TDU Chapter 314
Chapter 314 Chen Junnan’s Way Forward
"You’re really staking your life against a {Terrestrial-grade} with only a thirty percent chance…" Yun Yao thought Chen Junnan had lost his mind.
"Is thirty percent so little?" Chen Junnan’s tone shifted, turning solemn. "To me, thirty percent is already a decent shot."
"What?"
"Superstar, if each participant has a thirty percent chance of success when gambling against a {Terrestrial-grade}, then theoretically, three {participants} could bring one down."
Yun Yao frowned. "You can’t really calculate it like that…"
"Fine, math was never my strong suit. But what if it’s four? Five?" Chen Junnan’s voice deepened. "What if it takes ten participants to trade for a single Terrestrial-grade life? Would that be enough?"
"What are you getting at?"
"There are only about twenty-something Terrestrial-grade in total, yet how many participants are there?" Chen Junnan said bluntly. "If everyone banded together and kept fighting, taking turns to sacrifice themselves, the {Earthly Branches} would’ve been wiped out by now. So what if you lose and become an {indigenous inhabitant}? As long as this damned place is destroyed, wouldn’t everyone still get out in the end?"
Yun Yao knew Chen Junnan had a point. If the true objective was to eliminate all the {Earthly Branches}, then uniting the entire population of {End Point} would naturally be the most effective approach.
But even the most effective approach couldn’t escape the limits of human nature.
Everyone knows that charging ahead is the path to victory, but who actually wants to be the first to die?
"You know as well as I do, this is merely an ideal," Yun Yao sighed. "Not all {participants} are disciplined warriors. Each pursues their own interests, and among them are many cowards and selfish individuals."
"That’s exactly why this young master’s here, to be the selfless one," Chen Junnan chuckled. "Though I’m not sure if wiping out all the {Earthly Branches} will actually do much… I’ll start by testing my strength against Terrestrial Snake."
On the other end of the line, Yun Yao fell silent, her mind turning over his words. Chen Junnan clearly possessed intimate knowledge of {End Point}, yet he concealed far more. His true intentions remained elusive.
"No need to worry about the questions anymore," Chen Junnan added. "The question master is {Black Tortoise}, and she probably doesn’t know much about Terrestrial Snake’s equipment. That last question? She was just pressing buttons at random. I figure every question from now on will be the same."
"Then… what are you planning to do?"
"What else is there to do?" Chen Junnan smiled. "We don’t have a {question master} anymore. This game’s completely turned into a {left or right} gamble, with all the questions controlled by the players themselves."
After giving a few more instructions, Chen Junnan hung up.
Now, a more urgent task lay before him—
To pinpoint the location of that old creep, Terrestrial Snake.
Things were starting to get complicated.
The room to his left had been empty until now. In theory, a simple phone call could confirm whether Terrestrial Snake had chosen that room.
But Terrestrial Snake was well versed in the game’s rules.
He understood that ever since Black Tortoise had taken over, the {questions} no longer mattered. From that point on, simply controlling the {True} and {False} answers was enough to dominate the game.
So it was entirely possible that Terrestrial Snake deliberately ignored the phone to conceal his location.
This made it impossible to determine whether he was at {-2} or {3}.
Chen Junnan pressed the dial button and waited. Just as he had anticipated, no one answered from the room immediately to his left. When the dial tone reached the eleventh beep, Xu Qian finally picked up.
"Hello?"
"Qian jie…" Chen Junnan called out. Chen Junnan called out. "Relay this question for me. Let’s see where everyone stands."
"Alright…"
Chen Junnan closed his eyes, contemplating. If Terrestrial Snake was indeed to his left and had ignored the call, that wasn’t necessarily a bad sign.
It meant Terrestrial Snake couldn’t interfere with the {questions}, allowing Chen Junnan’s intent to be conveyed clearly to Xu Qian.
And since Terrestrial Snake had joined the game, the players no longer needed to kill each other. As long as they could kill Terrestrial Snake, they would evenly divide all the {Dào} he possessed, so the sense of unity among them should strengthen.
Chen Junnan slowly opened his eyes and said, "Qian jie, the question is: {Someone has staked their life against Terrestrial Snake, shall we kill Terrestrial Snake together?}"
"That’s a good one…" Xu Qian nodded thoughtfully. "If we broadcast this throughout the entire group, the {participants} might finally seize the initiative."
"Not necessarily," Chen Junnan disagreed. "To most, it’ll seem like just another question, there’s no proof it’s true. But for now, let’s pass it along as is."
"Alright."
After they hung up, Chen Junnan’s eyes returned to the map of player distribution he had sketched on the wall.
At present, both the room to his left and the third room to Yun Yao’s right were empty; Terrestrial Snake was hiding in one of those two.
Above the third room to Yun Yao’s right, the iron ball hovered in suspension. If the answer to this round’s question was {True}, the ball would shift gradually toward the left.
Chen Junnan had already settled on his strategy.
This round, answer {True}; the next, answer {False} to send the ball back to {3}.
Then, for the third question, {Want it to fall down?}, choose {True} and bring it crashing down.
Whether Terrestrial Snake was hiding in that room or not, they would strike at him hard, multiple times.
But everything hinged on whether the participants could unite. As long as no one tampered with the questions, Chen Junnan’s message would reach at least six others. Including himself and Yun Yao, that made eight—an undeniable {majority}. Terrestrial Snake would have no choice but to await his demise.
If luck favored him even more, Terrestrial Snake wasn’t at {3} but at {-2}, unable to influence any questions. In that case, everyone would be informed of his participation.
The iron ball had ten more chances to fall. Ideally, all would land on Terrestrial Snake’s head. No matter how tough his body, death would be inevitable.
After a tense few minutes, Chen Junnan’s screen flickered.
"The verdict for this round—{True}."
Chen Junnan hesitated, then nodded slowly. A single {True} wasn’t enough to reveal the full picture–does everyone truly know Terrestrial Snake was in the game?
Now, everything depended on what came next.
‘The next question is the eleventh…’ Chen Junnan glanced again at the distribution map on the wall, his brow slowly furrowing.
The eleventh person… was none other than {3}.
"Haha!" Chen Junnan chuckled. According to the rules, the initial recipient must pass the question along by phone to the next player.
If Terrestrial Snake kept playing dead, it would be a clear violation.
‘Terrestrial Snake, you old creep, looks like you’ve dug your own grave.’
Now all that remained was to wait, wait for this round’s question to be passed on. If Terrestrial Snake wanted to survive, he’d have no choice but to pass along an altered version of the question.
{Brring—!}
The moment the phone rang, Chen Junnan snapped it to his ear.
"Speak."
"Chen Junnan!" Yun Yao’s voice was a mix of excitement and urgency. "Terrestrial Snake has revealed himself, his coordinate is {3}!"
TL Note: Rant goes here ( •̯́ ₃ •̯̀)
