Author: 木尺素 / Mu Chisu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 173

Under the dark gray sky, more than eighty people were trapped inside a cold, hexagonal iron cage.

Surrounding these cages were assassins from different eras, each with distinct clothing and personalities.

They watched the struggle inside the cage with great interest, seemingly deriving immense pleasure from the spectacle.

Despite the large number of players inside and assassins outside, a surprising silence prevailed at the moment.

Amid the howling wind, one sound stood out distinctly…

“Beep, beep, beep…”

It was unmistakably a countdown of some sort.

It wasn’t hard to tell where the sound came from. Soon, everyone turned toward a single spot. The beeping came from five players wearing orange wristbands.

The five wristbands had originally been betrayal tools left behind by the Feidu Legion, but through a twist of fate, they ended up in the hands of the Peach Blossom faction and were distributed to a few lone players they had recruited.

Now, the five players looked completely bewildered as they all made the same motion…

They raised their left wrists and stared at the bands.

The countdown sound was actually coming from their wristbands.

[Item Name: Rubber Good at Imitation]

[Function: It’s just ordinary rubber at first glance, but it can transform 72 times! Grow, shrink, become pretty. It can change into anything you can imagine.]

[But the power of rubber is far more than that. Not only is it good at shapeshifting, but it can also perfectly disguise itself as a dungeon item. No one can see through its secret!]

[Note: Just like Cinderella must leave the ball before midnight, fake is fake. The rubber cannot maintain its disguise indefinitely. It only lasts for 3 hours. Manage your time wisely!]

[Grade: S, extremely rare. Occasionally dropped in god-level trial dungeons.]

This rubber was obtained by Hidden Blade during a trial dungeon he cleared long ago.

Inside the mansion where Bloody Mary once lived, he and his disciples spied on what Xu Yang had buried in the forest. Later, his first disciple dug up the five orange wristbands.

At that time, they were planning to coordinate with Zhou Qian from within. Of course, they couldn’t have foreseen everything that was happening now. But regardless, swapping the wristbands using the rubber as a disguise, having a backup plan, was never a bad idea.

So, Hidden Blade reluctantly spent all his rubber items and had his first disciple plant the five fake wristbands back.

Because of that, Xu Yang’s confidant was able to “dig up” those five wristbands and bring them back to him…

Not because he was skilled enough to escape from Hidden Blade and four of his disciples, but because they let him.

Later, after Gao Shan’s soul arrived at the mansion, he discussed strategy with them and conveyed Zhou Qian’s intentions.

During this time, Hidden Blade of course told him about the swapped wristbands.

When Gao Shan returned, he faithfully reported it all to Zhou Qian.

At that point, none of them could have imagined a chess match like this would emerge. But Zhou Qian just happened to use the “fake wristbands” to pull off a brilliant reversal.

In reality, six-color checkers means six factions compete against each other.

But not in this dungeon.

Too few pieces and you can’t win; too many pieces and it becomes harder to win. The ideal is just the right number. Choosing one well-sized group and guiding it to victory, with all other pieces serving as bridges. That was the winning formula.

When the orange faction had only two players on Zhou Qian’s side and five on the opponent’s, he had to give up his two and let them join the Peach Blossom-controlled orange team.

Thus, Zhou Qian fought using yellow and violet, against four colors controlled by the opponent.

Since Zhou Qian had absorbed many players, the yellow and violet pieces involved in the game numbered 21 each, filling up two triangular zones with a total of 42 people.

But among Peach Blossom’s four factions, apart from green, the other pieces were relatively few. Orange had the fewest, just five.

If Peach Blossom wanted to win, they would need far fewer moves than Zhou Qian.

And the easiest win lay in the orange faction.

After absorbing the two orange players from Zhou Qian’s side, Priest only had to move those seven orange pieces to the opposite corner according to checkers rules to win. It couldn’t be easier.

At this moment, six of Priest’s pieces were already in the target corner. With his turn approaching, he only needed to move the final orange piece to the fourth row to secure victory.

But…there was a condition.

That condition: all six orange pieces already in position had to be real.

Unfortunately for him, five of those six were fake.

The only one wearing a real orange wristband was a player Zhou Qian had inserted: Liu Shui.

Liu Shui appeared to be under coercion, being moved at gunpoint by Peach Blossom. But in truth, every step he took had been calculated by Zhou Qian.

And so, Zhou Qian’s genius lay in this: He had completely arranged the current formation of the six orange pieces. Once Liu Shui reached the far corner, he occupied the very first row, the grid with only one square.

Below him, in the second row, were two fake oranges; and in the third, three more fake oranges.

One real orange and five fakes, this was the current layout in the opposite corner.

According to system rules, if a player removes their wristband without cause, they are supposed to die immediately.

But thanks to the [Rubber Good at Imitation], which could mimic item traits, these fake wristbands weren’t flagged by the system as violations—so long as they were worn during the three-hour duration.

But that time was almost up. If those five didn’t switch out their wristbands soon, they would die.

Zhou Qian’s plan was simple: at the critical moment, have them remove the fake wristbands and put on others.

The system never stated you couldn’t switch wristbands mid-game.

While reviewing the rules, Zhou Qian had seized on this loophole.

And once he learned of the wristband swap by Hidden Blade’s disciple, the idea for this brilliant reversal was born.

Now, these five fake oranges completely occupied the second and third rows.

Once they switched bands, they would immediately transform into other colors, effectively trapping Liu Shui, the real orange, in the corner…

And simultaneously blocking Priest’s last real orange from entering.

The inside couldn’t get out, and the outside couldn’t get in.

That final orange could never reach the second row.

At that point, Priest would lose…

Once Priest’s orange lost, the remaining blue, indigo, and green factions stood no chance.

Their only role had been to serve as steppingstones for the orange.

Due to their low numbers, the three were scattered and mixed up. No single color could reach the far corner quickly enough to win.

But Zhou Qian was different. He needed fewer turns to win than Priest.

He was guaranteed to get yellow to the far side first.

At this moment, as the countdown beeped on, the five players wearing fake wristbands were terrified to see a message from the system…

[Friendly reminder: The duration of “Rubber Good at Imitation” is about to end. Please switch to new wristbands within 3 minutes. Failure to do so will result in death. Reminder: You only have 3 minutes.]

The five tried to run. But one, Ke Yuxiao already had his gun trained on them and the system forbade players from leaving the board before the game ended.

So they panicked and turned to Peach Blossom.

“Please, give us wristbands!”

“Give us new wristbands!”

“We still have value! We know tons of information!”

……

But their pleading earned no sympathy from Ke Yuxiao or Priest.

Seeing that neither moved, the five dropped to their knees.

At death’s door, pride meant nothing.

They knelt and kowtowed to the Peach Blossom leaders, begging for a sliver of mercy.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qian placed his hand behind his back and signaled a “five” to Hidden Blade out of Priest’s sight.

Then he looked calmly at Priest.

Priest’s irises were pale. Under the gray sky, they almost looked ghostly gray.

Smiling, Priest said to Zhou Qian, “You’ve recruited a lot of people. That’s impressive. But most of them are solo tourists or non-core members of Feidu and Peach Blossom. That means…

“They don’t carry spare wristbands. The ones on their wrists are all they’ve got.

“Those five with fake orange bands don’t have extras. And you can’t give them any. Not even one.

“You swapped out the real ones, which means you’ve got only five orange wristbands total. So, Zhou Qian, now you face a hard choice.”

Priest’s eyes glinted with amusement.

“I’m not giving them five multi-colored wristbands. Why would I save them? Their fate now lies in your hands.

“If you want to save them, give them the five real orange wristbands. But then they stay orange, and when it’s my turn, my orange pieces will still reach the destination. One move, and you lose.”

“If you don’t give them the real wristbands… they’ll die.

“That’s five pieces gone. I’ll have fewer bridges, but I might still reach the second row before you do… I’ll probably win faster.

“But I’ll make a deal. If you let them die, I promise I’ll let you win. So Zhou Qian…”

“I’m dying to know, what kind of person are you?

“Will you sacrifice five to win? Or will you save them?”

He grinned. “They’re in this mess because of you. If they die, it’s on you. You’re messed up. Your sense of guilt is very small, or maybe you have none at all for those five. But I feel that… This game has changed you? Maybe you’ll save them?”

Zhou Qian lifted his left wrist and glanced at the panel: Hidden Blade had just traded him the five real orange bands.

And a message from Hidden Blade’s eldest disciple came in too.

At that moment, the five with orange bands were terrified to the brink of collapse.

And then Zhou Qian’s next words made them crumble completely:

He said to Priest, lightly, “What to do? I really don’t want to lose this match.

“Silly me. I assumed you’d protect your people. Even if you were heartless, I thought you’d keep using them.

“I didn’t think Peach Blossom would be this cold-blooded. Didn’t you promise these people victory if they joined your team?”

“Tell me your answer,” Priest said, his eerie gray pupils flickering for the first time. “You have to decide soon. Time’s running out.”

Zhou Qian spread his hands and made a helpless gesture.

“No choice. Maybe I’ll let them die. After all… If I lose this match and don’t get the killers’ info, everyone with me dies.

“But if I win… I save most of them.

“Sacrificing five to save the majority. What would you choose? We have no choice. Don’t be silly, Priest. I won’t feel guilty.”

At that moment, the five fell apart.

They turned to Zhou Qian, kneeling and begging incoherently.

They’d all survived so much by now.

They might’ve accepted death if the situation were hopeless.

But it wasn’t. It all came down to one person’s whim.

Meng Bie stepped forward, unable to bear it. “Zhou Qian, save them! Priest is bluffing. He won’t honor that promise!

“Look at the board! If they die, Priest can still win in three rounds! That’s not enough time for you to win with yellow!

“He verbally promised he would let you, but does he really mean it?

“You’ll lose even if you sacrifice them. You’ll never get the killers’ clue! You… You can’t save all of us by sacrificing those five! Don’t fall for it!”

Meng Bie had once distrusted everyone. She didn’t believe Zhou Qian or Bai Zhou, so Zhou Qian hadn’t expected her to be the voice of reason now.

Under Meng Bie’s urge, many people started speaking up…

“Yeah, save them!”

“If you don’t, we’ll lose faith in you!”

“He Xiaowei, you’re a liar! Zhou Qian will send us all to die! This incident shows us his true nature.”

…

Amid pleading, kowtowing, and scolding, Zhou Qian looked at Priest with an unchanged expression and a smile on his face.

Then he said, seemingly helpless, “I’d love to let them die. But listen to the others. If I start sacrificing people at random, who’ll still stand with me?

“Whether I have a conscience is none of your business. But for my own benefit, I’m afraid I’ll have to save them. Shame, really.

“As for your little ‘test question’…”

His smile vanished.

His face hardened and his gaze turned razor sharp.

With scorn, he said, “Why should I answer your question? Who do you think you are? I choose neither.”

“Priest, right? Listen well…

“I’ll save them. And I’ll win this match.”

After saying that, he turned to the five. “Open your packs. Time’s almost up.”

Only 30 seconds remained.

The five all received real orange wristbands Zhou Qian had sent. And one more person received a blue wristband, Liu Shui in the corner.

That blue wristband? Credit went again to Hidden Blade’s disciples. They found four blue bands in the mansion hub. Three they wore, one they didn’t.

These three had never appeared in public so no one knew about the bands.

Peach Blossom had counted all wristbands and noticed the missing blue.

But they hadn’t searched the entire dungeon and assumed the missing bands were just system tweaks, so they never reported it to Priest.

Thus, the blue became an untracked wild card.

No one thought that Zhou Qian would bring it out.

With this wristband, Zhou Qian could save all five and stay unbeatable.

Once the five changed into real orange, the second and third rows were sealed with orange.

The blue in the corner couldn’t exit, which meant Priest’s last piece couldn’t get in.

Even with guns, he couldn’t force Liu Shui who was wearing the blue wristband out from the inner corner fast enough.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qian could maneuver yellow and violet freely, and using the white piece’s swap ability, completely block Priest’s final orange.

In this way, Priest was doomed to lose.

“The system says we have to keep playing a few more turns. But you can see… I’ve already won.”

Zhou Qian stared coldly at Priest, lips curled in a mocking smile.

“So tell me, who the hell do you think you are, giving me test questions?”

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