Chapter 44: Repeating Old Tricks

Wen Xishu took a step forward. He did not actually intend to purify the music box.

At this moment, Zheng Zai suddenly spoke up:

"I'll go."

Among the people present, there were two honest men.

One was Mendemuer, and the other was Zheng Zai. In Wen Xishu's view, Zheng Zai was truly honest.

But Mendemuer remained to be observed.

Kane had been very aggressive at the start, proposing that whoever had the most serious crimes should be the team leader. Because in a small portion of prisons, there was a saying that whoever had the most heinous crimes was the boss.

Both Mendemuer and Kane were there because of women, but Wen Xishu felt that Mendemuer seemed too cowardly; he didn't dislike cowardly people, but he disliked those who played the pig to eat the tiger by pretending to be cowardly.

As for Zheng Zai, he was honestly and truly sincere.

As Zheng Zai spoke, he had already started walking. Wen Xishu's analysis also made a lot of sense to him.

The reason he had hesitated for a while was because he didn't want to leave too early.

His family background meant he needed a lot of merit to obtain the treatment of an ordinary person.

Therefore, Zheng Zai very much wanted to stay until the end to achieve as high a completion rate as possible.

Only then would it be possible for him to regain honor. Only then could he shake off the negative influence brought by his father, and—obtain treatment.

But Zheng Zai truly believed and felt grateful for those words from Wen Xishu.

After his quirk of gnawing on human flesh was exposed, there was still someone willing to be so good to him, and Zheng Zai was willing to take risks for such a person.

Zheng Zai said:

"Climbing up such a high bookshelf shouldn't be easy for any of you, but I can do it."

"If I die, I won't blame anyone. Brother Wen's analysis makes a lot of sense, but if it's wrong, don't blame him either."

"If I survive, it proves Brother Wen's words were right, and then I want to bring him back with me."

Wen Xishu felt no great stirrings inside, but these words from Zheng Zai reminded him of Jack.

Jack of the Tower of Desire, upon seeing someone breaking in illegally, his first reaction was to ask if they needed help.

For some reason, Wen Xishu had a feeling...

Although Zheng Zai would not undergo a transformation like Jack's, he was very likely at a node that would cause a drastic change in his personality.

If at this moment—

No one cared about him, no one paid him any mind.

Zheng Zai was about to dash forward as he spoke, but Kane suddenly stepped out as well; he realized that if he didn't make a decision now, he might not be able to go back!

Those who came to the Tower of Weirdness did so to change their fate, striving to be like the new legend of the bunker, Wen Xishu, and make a name for themselves in the bunker.

But the prerequisite for changing one's fate was to stay alive.

After seeing those eerie tentacles, Kane was terrified; he just wanted to survive and go back, even if it meant the lowest completion rate.

Kane said anxiously:

"I'll go! Don't fight me for it!"

This was the result Wen Xishu wanted; he had intended to stop Zheng Zai anyway. On his list of teammates to sacrifice, Zheng Zai was currently in last place.

If he performed well, Wen Xishu might even strike Zheng Zai off the list.

"Brother Zheng, it wouldn't be bad for you to go purify the box, but since Kane wants to go, let him have the chance. I think you actually don't want to settle for the rewards of a low-level completion rate, right?"

Wen Xishu grasped the psychology of every person.

Sure enough, Zheng Zai stopped in his tracks.

It was not easy for Kane to climb up the bookshelf, at least not as easily as Zheng Zai, who moved like a wild cat climbing a tree.

However, as a criminal who dared to come to the Tower of Weirdness to take a gamble, Kane's physical fitness was beyond reproach; although slow, he could still use the books to climb up bit by bit.

A few minutes later, panting, he finally reached the top of the massive bookshelf.

He saw the intricate structure of the music box at close range.

Wen Xishu guessed that the story here was about a girl who had some bad things done to her by a beast.

Four rooms, four stories. Only when pieced together would they form the "Birdcage."

However, he hadn't figured out what the function of the music box actually was.

Just as he was thinking that Kane was about to purify the music box, and Kane was also thinking that he could finally leave this hellhole—

The music box suddenly played again, that music full of youthful vitality from recess rang out once more.

Kane was stunned; he clearly hadn't touched the music box yet, nor had he chosen to purify anything.

At the same time, no one else in the room had chosen to do so.

This variable that appeared suddenly made Kane curse under his breath, and he had no choice but to speed up and rush toward the music box.

But he was still too slow.

In the center of the room, on the bookshelf, under the light tubes, on the desk, on the office table, near the legs of the stools... black smoke appeared everywhere.

The monster was about to appear.

[Good child, good child! You really are my good child! As long as you listen obediently, your grades will definitely be very good!]

The greasy, nauseating voice rang out again.

Wen Xishu looked around and quickly chose to run toward the bookshelf, hiding in the gaps between the books.

At this time, Park Yingshuang had already made up his mind to follow Wen Xishu; whatever Wen Xishu did, Park Yingshuang would do.

Mendemuer and Zheng Zai also followed suit, heading to hide by the bookshelf.

Only Kane, who had already climbed to the top of the bookshelf... had no time to leave.

He was discovered.

Twisted, slimy, wriggling tentacles, at a speed humans could hardly react to, instantly pierced toward Kane.

And as Kane's flesh and blood were pierced, the surrounding black smoke also kept closing in.

They seemed to be attracted by the flesh and blood.

Kane's seven orifices... or rather, any slightly larger hole in his upper or lower body, were all filled and pierced through by the tentacles.

Kane died even more miserably than Xita, not even having time to let out a scream.

The monster he encountered was several times larger than Xita's.

His hands tried desperately to touch the music box, but unfortunately, he died on top of the bookshelf before he could touch it.

The others did not see this scene; only blood dripped down from the top of the bookshelf.

Hiding at the bottom of the bookshelf in the gaps between the books, the group looked at each other, and Wen Xishu did the same, feigning an expression of shock.

He had been aiming to kill from the start.

The second one who deserved to die was Kane.

The music full of youthful vitality ended. Mendemuer and Park Yingshuang both looked at Wen Xishu with questioning gazes.

Wen Xishu pretended to be afraid:

"Terrible... I didn't expect it to be like this. We must speed up!"

"If none of you go, then I'll have to go."

Once the music ended, it meant the monster hidden in the black smoke had also disappeared.

At this moment, Wen Xishu pretended to climb in terror.

Park Yingshuang hurriedly said:

"Wen Xishu, what exactly happened! You have to tell us!"

She was truly scared to the point of collapse.

Wen Xishu said:

"It's an anti-AFK mechanism! Besides the four doors constantly closing in, the room itself has an anti-AFK mechanism. If we waste time and don't purify the items..."

"It will trigger the mechanism, the monster will appear on a large scale, and it's very likely to appear in the areas we've stayed in before, which will cause our activity space to become smaller and smaller!"

"We must purify it quickly! Kane was just too slow! He shouldn't have been so wishy-washy and hesitant earlier!"

"This room has an anti-AFK check every once in a while!"

A reasonable analysis; now everyone understood. Why did Kane's purification of the item attract a large-scale appearance of monsters in many different places? While Xita only attracted the monster from within the item?

It turned out Kane hadn't even had time to purify it; the monster that appeared just now was a different mechanism!

They had to race against time!

Seeing Wen Xishu climbing slowly, at this moment, Park Yingshuang and Mendemuer could no longer sit still!

Mendemuer stopped pretending too:

"Sorry! I want to survive!"

He actually grabbed Wen Xishu's leg directly! Dragging Wen Xishu down.

The smile at the corner of Wen Xishu's mouth was almost impossible to suppress.

"I'll just let you be the next person to die."

(End of chapter)