Chapter 457: An Example
Yan Qingwen had his own determination, something Shen Mo could not impose upon. Seeing the opportunity, Shen Mo managed to escape. Soon after, the doll and puppet cat located him. However, after he had put some distance between them, the puppet cat stopped chasing him, returning to the vicinity of the food street, continuing its search for Yan Qingwen.
Apparently, Mary was very anxious about being found.
Shen Mo took a distant glance, then retracted his gaze and turned to leave.
Returning to their hideout, in just a few sentences, he briefed the others about the situation. Bai Youwei showed little surprise on hearing that Mary was in hiding.
The name of this game was hide-and-seek.
And now, the real game of hide-and-seek had begun.
“Yan Qingwen did the right thing; he must stay in Treasure Bay,” Bai Youwei said calmly, “As long as the puppet cat cannot locate him, Mary will stay hidden due to fear, unable to change her location at will. We now need to hurry over and share the burden with him, guarding all exits from Treasure Bay.”
Shen Fei fetched a map and laid it out for everyone to see:
“In terms of size, Treasure Bay is the second largest park, just after Fairy Tale Kingdom, mainly divided into five attractions —
The Lost Ghost Ship, the Mysterious Crystal Tower, the Sea Monster Food Street, Treasure Bay Theater, and the Jungle Adventure.
All five settings would take a significant amount of time to search. The Sea Monster Food Street houses several restaurants offering both Western and Chinese cuisines; the Jungle Adventure is filled with countless climbing pipes and ropes. And then there’s the Crystal Tower, the Theater, and the Ghost Ship. Mary could be hiding in any of these five attractions.”
Shen Mo pointed to the position of the food street on the map, “We were here when we lost track of Mary. So, we can rule out the food street. The Jungle Adventure and Treasure Bay Theater, the attractions nearest to the food street, are her most likely hiding spots.”
“Not necessarily,” Bai Youwei said, “It could be a diversion, hence the ambush at the food street.”
Shen Mo frowned, deep in thought, “…So, our priority now is to narrow down the search area.”
“But how?” Shen Fei asked anxiously, “If Mary’s doll and cat don’t leave Treasure Bay, we can’t get close. It’s even more impossible to search each place one by one!”
Hearing this, YU Yaqing also looked grave: “Also, once we find Mary, her doll and puppet cat will definitely come to rescue her, and we aren’t a match for them.”
Everyone fell silent.
Shen Mo looked at the group. After a long pause, he said, “Regardless, we must make our way to Treasure Bay as soon as possible. As long as we last till dawn, our chances of winning will greatly improve.”
Yu Yaqing bit her lip and nodded, “Right, this is our chance. We have to seize it.”
Just as everyone was about to set off, Bai Youwei suddenly said, “I might have a plan….”
All eyes were on her.
“But there’s substantial risk,” Bai Youwei cautioned as everyone looked intently at her, “We may not know where Mary is hiding, but don’t forget that her doll and cat do. If we make separate attempts at each attraction, we’ll definitely find her.”
Yu Yaqing gave it some serious thought, “I see what you mean… if Mary is hiding on the Ghost Ship, then when we split up to search the Ghost Ship and the Food Street, the doll and the cat will definitely prioritize attacking those searching the Ghost Ship. As feasible as this plan sounds, we need to ensure timely communication for it to work. Otherwise, it’ll be ineffective.”
Bai Youwei is searching for Mary on the food street while Shen Mo is searching for her on the Ghost ship.
If Shen Mo is first attacked, he will be unable to determine if the cat attacked him first;
Bai Youwei, unaware of the situation on the Ghost Ship, equally can’t infer if Mary is there.
Or consider this extreme example:
Shen Mo is killed on the Ghost Ship! Even if he saw Mary, a dead person can’t relay the information!