Chapter 4639

Charles looked at the steel needles on the entire ceiling and swallowed. He opened his mouth and said: "If this thing falls, the two of us will definitely die miserably."

"In fact, we won't die immediately. It depends on where these steel needles pierce," Erik was much calmer, "From the density, it's almost impossible to pierce the brainstem in one hit. The head might also be avoided. In that case, death from suffocation caused by lung blood loss, or excessive blood loss, is a more likely situation."

"No, Erik," Charles looked into his eyes and said, "Can you really watch me like this?"

"If it really comes to that, I will choose to turn my back and not look," Erik said, "Don't say I'm heartless; I'm just discussing the worst-case scenario."

"No," Charles said, "If you dare to turn your back, I will destroy all your helmets. Don't even think about making them again."

"Are you so focused on destroying my mental health?"

"At the same time, you are also destroying mine," Charles emphasized, "The two of us together. Don't even think about escaping."

"Don't think about this, Charles," Erik reminded, "We have to think about how this game is played."

Erik first checked the platform. He reached out and felt under the platform, then said: "There is a lever here. It doesn't look very good."

"I guess if you pull it, the ceiling will fall down," Charles looked up at the ceiling and said, "Horror movies are all played like this."

"What about after it falls?" Erik said, "We can completely hide under this platform..."

The next second he stopped talking. Because his mechanical engineering and mechanics knowledge told him that the structure he felt under the platform was active, not locked.

That is to say, this platform might not always play a supporting role. If the platform doesn't support it after the ceiling falls, they can only hold it up themselves. Judging by the character of the level designer, this possibility is very high.

"There is something on the wall," Charles said, "There is also a switch there, a bit like the lever in the first level. It seems like something needs to fall down to smash it down?"

Charles and Erik both reached out to try to pull it, but it obviously didn't work. It's possible that the strength wasn't enough, or it might need a sudden force to smash down hard to get it down. This can also be achieved in mechanical structures.

Charles continued to grope on the wall. Borrowing the faint torchlight, he carefully looked at every brick. Suddenly he found a brick that was somewhat active. He reached out and picked at it, finding that this brick could turn.

He reached out and pushed one side of the brick, and the brick turned ninety degrees, revealing a small gap. Unexpectedly, there was firelight behind it. Charles looked inside with his eyes and found that it was a hidden room behind, and there was a torch inside.

The torch illuminated the full picture of the hidden room. Rather than a hidden room, it was a cabinet, and it was the kind of small wardrobe that was only enough for one adult to stand in.

Erik focused on studying the ceiling. He looked around and found a little light in the upper left corner of the room. He walked over and looked up, and the light shining through the gap between the ceiling and the wall indicated that there might be a passage above.

Erik had long discovered that in the entire secret room, wherever it was dark, there were clues where there was firelight. This time was probably no exception. Although the level designer was insidious and cruel, he wouldn't lie about some basic rules.

He told Charles about this clue, and Charles couldn't help but cover his forehead and said: "I seem to understand a little."

"The two of us hide down, let the ceiling fall, smash the switch down, and open the hidden room. Then one person climbs into the hidden room, steps on the ceiling, and escapes from the passage."

Charles naturally also mentioned the content of the previous level. However, he still explained the key points of the game theory in great detail.

"In the previous level, the more you contribute, the more optimistic you will be. Because you personally increased the success rate, you will be more inclined to hide under the platform together and wait for the plan to succeed."

"And if there is no contribution at all, that is, a complete villain, they will feel that the plan cannot succeed. That is to say, only one person can leave, and the other is destined to be crushed to death or pierced by steel needles."

"But in reality, the situation might be completely reversed. Because people who choose to sacrifice themselves and contribute a lot of blood will naturally be more willing to sacrifice themselves to let their companions escape. People who don't want to sacrifice themselves to donate blood at all will all want to be the one who escapes."

"The cleverness of this game lies in the fact that people who sacrifice always choose to sacrifice. People who are unwilling to sacrifice are also always unwilling to sacrifice."

"First, talk about people who are willing to sacrifice; teammates can completely safely hand their backs to them. Because they are good people who are happy to sacrifice themselves. Choosing to stay and hold up the ceiling is completely voluntary. Their teammates are also very likely to escape smoothly."

"However, those who are unwilling to sacrifice are villains to begin with. You must know that there is a certain distance from the platform to the secret room. You must crawl under the steel needles. If the person supporting the platform gives up, you will inevitably be pierced. At this time, will people choose to trust that villain who is unwilling to sacrifice?"

"But, if they give up, the person under the platform will also be smashed to death, right?" Erik asked.

Charles shook his head and said: "Steel needles have a certain length. After landing, they will leave a certain gap between the platform and the ground. If the person under the platform chooses to lie down, then maybe only the ankles exposed outside will be pierced. If the figure is petite enough, then maybe they won't be pierced by the steel needles at all, and can still linger on for a while. At least they will live longer than the person who was pierced."

"It's simply like the climax of a horror movie," Erik evaluated.

"Yeah, I can completely imagine it. A couple who were originally deeply in love, after experiencing thousands of dangers and coming here, in the end, one side just chooses to give up in order to live a little longer than the other, thinking they survived, but they are just waiting for death in despair."

Erik turned his head to look at the location of the secret room. Actually, if one person chooses to escape, the person under the platform can also linger on, and might even live until the level is cleared. This is obviously also a part of the game—giving the person who leaves a sufficient reason to leave.

But this doesn't mean that the person who stays can stay well.

The length of the steel needles is just enough to pierce the human body, so the height of the platform supported is just about enough for a person to lie on the ground. The length of the platform is about 1.65 meters, which is indeed not enough for an adult male to fully stretch his body. But if you stretch your feet out, just being pierced in the ankles is not fatal, and might not even lead to excessive blood loss.

And if it is a female below this height, both the head and feet won't be exposed. But similarly, because of the existence of female breasts, the same height might put more pressure on the chest cavity, leading to difficulty in breathing.

It can be said that regardless of gender, as long as you choose to stay, you will have your own torture, which is no different from being punished.

The key is that double-rowing doesn't allow for individual withdrawal; if you want to withdraw, everyone withdraws. If your companion has already escaped this level safely, there is still hope of clearing the level. People who want to win will often persist until the last second. It's purely living torture.

"Too vicious," Pamela sighed, "It's hard to imagine what kind of person could design this kind of mechanism."

And Harley just stared at her with death while touching the bruises on her face. Pamela turned to look at her and said: "How long do you intend to be angry?"

"You make it sound like I'm being unreasonable," Harley said with wide eyes, "You punched me and forcibly took me to skip the level. And it seems like I'm the one throwing a tantrum at you?"

"Believe me, my dear Harley, I have already been full of patience for you," Pamela walked over and rubbed his face hard, "If my superpowers were still there, I would definitely take some more effective behavioral restriction measures to stop you from self-harming, you lunatic. Arkham Asylum would have to give me the Best Caregiver Award."

"I'm not a lunatic!"

"Every lunatic says so," Pamela said, "When the Professor and Bruce were hurting each other, they also thought they were right. If they had a caregiver like me back then, they definitely wouldn't have ended up like that."

"You only dare to bully me," Harley said unhappily, "If those two were here, you definitely wouldn't dare to step forward!"

"It's a pity they aren't here," Pamela smiled and said, "Alright, the two of us skipped the level and didn't contribute half a drop of blood. The previous level will definitely fail. It's meaningless for two people to wait here. You run, I'll stay here."

Harley obviously also understood how this game was played. She shook her head and said: "Don't even think about it. The two of us have to stay here together."

Pamela shook her head and said: "The physical strength of the two of us isn't very good, and we can't persist here for long. There are two people under the platform, and the space might not be enough to lie down, which might lead to one side's lower body being pierced, or being smashed and broken due to curling up. These are not good things."

"Wouldn't it be fine to withdraw when the time comes?" Harley said, "Seeing that it's almost not working, the two of us will withdraw together, and we can suffer less. Don't you not want any victory at all?"

Pamela thought for a moment and said: "That's right. If it doesn't work, we'll withdraw together. But how to determine if it doesn't work?"

"The two of us can't be stubborn," Harley said, "We can try to persist for a while, because maybe someone is willing to give more blood, and the plan can still succeed. But once you start feeling uncomfortable, you must tell the other person; you can't persist without saying anything."

"Don't worry, I don't have such strong willpower," Pamela said, "I only treat this as a game; there's no need to persist. On the contrary, it's you; I suspect the pain threshold of lunatics is different from ordinary people."

"I'm not a lunatic!!" Harley pounced on her.

"Thor, why haven't you realized after so long that every time we have a disagreement, I'm the one who's right in the end?" Loki seemed somewhat powerless, "I said we couldn't skip the previous level. What about now?"

"What about now?" Thor said, "Even if we didn't skip, others would have; that damn plan couldn't have succeeded at all. Besides, isn't it possible for one person to run? You just go."

Loki was laughed at by anger: "So you still want me to go? And leave you here to wait for death?"

"That's not the point," Thor waved his hand and said, "I might get hurt if I stay here, but I won't die. After you leave this room, you can continue to clear the levels. The levels behind should be completable by one person; you complete it at the fastest speed, don't we clear the level the same way?"

"Moreover, this kind of trap is nothing to me," Thor said, "Have you forgotten that once I fell into a trap, fell into a coma, and was captured by the natives? They nailed a dozen nails into my body and wanted to burn me with fire. Didn't I end up fine in the end?"

"God, you still have the nerve to mention this?!" Loki roared, "How many times have I warned you?! That spaceship was a trap designed to lure you over, but you just wouldn't listen. Do you know how miserable you were when we found you?!"

"But I'm still alive," Thor said somewhat triumphantly, "Even though I was so heavily injured, after you took me down, I still killed their leader, and it was a head-to-head duel!"

Loki was really about to be angered into a faint.