Chapter 4628: Desperate Escape (Part 7)

Shiler temporarily suppressed the plan to go back to the high tower to find someone to trouble, and said: "I think, speed might really be important."

Bruce turned to look at him. Shiler said: "This is not a confrontational dungeon, so I am more inclined to multi-group cooperation. However, from the design of the previous puzzles, the way of cooperation might not be as simple as working together."

"You mean, being fast might not necessarily be a good thing?"

Shiler nodded and said: "Perhaps the order of reaching a certain level is important. People walking in front need to clear the way for those behind, and might have to make more sacrifices."

"So what?" Bruce appeared a bit understated, "Since it's not a confrontational dungeon, there won't be a zero-sum game, so in cooperation, who pays more and who pays less is not that important."

"I'm just worried that it won't be a payment of physical strength and brainpower." Shiler emphasized, "Starting off by nailing one side to the collarbone and soaking the other side in water is a warning. The mastermind who locked us here—if there really is such a person in the plot—is telling us that it is impossible to walk out of this dungeon without bleeding. Physical harm is indispensable."

"Since everyone has to bleed, then falling behind won't be able to avoid it, right?" Bruce looked at Shiler and said.

Shiler shook his head and didn't say anything more. Bruce saw a kind of hidden worry in his eyes, but hadn't been able to understand what he was worrying about for the time being. The atmosphere suddenly became a bit heavy.

Bruce was not used to such an atmosphere, so he had to find a way to resolve it: "We are not necessarily the fastest. In case that guy in metal armor is also here, he must be leading, I have never won against him in the Dou Realm."

"Besides, since it's cooperation, we can always think of ways together, it doesn't necessarily have to go into such an extreme situation."

Shiler didn't speak, just walked toward the opened door. Bruce had to follow behind him. Behind the door was a long corridor, probably tens of meters long. The corridor was very narrow, even for one person to pass, one had to turn sideways slightly.

Fortunately, the designer of the dungeon didn't seem to intend to set up a dead-end situation. There were no mechanisms in this long corridor, otherwise, it would truly be a case of calling heaven and earth to no avail.

There was a door at the end of the corridor. When walking to the door, Shiler was just able to see the situation inside the door through a window the size of a fist on the door. To be precise, he saw the opposite wall. On both sides of the wall, there was a torch, illuminating a line of words written on the wall—"Those who enter this door do not bleed".

Shiler took a soft breath. He thought quickly.

"Those who enter this door do not bleed" provided two key pieces of information, one is that behind the door is safe, and people who enter don't have to be injured. And the other implied meaning is that people who don't enter are probably going to suffer.

If this sentence was completely false, it would be too low-level, it would be better to fire a crossbow arrow directly in the corridor and pierce the two people through. So Shiler was more inclined to believe that this sentence was true, that behind the door there was no danger, and the first layer of meaning was definitely correct.

However, whether the implied meaning was correct was worth thinking about. This is a very typical psychological trap. "Inside the door is safe" is what makes people associate "outside the door is unsafe". "People who enter can be uninjured" makes people feel "people who don't enter must be injured".

The human brain will automatically expand "entering the door to obtain safety" into "only by entering the door can one obtain safety, not entering the door is definitely unsafe". This will create a sense of crisis.

This door was clearly specially designed. Only the first person to walk over could see the words on the wall through this small window. The second person to walk over would be blocked by the head of the person in front and wouldn't be able to see that window at all. This information was only known to the first person.

Normally, when facing an unknown dangerous environment, it would be the more powerful one walking in front, bearing the risk of exploration. Such people tend to be more protective.

Under the simultaneous action of a sense of crisis and a protective desire, the person walking in front who sees this information would be more inclined to let the person behind enter. Because the previous puzzle already explained that one must possess a certain spirit of self-sacrifice to pass the test. The inertia of thinking would make people feel that this time it was the same.

But the problem is that this corridor is too narrow. It is very difficult to exchange front and back positions. Under normal standing conditions, one has to turn sideways slightly to move forward. Even if completely sideways, the remaining space is not enough for another person to pass.

Then the way to exchange positions is vertical exchange. One person climbs up, letting the other person pass from underneath, or the person behind climbs over from above.

Shiler looked up at the top. There was about half a meter of space above his head. If one had to say, the person underneath squats down, and the person above climbs up, it is possible to pass. It looks like the current optimal solution.

But since he had already realized that this sentence was highly likely a psychological suggestion trap, which was using the protective desire and sense of crisis of the person walking in front to create some situation that might produce danger. Then this act of exchanging positions was absolutely wrong.

But the problem is, where is the error? Is there a mechanism above or below? If one exerts force on the wall, will it collapse?

"Time... follow me closely." Shiler looked back at Bruce.

Shiler pushed open the door in front and walked in. This door was also a revolving door. And after the door panel rotated 180 degrees, it closed automatically. Bruce followed Shiler closely, and only then did they enter the room together during that brief rotation gap.

Whoosh—

The sound of surging water followed. With a loud bang, the door was shaken. A large amount of water splashed in, forcing both of them back.

Bruce lowered his arm and turned to look at the illuminated wall. "Those who enter this door do not bleed?"

He turned back to look at the door again, and water continued to pour in. This proved that the space outside had been completely submerged. The corridor was probably all filled with water. He walked over and pushed the door forcefully, but it wouldn't move at all. Bruce understood the principle of this puzzle almost immediately.

If they had chosen to exchange positions just now, they would have wasted a lot of time. At this time, the water would have rushed over. Both of them might have been soaked in the water.

And at this time, wanting to push the door to enter again, the water would slow down people's action speed. The door rotates 180 degrees and closes automatically, and the closing time is only about a second or so. So basically, only the person pushing the door can be rushed in by the water, and the person following behind is difficult to get in, so they would have to be soaked in the water again.

"There must be a mechanism in the room to open the door, otherwise there's no need for water, this is the same as the first puzzle. If you couldn't see through it at the beginning, there's still a chance for salvation. The water is just to prolong the life of the people outside the door. Otherwise, using a crossbow arrow would be better." Bruce said. He looked left and right, the room was empty, there was no furniture, only the torches on the wall and the words. So he started stroking the part of the wall with words.

"Nobloodforentrants... word puzzle?"

"Wait, Clark." Batman stopped in the middle of the corridor. He looked back at their path and called out to Superman who was walking in front, "This is not right."

Superman shivered: "What's wrong?"

"The corridor is a bit too long," Batman said, "we have already walked out more than ten meters. Judging from the bright spot in front of us, there are probably tens of meters ahead. Why make such a long corridor?"

"Uh, what's the problem?" Superman asked.

"From the style of the previous two rooms, it can be seen that the designer of the puzzle is more inclined to simplicity. There is nothing in the water prison. In the room where I was, every piece of furniture was useful. He wouldn't make such a long corridor for no reason, without it serving any purpose."

"Could there be a mechanism or something?" Superman moved his body, and then said, "It's so narrow here, if there's a trap, neither of us can dodge it."

"No, Clark. The point is the length. If you want to set up an unavoidable trap in the corridor, there's no need to make it tens of meters long. Two meters is completely enough."

"Then it's a chase, like in the movies?"

"That should be longer," Batman said, "a chase is to consume physical strength. At a distance of tens of meters, I'm afraid it can't exhaust anyone's physical strength. And if it's a chase, the corridor should be designed to be more tortuous and winding, instead of a straight path. This way it's possible for people to stumble and fall when turning."

"Oh, please, Batman, just announce the answer." Superman rubbed his arm, "You've made me cold just by saying that."

"Time," Batman said, "you can understand this corridor as a delay device. Something must be coming through such a long corridor to cause us harm."

"I don't understand," Superman asked with some confusion, "since it's going to cause us harm, why delay it? Why not just fire it directly?"

"This is a puzzle, Clark," Batman emphasized, "just like before, he's not trying to kill us, but to test us. The time extended by the corridor is the time left for us to solve the puzzle."

Superman suddenly realized, but then he asked: "Then what kind of thing can both cause us harm and use the corridor to extend the time?"

"Water," Batman answered, "let's go back."

Then he turned and walked back. Superman didn't react for a moment, but still obediently followed behind him. They walked back from the door that had been divided into two spaces.

Superman couldn't help but turn his head to look, on the other side of the door, the steel nail driven deep into the wall. At that time, he was just a little bit away from walking from that side, fortunately, he was called back by Batman.

Batman walked quickly to the drainage outlet of the room he was in before, and shouted loudly: "Clark! Come over and help!"

Superman ran over in a hurry. Batman directly dismantled the railing of the drainage outlet, took the crowbar and poked it downward fiercely, and with a clang, the area below the drainage outlet was blocked.

Batman turned the crowbar around, extended the curved end downward into it, and seemed to hook the edge of something. He stepped on the other side of the drainage outlet with his foot and pried the thing upward forcefully.

After prying a few times, he switched to Superman. After Superman pried a few times, he switched back to Batman. Just like this, he pried fiercely more than ten times, and with a click, something shattered. Batman poked downward fiercely with the crowbar again, and the sound of clicking continued to come. The thing blocking the drainage outlet seemed to have been completely smashed. Immediately after, he walked to the water prison room and closed the door, leaving only the room with the drainage outlet with one door.

"Hold your nose, Clark." Batman pulled Superman to the wall, and the two leaned against the wall and said, "Try to hold your breath. If my calculation is correct, we probably..."

Boom!!! Whoosh—!!!!!

Before he finished speaking, the ceiling of the water prison completely collapsed. The flood poured down like a waterfall, directly rushing down the wall between the two rooms, and rushed toward the corridor at a very fast speed, soon submerging both rooms and the corridor completely.

Feeling the water flow gradually stop, Batman swam toward the door, felt the door handle in the murky water, and pushed the door shut forcefully, completely isolating the two rooms from the external corridor and corridor. The water in the room began to drain through the drainage outlet. Before long, a gap for breathing appeared between the water surface and the ceiling. The two swam upward, exposed their mouths and noses to the water surface, and gasped for air. ===== CHAPTER 4629 =====