Chapter 99: Chen Ran Smiled

Qiu Yinong won two more poker chips.

At this moment.

The poker chips for both camps returned to the initial ten per person.

Blue Camp: Chen Ran, Geng Hao.

Red Camp: Lin Jiabao.

All five pairs of eyes were glued to the constantly spinning dice on the long table. They had a nagging feeling that something was wrong, but they could not quite put their finger on it.

Shortly after.

The dice came to a halt. The number on top was...

A four!

The difficulty of the Escape Room Game flashed just as wildly. At the same time, the participant list rapidly shuffled between their three names, but...

This time the roll was a four, which meant there was a fourth element descending into chaos.

The group hastily searched for the fourth shifting variable, eventually locking their eyes on...

The announcement board!

Previously, the second rule stated:

[Two: For each round of the game, both camps must send one person to participate; the Successor may not bet more than 2 poker chips per round.]

Now, the number [2] in [not more than 2 poker chips] was continuously scrambling.

The range was fixed between the numbers one through ten.

Ten seconds later, the shifting colors on their chest plates gradually slowed to a stop.

Blue Camp: Geng Hao, Lin Jiabao.

Red Camp: Chen Ran.

Seeing this result, the Young Heiress Lin Jiabei excitedly licked her lips. "Hahaha, how interesting! Your teammate is now a member of my camp. If the betting limit changes to a maximum of ten poker chips later, what kind of situation do you think will unfold?"

Those words were meant for Qiu Yinong to hear.

Qiu Yinong stared intently at the trio's chest plates.

'The Red Camp only consists of Chen Ran. That means no matter how the participants are randomized next, Chen Ran will be forced to play.'

'If the betting limit becomes a maximum of ten poker chips, and I were in her shoes...'

'I would bet eight poker chips!'

'That way, all the pressure falls on Chen Ran. If he loses, I am in grave danger; if he wins, it still creates a rather troublesome scenario.'

'Currently.'

'Among Chen Ran, Geng Hao, and Lin Jiabao, both Chen Ran and Lin Jiabao have two chest plates each, while Geng Hao only has one.'

'If Chen Ran and Lin Jiabao take the field this round and Chen Ran wins, he will end up with three chest plates. When the camps are randomized again in the next round...'

'There is a two-thirds chance that the Red Camp will randomly land on either Geng Hao or Lin Jiabao, who would each only have a single chest plate.'

'If she then bets a single poker chip, the moment Geng Hao or Lin Jiabao loses the game, Lin Jiabei will not only lose her qualification to gamble, but she will also leave behind one chip for whoever takes a seat at the betting table.'

'Who would end up at the betting table?'

'In all likelihood, it would be Chen Ran, holding his three chest plates. When that happens, not only will both Chen Ran and I become Successors, but I will have nineteen poker chips while he will only have one...'

'Furthermore, out of the three involved—Geng Hao, Lin Jiabao, and Lin Jiabei—all of them want to kill either me or Chen Ran. Whoever is randomly assigned to the Red Camp will intentionally lose the Escape Room Game. That would cause Chen Ran to lose his final poker chip and force me to shoot him dead!'

'While this is just one possibility, the chances of it happening are incredibly high!'

Qiu Yinong cast a worried glance at Chen Ran, but he returned a reassuring look. What was more, within his eyes, she could even...

Detect a glimmer of joy!

Qiu Yinong fell completely silent.

'We are in a desperate situation! How is Chen Ran not the least bit anxious?'

'Does he have a backup plan?'

Twenty seconds later, the difficulty level of the Escape Room Game displayed on the main door also stopped changing.

It was still set to [Relatively Hard].

Thirty seconds later, the participant list finally settled.

[Participant: Chen Ran.]

[Participant: Geng Hao.]

Seeing this, both Chen Ran and Qiu Yinong breathed a long sigh of relief.

'Thank goodness it is not Lin Jiabao.'

Forty seconds later, the scrambling numbers on the rule board slowly ground to a halt.

[May not bet more than 8 poker chips!]

However, just when everyone thought Lin Jiabei was out of options, she tossed seven poker chips into the center of the long table without a moment of hesitation.

Lin Jiabei said softly, "I know you really want to kill Geng Hao. But if Geng Hao dies in this round of the Escape Room Game, there is a very high chance that Chen Ran will win. Since Chen Ran belongs to the Red Camp, his victory means my victory."

She left the implications hanging in the air.

No one present was an idiot. Lin Jiabei had bet seven poker chips.

If Chen Ran won this round, all the pressure would be shifted onto Qiu Yinong, who would be left with only three chips.

If Chen Ran lost this round, Lin Jiabei would be the one left with only three chips, which still gave her some room to maneuver.

'Lunatic!'

'Gambling addict!'

'Degenerate gambler!'

'Crazy woman!'

The four of them cursed her in their minds. To leave life and death entirely up to chance—only someone with severe brain damage could pull off such an insane stunt.

Left with no other choice, Qiu Yinong reluctantly tossed out seven poker chips to match.

Chen Ran, on the other hand, lit up a cigarette. He looked at Lin Jiabei and stated coldly, "I think you should consider yourself lucky that it did not randomly land on [not more than 10 poker chips]."

Indeed, if the limit had been ten chips, given that Chen Ran was guaranteed to enter the game, Qiu Yinong could have chosen to go all-in.

"Oh, really?" Lin Jiabei suddenly flashed a confident smile. "Did you forget that I can retract my skill?"

She then turned her gaze to Qiu Yinong. "You are very cautious. You only ever place your bet after I have placed mine. Otherwise..."

Her implication was self-evident. If Qiu Yinong had bet first, the moment she wagered more than two poker chips, Lin Jiabei would immediately retract her skill.

That would revert the rule back to [May not bet more than 2 poker chips]. By having already bet more than two chips, Qiu Yinong would inevitably trigger the deadly trap.

She would most likely be killed!

Qiu Yinong looked at Lin Jiabei as if she were looking at a fool. "Not only am I cautious, but even if I did bet three poker chips first, are you certain you can retract your skill faster than I can use mine?"

Lin Jiabei froze.

'I almost forgot! Qiu Yinong's Liar Hunter Skill is a supreme time-based ability!'

Lin Jiabei froze.

'I almost forgot! Qiu Yinong's Liar Hunter Skill is a supreme time-based ability!'

'Furthermore, it is the most terrifying type... Time Reincarnation. What a vicious skill!'

Seeing them talk endlessly, Geng Hao's face turned as ugly as one could possibly imagine.

'Is no one going to speak up for me?'

'It seems their battle of wits never even took me into consideration from the very beginning...'

He turned his head to look at Chen Ran, right as Chen Ran turned to look at him.

Their eyes met.

Expressionless, Chen Ran walked up to the Escape Room Game door and stepped inside without a second thought.

Geng Hao followed suit.

Soon, peals of laughter drifted out from behind the door, growing louder and louder.

Inside the secret room.

Geng Hao stared in horror at Chen Ran, whose laughter was so spine-chilling it made his hair stand on end. Geng Hao unconsciously backed away a couple of steps.

"Hold on a second, let me finish laughing before I consider sitting in the chair to start the Escape Room Game." Chen Ran gripped the back of a chair, laughing so hard he could not stand straight.

Back in the Third Secret Room.

Lin Jiabao also lit a cigarette. Taking a deep drag, he asked out of the blue, "Do you think Chen Ran will sabotage or outright kill Geng Hao during this round of the Escape Room Game?"

Without waiting for the two women to answer, he continued, "Chen Ran will definitely kill Geng Hao. Even if it puts Qiu Yinong at a disadvantage, he will still kill him."

Both Qiu Yinong and Lin Jiabei noticed his absolute phrasing of [definitely]. He had not used any ambiguous terms to avoid triggering a lie.

"Not just Chen Ran—if I were the one randomly selected to play the Escape Room Game with Geng Hao, I would kill him too..."