Chapter 460: Small Fry

If she were to face the Gray Puppet head-on, she would clearly be at a disadvantage.

However, there are still five people alive, and the chance of her being selected is only one in five.

Moreover, Wu Ya's explanation is so convincing…

Rather than facing Wu Ya and ending up with a sixty percent… even seventy or eighty percent chance of death, it's better to accompany Wu Ya in taking this gamble.

Qing Qing made up her mind, immediately took a deep breath, and steadied her state of mind.

She no longer looked at those three, turning her gaze toward Cheng Shuili, her eyes showing a rare solemnity and inquiry: "Wuya Lao Da! Tell me the truth—how confident are you that you can make the Gray Puppet obey you?"

Cheng Shuili did not answer immediately; she stared at the Gray Puppet, thought for a few seconds, then slowly said: "The theory is indeed sound, but it needs verification."

Verification……that is, we need to take a round to test it.

Qing Qing understood.

Her gaze involuntarily drifted to the pulsing scarlet number in her field of vision: 【00:06:41】.

Time was mercilessly passing.

The choice—or rather, the gamble—was right before her eyes.

Should we follow the known rules, at the last moment push the weakest into the Blood Ring in exchange for temporary safety?

Or should we trust Wu Ya's inference, gamble that the random erasure can be interfered with or even halted by her command, thereby… breaking this cruel cycle of rounds?

Although the short-haired girl couldn't hear exactly what Cheng Shuili and Qing Qing said, she saw Qing Qing's eyes suddenly brighten, heard her blurt out "Now I see," and noticed the two exchange a few low words with solemn expressions.

She wasn't foolish; she immediately guessed that these two terrifying fellows might have found some loophole or opportunity in the Gray Puppet's answer.

Her heart began to pound wildly.

Opportunity?

What opportunity?

A chance to survive together? Or… a chance to take down the opponent?

She couldn't be certain.

But she knew she had to do something, could not sit and wait for death, and could not pin her hopes on others' mercy.

Her eyes darted, scanning back and forth over the few people still alive.

Her path to survival must be fought for by herself!

Thinking this, the short-haired girl gritted her teeth, a sudden surge of courage from somewhere welled up in her chest, and she sprang to her feet.

Her movement to stand up was so sudden it shattered the nearly frozen tense atmosphere in the theater.

Everyone instinctively looked toward her.

The short-haired girl's heart hammered in her chest, almost about to shatter her ribs.

She could feel the icy gazes of Cheng Shuili and Qing Qing, as well as the astonished, bewildered looks of the older male and the obedient male.

But she did not retreat; instead, she straightened her back, even though her legs were still trembling slightly.

She took a deep breath, exerted all her strength to keep her voice from shaking, and loudly said toward Cheng Shuili and Qing Qing: "Both of you! Listen to me for a moment!"

Cheng Shuili looked at her expressionlessly, her eyes calm to a frightening degree.

Qing Qing raised an eyebrow, spun a dagger on her fingertip, adopting a "watch your performance" posture.

The short-haired girl swallowed, sped up her speech: "I know you might have discovered something, might think there's an opportunity! But… but have you considered what if? What if your method fails, then it's really death!"

She pointed at the desiccated corpse of the stalwart male on the ground: "One's already dead! We only have five left! In the next round, the next after that… death will eventually fall on each of our heads!"

As she spoke more, her voice became smooth, even taking on a somewhat recitative tone:

"You're strong, maybe you can last until the end, but in the end only one can survive!"

"Rather than betting on that illusory possibility, why not… why not we cooperate? Real cooperation! Let's all think of a way, how to solve this Blood Ring at its root, how to leave this damned place!"

"Ask us anything, we'll fully cooperate. We may be weak, but we're many, so we'll surely be of some use."

She paused, her voice gaining a hint of desperate resolve: "If… if in the end there truly is no way, and only one must remain… then it should be the strongest among us who survives, not be picked off one by one by this disgusting rule."

"I… I am willing to trust you, and also ask you… to give us a chance!"

The short-haired girl's words were truly heartfelt; in another setting, they might indeed move some people.

But under this kill-or-be-killed rule, in the theater where betrayal and slaughter just occurred, this earnestness would only seem laughable.

The older male and the obedient male both froze, staring blankly at the short-haired girl, seemingly not expecting her to suddenly stand up and say these things.

Qing Qing let out a scoff, shook her head, her eyes full of undisguised mockery.

Cheng Shuili remained expressionless, merely asking softly: "Finished?"

The short-haired girl choked, her remaining words stuck in her throat.

Cheng Shuili's attitude was too cold; the short-haired girl had no idea what she meant, nor did she know how to use words to move her next.

The short-haired girl could only look toward Qing Qing with the last glimmer of hope.

Although these two women are both strong, they are ultimately different.

One is the person who descended from heaven to save these ordinary players; the other is the cold-hearted individual who sat in the private box until the final act before appearing.

Compared to that, the short-haired girl also leans toward being able to cooperate with Qing Qing.

But Qing Qing didn't even glance at her, aside from a light scoff, giving no response at all.

Having no choice, the short-haired girl turned her gaze back to Cheng Shuili.

"If you're done, go back and sit." Cheng Shuili's tone even lacked inflection, "or you can choose to go into that ring right now."

Those words were truly unfriendly; the short-haired girl's face instantly turned deathly pale.

She understood the meaning behind Cheng Shuili's words.

She, and the two people beside her, must either shut up and obey all their commands, or else go die immediately.

There is no third option, nor any cooperation.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say more, but meeting Cheng Shuili's deep, unfathomable black eyes, all her words froze on her tongue.

That gaze held no emotion, only an indisputable sense of control.

She had no doubt that if she dared to say another word, or make any movement, the next moment she would become the second corpse on the ground.

The courage that had supported her to stand up receded like a tide, leaving only icy fear.

She moved her feet little by little, retreating to her original position, slowly sat down, lowered her head, and dared not look at anyone.