TDU Chapter 278
Chapter 278 Prisoner's Dilemma
"Ah?" I jolted in shock, not knowing what I had done wrong.
"Mouse, tell me the truth. Is this the game you came up with after thinking all night?" White Goat gege asked, his tone stern.
"I... I..." I lowered my head silently. "White Goat gege, I'm sorry... I shouldn't have lied..."
Grandma had always told me that good children don't lie.
I thought that apologizing would calm White Goat gege down, but he seemed even angrier.
"Why are you apologizing?" He stood up and approached me. "If you believe {lying} is wrong, how will you survive here? This is the first time you’ve admitted your mistake to me, and I don’t want there to be a second."
"Ah...?" Looking at his expression, I wasn't sure what to do.
"Mouse, I’ve prepared a game for you." White Goat gege took a notebook from his pocket, its pages covered in writing, and said, "Today, you’ll proceed with this game."
The three misters behind me quickly gathered around to take a look.
Game Name: Fraudulent Warehouse.
Admission: Two {Dào}.
The first person enters and inspects all the items in the warehouse. After five minutes, the second person enters and does the same.
Then, both individuals take one item each and, after a second round of observation, guess what item the other has taken.
If both guess correctly, each person gets one {Dào}. If both guess incorrectly, neither gets any {Dào}. If one guesses right and the other wrong, the wrong guesser receives four {Dào}, while the correct guesser gets no reward.
The three misters pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement.
"I see..." Mister Black Goat spoke first. "This is the classic {Prisoner's Dilemma}, and the rule will tear human nature apart, possibly even leading to a huge profit."
"Though this is a {Goat}-Category game, it’s simple enough to operate," White Goat gege said. "Try following these rules today and report back to me tonight."
I nodded, though I still didn’t fully understand, and then glanced at the misters beside me.
"Little Mouse, today’s your first day on the job, so make sure you perform well," Mister Tiger said, patting my head. "If you forget the rules, just take out your little notebook and check."
"Job...?"
Mister Tiger nodded. "Yeah, Little Mouse. From now on, just stick with us, earn {Dào}, eat well, and Goat ge and we will all help you out."
Mister Snake also gave me a wink. "Be good. Don’t learn from Mister ‘Money-Draining’ Tiger. Let’s aim for no losses today."
"Ah, ok–okay."
I nodded, but then saw the misters starting to adjust their outfits. They straightened their masks and smoothed out the wrinkles on their clothes before heading out the door.
"Let's go, Little Mouse," Mister Tiger called out to me.
I tucked the notebook White Goat gege had given me into my pocket and hurried to catch up.
Mister Snake and Mister Tiger grabbed my hands, and the three of us followed White Goat gege and Mister Black Goat down the hallway.
I noticed that the doors on both sides of the corridor were slowly opening, and people wearing all kinds of masks began to step out.
Originally, I thought everyone was afraid of Mister Tiger, and they would make way when they saw him. But to my surprise, some of the masked misters and aunties were even more terrified when they saw White Goat gege, quickly retreating into their rooms.
Could White Goat gege’s temper be even fiercer than Mister Tiger’s?
As we walked ahead, we were suddenly stopped by someone.
His head looked strange—neither a mask nor a furry animal. He looked to be... a lizard?
"Terrestrial Goat, what are you doing now?" the lizard man looked at me and asked.
"Going to work," White Goat gege replied coldly. "Move aside."
"You still have the nerve to go to work?" The lizard man stood directly in front of White Goat gege. "Celestial Dragon had such high hopes for you, yet every one of your students is worse than the last. Instead of trying to educate them, now you’ve taken on a little shrimp. Is this your way of throwing the towel?"
"How my students fare is up to me," White Goat gege responded fiercely. "What are you doing trying to tell me how to manage my people?"
"I am the manager of all Terrestrial-grade {Earthly Branches}!" the lizard man yelled. "Why shouldn't I be able to manage your people?!"
"The only reason you became the manager is because I couldn’t be bothered," White Goat gege said coldly. "Go ahead and show off in front of those who flatter you, but don’t stand in front of me. If you insist on pushing your luck, I don’t care whether you're a Terrestrial Dragon, I’ll make sure you’re utterly disgraced."
The people standing behind the lizard man suddenly stepped forward. One of them, wearing a horse-head mask, pointed at White Goat gege with a fierce look and said, "Terrestrial Goat, don’t push your luck!"
"Damn Horse, who the f*ck are you talking to?!" Mister Tiger shouted, but after a glance at me, he paused and then corrected himself, "Little Horse, may I ask who you're speaking to?"
The horse-headed figure looked a bit scared, retreating behind the lizard man, and then shouted, "Mortal Tiger, don’t think you can push people around just because you’re physically strong! Once I sign the contract, I’ll be back to tear you to shreds!"
"Then I’ll f*cking… Then I’ll just kindly make sure you never get out!" Mister Tiger yelled back.
The two of them were about to come to blows, but this time, White Goat gege didn’t intervene.
In a flash, Mister Tiger knocked the man in the horse-head mask down to the ground, reaching to rip off his mask. "Laozi... I’ll just have to see what you really look like!"
Seeing that I was a little scared, Mister Snake quickly pulled me behind him, blocking my view. "Don’t worry, everything’s ok."
Just as it seemed the horse-head mask was about to be ripped off, the lizard man moved. He stepped forward and threw a punch at Mister Tiger's back. But in the next second, White Goat gege suddenly appeared, kicking the lizard man’s fist away with ease.
I thought this was just a regular brawl, but when their fists and feet collided, a deafening sound rang out, shaking me so much that I almost lost my balance.
"Terrestrial Goat! You dare lay a hand on me?!" The lizard man looked furious. "Have I been too merciful with you?!"
"No, I have been too merciful with you," White Goat gege replied. "Merciful to the point that you think you can just mess with my people."
"You..." The lizard man gritted his teeth, clutching his wrist. His face was actually twitching. "Dare to provoke me... You will regret this sooner or later..."
"I don’t need to regret anything," White Goat gege said with a chilling tone. "After all, I’m currently considering how to kill you."
"What?! You..." The lizard man ground his teeth. "Kill me? Do you really have no regard for the Celestial Dragon?!"
"I'll personally apologize to him if I kill you," White Goat gege smiled faintly. "If he executes me, he’ll lose two valuable pawns in one go. So, for the sake of the bigger picture, it’s highly probable I’ll be pardoned."
"What the hell are you, some kind of madman?" The lizard man’s tone softened noticeably. "You’d actually scheme against Celestial Dragon?"
"As a matter of fact, Celestial Dragon appreciates my schemes," White Goat gege said coolly. "If you understood, then get lost. If you delay everyone from working... the losses of everyone present today will be solely yours to bear."
TL Note: To my lovely supporters, be sure to check out the new perk I just released for ya! Please enjoy and again, thank you so much for supporting my efforts!
