Chapter 152
Chapter 152
Xiao Qian was not surprised by the match’s effect. He watched the flames consume the black insects.
One second, two seconds…
Then he realized something was wrong.
The other players noticed it too.
The insects burned within the raging flames without making a sound.
And they were… completely unharmed.
The black beetles’ shells could actually block the flames, and a ring of them had formed around the yellow insects.
Although the yellow insects could not resist the fire themselves, they remained perfectly safe behind the wall of black beetles.
The black insects had not volunteered to serve as shields.
The yellow insects had forced them into it somehow.
Countless slender, almost transparent threads emerged from the yellow insects’ abdominal organs, pierced the black beetles’ bodies, and dragged them bodily into place to block the flames.
Without question, the yellow insects were more intelligent.
The other players were about to lose their minds. Why did these insects have yet another trick?
If such a massive blaze could not burn them to death, what could possibly drive them away?!
In the blink of an eye, only one minute remained.
The cages were visibly turning transparent.
Xiao Qian’s expression darkened. He scratched his left arm, then clenched his fist.
Xiao Huai raised his eyes and coughed. “Xiao Qian.”
At the sound of his voice, Xiao Qian looked over. He did not answer, only stared at him.
Xiao Huai said softly, “There’s no need.”
Xiao Qian’s heart clenched the instant the words fell.
If his flames were ineffective, Lethal Lotus might also be severely weakened. Even divine fire might fare no better.
Worse still, Lethal Lotus was on cooldown for another six minutes. He could not use the blessing before then.
They would never last until the cooldown ended.
But Xiao Huai had already thought of a better method than fire.
The ability to handle pressure meant remaining calm under extreme stress and making every decision with a clear mind.
How could they escape this place?
The answer was in the cages.
The electrified fences kept the black beetles from approaching too closely.
The reason was simple. They feared electricity.
Xiao Huai shouted to Xiao Qian, “Do you have an item that can release a large amount of water quickly?”
Xiao Qian’s eyes widened. “Yes!”
“Then someone must have something made of rubber too, right?” Xiao Huai suddenly turned toward the others, the faintest smile in his eyes.
Rubber? Water?
What did the two have in common?
Both were connected to electricity.
Rubber insulated. Water conducted.
The sight of Xiao Huai’s composure seemed to soothe the players’ agitation with an invisible force. It did not take them long to understand his plan.
Xiao Huai stepped onto a thick insulating rubber mat and signaled to Xiao Qian.
Understanding at once, Xiao Qian produced an unremarkable glass bottle. Yet the instant he removed its stopper, a torrent of water gushed out in every direction.
Watching from a distance, Ling Chen’s eyelids twitched. When his gaze settled on Xiao Huai, the corners of his mouth involuntarily rose a few millimeters.
He truly was special.
The black beetles drove their mouthparts into the ground to keep from being washed away. The yellow insects, meanwhile, seemed to sense the danger and tried to retreat at once.
But the foolish black beetles anchored to the ground temporarily blocked their escape.
Life and death were often decided in a single instant.
As the cages vanished, Xiao Huai threw a charged stun device into the water.
Dazzling arcs of electricity flashed across the surface.
The yellow insects shrieked. Their bodies convulsed violently under the current, giving off foul, scorched smoke.
The black beetles collapsed one after another when the current struck them. Their dark bodies twisted and trembled on the ground before finally going still.
The other players stood utterly stunned. Like Xiao Huai, they had bought insulating rubber mats from the System Shop.
They had understood the method Xiao Huai might use. But actually seeing it unfold was another matter.
The impact of the sight was impossible to shake.
Freed from the cages, the players began displaying their individual talents, using every means at their disposal to knock the beetles from the walls.
The insects looked terrifying, but under the players’ relentless attacks, they could not hold out for long. One after another, they fell into the electrified water like dead leaves.
The instant they landed, they erupted in sizzling crackles.
Xiao Huai watched coldly as electricity flashed around him and the insect swarm perished beneath his gaze.
For them, survival was instinct. To survive, feasting on their own kind had become second nature.
Even as they were electrocuted, the yellow insects did not forget to devour the corpses of their kin.
Greed was carved into their genes, even though they were only insects.
As time passed, the shrieks gradually faded, finally giving way to silence.
The air reeked of charred flesh. Xiao Huai stopped throwing stun devices into the river.
He looked at Xiao Qian. That one glance was enough. Xiao Qian stood the bottle upright in his palm, and the water miraculously rushed back through its mouth.
The curly-haired girl beside Xiao Qian could no longer restrain her admiration. “Hey, handsome, how do you have so many amazing items? You’re like…”
Like Doraemon, with an all-purpose pocket.
But she quickly shut her mouth without saying it aloud.
Xiao Qian was quite handsome, but his features resembled a fox more than a cat, and a cunning, intelligent fox at that.
If she compared him to a fat blue cat with no ears, he might roll his eyes at her.
“Like what?” To her surprise, Xiao Huai asked.
Xiao Qian had not even noticed the curly-haired girl’s flattery, but Xiao Huai’s question made him look over as well.
For reasons she could not explain, the curly-haired girl suddenly felt pressured. “Like… like a top-floor expert!”
She exhaled, privately congratulating herself on her quick thinking.
In a horror game, praising someone as a top-floor expert could never go wrong.
It was a fact that top-floor experts possessed many items. Her explanation was perfectly logical.
Xiao Huai’s brow lifted ever so slightly. “Oh? A top-floor expert? It’s possible.”
He tilted his head and gave Xiao Qian an enigmatic half smile, staring until Xiao Qian began to feel uneasy.
Before long, however, applause sounded from the distance.
In an instant, the insects’ corpses turned to vapor and vanished.
Ling Chen approached and looked at the players. “Mm. Natural selection. Their deaths were inevitable. You survived only because of luck.”
When he said the word *luck*, Ling Chen deliberately looked at Xiao Huai several times.
Xiao Qian glared at him. This was no ordinary luck. It was ability.
Besides, luck itself was a kind of ability.
Xiao Qian asked, “Does that mean we’ve met your standard?”
Ling Chen laughed and began pointing from the left. “You, you, and you…”
One by one, he pointed to six of the seven players. “You all pass. But you…”
His gaze settled on Xiao Huai. “You don’t.”