Chapter 93: Triple Kill

Both Chen Yangs collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.

"Stop pretending. I know you don't dare to kill me right now," Chen Yang A said.

"What makes you say that?" Chen Yang B asked.

Chen Yang A pointed at the Men in Black. "If I die, they will be able to confirm your identity, and you will undoubtedly die too. So, you are waiting."

"You know that they are Lin Jiabao's mental defense mechanism. In this dreamscape, only his mental defense mechanism would want to expel Chen Ran."

"Therefore, you are waiting for Lin Jiabao downstairs to die. Once he dies, he will no longer exist in this layer of the dream, and then..."

"...the Men in Black will disappear along with him. But have you ever considered that if you could think of this, how could I not?"

At this point, Chen Yang A turned his head to look at the blank-faced Chen Yang B, slowly extending his right hand to flash a V-sign.

"You might be able to construct the dreamscape, but I am a shareholder of this Cruise Ship. Tell me, is it possible that I gave the Mercenaries orders a long time ago not to kill Lin Jiabao?"

The floor spun once again.

When it stopped, Chen Yang B acted as if he had just received the Cigarette.

This deceptive maneuver made it impossible for the Men in Black to determine who was actually smoking.

"I do not understand. You know perfectly well that you won't survive for much longer, so why are you still hindering me from clearing this Escape Room Game?"

Chen Yang A thought for a moment before replying, "Since I am destined to disappear, I naturally have to do something meaningful. If I let you escape, I would have to wake up in the middle of the night just to slap myself twice across the face."

Chen Yang B was rendered speechless.

He glanced at the shield sitting just inches away from Chen Yang A, withdrew his gaze, and lay flat on the ground, deciding to simply let things run their course.

"Giving up so soon?"

Chen Yang A wanted to continue his verbal assault, but he suddenly looked on in horror as...

The bodies of the five Men in Black gradually faded away until they completely vanished!

In other words...

Lin Jiabao on the first floor was dead!!

Lying on the ground, Chen Yang B shifted back into Chen Ran's original appearance. He flashed Chen Yang a V-sign representing victory.

"Do you know where you lost?"

Seeing no response, Chen Ran continued, "People like you have been placed on too high of a pedestal. You will never lower your head to look at the ground."

"Speak plainly!" Chen Yang glared coldly at Chen Ran on the ground, his expression as frosty as ice.

"Did you only notify the Mercenaries not to kill Lin Jiabao, but forgot to tell the staff on the Cruise Ship the same thing?"

"You aren't trying to tell me that Lin Jiabao, someone with the ability to construct dreamscapes, cannot even defeat the ordinary employees inside the ship's cabin, are you?" Chen Yang sneered.

"He really can't."

"I forgot to mention, when Lin Jiabao and I entered this dream layer, we both had gunshot wounds. Even now, there is still a Bullet lodged inside Lin Jiabao's body. And the person who directed us to the Ship's Infirmary was the Cheongsam Beauty Manager from the Casino on the first floor. Tell me, do you think she would use this to counter-kill Lin Jiabao?"

"Oh, I also forgot to tell you that I was the one who tricked Lin Jiabao into pretending to be a robber at the Casino."

"Lin Jiabao could barely stand up even after taking a painkiller injection. Do you think the Cheongsam Beauty Manager, knowing his weakness, would just foolishly wait around in the Casino like a lamb to the slaughter?"

"Details determine success or failure. From the very beginning of this duel, you never stood a chance."

At this point, Chen Ran suddenly stood up and drew his Pistol, aiming the muzzle straight at Chen Yang. Chen Yang reacted incredibly fast, raising his shield.

However, Chen Ran did not fire. Instead, he delivered a flying kick to the shield.

Chen Ran was inherently frail, so this kick did not carry much force. Holding the shield, Chen Yang only stumbled back two steps.

But as he took his first step backward, a steel needle materialized out of thin air on the floor. Caught off guard, he stepped directly onto it, the needle piercing right through the sole of his foot.

Taking his second step back, he stepped onto yet another steel needle that had materialized from nowhere.

With both of his feet firmly pinned to the ground, Chen Yang felt a piercing, agonizing pain, yet his expression remained unchanged as he tossed aside the shield in his hands.

"Chen Ran, do you think..."

Bang!

Too lazy to listen to his nonsense, Chen Ran simply raised his hand and fired a shot, sending a Bullet straight through Chen Yang's forehead.

Seeing that Chen Yang was dead.

Chen Ran immediately began to review the situation, checking his entire layout for any flaws.

'First of all, logically speaking, now that Lin Jiabao is dead, he will drop into the Fourth Dream Layer, and in that fourth layer, he will encounter the person he hates the most.'

'Judging from this dream layer, the person he hates the most is Lin Jiabei, however...'

'Lin Jiabei was killed by Chen Yang. In other words, Lin Jiabei will not appear in the fourth layer.'

'The evidence: this conclusion can be deduced from the fact that Lin Jiabei and Second Maternal Uncle, who protected us in the first layer, never reappeared.'

'However, the Men in Black have appeared in all three dream layers. In other words, Lin Jiabao's Men in Black will appear in the fourth layer.'

'Conclusion: If I do not go to the fourth layer to save Lin Jiabao, he and the five Men in Black from his mental defense mechanism will be trapped in the Fourth Dream Layer forever.'

'Therefore, I set up a failsafe.'

'Through our conversation to clear the game, I manipulated his thoughts, making him believe that the person he hates the most is...'

'The Old Man!'

'As long as he reaches a reconciliation with the Old Man in the fourth layer, he can shatter the dreamscape.'

'But this hatred for the Old Man is something I forcibly instilled in him. The Escape Room Game shouldn't naturally spawn the Old Man in the fourth layer.'

'So, I memorized the Old Man's facial features and wrote them on my palm. Later, in the Fourth Dream Layer, I will take on the Old Man's appearance to help Lin Jiabao reconcile with himself and break the dream.'

'At the same time...'

'I can also sneak in my own agenda and plant a Thought Stamp in his mind. According to the rules in the movie Inception, the dreamscape is fundamentally meant for planting ideas.'

'But this Thought Stamp cannot be too obvious, or else the Young Heiress will notice something is wrong once we return to reality.'

'By killing Chen Yang with my own hands, I beat him once and also reconciled with myself. Once the time is up, I can clear the game.'

'Therefore, there has to be a follow-up plan. After rescuing Lin Jiabao from the fourth layer, the moment we return to the first dream layer, I have to kill him off so he can clear the game before me.'

'Only then can I ensure that I both clear the Escape Room Game and lose to him at the same time.'

'There is no need to consider the second layer since it is a certain-death situation for both of us. Only in the first layer, with the Young Heiress and Second Maternal Uncle holding off the Men in Black, can I use that time gap to kill him!'

The review was complete.

Chen Ran quietly smoked a few Cigarettes, allowing Lin Jiabao, who was already in the Fourth Dream Layer, to stay there a bit longer.

The older he got, the better Chen Ran's chances would be.

Looking at his Watch, Chen Ran noted the time since he had arrived in the third dream layer. It had already been...

One hour and fifty minutes!

Seeing this, he did not hesitate to aim the muzzle at his own forehead and pull the trigger.

Bang!

Chen Ran collapsed onto the ground.

...

The Fourth Dream Layer.

Chen Ran looked at the shattering dreamscape and the elderly Lin Jiabao, who was kneeling on the ground, weeping.

He thought to himself.

'Although I don't possess the memories of experiencing the third dream layer, I imagine...'

'I have already achieved the result of my layout in the third layer by stamping this guy with a Thought Stamp: Do whatever it takes to kill Lin Jiabei!!'

'It's a pity that without my memories from the third layer, I have no idea just how satisfying it must have felt when I killed Chen Yang...'

The next moment, the dreamscape collapsed.

In the second dream layer.

The car that crashed through the guardrail had plunged into the river, and the Chen Ran inside it had drowned.

Inside Chen Ran's house, the five Men in Black kicked open the door that had been shot full of holes like a sieve. Seeing a motionless Lin Jiabao, they immediately shot him dead, expelling him from this second dream layer.

The first dream layer.

Chen Ran woke up on the hotel bed. Without another word, he rushed out of his room and kicked open the door to Room 10, only to see Lin Jiabao also groggily waking up.

He immediately lunged forward and viciously strangled him by the neck. Having been shot twice, Lin Jiabao had absolutely no room to fight back.

Chen Ran strangled him to death. Just as he collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion, he spotted the Men in Black standing at the doorway.

"You are too late."

With those words, the Men in Black unleashed a hail of gunfire upon him, expelling him from the dreamscape.