Everyone was taken aback. The elevator password clue had been found just like that—far too easily.

Perhaps because it seemed too simple, no one quite dared to trust it immediately. Natasha said, “Even if we know the digits are 3, 5, 7, and 8—if we don’t know the order, it still won’t work, right?”

“We just try them all one by one~” Bai Youwei said breezily.

“Try them all?” Natasha was stunned. “Do you know how many possible combinations there are for a four-digit code?”

Bai Youwei: “I do—24 combinations. We can try them all pretty quickly.”

Natasha: “……”

While Natasha was still standing there frozen, Bai Youwei was already tapping away at the display at remarkable speed, fingers flying through the combinations.

Natasha fell into a deep spiral of self-doubt.

She looked at A-Da. “Is it really 24?”

A-Da also looked dazed. “I think… yeah…”

Shen Mo thought for a moment, then said quietly, “The total combinations for a four-digit code exceed ten thousand. But if the specific digits are already known and none of them repeat, then the number of permutations really is only 24.”

They’d all assumed the clue was scattered somewhere else in the building, so the thought had never even crossed their minds.

Ding—

The display chimed softly. Every button from basement level 2 all the way to the 32nd floor lit up.

“Got it!” Bai Youwei curled her lips in a smile, pressed a finger to the 32nd floor button, and said, “All right, we can go to the 32nd floor now.”

The elevator began its slow ascent.

Natasha: “……”

A-Da: “……”

Yuri: “……”

If it had always been this easy, what on earth had they been agonizing about just now???

【I. Am. SHOCKED!!!】

【Look at this Cabbage, she… she… isn’t she something?!】

【(o_o) Strange knowledge acquired…】

【I’m so sorry—I was blind again! I take it all back!】

【I’m sorry too. Please, let me come back to the Cabbage Fan Club. Orz】

【Everyone who just talked trash about Little Cabbage, step forward! Stand up straight.jpg】

【HAHAHA I’ve flipped back to fan again!!!】

【Cabbage… I want to say to you: Woof!】

【Little cabbage, yellowed in the field~ the one I treasure most, the one I love~】

【World Message: User W735670783 has gifted “Bai Youwei” a rocket—valued at 10,000,000 points…】

【What?! Big spender is on the world feed again!】

【Big spender is competing with us for Cabbage again!】

……

The indicator numbers ticked up floor by floor.

The elevator was completely silent.

A-Da couldn’t keep quiet. He glanced left and right, then asked, “Once we’re up there—how do we deal with the eggs? Guns make too much noise. Knives would be way too slow.”

The gasoline was all gone. They’d need to think of something else.

A-Da muttered away. “Also no idea if there are any guards left on that floor…”

“Either way, we should pre-plant grenades in the fire escape stairwell first,” Yuri said calmly. “The Queen and the eggs are together. Destroying the eggs will inevitably draw the Queen’s attention. Once it starts summoning guards, the mutants on the eighth floor will rush up through the stairwell—the grenades can hold them off for a while.”

A-Da: “I’m worried about the guards. There were four of them—one we never actually saw. Don’t know if it died in the parking garage or moved to the eighth floor…”

Bai Youwei suddenly reached over and pressed “31.”

A-Da startled. “What’s that for?”

“You reminded me.” Bai Youwei said seriously. “Going straight to the 32nd floor is too risky. We should get off at the 31st floor and scout out whether there’s a guard on the 32nd floor first.”

As she finished speaking, the 31st floor arrived.

The elevator gave a soft chime, and the doors slid open.

The walls and floor outside were coated in bog-like slime. Not a single mutant in sight. All five of them stepped out of the elevator, and then watched the doors close behind them—the elevator continued its slow rise toward the 32nd floor.

They instinctively pressed themselves against the elevator’s metal doors.

They heard the elevator arrive with a chime. A few seconds later, from above came the metallic crashing—bang, bang, bang—of something slamming against the elevator, accompanied by low, thunderous snarling, like some creature was beating the metal box with savage fury.

—