Xu Huo stepped forward and finished off the mermaid before turning to the other metal boxes that were being breached one by one, saying to Dai Wenqian and the others, "Get to work."
"Get to work on what?" Zheng Liang asked instinctively.
Xu Huo thrust his sword into the gaping mouth of an Alien that suddenly poked its head out from a nearby box, and only after the creature struggled and then fell silent inside the box did he withdraw his sword.
A mixture of blood and fluid oozed from the broken parts of the box, and he picked up the corpse of the mermaid next to him, stuffing it into the hole to block it.
"From the top," Dai Wenqian suddenly had a metal spear in his hand, and with a leap, he landed on another metal box, spearing through it. Seconds later, the Alien inside stopped its desperate struggles.
He nodded to another one of his companions, who gracefully jumped atop another metal box with his sword.
After dealing with a few of the most fiercely reacting boxes, the echoing bam-bam sounds gradually subsided.
Watching Xu Huo and Dai Wenqian returning from different directions, people instinctively stepped back.
"Let’s start with the information we have so far," Dai Wenqian gestured to Xu Huo with a hand motion for him to proceed.
Xu Huo found a place to sit down, resting his sword on his lap, and said, "When coming down from the tenth floor, one hundred and thirty people were divided into twelve elevators."
"Eight of them had thirteen people, one had nine, one had seven, in addition to the six in the elevator I was in, and Gu Yu’s had four."
"Three elevators were attacked: one with thirteen people, one with nine, plus mine."
"The other fully loaded elevators and the two with fewer people were not attacked."
"Elevators corresponding to the number of floors would not be attacked; extra elevators were randomly struck regardless of the number of people."
"The previous deduction was correct, the number of descending elevators can only be the same as or less than the number of floors."
"Are you satisfied now?" Brother Tie gave Dai Wenqian a disgruntled look, "We almost died just now."
Dai Wenqian pointed his chin at Xu Huo, "But isn’t there one who survived the attack? You have to have some confidence in yourself; maybe you can survive too."
"Yeah, how come you guys were alright just now?" Gu Yu asked anxiously, "Was there something special?"
"Everything was the same, except for the mutant plants I brought down from the thirteenth floor," Xu Huo said.
Overtly and covertly, many eyes focused on the trolley.
"Could it be that the mutants are also afraid of these potted plants?" Zheng Liang looked at the items on the trolley in surprise. Aside from the plant that could corrode skin and kill instantly, the other plants taken from the greenhouse didn’t seem to have such strong offensive properties.
"It might be the scent," Wei Bin touched his nose, "Some plants can emit odors that repel snakes, insects, rodents, and ants. Humans can’t smell it, but animals are very averse to it."
"It doesn’t seem to be the mutant animals," Jiang Yihua said with a frown at that moment. "I think it’s the mutant plants."
Xu Huo turned to look at her.
Jiang Yihua explained, "My ability is sensitive to plants. Although I haven’t seen the real thing, my intuition tells me it’s so."
"Well, let’s tentatively treat it as plants," Xu Huo said.
"It’s probably the mutant plants that masked your scent," Gu Yu analyzed. "That’s why you avoided an attack."
"Then we should hurry back to the thirteenth floor to move the potted plants," Zhang Biao slapped his thigh, "Later, if each person carries two pots, won’t that make us safe!"
"That’s just one possibility," Wei Bin said, "And it comes with great risks."
"Firstly, returning to the thirteenth floor would mean facing attacks from mutant creatures."
"Even without mutant creatures, with so many plants in the greenhouse, which ones should we take and how many pots would ensure safety?"
"Do we even need to discuss that? Of course, the more, the better," Zhang Biao said. "Who cares what kind of plants they are, getting plenty of them can’t be wrong."
"This is not the safest method," Dai Wenqian said as he took off his glasses to wipe them. "If the opponent can’t find the target, then everyone will become the target again."
"Since the number of elevators cannot exceed the number of floors, and it is safe when the number of people is less than the rated capacity, there is no choice but to choose a target in advance."
He methodically put on his glasses and said to Xu Huo, "The last round randomly landed on you, and you came out alive. You gamble, you abide by the outcome, so you can arrange the next floor."
"But you must have thought it through, right?"
Xu Huo’s method was the same as his, "Create a target."
"From the fifteenth to the fourteenth floor, the elevator that was attacked was the overloaded one. Besides the rule of reducing the number of elevators by one floor at a time, overload might also be a factor."
"So you want to directly overload an elevator?" Jiang Yihua asked. "But if we do that, wouldn’t that overloaded elevator be in great danger?"
"It’s not just dangerous; it’s practically delivering oneself on a platter!" Zheng Liang said. "Who would be willing to go into that elevator with you?"
No one present was willing.
Dai Wenqian looked around at everyone and said with a smile, "Actually, there’s a simpler way."
"Leave thirteen people behind on every floor, or kill thirteen people. The others will naturally reach the first floor safely. When they get to the first floor, the instance time will almost be over."
These words made the onlookers fearful; this meant that all the ordinary people who came in would have to die!
"That method is too inhumane!" Jiang Yihua exclaimed angrily.
Dai Wenqian said, "That’s how the game is played."
The rules were clear. Either someone goes out as cannon fodder for a slim chance at survival, or you abandon your companions, or compete for the elevator.
Survive yourself, or let others survive.
"I’ve been saying from the start that this is the best way!" Brother Tie immediately agreed and said to Xu Huo, "You know Gu Yu and Zheng Liang well, why bother mixing with a bunch of players you’re meeting for the first time?"
Another player had just died; there were now a total of seventeen players left. If Xu Huo sided with Gu Yu, Dai Wenqian, and the others, the situation would be different.
Jiang Yihua and the other three seemed to be facing a formidable enemy. Kang Hong immediately said, "I can go into the overloaded elevator."
"Even if you’re willing, others might not be," Brother Tie glanced at the others who were all cowering. "You don’t think you’re going to take all of us players down with you, do you?"
"What bets you’ve made have nothing to do with me; I’m not going in, no matter what."
Zhang Biao, Bald Head, and the player with the national character face who were aligned with him nodded immediately, indicating they would absolutely not accompany him.
Dai Wenqian looked at Xu Huo with a smile and said helplessly, "I’m not to blame for this."
Xu Huo remained expressionless and nodded, "Just you and your friend go in, that’s fine."
The smile disappeared from Dai Wenqian’s face.
"I’ll go too," Gu Yu said.
Xu Huo, however, waved his hand, pointed at Dai Wenqian and another, plus Jiang Yihua, Zheng Liang, and Wei Bin.
The people who were pointed out hesitated only slightly and did not object.
Da Zhi said, "I’ll go too."
Jiang Yihua, however, pressed his arm and shook her head.
Thus, on Xu Huo’s side, the five-person faction, including two of his own, and Dai Wenqian’s twelve-person faction would send out four people.