Chapter 92: The Impervious Chen Ran and Chen Yang

The two synchronized their watches.

As they left the room, Lin Jiabao glanced back at the room number right before stepping through the door.

'1011...'

'This number has appeared repeatedly across these three dream layers.'

'The first time was the hotel room number, the second time was the clock at Chen Ran's house, and the third time is this Cruise Ship cabin number.'

'Logically deducing, it should represent the number of red and blue Chest Plates held by me and Chen Ran.'

He retracted his gaze.

Lin Jiabao headed down to the first floor and pulled out the Pistol Chen Ran had purchased from his waist.

During the previous two layers, they had noticed that the Men in Black never reloaded their magazines. It seemed that in the dreamscape, all Guns possessed infinite Bullets.

One shot, two shots, three shots...

More and more people collapsed with every crack of gunfire, and the Casino instantly spiraled into absolute chaos.

"If you don't want to die, put your hands on your heads and get down!" he bellowed fiercely.

He quickly took control of the Casino, immediately tossing a burlap sack toward the chip exchange counter.

"Fill it with cash!"

This made everyone present realize they were caught in a robbery. Squatting among the crowd, the Cheongsam Woman stealthily shifted her feet and pressed the alarm.

Sirens blared throughout the Cruise Ship. Fully armed Mercenaries stationed on the lower decks immediately poured out and rushed to the first-floor Casino.

They found the Casino entrance completely sealed off, barricaded airtight by row upon row of Metal Shields.

Seeing this, their leader pulled a time bomb from his backpack and planted it right on the Metal Shields.

Boom!

Meanwhile, Chen Ran, who was supposed to be heading to the Sixth Floor, was calmly smoking a Cigarette on the second floor.

About five minutes later, the sounds of a fierce firefight echoed from the first floor. Chen Ran frowned.

'The Men in Black on the Sixth Floor didn't come down!'

...

The Sixth Floor.

Chen Yang, whose features bore a seventy percent resemblance to Chen Ran's, stared coldly at the doorway and ordered his five Men in Black, "Later, no matter who walks in, shoot them dead immediately!"

Then, he muttered to himself, "Oh, dear Cousin. Growing up, you could never beat me in anything. This time is no different. Your older brother will just have to wrong you a little and send you down to..."

"The fourth layer!"

"Wouldn't you agree... Lin Jiabei?"

Not far from him.

Lin Jiabei and five Men in Black lay dead in a pool of blood, entirely drained of life.

This perfectly explained why they hadn't immediately pursued Chen Ran and Lin Jiabao. It was simply because they had been caught up in...

Infighting!

In the end, Chen Yang's faction had completely wiped out Lin Jiabei and her five Men in Black with zero casualties.

What was even more terrifying was that Chen Yang actually knew this place functioned like an inception dreamscape, meaning he had already extracted the underlying truth from Lin Jiabei's mouth.

Chen Yang closed his eyes, playfully twirling a Coin. The silver disc flipped effortlessly between his slender fingers.

As if sensing something, he abruptly opened his eyes and stared at the main door.

The next moment, the door was pushed open. Before Chen Ran even stepped inside, his voice drifted through the opening:

"Liar-Slayer: Eternal Kingdom!"

Black. A pitch-black darkness where one couldn't even see their own fingers. Within the gloom, the five Men in Black fired wildly toward the doorway, but the sounds of the impacts were strange.

Clang-clang-clang!

The Bullets seemed to collide with a metallic barricade, ringing out with crisp, sharp chimes.

When the light returned, two Chen Yangs appeared in the room, sitting across from one another.

"How clumsy!"

On the left sofa, Chen Yang shook his head and signaled the five Men in Black to kill the Chen Yang on the right.

However, right at that moment.

The entire floor of the room began spinning frantically on a flat axis.

When it finally came to a halt, it was completely impossible to tell who had originally been on the left and who had been on the right.

Even the way they twirled their Coins was surprisingly identical.

"I think you're quite stupid!" the Chen Yang on the left spoke up, his expression tinged with mockery.

"Oh, let's hear it then?" the Chen Yang on the right replied, crossing his arms over his chest like he was watching a good show.

"This is the third layer; the flow of time isn't that slow. But in the fourth layer, there is no concept of time. You can live there indefinitely."

The meaning behind the left Chen Yang's words was obvious. In the third layer, Chen Yang could only survive for at most another half hour. But if he went down to the fourth layer, he could live on forever.

After all, Chen Yang was a construct created by the Escape Room Game. The moment Chen Ran cleared the stage, Chen Yang would vanish into nothingness...

Hearing this, the Chen Yang on the right stopped twirling his Coin and sneered. "You should use these clumsy tricks less often. I'm not a Player. If I die in the third layer, I really die. I won't go to the fourth layer."

Catching their conversation, the Men in Black raised their Guns to shoot the Chen Yang on the left.

But the floor spun again. By the time it stopped, they were indistinguishable once more.

"That's exactly why I said you're stupid. Since you are born from my obsession, a version of you will inevitably manifest in the fourth layer."

"Oh, is that so? Would that newly manifested version still be the me from this moment? Your little tricks might fool others, but they won't fool me."

The floor spun again.

"Actually, I've never hated you. Deep down, Chen Yang, you have always been my role model."

"Wow, realizing you can't trick me, you're trying to play the emotional card?"

The floor spun yet again.

"Fine, I admit it. Growing up, you were always the perfect golden child. My mom kept comparing me to you, and honestly, I harbored a lot of resentment over it."

"How did Auntie praise me?"

"My mom said you were..."

Just as he reached this point, the Chen Yang on the left drew his Pistol without warning and pulled the trigger.

Who would have thought.

The Chen Yang on the right seemed to have anticipated this. He swiftly yanked a riot shield from beneath the coffee table and raised it in front of himself.

Clang!

The Bullet smashed into the shield. The floor frantically spun once more. Now, both of them held shields.

"Alright, since we understand each other so thoroughly, how about we settle this with a game?"

"Not playing."

Chen Ran: "..."

The floor wildly spun yet again.

"Brother, you're my flesh-and-blood brother. Please, I'm begging you, just let me go back to the real world!"

"Oh, playing the pity card now?"

The floor...

Spun.

When it stopped this time, both of their faces looked a bit strange, and neither spoke.

They opened their mouths at the exact same time...

And vomited all over the floor.

The Chen Yang on the right pulled out a Cigarette Case, drew out a Cigarette, leaned forward, and offered it to the left Chen Yang with an apologetic smile.

"I don't smoke. Trying to buddy up to me is u—"

Before he could finish the word 'useless,' a massive fist rapidly magnified in his vision.

It smashed squarely into his face.

Taking advantage of the momentum, the Chen Yang on the right mounted the left Chen Yang. A dagger materialized out of thin air in his hand, and he viciously plunged it toward the other's chest.

Stab...

It didn't go in!

Seeing this, the right Chen Yang instantly swiped the blade toward his neck.

However, the Chen Yang on the left seized his arm, forcefully stopping the strike dead in its tracks.

"It's been so many years, yet you're still the same unpresentable piece of trash!"

"Living in my shadow all your life must be excruciating, isn't it?"

"Bullshit, living in your shadow? That was only because Auntie had a big mouth and was a manic show-off who praised you at every turn. In comparison, my mom was a lot more low-key."

"Me, in pain? You're the one in pain! Auntie forced you to excel at everything. Don't think I didn't know that every time you scored poorly on an exam, she would punish you."

"Heh, punishment is just punishment. At least it's better than a certain someone who got beaten while kneeling in front of the TV every day. The whole family would be laughing at the show, and you'd be sitting there crying."

As the two grappled and brawled, their mouths never stopped moving, each sentence ruthlessly stabbing at the other's sorest spots. Yet...

Neither could succeed in heart-killing the other.

When two individuals shared near-identical intelligence and were both completely impervious to persuasion, the only way to settle the score might just be...

Relying on the most primitive form of violent brawling!