In the next round, Yun Yao received a call from the Silent Man. The two held up their phones without either speaking. After a few seconds, they both hung up.

The people remaining on the field now were not fools. There was no longer any need to continue with pleasantries.

One person dialed, one person answered. As long as it was within the rules, no one would choose actions where saying too much would lead to mistakes.

The iron ball was now beside Yun Yao. She decisively pressed “Yes” on the screen, then picked up the phone to dial the room next to her.

Although she already knew the result, Yun Yao still wanted to confirm it herself.

Was Chen Junnan really dead…?

The phone rang. This was the first time Yun Yao had waited so long while making a call.

Ten dial tones rang out—no one answered.

Twenty dial tones rang out—no one answered.

It wasn’t until the twenty-first ring that a girl picked up the phone. She seemed terrified.

“Hello…?” the girl said.

Yun Yao paused, then spoke. “Hello.”

She realized that this girl should be Chen Junnan’s long-standing “downstream contact,” except Chen Junnan had never mentioned her. What kind of person would she be?

Xu Qian paused, then asked, “Is he… dead…?”

A trace of loneliness flashed across Yun Yao’s expression. She said, “Probably. That iron ball fell in the room to my left.”

Xu Qian felt she couldn’t understand.

Were there really such men in this world?

His every movement, every expression was extremely arrogant and confident, yet he had died just like that, inexplicably.

“This is… this is too absurd!” Xu Qian cursed somewhat hysterically. “He, he left behind this mess, left behind Earth-Snake… and he actually died…?”

Yun Yao’s expression also darkened somewhat. She didn’t know what kind of person Chen Junnan was. She only knew that he was very impulsive and never considered consequences when doing things. The current outcome… probably even he himself hadn’t anticipated it.

The referee had actually colluded with Earth-Snake to cheat. Could there have been two iron balls on the chains overhead all along?

One at this end, one at that end?

If that was really the case, then no one could have predicted it in advance. One could only say Earth-Snake was too cunning.

Although Yun Yao felt somewhat sad, she didn’t want to continue dwelling on Chen Junnan’s cause of death. The focus now was winning the game.

“Sister, your situation is relatively dangerous right now,” Yun Yao said. “You and Chen Junnan are adjacent ‘Odd Numbers.’ The iron ball in the next round might fall on your head.”

Xu Qian paused and said, “So… his name was Chen Junnan?”

After hearing this, Yun Yao sighed deeply. “Sister, now isn’t the time to think about this, is it? You need to find a way to survive.”

“Ah, right…” Xu Qian nodded. “Yes, I, I have to survive.”

“Exactly…” Yun Yao said helplessly. “I won’t talk to you anymore in the next two rounds. You can hang up the phone directly.”

“Huh? Why?”

“We’re not friends. I can’t trust you.”

“Okay… I understand.”

After hanging up, Yun Yao sat in her chair playing with the lipstick in her hand. This time the iron ball had fallen on Chen Junnan’s head. Although it was a tragic result, it wasn’t entirely bad news.

The iron ball was now closer to Earth-Snake.

Originally, it would have taken half a circuit to return here, but now the iron ball was right next to Earth-Snake.

As long as the next few rounds were controlled well, it was still possible to smash him once more.

The thirtieth round arrived. Only six people remained alive on the field.

And this round’s iron ball also, without exception, was suspended above Xu Qian’s head.

Although Yun Yao didn’t really know this girl, through their brief conversation just now, she could roughly tell that this girl’s personality wasn’t bad and her character was passable, so she symbolically chose “No.”

She didn’t know if she could help her, but this was also her final goodwill gesture.

“The final answer to this question is—’Yes’.”

No one showed any mercy.

For the remaining people, Xu Qian had no reason to live.

“BOOM—!!”

The massive sound rang out again. Yun Yao was stunned once more.

This time the sound actually didn’t come from Xu Qian on the left but instead came from the right side.

But this time the sound was obviously not as strong as the previous round. It seemed not to be next door but rather separated by one room.

“Wait a minute… separated by one room?”

Yun Yao knew that the Anxious Girl on her right side was already dead. Going further right was the “Silent Man” that Chen Junnan had said to be careful of.

How could this be?

The Silent Man died…?

All the people on the field now seemed to feel somewhat confused.

Ever since the iron ball fell in Chen Junnan’s room in the twenty-seventh round, it seemed to have started “randomly killing people,” completely without pattern or reason.

At this moment, Yun Yao’s eyes also slowly widened. The words Chen Junnan had said kept echoing in her ears—

“Big Star, do you believe that from now on, I can ignore all rules and make the iron ball fall anywhere I want?”

Chen Junnan…?

Yun Yao’s heart was like a fire that had just been extinguished, but now had sparks again.

“Are you still alive…?” She stood up and looked toward the room on her right side, but her mind was filled with countless questions.

How did Chen Junnan do it? Why could he freely control the iron ball?

Had he found some hidden rule?

But he clearly wasn’t that smart. How had he risen above the rules?

Before she could figure it out, the next problem came one after another. This time Yun Yao directly received Zhong Zhen’s call. It seemed all the people between her and Zhong Zhen had died.

“You must…”

Zhong Zhen seemed to have been talking the whole time. When Yun Yao answered, his words were only half finished.

“Zhong Zhen…?” Yun Yao was stunned for a moment. “You’re still alive?”

Zhong Zhen paused and said, “I’ve said this many times already. No matter who you are, and no matter if you can hear… but I’ve calculated it. Right now the iron ball has already reached the head of the person on my right. She’s a big problem. You must kill her! She’s too dangerous!!”

Yun Yao felt something was strange. “You… what are you saying? Zhong Zhen, haven’t you noticed that the iron ball’s trajectory has already…”

“You must!!” Zhong Zhen shouted. “This person can control others’ movements through some kind of contact. If she survives, everyone who receives a call won’t be able to escape!!”

“Zhong, Zhong Zhen…” Yun Yao felt something was wrong. “Can you hear me? The iron ball now is no longer moving from ‘-2’… You…”

“I’m entrusting everything to you! You must kill her!!”

“You…”

“I’ve said this many times already. No matter who you are, and no matter if you can hear…”

“Can you hear me?”

Yun Yao felt that Zhong Zhen seemed possessed. She quietly listened for a while longer and found that he seemed to be repeating the same words continuously. She could only hang up the phone with a confused expression.