HI Chapter 115

As soon as the words fell, puppets with mechanical strides slowly appeared from all directions in the corridors.

Each of them had stiff faces and numb expressions, yet bore the faces of players from the first day of the instance. Some had already turned into Malevolent Automatons by the first day, while others had been active nearby just a few hours ago, but now were reduced to thoughtless Malevolent Automatons—clearly, their True Self had encountered an accident.

One Malevolent Automaton posed no threat to Xu Miaomiao and the Remaining Flower, but a dozen, or even hundreds of them, would be a tremendous threat to them.

From the start of the instance until now, the Man in Black Robe had never made a move. Even during Xue Wan’s threats and the earlier scramble, the Man in Black Robe remained completely still. As a result, everyone had let their guard down around him, and when this sudden turn of events occurred, they were all unprepared.

On the side of the Remaining Flower, six identical figures suddenly changed their expressions drastically, two of whom instantly transformed back into the form of the Remaining Flower—leaving now was the best choice.

The Man in Black Robe had already made his move, commanding all the Malevolent Automatons around. With just a handful of them here facing the Malevolent Automatons, not only could the Man in Black Robe not seize anything, but they would also have to expend a lot of energy, making it not worth the effort.

After retracting her skill, the Remaining Flower shouted, “We need to leave now!!”

But just as she turned around, an Arrow Feather suddenly shot towards her. Startled, the Remaining Flower hurriedly took a step back, only to find her path completely blocked by the Malevolent Automatons. Turning her head, she saw a young man dressed in black sitting casually on the edge of the rotating Stairway, his legs dangling down, leisurely pulling back his bowstring and observing everything before him with a calm and casual demeanor, as if he were watching a show rather than being surrounded by Malevolent Automatons.

Lin Zhen smiled at the Remaining Flower, intending to get up and play with the Benevolent Automatons, when the serious voice of his True Self, Yan Wei, echoed in his mind: [Stay put!]

[……] Lin Zhen felt helpless, [I haven’t had a good fight in a long time!]

At that moment, Yan Wei was hiding at the top corner of the stairs, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, spreading his Perception to sense the surrounding environment. The Moon Wheel swayed before him, cutting through the air around him and encircling him. The rushing Benevolent Automatons could not break through the barrier in an instant, and with a large number of targets ahead, they did not linger, making things much easier for Yan Wei.

He maintained the operation of the Moon Wheel, his mind racing with thoughts.

His Benevolent Automaton was now facing Xu Miaomiao, and it was clear that it would not win, but the Benevolent Automaton had no intention of fleeing; Yan Wei knew exactly what it was planning. On the side of the Manjusaka, Yan Mingguang and Yu Feizhou were engaged in combat, and for the time being, they could not retreat completely. Moreover, with the Benevolent Automatons present, he felt at ease. As for the Remaining Flower, there was a possibility she might turn back to confront the Man in Black Robe after leaving, perhaps wanting to follow him to see what he was up to.

This hidden danger had to be resolved now.

Yan Wei said to Lin Zhen: [Find a reason to hold back these disorganized players, let the Malevolent Automatons wear them down, so they won’t have the energy to deal with anything else for the next couple of days.]

Lin Zhen raised an eyebrow: [That sounds quite interesting.]

His hands moved faster than his words; he drew his longbow and casually shot at the disorganized players, saying, “Don’t rush to leave! You think you can just bring these things over and leave us to deal with the problem? Wouldn’t it be a shame not to play a little longer?”

He didn’t hold back, firing arrow after arrow, each aimed at the vital points of the Remaining Flower and the others, showing no intention of going easy.

Due to the rules of the building, players could only aim to injure their opponents unless it was a deadly feud, and they dared not truly go for the kill. Because once they did, if their opponent couldn’t defend against it, even if they killed the other, they would still be erased by the building’s rules.

This also created a psychological game during player confrontations, where deciding whether to go for the kill was a balance that both sides needed to gauge and adjust. It depended on whether one side dared to strike truly or whether the other side dared not to dodge, requiring judgment from the players.

Only a reckless madman like Lin Zhen had no such concerns.

Thus, the disorganized players were destined to lose this psychological game. When Lin Zhen made his move, they could only dodge, and as they retreated a few steps, their path was blocked by the Malevolent Automatons.

At this moment, the Malevolent Automatons had completely surrounded them, and the Remaining Flower and her group would have to fight their way out if they wanted to leave.

However, Lin Zhen’s actions had left the Remaining Flower so flustered that she had lost her temper; she turned to glare at Lin Zhen, gritting her teeth, “This madman!”

Lin Zhen achieved his goal and whistled, “I like that title.”

He jumped down from above, diving into the crowd of Malevolent Automatons.

The Man in Black Robe merely stood silently amidst the chaos.

On the other side, the players of the Manjusaka were not as desperate as the Remaining Flower’s group, but they had to deal with the oncoming Malevolent Automatons as well as Yan Mingguang and Yu Feizhou.

Xu Miaomiao swung her long staff, and the already struggling Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei was swept off balance by the sudden force, crashing against the wall. He let out a muffled groan, his brow furrowing tightly, and before he could get back up, Xu Miaomiao’s black staff pointed directly at his heart, pinning him firmly to the ground.

In the chaos, Yan Mingguang glanced over, his gaze darkening, and he exerted even more force in his hand—though this was not Yan Wei, it was still a person who looked exactly like him being held down by Xu Miaomiao.

However, the Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei and the True Self Yan Wei, who was currently commanding everyone with his Perception, had both been instructed beforehand to act as if they were too preoccupied to save anyone. He could not go to Xu Miaomiao’s side; he merely flicked his Long Whip, and the puppet that looked exactly like Xue Wan instantly shattered into pieces.

One Xu Miaomiao was blocking the surrounding Malevolent Automatons, while another Xu Miaomiao was pressing down on Yan Wei, slowly crouching down with a slight smile, saying, “Finally caught you.”

The Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei’s face turned pale, his expression quite defeated, and he seemed to panic as he said, “Without the Man in Black Robe at the Stargazing Platform, you can’t kill me.” In his amber eyes, a flicker of worry and tension passed, as if he had truly stumbled into Xu Miaomiao’s hands.

Xu Miaomiao tilted her head, “I don’t want to kill you; that would be too rude. Someone who can trick me, how could I not play with them to make up for my losses?”

As soon as she finished speaking, a player from the Manjusaka suddenly shouted, “Miaomiao! The Man in Black Robe has escaped!”

Everyone’s gaze crossed over a pile of Malevolent Automatons and saw the Man in Black Robe disappearing into the corridor under the cover of the Malevolent Automatons.

The Remaining Flower gritted her teeth, “Damn it!” This time, they had lost both the lady and the soldiers, gaining nothing while being thoroughly messed up by the Malevolent Automatons and Lin Zhen.

Yan Mingguang and the others exchanged glances, and Lin Zhen was the first to say, “Forget about him; there are more and more Malevolent Automatons. We need to leave! He won’t die anytime soon anyway.”

The True Self Yan Wei smirked in the shadows—Lin Zhen’s acting had improved significantly compared to last time; he wondered if he had found a new voice, performing in character.

After Lin Zhen finished speaking, Yan Mingguang paused, activating his short-distance teleportation skill, instantly bringing Lin Zhen and the two Yu Feizhou to the corner where the True Self Yan Wei was hiding.

The True Self Yan Wei opened the barrier of the Moon Wheel to let them in, and the surrounding Malevolent Automatons seemed to sense the increase in targets here, beginning to consciously move closer. Yan Wei quickly said, “My Perception is still following the Man in Black Robe; we need to follow him now. Xu Miaomiao’s team doesn’t have players with skills like Yan Mingguang’s; they won’t be able to keep up with the Man in Black Robe, so we need to hurry.”

Lin Zhen chuckled lightly, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

The Man in Black Robe had left, and Yan Mingguang and the others didn’t know what skill or item they had used to escape first. The scene was devoid of anything but Malevolent Automatons. With the corridors filled with Malevolent Automatons, the Remaining Flower and her group, without Lin Zhen’s obstruction, had no lingering attachments and dashed towards the direction with the fewest Malevolent Automatons.

Xu Miaomiao decisively pointed at the Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei, “Take him with us; we’re retreating.”

Yan Wei and the others followed behind the Man in Black Robe.

Perhaps because the Malevolent Automatons in this castle area had all been driven to that previous location by the Man in Black Robe, the other players had also cleared out, leaving this path remarkably quiet. The dimly lit corridor echoed with the increasingly heavy footsteps of the Man in Black Robe, and Yan Wei and the others stealthily followed behind, surprisingly not detected by him.

[It seems he really has suffered significant depletion; not only is he moving slower now, but he also has no awareness of our tracking.]

Yu Feizhou said, [This is the Stairway to the third floor.]

Yan Wei raised an eyebrow, [There’s no Stargazing Platform on the fourth floor; he really doesn’t dare to go back.]

Yu Feizhou nodded, [Your speculation should be correct; the Man in Black Robe is now heading back to a place he trusts to rest. Once he’s recovered, he’ll wait for more Malevolent Automatons to appear in this castle before returning to the Stargazing Platform to reclaim control from Xue Wan. The secret location the Man in Black Robe trusts… might be related to the secret of the crow coin you mentioned, or the secret of how he creates puppets.]

What exactly it was remained to be seen, but it was impossible to leave empty-handed.

Yan Wei had first engaged in a psychological game with Xu Miaomiao, successfully laying down Blockers throughout the castle to read the numbers of the surrounding puppets, and then used Xu Miaomiao to pave the way through the castle, identifying the prototype of the crow coin from the castle’s terrain. Subsequently, the Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei lured Xu Miaomiao and others to the Stargazing Platform below, while also bringing in those disorganized players. The True Self Yan Wei led them into chaos, causing Xue Wan and the Manjusaka to suffer mutual destruction.

This intricate layout, with each link successfully connected, had brought them to this point.

Yan Wei followed the Man in Black Robe to the third floor, but he did not relax. They seemed to have gained a significant lead, but there were still many unknowns—what were the secrets of the Man in Black Robe and the alternative methods to break the deadlock?

Since he had chosen not to participate in this massacre, breaking the deadlock would undoubtedly be much more challenging than for Xu Miaomiao and Xue Wan’s group.

At this moment, the Man in Black Robe was becoming increasingly weak; the consumption from commanding the puppets seemed to be rebounding at this moment. He staggered a few steps and stumbled into a room covered in black glass.

In a guest room on the second floor.

The door had been closed by the Manjusaka player who had just left. Xu Miaomiao sat on the sofa, while another leaned lazily against the wall with her arms crossed, facing the Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei, whose hands were bound behind his back.

Xu Miaomiao, sitting on the sofa, suddenly yanked on the other end of the rope, pulling the Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei onto the sofa. His already disheveled coat was further ruffled, and the collar drooped, making his pale face look even more disheveled.

Xu Miaomiao seemed quite pleased with this, leaning closer to examine Yan Wei closely, saying, “Why aren’t you speaking? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?”

The Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei raised his eyes, his thick eyelashes fluttering slightly. His naturally charming peach blossom eyes made any expression he wore appear obedient and friendly. Although he was speaking harshly, his demeanor lacked any aggression, “You don’t have the guts.”

Xu Miaomiao looked at his expression and felt she had already taken control of the situation. She smiled, “Why wouldn’t I? This isn’t a guaranteed death; you could be a player or a Benevolent Automaton. If I kill you directly, there’s a fifty percent chance I won’t be erased by the rules—this is actually a high-stakes gamble in the instances we’ve experienced layer by layer.”

The Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei’s brow twitched, and he surprisingly smiled lightly, “Hey, little sister, do you know how to calculate? I have a one in two chance of being a Benevolent Automaton, and you also have a one in two chance of being a Benevolent Automaton. If you kill me now, the probability of being erased by the rules is twenty-five percent; it’s worth a try.”

“Why not give it a shot?”

Xu Miaomiao paused, her gaze slowly settling on Yan Wei’s face.

She said, “Little brother, are you afraid I’ll make a move against you? Is this flirting with me?”

The Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei replied without hesitation, “Which eye of yours saw me flirting with you?”

Xu Miaomiao was taken aback.

The Benevolent Automaton Yan Wei continued, “I like men; my chances of flirting with the Man in Black Robe are higher than flirting with you.”

Xu Miaomiao: “……”