By the iron cages holding the Mermaids.

    Tang Rui was struggling with a crowbar, trying to create a gap in the iron cage large enough for a Mermaid to pass through. He was putting almost all his body weight into it, but the cage only bent into a slight arc.

    “Sis! There’s no key!” he shouted to Tang Ruo, who was nearby. Distracted, he was spotted by someone and froze, not knowing what to do. He instinctively ducked to avoid a pouncing attack and rolled on the ground when the person wasn’t looking.

    Just as the player missed and was preparing to pounce again, the nearby spotlights flickered twice and went out, plunging everyone into darkness.

    Tang Rui’s heart leaped with joy. He thought to himself that Jiang Liu was indeed reliable. He quickly scrambled behind the iron cage, not daring to move recklessly in the dark, and carefully concealed his presence.

    “Damn it, why did the power go out?” someone cursed in the darkness. Then, a flashlight was turned on. Tang Ruo immediately locked onto it, aimed her slingshot at the beam of light, and swiftly shattered the bulb.

    The momentary brightness was just enough for the nearby Jiang He to see. He rolled over to the person’s side and held a battered cleaver to their neck. “Don’t move. Where are the keys?”

    The person shuddered at the sudden touch of the cold blade and hastily shouted, “Don’t move! I’ll give you the keys!”

    At his words, the surrounding players also stopped moving and tentatively called out in that direction, “Brother Xu?”

    Jiang He’s face lit up with joy. He wondered if he had accidentally captured a leader.

    “Do you have any authority? Tell them to put down their knives.” He tightened his grip on the cleaver, clearly hearing the chattering of the person’s teeth beside him.

    “Everyone, don’t move! Turn on your flashlights!” he shouted hurriedly, then gritted his teeth and negotiated with Jiang He. “I mean no harm. Can you let go of the knife first?”

    He sounded like a refined young man, his tone lacking any intimidation. He even cautiously raised his hands to show his surrender.

    If it had been Tang Rui, maybe it would have worked, but Jiang He had been through all sorts of things with Chen Ping and wasn’t falling for it. He just barked fiercely, “Cut the crap.”

    Not far away, someone had already turned on a flashlight, and then more beams of light joined in, instantly illuminating the area as if it were daytime.

    Upon seeing clearly who Jiang He was holding, many players became anxious and rushed forward to intervene. “Brother Xu!”

    The young man’s face was pale. He tremblingly took out two bunches of keys from his pocket and threw them on the ground, saying in a negotiating tone, “Brother, we mean no harm. We were just making sure you wouldn’t kill anyone.”

    He then looked down at the keys. “If you don’t believe me, go open the doors and let them all go!”

    Jiang He gave Tang Rui a look. The brother and sister duo defensively approached the center with their weapons. Seeing that no one was making a move, they breathed a sigh of relief and split up to quickly unlock the cages.

    Gao Yuan and Lin Sa were waiting by the water nearby. If they noticed anything wrong on their end, a song from Lin Sa could temporarily control the situation, so they weren’t afraid of these people having a backup plan.

    Tang Ruo had already prepared for the worst and was trying her best to stall for time, waiting for Jiang Liu and the other to arrive. She never expected the young man wasn’t lying; the keys were real.

    The huge chains on the cages were unlocked, and the Mermaids inside, as if given some command, scrambled out of the cages. They didn’t even look at the surrounding players and lined up to go to the sea.

    Seeing Tang Ruo’s hesitation, the young man being held hostage was on the verge of tears. “Really, we mean no harm. And the mission we received is to save the Mermaids!”

    As if afraid Tang Ruo wouldn’t believe him, he pulled up his points panel and generously displayed it for them to see.

    Although the specific mission objective wasn’t written clearly, the constantly increasing points as the Mermaids were freed proved he wasn’t lying.

    The surrounding players, not wanting to be left behind, also declared their positions.

    Two question marks popped up above Jiang He’s head. After confirming their identities several times, his face turned dark. He put away his cleaver with a look of utter speechlessness and glared at the young man, cursing, “Then why were you fighting?”

    The young man pushed up his glasses, looking aggrieved. “I was afraid you were going to kill us!”

    He then urged the others to hurry up and release the Mermaids. “My brother said someone would definitely come in the next two days. If there were people from an opposing faction, things could get bad, so he told us to test them first. I didn’t expect you guys to be so capable, starting a fight without saying a word.”

    Seeing Tang Rui desperately trying to open the cage, he thought he had gone berserk and was determined to slaughter them, so how could he dare to speak up?

    After the explanation, the group looked at each other in dismay. Even the usually calm Tang Ruo couldn’t help but feel a sense of absurdity, looking at the mess on the ground, not knowing what to say.

    So they had been fighting all this time, and it turned out they were all allies?

    Tang Rui, who had been on the island the longest and had even been locked up as an outsider, felt that something was off. He looked at the young man suspiciously. “No, I remember you. That’s not what you said when I first came to the island!”

    He still remembered how these people had been frantically capturing Mermaids. How could their attitude have changed so drastically in such a short time?

    The young man sighed and stretched his neck to look into the crowd, as if searching for someone. “It’s a long story. Anyway, we were just pretending. You should have others with you, right? Where did they go?”

    Just as he finished speaking, a flashlight beam suddenly appeared behind them, accompanied by a clear voice that approached them.

    “Are you looking for me?”

    The moment the young man heard the voice, he turned around abruptly. He looked at the two people who had appeared from behind in disbelief. His gaze first swept over Yang Caisi, then landed on Jiang Liu beside her, and he cried out in shock, “Jiang Liu! It’s you!”

    He hadn’t recognized her from the back, but now that she had turned around, Jiang Liu instantly remembered him.

    It wasn’t just her; even Yang Caisi beside her raised an eyebrow slightly, her scrutinizing gaze sweeping over him as if she had understood something.

    The young man before them was none other than the new player they had met in the Curtain Dream Theater, Xu Shu.

    They hadn’t seen each other since the first instance, and she never expected their reunion to be under such circumstances.

    Upon seeing Jiang Liu, Xu Shu’s entire expression brightened considerably. He ran up to her and confirmed it was her several times before scratching his head and laughing foolishly. “I knew it. He said I’d be able to tell who the leader was as soon as I saw them. So it was you!”

    After three more instances apart, he was much thinner than before. His once fair face was now tanned and dark. If it weren’t for his distinctive glasses and overall demeanor, Jiang Liu would have almost not recognized him.

    But this didn’t seem to be the time for reminiscing.

    When she heard Xu Shu mention “he,” a subtle expression crossed Jiang Liu’s face. She immediately followed up with a question, “He? You mean Zhang Xiaochen?”

    A look of surprise appeared on Xu Shu’s face. The excitement of seeing Jiang Liu had almost gone to his head. He rubbed his head and asked, “Huh? How did you know?”

    He then looked at Jiang Liu with a strange expression. “You’ve all gotten so powerful after just a short while? Why does it seem like every one of you has a third eye?”

    Jiang Liu ignored his nonsense. “Where is he?”

    Xu Shu pointed to the small building. “I don’t know. He’s been in there the whole time and won’t come out. He just tells us what to do.”

    He trusted both Jiang Liu and Zhang Xiaochen. He pointed to the people nearby who were still busy unlocking the cages and releasing the Mermaids. “He arranged all of this. I don’t know anything else.”

    Jiang Liu and Yang Caisi exchanged a quick glance, a bad feeling suddenly rising in their hearts.

    “Are all of you on the Mermaid faction?” She was unusually anxious, stepping forward and grabbing Xu Shu to ask.

    “Yeah, as long as we release these Mermaids, we can clear the level.”

    Xu Shu was completely bewildered by her. Seeing her grave expression, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is something wrong?”

    Of course, there was something wrong! Something was very wrong!

    The moment Jiang Liu realized it, her expression changed drastically. Without taking the time to explain, she turned and ran towards the small building.

    If everyone’s choices were the same, then this faction quest would be unnecessary. They could have just let everyone finish at the Xiao Ya stage.

    But the mission was established, which meant someone must have chosen the opposing option.

    Since it wasn’t any of these players, who else could it be but Zhang Xiaochen?

    Although that guy seemed like a punk who was never serious about anything, he definitely wouldn’t have the idea of taking down everyone by himself to earn points. So, the only reason he would choose the opposing faction was to make the mission valid.

    He still hadn’t come out at this hour. What on earth was he planning to do?

    Jiang Liu was extremely anxious, so much so that she didn’t even notice that Yang Caisi hadn’t followed her.

    They had already wasted a lot of time. The sky was already getting hazy. If Qiao Ke woke up according to the settings after dawn, the consequences for Zhang Xiaochen would be unimaginable!

    She ran into the small building like the wind, checking each room. Just then, a message suddenly came to her ear.

    “I knew you’d come back. I’m on the roof.”

    The familiar voice and relaxed tone made Jiang Liu pause. Then she cursed inwardly and ran straight for the stairs.

    There were no lights on the roof. Zhang Xiaochen was wearing a white lab coat, making him particularly conspicuous against the hazy sky. As if anticipating Jiang Liu’s next move, he practically jumped back two steps and said in a panicked voice, “Wait! Sis, don’t be rash.”

    Hearing this, Jiang Liu almost laughed out of anger.

    She was always the one scolding him for being rash. She never thought there would be a day when he would be the one lecturing her.

    She took a deep breath to steady herself, but the bad feeling in her heart gradually spread, becoming more and more unsettling.

    “What are you doing here?” Jiang Liu asked, her tone not very friendly.

    Seeing that she had finally calmed down, Zhang Xiaochen grinned, then stood at the edge of the railing and looked down, his tone somewhat heavy. “Sorry, I’ve been lying to you from the beginning.”

    Jiang Liu seemed not to have heard, repeating her question, “What are you doing here? Give up the mission and come out with me.”

    “Qiao Ke is my supervisor. Since entering the instance, my only mission has been to help him get rid of you.”

    Zhang Xiaochen seemed to be on a different wavelength, staring at the ground below as he spoke to himself.

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