…”

Luo Xi asked, “What kind of drug? Is there an antidote?”

Nurse Chun whispered, “It’s for bone cancer… this Dr. Fan is researching it… only he knows…”

“Alright, I’ll go find Dr. Fan. Don’t worry—we’ll definitely get you out of this sanatorium safely.” Luo Xi comforted her, then turned and left, closing the door. At that moment, she had no idea Dr. Fan was currently hosting the Darkest Hour, so naturally, she was full of confidence, believing the task would go smoothly without interference.

To buy Luo Xi more time, Sun Xiuya deliberately stalled and argued with Dr. Fan, “Whether I play or not, the result will be the same… I really don’t want to play anymore. Just let me quit…”

Dr. Fan frowned. “You can, as long as your blood is drained to zero, then you’re out.”

Sun Xiuya refused. “No way, I’m afraid of pain.”

“If you’re afraid of pain, stop whining—I’ve got things to do!” Dr. Fan glanced at his watch, then suddenly pulled out a bone saw out of nowhere and threatened, “Are you going to start or not?”

That finally made Sun Xiuya cave. She picked up the dice and tossed it slowly.

The dice rolled and eventually landed on Free Grid 42.

Ying Zhixing, as the owner of the grid, clearly hadn’t expected to have so much “business” tonight. But he really had nothing to say to Sun Xiuya, just frowned and took a chance: “Do you know where the bone-patterned guiding agent went?”

Sun Xiuya answered truthfully, “How would I know…”She picked up the dice again and threw it a second time.

One point—Survival Grid.

Terrified of having to face this one, Sun Xiuya swallowed hard and could only summon the courage to step forward—disappearing instantly.

Over the past four days, Luo Xi had already familiarized herself with the layout of the sanatorium.

After speaking with Nurse Chun, she didn’t hesitate for a second and broke into Dr. Fan’s office.

Unexpectedly, Dr. Fan was still there in the middle of the night, though he had fallen deeply asleep at his desk and didn’t respond no matter how much she called out.

“Hey!” Luo Xi grabbed his hair and yanked him upright, then slapped him twice.

Still no reaction.

Luo Xi frowned, realizing something: “Don’t tell me you’re tonight’s host…”

But unfortunately, there was no one left to answer her at this point.

No matter what, Luo Xi couldn’t let Xiyu down. She immediately shoved the unconscious Dr. Fan aside and started cracking into his computer with her already stiffening fingers, trying to find any information on bone cancer.

As time ticked by, Sun Xiuya suddenly fell back down accompanied by a rush of icy air. Although her body didn’t show any new injuries, she was shivering uncontrollably, her lips bluish with cold.

Dr. Fan clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Tsk, how pitiful. You failed—lose one blood point.”

Sun Xiuya couldn’t even open her eyes. In a daze, she pushed the dice beside her.

The dice rolled sluggishly and landed on one point.

Ma Guanshan felt sorry for the young girl. “Hey, it’s a blank grid. Just crawl forward one space.”

If she didn’t have a strong will, Sun Xiuya wouldn’t have made it to the advancement round. She struggled to control her numb body, inching forward with great difficulty, leaving everyone unsure whether she truly had no strength left or was still trying to buy more time.

Dr. Fan tapped his leather shoes impatiently and finally let out a sigh. “Finally done. Are you part snail or what?!”

He then shot a glare at Ma Guanshan.

Ma Guanshan leaned on his cane, looking innocent. “My legs don’t work too well either—you think I could go faster if I wanted to?”As the number of people during the darkest hours decreased, the game time was also drastically shortened.

Luo Xi was well aware of this, so he was treasuring every single second, frantically searching the disorganized contents of the computer. Finally, relying on his sharp mind, he managed to find information on bone cancer from Dr. Fan’s large volume of research papers. He quickly copied the treatment drug's code onto his palm, then used the black umbrella left by Xiyu to leave the office as fast as possible, heading straight to the pharmacy, which was currently free of player interference.

Ma Guanshan smugly scratched his nose and suddenly struck the dice with his cane.

The dice spun and landed on the highest point, allowing Ma Guanshan to complete a full circuit achievement.

Dr. Fan said, “Cycle continues. Move to the second blank space.”

Ma Guanshan wriggled forward with his cane.

Ying Zhixing would have to be a fool not to understand by now. He spoke coldly, “Why are you all wasting time? What, trying to buy Luo Xi some time?”

Ma Guanshan pouted, “It’s not like he gave me any nutrient solution. Why would I buy him time?”

Ying Zhixing wasn’t fond of being friendly, but he also didn’t pick fights on purpose. He just smiled like he saw right through everything and said no more.

Ma Guanshan, struggling to bend over, pushed the dice again with his cane.

The uncooperative dice rolled out five points. The seventh space was still a blank.

Seeing this, Ma Guanshan couldn’t help sighing and slowly crawled over, then pushed the dice one last time.

Very helplessly: two points—Damage Grid.

As soon as Ma Guanshan stepped onto the ninth space, a sharper air blade came slashing down.

He staggered and steadied himself, grunting, “I’m done now. Happy?”

Dr. Fan gave a cold chuckle, eyes narrowing icily. “Ying Zhixing, what are you waiting for?”

Ying Zhixing picked up the dice and tossed it without hesitation.

Six points—Freedom Grid on the fifth space.

Dr. Fan spread his hands. “This space originally belonged to Luo Xi. Unfortunately, he’s not here now, so it’s transferred to Ying Zhixing.”

Some people really are unlucky to the end—this was the only chance to interrogate the opponent for key information, and just like that, it was missed.Xiyu sighed inwardly.

“Now the Freedom Grid is meaningless,” Ying Zhixing calmly said, eyeing the orange glow in the distance, and precisely threw the dice.

Unexpectedly, the dice cooperated, landing a three, and the target was the eighth space—the Induction Grid!

Ying Zhixing smiled.

Dr. Fan excitedly announced, “The last induction agent is out! The darkest hour is finally over. Fu’er, you no longer have a chance to participate!”

Fu’er, who had been sitting on the grid from the beginning, remained expressionless.

Ying Zhixing moved to the eighth space, reached out, and took the induction agent with the red date pattern, his smile widening.

At that moment, Luo Xi had already retrieved the treatment drug from the pharmacy at the fastest speed possible.

Unfortunately, his leg joints were severely calcified, and every step took enormous effort, but he still appeared to be moving slowly.

Half an hour had already passed...

It seemed like it might be too late.

Luo Xi furrowed his brow, but couldn’t even raise his hand to wipe the sweat from his face.

Just as he was worrying, he saw Nurse Xia pushing a cart from ahead and coughed.

Nurse Xia walked back in confusion. “What are you doing here? Go back to sleep.”

“Inject this into Nurse Chun. She’s in room 503,” Luo Xi handed her a bottle of treatment medicine.

Nurse Xia gritted her teeth and whispered, “Are you crazy? If Head Nurse finds out, she’ll take me down too.”

Luo Xi replied, “Is that so? Well, what do you think will happen if Head Nurse Lin sees the testimony you recorded for Zhou Rong?”

Nurse Xia’s face turned pale, and after a moment, she lowered her head and agreed, “Alright, I’ll try.”

Luo Xi handed her the medicine and watched as Nurse Xia disappeared. He then slumped against the wall, feeling like a lifeless statue, unable to move.

Ying Zhixing had acquired the induction agent for hemophilia, which was a massive blow to Xiyu.After being thrown into the Darkest Hour space, he was once again captured by the NPCs and brought back to the ward, and of course, the tightly closed door couldn’t be opened.

He had originally agreed to escape with Nurse Chun in the morning, but now...

Xiyu felt a tightness in his chest from the anxiety.

Fortunately, at this moment, he heard the delayed system notification.

[Informant Mission Complete: Nurse Chun has received treatment and her life is saved.]

Xiyu relaxed his grip on the door handle, and couldn’t help but silently mutter to himself: Thank you, Luo Xi...