Yu Hanjiang suddenly thought of a question: "By the way, did you handle playing cards a few days before the incident?"
Xiao Lou was taken aback, recalling the scene of his younger sister dragging him to play Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game) on New Year's Eve, and blurted out, "I played a few rounds of poker at home on Chinese New Year's Day." Seeing the "I knew it" look in Yu Hanjiang's eyes, Xiao Lou couldn't help but wonder, "You mean, Card World's rules for selecting people are related to playing cards?"
"I'm just guessing," Yu Hanjiang said. "The day before the incident, I went to my uncle's house to pay my respects for the New Year and played a few rounds of poker. There are poker card elements everywhere here, so it might really be related to poker cards."
"If it's related to playing cards…" Xiao Lou stroked his chin, looking thoughtfully at the card wall in front of him, "Did we play cards and get chosen by Card World before being killed in the real world? Or were we chosen by Card World after we died because we played cards? The order of events is crucial."
"Hmm. If it's the former, Card World's abilities are beyond our imagination. It can create accidents at any time after selecting a player, killing people in the real world." Yu Hanjiang frowned, arms crossed, lost in thought. "If it's the latter, can we understand it as the world where people's souls reside after death? Only those who have played cards can come here after death?"
"There are too few clues; we need to find other Challengers to further verify this," Xiao Lou concluded.
"..." Plum Blossom Youth stood expressionless beside them, listening to their conversation. The two had been separated for a long time, and it was clear that he, the Guardian, no longer existed in their eyes.
"Regardless of the selection rules, this world is just too real," Yu Hanjiang said.
"It's like a giant game." Xiao Lou carefully considered his adjectives before saying, " When I left the Spade Secret Room by helicopter, I found that Zombie Town had many replicas, just like instances in a game. The four Guardians can also split into countless replicas at any time to go to different spaces and talk to the Challenger, just like NPCs in a game?"
"I'm not an NPC," Plum Blossom Youth interjected.
The sudden voice startled the two of them, and they both turned to look at him.
"I've been here all along, can't you see me?" Plum Blossom Youth asked, sounding puzzled.
"Ahem." Xiao Lou thought to himself, he was so engrossed in the conversation that he had completely overlooked this guy. He looked at the expressionless boy and asked with a smile, "By the way, how long can we rest? We finally cleared all the D-class secret rooms, they shouldn't let us go to the next level right away, right?"
"A 30-minute break," Plum Blossom A said. "During this time, you can get to know each other, chat, and discuss which escape room to go to first in the next challenge."
" Card World's rules for selecting people…" Xiao Lou hadn't finished speaking when Plum Blossom A interrupted him bluntly: "Don't ask me, I won't reveal any information to you."
"Okay." Xiao Lou gave up on trying to get information out of him.
Since their space had been combined, there were now two sofas for resting, with a table thoughtfully placed between them. Xiao Lou nodded to Yu Hanjiang, walked over to the sofa, and sat down. Yu Hanjiang followed her.
A 30-minute break allows them to relax and exchange information they've gathered.
Yu Hanjiang asked, "What cards did you get in the previous levels?"
Since we're going to team up, it's essential to know your teammates' card situation.
Xiao Lou took out his card holders and laid them out in a row on the table, and Yu Hanjiang also took out his card holders.
The Rose Funeral story card, Fruit Knife, and Rose Perfume are rewards for completing Red Heart 2 Secret Room perfectly; the Zombie Virus and Special Vaccine are rewards for completing Spades 2 Secret Chamber perfectly. Both characters have these cards.
In the Diamond 2 escape room, Yu Hanjiang didn't get the Folding Paper card. However, he still had the Nine Palaces Grid card. Finding that Xiao Lou didn't have it, Yu Hanjiang was quite surprised: "Where's your Nine Palaces Grid? This question should be the easiest. I remember you even broke the world record for the Square Block 2 Escape Room. How come you don't have the Nine Palaces Grid?"
Xiao Lou smiled wryly: "I've run out in Zombie Town."
Yu Hanjiang: "..."
What exactly happened to you in Zombie Town? You used up all nine range controls in Nine Palaces Grid?
Xiao Lou was surprised to see that he hadn't used the Nine Palaces Grid even once: "You didn't use this card? How did you manage to beat Zombie Town and even break the world record?"
Yu Hanjiang explained in a low voice, "I just picked up a stick on the street. Zombies move slowly; knocking their heads off will kill them."
Xiao Lou: "......"
Xiao Lou, who had been frantically kiting monsters and whose legs were aching from running, didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard Captain Yu's words.
It seems that Yu Hanjiang was indeed bulldozed like a bulldozer.
Yu Hanjiang noticed the card with " Tao Yuanming " on the table and wondered, "Can this card really summon Tao Yuanming?"
"That's right." Xiao Lou pointed to the character image on the card and said, "The summoned Tao Yuanming is the same as the one on the card. He can discover Peach Blossom Spring once every 24 hours. The Peach Blossom Spring's skill effect is very strong, allowing for spatial teleportation and enabling you to avoid danger at crucial moments. Currently, the card's growth level is 3, so I can bring two people in. However, I've already used this card today, so I can only use it again after 24 hours."
"Take me inside sometime." Yu Hanjiang carefully examined Tao Yuanming's skill descriptions with great interest, then picked up the Compass and Zombie Leader cards.
He said, " Compass is good, you can draw weapons anytime... This zombie leader, is he the Zombie Leader?"
"It was him," Xiao Lou asked. "Did he ask you to open the door at the end?"
"have."
How did you handle it?
"I realized he was a zombie, so I killed him," Yu Hanjiang said calmly.
Xiao Lou: "..."
Before the Zombie Leader could even scream to summon the horde of zombies, Yu Hanjiang had already taken him down with a single blow. No wonder Yu Hanjiang was able to complete the game perfectly in 15 minutes; he's a brutal player who kills every zombie he sees.
Xiao Lou sighed and facepalmed – Captain Yu, this is the correct way to play in a survival room!
Yu Hanjiang handed his cards to Xiao Lou, saying, "This is the S card I drew."
Xiao Lou picked it up and examined it closely.
Weapon Card: Silver Moon
Rarity: S
Description: Obtained through a limited-time gacha pool after a perfect clear.
Specifications: Lightweight sniper rifle, 5.5mm caliber, 4kg weight; equipped with an 8x variable optical sight; effective range 500 meters; fires small-caliber rifle ammunition; magazine capacity 10 rounds.
Additional skill: Precise Aim
After using the skill, you can immediately lock onto a target within range, precisely aiming for the opponent's head when pulling the trigger, resulting in an instant kill. The skill has a 5-minute cooldown.
Note: Weapon card skills are for players who don't know how to use guns. Skilled gun users can ignore these skills and aim directly with the scope, unaffected by skill cooldowns. Once you run out of ammo, please purchase more from the weapon merchant using gold coins.
At level 1, the effective range increases by 100 meters for each level increase, reaching 1500 meters at max level.
This is a lightweight sniper rifle. The body is painted dark silver, with a beautiful metallic sheen, and is marked with a crescent-shaped mark to echo its name "Silver Moon".
After clearing Red Heart 2 Secret Room, Xiao Lou drew " Tao Yuanming " as his first card. He thought the world was strange and that everyone else was drawing all sorts of weird summoning cards—but he didn't expect there to be such a proper weapon card.
This weapon card is useless in his hands; he's never touched a gun and has no idea how to use it.
But giving it to Captain Yu would be like adding wings to a tiger.
Yu Hanjiang is a police officer and should be proficient in all kinds of firearms. With this gun in hand, he can silently snipe targets from a great distance, which will definitely be very useful in future survival-themed escape rooms.
Xiao Lou picked up another S card.
Equipment Card: Gale
Rarity: S
Description: Obtained through a limited-time gacha pool after a perfect clear. These are invisible boots that can be adjusted to fit the user's foot size, making them undetectable and durable.
Additional Skill: Gale Chasing the Moon
Activating this skill increases the user's movement speed by five times for 5 minutes, with a 30-minute cooldown.
At growth level 1, the acceleration duration increases by 1 minute for each level increase, up to 15 minutes at max level.
Note: If you can't win, wearing speed boots and running away is also a good option:)
Xiao Lou: "..."
Captain Yu's two cards—a gun and a pair of shoes—are both quite useful. Especially the shoes; if Xiao Lou had drawn the speed shoes earlier, he wouldn't have had such a difficult time running around in Zombie Town.
Seemingly seeing through Xiao Lou's thoughts, Yu Hanjiang said, "This card is for you."
Xiao Lou was naturally embarrassed to take it and immediately refused: "How can you just give me the card you drew?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "You need it more."
The man shoved the card directly into Xiao Lou's card holder without giving him a chance to refuse, saying, "I train a lot in the team, and I'm a graduate of the police academy—if it really comes down to a race, not many people can outrun me."
Captain Yu deals with criminals year-round. When a criminal escapes, they will definitely use all their strength. If he can't keep up, how can he catch the criminal? Besides, he has already put the card into his card holder, so it would be unreasonable to refuse.
Xiao Lou had no choice but to accept the cards, smiling and saying, "Thank you." He then laid out his own cards on the table and asked, " Captain Yu, do you have any of these cards that you like?"
Yu Hanjiang's gaze swept across the table. After thinking for a moment, he said, " Give me the Folding Paper."
Xiao Lou looked at him in surprise: "You can do origami?"
"I played with these when I was a kid," Yu Hanjiang said. "I could fold some cars and boats; maybe I'll be able to use them someday."
"Great!" Xiao Lou only knows how to fold paper airplanes, and even when enlarged, they can't carry people. Now that Yu Hanjiang knows how to fold paper, it's perfect to give him the Folding Paper and make the most of it.
The two rearranged their cards and also familiarized themselves with the items in each other's hands.
Just then, Plum Blossom A suddenly reminded them: "There are 5 minutes left in the break. You two, please prepare for the next level."
Time flies.
Fortunately, the short half-hour rest allowed the two to regain their strength.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance, stood up at the same time, and walked side by side to the card wall.
Personal Spaces have been merged, and so has the card wall.
At this point, the massive card wall had undergone significant changes.
The bottom row, Red Heart 2, Diamond 2, Spade 2, and Plum Blossom 2, all have a green "Completed" label in the bottom right corner.
The text reads "...", and next to it are the individual scores for each person: Yu Hanjiang received an S for Hearts and Spade, and a B for Diamond Secret Room; Xiao Lou received an S for Hearts and Diamonds, and an A for Spade Secret Room.
Neither of the two people rated Plum Blossom Secret Chamber.
Plum Blossom 2 is a challenge level, and the score records the final coins earned by the two players. Xiao Lou saved 10,000 coins, which he used to buy a contract book. Yu Hanjiang won all of player number 6's money in the second round, then folded in the following rounds, ultimately earning 17,000 coins.
Yu Hanjiang saw the gold coin data on the card wall, thought for a moment, and handed 17 gold coins to Xiao Lou.
Xiao Lou asked in confusion, "Why are you giving this to me?"
Yu Hanjiang explained, "Since we signed a contract book and are bound to the game, the coins will naturally be spent together. You will be in charge of the accounts from now on. I don't have much of a concept of money, and I don't really remember how much I've spent."
So, does that mean he never keeps track of his spending?
The man's serious gaze didn't seem to be a joke, so Xiao Lou had no choice but to accept the gold coins, smiling slightly, "Okay, I'll keep the gold coins for now. Just tell me what you want to buy." He carefully put the 17 gold coins into his pocket. They only had this much money at the moment, so they had to be careful with their spending.
Looking back at the card wall, I noticed that the top two rows of cards— Heart 3, 4; Diamond 3, 4; Spade 3, 4; Plum Blossom 3, 4—were all highlighted and "selectable," with the letter "C" written in the upper right corner of each card.
Xiao Lou asked, "Are all of these C-level secret chambers?"
The boy said, "Yes. Clearing all the D-class secret rooms will automatically unlock the C-level secret chambers. There are two C-level secret chambers for each color, and they are about the same difficulty. You can choose to enter one of them."
Xiao Lou turned to Yu Hanjiang: " How about we go to the heart room first?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded readily: "No problem."
— Criminal Police Officer and Forensic Doctor, what other options are there for their first collaboration?
Of course, we'll go to the heart room to solve the mystery!
Author's Note: Criminal Police Officer Forensic Doctors team up to solve the case, stay tuned.