Tang Ci said there are 18 Hunters in the world, but only 6 teammates, meaning the number of Hunters is three times the number of Challengers. Chu Huaying didn't doubt this conclusion, but she wondered, " Xiao Tang, how did you determine the number of Hunters and Challengers?"
Tang Ci explained, "When I woke up, I was in the company office. I didn't go to find you right away. Instead, I hacked into the company's surveillance system to check if there were any suspicious people inside. Not long after, I saw two people sneaking into the bathroom to chat. Their conversation revealed some information—they said that this mission was to take out six people, and they outnumbered them three to one. I guessed that the mission they were talking about was Hunter's mission."
Chu Huaying nodded: "Luckily, you were observant enough to overhear this crucial conversation. It seems that the first link in the relay mission involves the six of us, and we'll be facing 18 Hunters."
Ye Qi counted carefully: "The first one who pretended to be Professor Xiao was caught and locked up in the apartment by Sister Ying and me; the two Hunters who pretended to be Brother Long and Teacher Qu are currently locked up in Peach Blossom Spring; the waiters at the Western Restaurant have been dealt with by Sister Ying; there are a total of 6 children in the square, plus Qi Ran whom we just took down, making a total of 11 people."
Tang Ci added, " I trapped two Hunters from my company in the bathroom, making a total of 13 people including them."
Gui Yuanzhang said, "Including my housekeeper and nanny, there are 15 people."
Chu Huaying stroked her chin: "So, there are still 3 Hunters left to find?"
Tang Ci said, "They're most likely at the Western Restaurant. When you were trying to withdraw from Peach Blossom Spring, didn't you encounter Card Magnetic Field Shielding? The person who cast the shielding spell must be at the Western Restaurant."
Chu Huaying agreed with this speculation. She thought for a moment and suggested, "Why don't we all go back to Peach Blossom Spring? Since there are only 3 Hunters left, we have 6 against 3, so we don't need to be afraid of them."
Gui Yuanzhang frowned: "Now that they've discovered the entrance to Peach Blossom Spring, if we go back now, they might have already set up an ambush at Western Restaurant. For example, they might have planted explosives around the entrance to Peach Blossom Spring and detonated them as soon as we appear."
Recalling his near-burnt-to-the-ground experience, Ye Qi still felt lingering fear: "Senior Gui's words make sense. If we go straight back to Peach Blossom Spring, even though we outnumber them, what if they've already set up an ambush? Wouldn't that be like walking into a trap?"
Chu Huaying shrugged: "What do you think we should do?"
Tang Ci paused for a moment before saying, "How about this, we all put on Invisibility Cloaks and ambush them at Western Restaurant. My drone can monitor the Hunter's movements from a distance. With a drone scouting, even if they set a trap, we can detect it in advance."
The group exchanged glances and agreed that Tang Ci's suggestion was more reasonable.
Their relay mission is to find all the Hunters. They can't run away from it. Since there are still three Hunter remnants left in the Western Restaurant, they have to face them.
After discussing their strategy, Gui Yuanzhang used a floating calligraphy brush to carry Tang Ci and Ye Qi, while the others used displacement tokens. The group of six quickly arrived near the Western Restaurant in Central Square.
Tang Ci sent drone The card instructed the drone to fly high into the sky to monitor the activities inside the Western Restaurant. After a moment, the drone captured images of the restaurant. Tang Ci whispered, " Everything inside the Western Restaurant is normal. No signs of foul play were found. However, two people dressed as waiters have been loitering around VIP room 7... Were you in room 7 just now?"
Chu Huaying said, "That's right."
Tang Ci said, "It should be those two. Sure enough, they were lying in wait at Western Restaurant."
Ye Qi looked up at the location of Western Restaurant and said seriously, "This building isn't very tall. I can sneak up to the roof from the back, then change Li Qingzhao's marker and lure you all to the roof. Western Restaurant is on the top floor of the building. We can fly in through the roof window and launch a sneak attack. The success rate should be higher, right?"
Chu Huaying nodded in agreement: "That's a good idea. Xiao Ye has the Zerg's climbing ability, so climbing this building will be easy for him. You can climb up silently first, then use the marker to pull us to the roof, and we can all launch a surprise attack together, catching the Hunter off guard."
Ye Qi took two steps forward, then asked疑惑地, "By the way, didn't Mr. Tang say there were still 3 Hunters left? We only found 2 at Western Restaurant, where's the last one?" He scratched his head, feeling that something was off. From the moment Tang Ci and Old Gui appeared, it seemed he had overlooked some important information?
The drone surveillance did indeed detect two people dressed as waiters walking around near private room number 7 at Western Restaurant.
Where is the last Hunter Boss?
Tang Ci speculated, "We have Invisibility Cloak, and Hunter might have it too. It's very likely that Hunter has gone into hiding. Taking care of these two first will greatly reduce our pressure."
Now that everyone has cards, after taking care of the two on the top floor, there's no need to worry about a six-on-one situation.
Ye Qi nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go first then!"
He reached the corner of the building, stretched out his hands, and his sharp nails instantly dug into the wall. Wearing an invisibility cloak, Ye Qi used all four limbs to crawl quickly along the wall, reaching the roof of the more than ten-story building in less than 10 seconds.
He modified Li Qingzhao's marker on the rooftop, and after waiting another 5 minutes, he could summon his teammates over.
Ye Qi was lying on the edge of the eaves.
He then threw an eavesdropping device against the wall and listened carefully to what was happening inside.
A fierce fight had just taken place at the Western Restaurant. Chu Huaying had dealt with Hunter, who had created 12 shadow clones. Bloodstains from the fight still lingered on the ground. All the waiters in the restaurant had disappeared, leaving only two people pacing back and forth.
Ye Qi overheard their conversation—
The young man said, "Is the boss's plan reliable? Will they really go back to Western Restaurant?"
The woman said, "Don't worry, if they want to complete their mission, they must find all the Hunters. Unless they want to give up, they will definitely come back and fall into our trap."
trap?
Ye Qi was very puzzled. If there was no trap planted in Western Restaurant, where was the trap set?
Perhaps, as Mr. Tang said, there is a boss in Hunter lurking nearby, and once they appear, he will immediately use a wide-range card skill to control them.
Therefore, they must strike first.
The Card Magnetic Field Shielding skill poses the greatest threat to everyone, but it only lasts for 5 minutes. By then, the shielding field will have already failed. If all six of them have cards in hand and they are wiped out in a six-on-one fight, then they have truly wasted all their time.
The countdown for the Li Qingzhao marker in the floating box has reached its final 10 seconds.
Ye Qi took a deep breath and chose the best position—he would break in through the window from here, quickly subdue the two Hunters before they could react, and then work with his teammates to take down their leader.
Countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2...
The instant the number jumped to 0, Ye Qi's modified marker indeed showed several teammates.
Ye Qi was about to break through the window when he saw his teammate's face and suddenly froze.
Tang Ci, Gui Yuanzhang, Long Sen, Qu Wanyue, Chu Huaying.
These five people had already agreed that Ye Qi would mark their teleportation, so their appearance here is not surprising.
An additional person appeared at the marked point— Lu Jiuchuan!
Aside from Ye Qi's wide-eyed surprise, the other teammates were also filled with shock when they saw Lu Jiuchuan suddenly appear.
Ninth Brother?!
Wasn't it said there were only six Challengers in this escape room? Why is there another Ninth Brother?!
Chu Huaying quickly regained her senses. She teleported behind Lu Jiuchuan like lightning, and thrust her blood-red spider dagger into the center of Lu Jiuchuan's back!
Lu Jiuchuan's reaction was also extremely sharp. The tall man suddenly bent down, narrowly avoiding Hua Ying's blade, and then with a backhand grappling move, accurately grabbed Chu Hua Ying's wrist!
Chu Huaying felt a sudden jolt in her hand, a powerful force nearly causing her to drop her dagger. She swiftly retreated two steps, slithering like a snake to Lu Jiuchuan's side, her blood-stained spider dagger aimed straight for Lu Jiuchuan's carotid artery—
Lu Jiuchuan hurriedly took half a step back. The dagger almost grazed his skin, leaving a thin bloody mark on his neck. While blocking her attack, Lu Jiuchuan whispered, " Hua Ying, it's me, don't do it!"
Almost simultaneously, Tang Ci's calm voice reached everyone's ears: " Hua Ying, be careful, he's the last Hunter!"
Teammates: "......"
Lu Jiuchuan suddenly turned to look at Tang Ci, his gaze sharp as a sword, almost piercing a hole in Tang Ci's face. He said coldly, " Xiao Tang, do you remember the code I told you? Sometime, I'd like to take you to Crescent Lake in Dunhuang."
Tang Ci frowned and said, "This secret has already been leaked. Hunter knows the code we agreed on."
Lu Jiuchuan slightly curled the corners of his lips: "Is that so?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly took out a sharp sword. The sword was pure white and exuded a chilling aura. The blade was covered with a layer of ice, which lowered the temperature of the surrounding area by several degrees.
Lu Jiuchuan swept his longsword horizontally, instantly freezing Chu Huaying, who was closest to him, into an ice sculpture. Then, the sword's edge passed over the other teammates around him—and was pointed directly at Tang Ci's throat!
Tang Ci's close-combat skills were extremely poor, and Lu Jiuchuan's attacks were extremely fierce. Just as the sharp sword was about to pierce through his throat, Tang Ci's face turned deathly pale, and he almost subconsciously closed his eyes.
At this critical moment, Gui Yuanzhang suddenly flicked his brush upwards, and Lu Jiuchuan's longsword was blown off course several degrees by a strong gust of wind. The sharp sword did not pierce Tang Ci's throat, but it did cut off a strand of hair beside his ear.
Her black hair was blown about by the wind and fell to her feet. Tang Ci's face was drained of color as she gritted her teeth and stared at Lu Jiuchuan.
Lu Jiuchuan did not sheath his longsword, the tip still pointing at Tang Ci. His gaze was even colder as he stared at the man before him and said in a low voice, word by word, " Tang Ci is the only one. You have no right to replace him—you are the last Hunter."
Teammates: "......"
Ye Qi looked completely bewildered, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue exchanged glances, Gui Yuanzhang frowned as if he didn't know who to believe, and Chu Huaying was frozen solid on the side.
Tang Ci remained calm, though his lips were slightly pale. He met Lu Jiuchuan's gaze and said, "Stop acting. This is the world of December 24th— Lu Jiuchuan died three years ago and should not exist in this world at all."
He paused for a moment, then said calmly, "No matter how realistic your acting is, you can't fool us."
Lu Jiuchuan smiled jokingly, his gaze sweeping over his teammates: "Do you believe him, or do you believe me?"