Since who gets eaten each round and who doesn't isn't publicly announced, everyone only knows their own situation and can vaguely speculate on the situation of the person before and after them, but can't speculate any further than that.
Because the person to be eliminated is the one who has been preyed upon the most, in addition to avoiding being targeted, one can also try to increase the number of times others are preyed upon.
Now, when other creatures fall into one's hands, some people think that staying home and waiting for another round of clockwise rotation could result in being eaten by the one passed down from above, thus increasing others' times of being preyed upon, which could also increase one's chances of winning.
So, this time three teams decided to stay, while the remaining three teams chose to go out. After they voted, an agent went down to collect the votes, but this time the agent opened the box.
He looked and found it was three against three; in such a situation, someone was bound to be eaten. So, the agent directly took a dagger from his waist, sliced his hand, and then used the blood on the tip to alter the votes.
Logically speaking, altering English words is difficult because it's not just about adding or subtracting a stroke to change the meaning. To change the meaning, you'd have to erase and rewrite, but the coincidence here is that the letters weren't written with a special pen, but with blood.
The blood doesn't coagulate that fast and can be covered by other blood. The agent wiped it with his injured hand, and nothing could be seen, then he turned it around and rewrote on the blank side.
However, there's another problem, which is that he's not sure of this group's writing habits since the organizer didn't provide a standard format. 'Go out' might be written as "Go out", and some people might just write "Go" or "out".
The agent hadn't seen the first round's notes and didn't know exactly which word each group would use, but everyone else had seen them. If what is written differs from the last round, it could easily arouse suspicion.
But soon, an idea struck the agent. Altering the word for going out is quite difficult, but altering the word for staying in is very simple because the expression for staying in is basically singular: 'Stay'.
Of course, some might write 'Stay here' or 'Stay put', which means the same as 'stay in'. But this phrase is a bit long, and without a fine pen, with everyone writing with their hands or an iron pick, it's generally impossible to fit in; the chance of just writing 'Stay' is very high.
So the agent simply wiped all words indicating going out and changed them to words for staying in. The paper being stained with blood was peculiar, but when the agent glanced over, there were quite a few blood stains on the notes.
After all, nobody would create a new wound just to write; they mostly got some blood from an old wound. Old wounds are on the collarbone area, which is not ideal for drawing blood, so it easily gets everywhere.
Some groups had another uninjured person do the writing, which was slightly better; but for some, the leader was the injured person, with their hands covered in blood, almost soaking the entire paper. Though this was what the organizers wanted to achieve, it also left a loophole—the chance that altering notes might go unnoticed.
However, the planners rarely expected that someone would alter the notes. After all, in the original plan, no one would have accessed the notes prematurely, with everything executed by mechanisms. Who knew the players before were so aggressive that Stark was too scared to put his mechanical hand down, giving the agent a chance.
As for his motives, it wasn't about sympathy for the players or hatred for the organizers; some people simply want to watch the world burn.
After the notes are delivered, they are set aside unread, which helps the agent disguise his actions, because when they finally check, the blood has dried, and the sequence cannot be discerned.
This time, the rotation direction was clockwise again, and the organizers' voting result was another step forward. But the Joker was already rubbing his hands, chuckling, "Someone is sure to choose to stay; I wonder who will be eaten?"
He eagerly opened the box. Open one, stay in; open another, stay in; open one more, still stay in. Everyone stayed put, with another round wasted.
The Joker angrily smashed the box on the ground, practically crying out in frustration. He wanted Batman to cut off his ear or finger for him; how could these people not move?!
Actually, this indicates a shortcoming in their planning team. If Arrogant were here, he probably could tell from the blood traces that the blood had been altered once. But these few simply aren't adept at handling serial murder cases.
As for Greed and Stark, there's no need to say more; they aren't Gothamites; they wouldn't study these perverse things out of boredom. The Joker and Scarecrow should have noticed, but the Joker usually deals with explosives, and Scarecrow uses poisons, so neither engages in a study involving blood. Although Mephisto is devilish and might occasionally paint with human blood, he doesn't have good control over human blood coagulation time and form, so no one noticed.
If Arrogant were here, he would surely notice at a glance that the blood was covered, and the seepage status was off. But because he didn't see it, the agent's vote-changing behavior went unnoticed, and they managed to bypass this level.
However, the players below are all sharp. Being free from arrest for two consecutive rounds, they sensed something was amiss.
Putting other things aside, they could see the direction and the number of spaces the mechanism moved. Two consecutive rounds had the same number, which seemed a bit too coincidental, right?
Actually, one space is the ideal state because it's easier to deduce, requiring only consideration of the player on the left and right. But if there are more spaces, calculations become hard. With a voter's pattern so beneficial to the players, this undercover agent really threw themselves into it.
Given the inside player's dedication, the others couldn't just sit back. Since it's Christmas Eve again, they can spare some time to study how to thoroughly clear this level.
Of course, maintaining peace like this is possible; after all, it's just six rounds, and they can manage through. However, nobody knows when the inside player might step up their game, and if things change, someone might end up having bad luck. Seeking crafty methods is crucial for survival.
Pamela was the first to look up, gazing towards the small opening above. She estimated that she should be able to reach her hand out, thanks to her petite figure; her frame is small, and her palms and forearms are very slender. Though the opening is tiny, she can stretch out at least half an arm.
Judging the length, she might be able to grab the mechanical arm. But if it suddenly lifts upwards, her arm could get stuck, possibly injured, but at least it might hold the mechanical arm for a while.
But merely jamming the mechanical arm isn't enough, is it? Pamela looked at the seams on the room's ceiling, presumably welded extremely solidly. Conventional removal is unrealistic, so the mechanical arm must be yanked down. However, their weight isn't sufficient to overcome the mechanical arm's strength.
If one team isn't enough weight-wise, what about two teams? Would pulling jointly manage to bring it down?
No, pulling it down merely in a balanced manner is useless. Because if the mechanism breaks, they can repair it or forcibly make them let go. They have to seize the moment when the mechanical arm stops or gets pulled down to do something. But what action can they take?
Harley recalled the entire structure of the mechanism. It is essentially a large circle, slightly smaller in diameter than the lower compartments but considerably larger than the upper lantern. Pulling one side of the circle down should tilt the other upward, resembling a balance scale, allowing it to nearly reach the lantern.
The problem now is none of them can leave, nor can they execute an Alpha strike, directly leaping into the lantern and eliminating everyone. Thus using the circle as a seesaw isn't feasible.
Yet someone calculated more precisely than him, that being Anatoli. Before even entering, he had already gauged the circle's diameter relative to the lantern's bottom and the ceiling above. He confirmed that tilting the circle wouldn't hit the lantern's bottom, because of its smaller diameter preventing contact.
However, the circle couldn't simply flip over but would get stuck at the lantern's top. It's called a lantern because the top is larger than the bottom, creating a top-heavy appearance.
Pushing the lantern from below, attempting to topple it, is virtually impossible due to an arduous lever effect. But pushing from the top makes it easier to overthrow. As long as the pulled-down circle applies lateral force to the lantern's cap, only two outcomes are possible: either the ceiling flies off, or the lantern collapses entirely, depending on how solidly the bottom is connected.
If the former happens, they do have an escape route. Even if the ceiling suddenly disappears, players will need time to climb up, very likely allowing them to escape. But if the entire thing flips over, the distance to the escape route is worryingly far. Not to mention, the fall would leave them dazed, likely unable to get up for a while.
Presently, with players unable to exit, it means this plan can't proceed right now. Otherwise, after toppling the lantern, they could still escape through other doors. To proceed, this must happen at the final level.
Anatoli had already checked; this compartment was tightly sealed, with no channels aside from the entrance door, meaning there's no way in from the sides or below. Eventually, they surely have to let them out, even if one by one, there must be a moment the doors open.
Thoughts ricocheted back and forth, Anatoli already had a clear plan, but first he needed to communicate with his neighbor next door. During the voting, he started knocking on the wall again.
By chance, Harley was his neighbor. Harley chose Tiger, and when he entered, Wolf and Weasel were already chosen, and Anatoli's group picked Wolf. Tiger was right next to Wolf, their rooms and ideas were adjacent.