Chapter 302: Ice Room Decryption (3)

'As expected, a handsome guy like me just naturally draws aggro wherever I go.'

"I think everyone here is well aware that the ice sculptures are highly likely the key to decrypting this." Chen Ran poked a hole through the paper window.

"So, I can fire the first shot, but the Future Lie has to change. It must become: 'Must shoot at an ice sculpture.'"

Big Gold Tooth's eyes lit up. "Hahaha, that's a good idea. If the ice sculptures aren't the key to decrypting this, the first person to shoot will highly likely die. If the ice sculptures are the decryption, then the people who shoot after will be gambling their lives."

Simply put, if the ice sculptures were the decryption, which one to shoot, how to shoot, and which ones couldn't be shot were all unknown to them. After all, it still couldn't be confirmed whether the ice sculptures were the decryption.

Chen Ran's meaning was obvious: Since I'm taking a risk, you all have to take a risk too.

It would all come down to who had better luck!

Big Gold Tooth, Chen Ran, Lin Xuan, Qiu Yinong, and Gao Lan all agreed to this plan.

However, Ye Qian and her nine teammates frowned.

But luck was something unreliable. It was like gambling: you bet one dollar the first time. If you lose, you bet two dollars the second time. If you lose again, you double the bet, and so on. As long as you win one round, you can win back all the money you lost.

People who held this mindset would ultimately lose everything without exception.

This involved the issue of luck, returns, and risks being disproportionate.

Simply put, in the final round, you empty your entire savings. If you lose, you have nothing left. If you win, you only win that initial one dollar.

Therefore, to Ye Qian and her nine teammates, Chen Ran's proposal was a trap, a massive trap.

If they agreed, they would highly likely fall into the aforementioned life-gambling trap. It would be equivalent to digging a pit for themselves while trying to dig one for others. It seemed like gambling with their lives, where risks and returns were proportional, but since this was Chen Ran's proposal, the luck factor had to be removed. In a gamble of lives without luck, only death remained.

So, the ultimate answer was that once Ye Qian's group of ten agreed to Chen Ran's proposal, there would be one and only one outcome: death!

This story tells us that the essence of Infighting lies in the realm of ideology. What kind of ideology you possess determines how long you can live.

…

After sorting through the ideological logic within.

Ye Qian said coldly, "Refused."

Chen Ran's eyelid twitched. That feeling he had when he first faced a Three-Star Player...

Had appeared again!

Was this a level suppression?

No wonder the Distance-Free Technique was born. In this kind of situation, if one didn't use the Distance-Free Technique to influence the opponent's mental state in advance, it was truly difficult to coax out a lie.

"Reason?" Gao Lan asked.

"Hmph, I know that this Secret Room might involve a Deceiver's Tongue! And it might be related to the ice sculptures! It might also be related to those two people who could be missing!"

Every sentence she spoke was practicing Avoidance of Lying, but her gaze and expression told everyone: I know, I know everything, don't even think about tricking me.

Deceiver's Tongue, ice sculptures, two people.

Combining them: The two missing people had turned into ice sculptures, and from the very beginning, they naturally assumed those were just ice sculptures.

A Deceiver's Tongue was born!

Deducing further, Chen Ran just now wanted to modify the Future Lie to: 'Can only shoot an ice sculpture.'

If the Bullet hit the two players who had turned into ice sculptures, the Deceiver's Tongue would be broken. What you shot wasn't an ice sculpture, but a player. It wouldn't be a big deal for the player since they had Liar-Slayer protection.

However, you, the one who fired the gun, would have violated the Future Lie's promise of 'must shoot an ice sculpture.'

Therefore, you would have lied.

Chen Ran had dug this trap very deep.

Deep enough to utilize a Deceiver's Tongue and a Future Lie. And a player who wanted to see through this trap had to know of the existence of the Deceiver's Tongue, and also resist the temptation to scam others to death.

But Ye Qian was a Four-Star.

…

Gao Lan frowned at the crowd. He felt that these people all knew the answer, yet deliberately pretended not to know. But...

He was the only one who truly didn't know the answer.

【Senior, do you have any ideas?】

【Can't figure it out?】

【The glass door is a Common Sense trap, the ice layer is a Common Sense trap, the timer is also a Common Sense trap. Only the ice sculptures are the answer.】

【The Prop Gun is either for killing people or destroying things. The players present all have Liar-Slayers and are protected by them. Therefore, the only remaining purpose for the Prop Gun is to destroy the ice sculptures.】

【Since the ice sculptures are the decryption, it must follow the Decryption Protocol. That is, when using a gun to destroy the ice sculptures, there must be a pattern.】

【The ice sculptures are the twelve zodiac animals. A Bullet's destructive power on an ice sculpture is limited, so one can only inflict localized destruction on the ice sculptures.】

【Twelve zodiac animals, localized destruction. What does that bring to your mind?】

Gao Lan was taken aback and thought for a moment.

【The Twelve Deficiencies?】

【Correct, the Twelve Deficiencies.】

【Rat lacks a brain, ox lacks teeth, tiger lacks a neck, rabbit lacks lips, dragon lacks ears, snake lacks feet, horse lacks toes, sheep lacks spirit, monkey lacks cheeks, rooster lacks kidneys, dog lacks taste, pig lacks longevity.】

【Among them, the snake ice sculpture naturally lacks feet, so it cannot be shot. The sheep lacks spirit, the dog lacks taste, and the pig lacks longevity. Spirit, taste, and longevity are all abstract concepts, not physical entities, so a gun cannot shoot them.】

【So, these four zodiac ice sculptures—snake, sheep, dog, and pig—cannot be shot. Once shot, a mechanism will be triggered, resulting in death.】

Hearing this, Gao Lan nodded, then shook his head.

【According to [Task: 50%], six ice sculptures need to be destroyed. You only deduced four. What about the other two?】

Silence. The existence in his consciousness seemed unwilling to answer such a mentally challenged question.

After a short while, Gao Lan reacted and his old face immediately flushed red.

【Uh, my apologies. I forgot we only have 18 real people. We're short of 2.】

【From their conversation just now, I learned that the two missing people turned into ice sculptures.】

【Two players turned into ice sculptures, and four ice sculptures cannot be shot...】

【That makes exactly six that cannot be shot!】

【The remaining six must be destroyed!】

However, no matter what he said, the existence in his consciousness ignored him.

Gao Lan hadn't understood before why this group of people would engage in an extreme back-and-forth over such a small issue. Only now did he realize how short-sighted he had been.

Yet, right at that moment, seemingly noticing that he was about to start thinking about the next problem.

【You were lucky this time. Drawing me was your good fortune, but your stupidity has refreshed my understanding.】

【What makes you think the remaining six ice sculptures need to be destroyed?】

【If I were Lin Xuan, I would shatter two ice sculptures that needed to be destroyed, and have a Ghost Whisperer with a transformation technique transform into those two shattered ice sculptures. In other words, right now, it's highly likely two ice sculptures have already been destroyed. Six ice sculptures cannot be shot, and two Ghost Whisperer ice sculptures cannot be shot. Therefore, the ice sculptures that can be shot are highly likely only four.】

【Ah? According to you, out of the six ice sculptures that couldn't be shot earlier, only four were deduced. Where are the other two?】

【Let me ask you. Just now, only one of the six Lin Xuans was the real body. How did he manage to make six Lin Xuans tap the table?】

Gao Lan smiled awkwardly, but the next words from the existence in his mind...

Made his heart skip a beat.

【Be careful of that guy named Chen Ran. This fellow's hidden tier is very high.】