TDU Chapter 480
Chapter 480 A Meticulous Plan?
“Whoa what?!” Chen Junnan froze. “Did you say you’re a {Reverberatee} who can {pass through walls}?”
“Uh…” Cui Fourteen was startled at Chen Junnan’s exaggerated reaction. “Captain, have you heard of me?”
“Ah no, no, no…” Chen Junnan shook his head. “It’s just that I often fantasize that my own {Reverberation} could {pass through walls}…”
“Why’s that?” Cui Fourteen asked, curious. “That’s not even a particularly powerful ability. You probably don’t know how many times I’ve died from suffocating inside walls…”
“Really?” Chen Junnan scratched his nose. “But I still think {passing through walls} is really practical, at least more than my—”
Chen Junnan swallowed the words {Penalty Proxy} before they left his mouth.
“Captain…” Song Seven turned to Chen Junnan. “We’ve known each other for a while, and we still don’t know what your {Reverberation} is?”
Everyone looked at Chen Junnan expectantly. A person so highly regarded by Qian Five surely must have an extraordinary ability.
Chen Junnan, seeing their eager expressions, first lifted the corner of his mouth, then draped an arm over Song Seven’s shoulder, and said to the group with an almost insincere smile, “Xiao Song, don’t pry too much into worldly matters, and neither should you all. This young master’s fearsome {Reverberation} unsettles all who hear it.”
“Huh?”
“In any case, don’t probe further,” Chen Junnan said. “If I were to reveal it, it would lose its effect. You just need to remember that my ability can save your lives at a critical moment…”
“Uh…” The collective grew genuinely curious. An ability that could save lives at a crucial moment sounded extremely rare, so why was he unwilling to reveal it?
“Enough, enough.” Chen Junnan waved his hand. “I already have a rough idea of all your abilities. Let’s start discussing possible tactics.”
“Well…” Song Seven forced a wry smile. “Captain, no one’s told you about their {Reverberation Trigger} yet…”
“There’s no need.” Chen Junnan waved his hand. “If you tell me more, my brain will get overloaded. Let things unfold naturally. After all, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it; and it will be all right by the night.”
Usually so cautious, Song Seven found himself completely at a loss. The captains of the other three teams all appeared far more dependable than Chen Junnan, yet fate conspired to place him under Chen Junnan’s command.
“In that case, I’ll share my thoughts first.” Cui Fourteen spoke up.
Chen Junnan recalled that when Terrestrial Rabbit had explained the rules earlier, the first opinion Song Seven had sought was hers. It seemed Cui Fourteen would serve as the {strategist} of this game.
“Go ahead, Xiao Fourteen.”
“I believe the most important factor in this game is {visibility}.” Cui Fourteen stated bluntly.
“{Visibility}?”
“Yes.” Cui Fourteen nodded. “We and Terrestrial Rabbit start from the same room. He can see the direction each of us heads toward, that itself is far too fatal. We must shake off Terrestrial Rabbit’s line of sight as swiftly as possible, so he has no idea which way we’re moving.”
“Wow…” Chen Junnan nodded. “Girl, you’ve got a hint of Ole Qi’s manner about you.”
“I don’t know who Ole Qi is,” Cui Fourteen remarked earnestly. “But we must {lock the doors} whenever possible, keeping Terrestrial Rabbit from seeing which one we enter. Once his pursuit path is disrupted, our chances of escaping this place will rise.”
Song Seven pressed his lips together, glanced at the layout of the room, and asked, “But our starting room only has two doors…”
“Exactly. Which is why we must split up," Cui Fourteen said. “The six of us must divide into two groups to minimize losses.”
“Is that safe?” Song Seven continued to ask. “Even if we split into two teams and enter two separate doors, Terrestrial Rabbit will still chase one. Our odds of shaking him off aren’t high.”
“Forming two teams is only the first step,” Cui Fourteen continued. “Mid-game, we shift into three teams to create the illusion that we remain in just two. Later, we split into six teams, each acting independently. We will circle around Terrestrial Rabbit, confusing him, and finally seizing the chance to scatter and escape.”
“I see.” Song Seven nodded. “It does sound like a relatively reliable plan. If anything happens, all we can do is adapt—”
Chen Junnan stood to the side, absentmindedly picking at his nose while mulling over the plan’s feasibility. After a moment, he reached out and patted Song Seven on the shoulder. “Xiao Song, wait a moment.”
“Hey, don’t use a booger-covered hand to pat me…”
“Don’t get worked up. Wait, just wait,” Chen Junnan interrupted, mulling for a moment. “Are you perhaps focusing on the wrong point?”
“The wrong point?” Cui Fourteen blinked, her large eyes darting about in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Can we really {circle around} Terrestrial Rabbit?” Chen Junnan asked.
“You’re implying…”
Chen Junnan moved to the wall nearby and drew a four-by-four grid with his fingernail. In the top-left square, he drew a circle, and in the bottom-right, he sketched a triangle.
“Our goal is to move from this circle…across several turns, and reach this triangle,” he explained. “Am I correct?”
“Yes,” Cui Fourteen affirmed with a nod.
“During that time, as long as any one of us encounters Terrestrial Rabbit, we’ll be killed,” Chen Junnan continued.
“Correct.”
“Then…have you considered this possibility?” Chen Junnan pointed toward the triangle in the lower-right corner of the grid. “Terrestrial Rabbit might not need to chase us at all. He could simply reach this triangle before we do, guard the exit, and none of us would be able to leave.”
His words fell like a sudden revelation, leaving everyone present momentarily stunned.
Indeed, nowhere in the rules did it say Terrestrial Rabbit was forbidden from guarding the exit. If he arrived in advance, all of them would be doomed.
And since Terrestrial Rabbit’s {move} only required a single action slot each turn, he could easily travel faster than them. What justification was there for him to arrive after all the others?
“This young master has…a rather reckless plan,” Chen Junnan suddenly spoke up, a wicked smile slowly spreading across his face. “If I lay it out, even Ole Qi would praise my brilliance.”
The group couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding at Chen Junnan’s smile.
“Captain…what exactly is your plan?”
“Alas, it’s nothing much,” Chen Junnan waved a hand casually. “I’m only looking to recruit two {Door-Closing Disciples}. Anyone interested in learning how to {close doors}?”
“Huh?” Song Seven looked clearly stunned at Chen Junnan’s words. “{Door-Closing Disciples}? What does that even mean? What exactly are you planning?”
“As the name suggests,” Chen Junnan replied, “Terrestrial Rabbit will expend all his action points each turn just to {unlock} and {open doors}. All we need to do is deliberately leave two people behind whose sole responsibility is to keep closing the doors, preventing that old rascal from leaving the starting point.”
As soon as Chen Junnan finished speaking, the expressions on everyone’s faces turned increasingly complicated.
TL Note: Map~
