Chapter 560: Two Grids
The map drawn by Lu Yuwen spanned from the Jiaolonghai Railway overpass in the east to Xuzhou Amusement Park in the west, Quanshan Forest Park in the south to Yangtun Station in the north—the whole area was divided into equal blocks of 100 squares.
Eighteen connecting blocks were located at the southwest corner of the map, and Su Man suggested that they should start putting the puzzle together from these blocks.
However, Lu Yuwen proposed that they should start from the northeast corner, where numerous machine factories, coal factories, fertilizer plants, and electrical machinery factories were scattered. This area was an industrial park, which made it easier to identify the blocks when looking for them because of their distinct features.
It was easy to strategize on paper, but the execution was extremely challenging in reality.
Lu Yuwen and Su Man spent an entire day only to piece together… two blocks.
It wasn’t because they were lazy, but rather every time they had to move a block, they had to return to the adjacent original block position, move the block just to create an empty slot, which allowed the target block to continue its movement.
Just to accurately place the first block, they had to travel thirty kilometers!
Su Man quietly calculated the time. If they put together two blocks per day, then it would take a total of fifty days to put all 100 blocks together!
Even if they subtracted the eighteen blocks which were already pieced together, it would still take at least forty days!
Taking into account the time already wasted in the labyrinth, wouldn’t it be near to two months before they could get out?
This thought frightened Su Man.
Two months later, she had no idea what the world would look like. Would Yan and Zhu Shu still be in Shanghai? Where would she go to find them?
Lu Yuwen comforted her, saying that usually, the first few pieces of a 10×10 puzzle game take the longest time because they have to travel the furthest. After they’ve completed a portion, the speed will pick up.
For example, after completing the peripheral 36 blocks, the map would become 8×8, then after another 28 blocks, it would become 6×6. As such, the map would be getting smaller, and assembling it would become increasingly easier.
Su Man trusted him and calmly continued to piece together the blocks.
The next day, their progress was—
Su Man started to feel anxious.
Although she desperately wanted to keep moving the blocks without sleeping, Lu Yuwen was physically weaker than her. Already, ten hours of work per day was his limit.
Once again, Lu Yuwen reassured her, “It’s okay, I’ve looked at the map, and according to our progress, we should be able to assemble at least four blocks tomorrow.”
Su Man mustered a smile.
Four blocks, although the number had increased, but…
However, having only moved ten blocks in four days, it wasn’t exactly an optimistic speed.
There were still 72 blocks left…
The next day, Su Man and Lu Yuwen were busy from morning till night, and just as Lu Yuwen predicted, they managed to assemble four blocks.
As the sun set, they pitched their camp along the road.
Lu Yuwen said to Su Man: “We’ll assemble another four blocks tomorrow. The initial speed will be slow, but don’t worry too much. There is plenty of food and water here. It will be safer if we spend more time on this.”
Su Man nodded and responded earnestly: “Alright, I believe in you.”
Lu Yuwen was slightly startled.
He didn’t dare meet Su Man’s gaze and looked away, mumbling, “I’ll go check the map again…”
With that, he turned and went into the tent.
“I want to scout the road ahead,” said Su Man, who was sitting outside, speaking to him through the tent. “That way, we can get a smoother start tomorrow. You should get some rest, don’t tire yourself out.”
There was no response from the tent.
Su Man looked at the increasingly darkening sky, added a few more pieces of firewood to the fire, and then got up and left.
She couldn’t sit still anymore.
The slow progress was making her anxious!
She was naturally impatient, but now she had no choice but to calm down and follow Lu Yuwen’s pace, step by step. It was so frustrating!
What’s more, their relationship was not so familiar. Therefore, she couldn’t treat him as she did her old teammates—freely urging him, questioning him, blaming him! No matter how anxious she was inside, she had to swallow her feelings and empathize with his difficulties!
Su Man walked about a hundred meters away, only to realize she had forgotten to take her dagger with her. Her anxiety morphed into vexation, and she had no choice but to go back the same way.
Unexpectedly, shortly after turning back, she saw a dispute had arisen by the tent!