Chapter 413: Race Against Time (1)

Chen Ran took out the white shoes from his waistband, wiped the toe caps with his sleeve, and placed them on the shoe cabinet by the door.

Only then did he face the door and wait quietly.

Time passed minute by minute.

On the desk on the second floor, that countdown timer was about to end. When it hit 【0:00】.

Chen Ran was still on the first floor.

The scene did not change...

He stood blankly on the spot, speechless for a long time.

Just now he was facing the door.

Now he was facing away from the door.

The cold mechanical voice ruthlessly drilled into his eardrums and was transmitted to his brain by his nerves.

He felt as if ants were crawling all over his body.

He stiffly raised his arm.

The time on the watch told him.

From the time he entered the Principal's home until now, only 10 minutes had passed.

He felt a bit cold.

Only then did he realize that, at some unknown point, he had broken out in a cold sweat.

From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the shoe cabinet.

If just now, he hadn't returned the white shoes.

If just now, he had killed the 【Human】.

If just now, he had stepped out the door.

He didn't dare to imagine.

Right at this moment, the Chen Ran who still had lingering fear suddenly associated this with something.

His whole body seemed petrified.

'Beware of Qiu Yinong.'

'So this was what it meant.'

'Guard time well.'

'So this was what it meant.'

'Wan Feng's appearance.'

'It was just a transaction, exchanging me falling into Omniscient and Omnipotent's trap for me comprehending The Highest Goodness is Like Water.'

'The 18th Level goes up to a maximum of ten stars.'

'So it's like this...'

'I lied once in a previous Instance. During the post-Instance review, I should have lied more than once, yet I'm still not dead...'

'This means that the Future me traveled back to the past and patched up the lies I told before.'

'No wonder Gao Lan's skill...'

'Did not appear a second time!'

'So...'

'The 18th Level truly has eighteen levels.'

'Extinguish it!'

Chen Ran knew he couldn't continue thinking about it anymore; The Ultimate must be hidden.

The Ultimate, meaning the ultimate goal.

Perhaps, only at this moment did Chen Ran finally realize that he was...

Hell's biggest villain!

'Finally figured out the bottom line.'

'Next...'

Within the Distance-Free Technique, the 【Angry】 Chen Ran covered his face with his right hand and laughed towards the sky: "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Finally, we don't have to act like cowards anymore??!!"

The rational Chen Ran lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and said faintly: "I didn't expect to break free from the shackles from Hell so quickly. I really have to properly thank Shu Renjun."

In the Principal's home, Chen Ran felt an indescribable sense of relief. Although he didn't dare to laugh, his eyes were full of amusement as he looked at the rules on the landing between the first and second floors.

【Rule 1: The Principal is a human, but he doesn't like being a human.】

Chen Ran: Cyborg.

【Rule 2: In the Principal's cognition, teachers should do what teachers should do, and students should do what students should do.】

Chen Ran: In the Principal's eyes, both humans and cyborgs must die.

【Rule 3: Every Wednesday afternoon, during the first class, the Principal conducts ideological education for all teachers and students in the Laboratory Building.】

Chen Ran: The first class this afternoon is physical examinations in the Laboratory Building. Humans and cyborgs must all die, or if replaced by robots, the robot Principal will also go. A player must steal the white shoes before this, steal the white shoes of this cyborg Principal right in front of him, and send the cyborg Principal to the afterlife in the Laboratory Building.

【Rule 4: Recently, someone in the Laboratory Building has been secretly modifying robots. The Principal feels his home is unsafe and might be burgled.】

Chen Ran: Don't leave yet.

【Rule 5: The Principal's body has developed a problem; please ignore his commands.】

Chen Ran: Steal the shoes.

【Rule 6: The Principal will not ignore a second person wearing white.】

Chen Ran: You're awesome, happy now?

After reading the rules, Chen Ran didn't linger for long. He casually glanced around the first floor and then headed to the second floor. He arrived at the Principal's study room. The Principal was practicing calligraphy at his desk. Chen Ran's gaze fell on his feet—white shoes, indeed: "The Director has something and asked the Principal to go over."

The Principal looked up, carefully scrutinized Chen Ran for a moment, and then nodded.

The two arrived at the first floor.

The Principal walked to the door, first checked the shoe cabinet, saw that the white shoes inside were still there, then checked the identification device, and said to Chen Ran: "You stay and help watch the house."

Unexpectedly, happiness arrived so suddenly.

Chen Ran, of course, was...

Refusing sternly: "I still have to go back to the classroom for class."

The Principal had the highest rank. A student facing his command actually refused to execute it.

The next moment, he opened his bloody maw, stretched out his mechanical neck, and bit towards Chen Ran.

Chen Ran neither dodged nor evaded.

Just when the Principal's teeth were less than an inch away from his neck, they retracted.

"Identity correct!"

Chen Ran: Confirmed, a mechanical engineering graduate.

"You help me watch the house. I'll go find your homeroom teacher and ask for a leave of absence for you later." After saying that, regardless of whether Chen Ran agreed or not, the Principal turned and walked out the door. Meanwhile, Chen Ran stood at the door like a wooden carving, watching the Principal leave.

Obviously, just now was a second identity verification. The Principal's suspicion was exactly like a mechanical engineering student who firmly believed that electronics were unreliable. He didn't trust Chen Ran's previous identity verification and had to verify it manually again. After all, according to the rules, there was a robot secretly making trouble in the Laboratory Building.

After a student completes a task assigned by a teacher, they should return to the classroom. Otherwise, as fast as Chen Ran agreed just now, he would have died just as fast.

Of course, asking for a leave of absence was an exception...

Chen Ran glanced at his watch.

He felt that the Principal's setting was a highly suspicious cyborg, who might turn around halfway and double back after taking a few steps.

From a designer's perspective, this kind of thing was something Shu Renjun would definitely do.

So he continued to stand in place.

Sure enough, about 2 minutes later, the Principal appeared in Chen Ran's field of vision. Seeing him standing at the door looking like a wooden chicken, the Principal only then turned around and left with peace of mind.

Chen Ran still didn't execute the theft plan.

The reason was simple.

This was his gamble with Shu Renjun.

He wasn't sure how many traps Shu Renjun had planted here. That is to say, he wasn't sure if the Principal would double back yet again.

It takes 15 minutes to get from here to the Teaching Building.

He had stayed in the Principal's home for 13 minutes.

Accumulating to 28 minutes.

There were still 17 minutes until class ended. If the Principal wanted to replace the math teacher with a robot, he had to replace her before the next class started. This way, if other classes had this math teacher's lesson, it wouldn't affect the classes.

Therefore, he had to include the 10-minute break after this class, which meant...

27 minutes.

Simply put, the Principal had to complete the replacement of the math teacher within 27 minutes.

Going to the Teaching Building.

The Principal would spend 15 minutes. Even if the homeroom teacher had already prepared the robot to replace the math teacher in advance, the Principal only needed to go over to activate the new math teacher's permissions.

27 - 15 = 12 minutes.

So, as long as it exceeded 12 minutes, the Principal wouldn't double back again.

If the Principal returned exactly at the 12-minute mark, Chen Ran would have enough time to run to the Laboratory Building and obtain the rules.

If the Principal didn't appear in the next 12 minutes, then Chen Ran wouldn't have much time left and would have to take a shortcut to run to the Laboratory Building and obtain the rules.

How to take a shortcut?

Chen Ran: I'm wearing white shoes, how do you think I'm taking a shortcut?