“Everyone, if you’ve understood the rules, please take your positions. Further instructions will be broadcast through the room speakers.”

Earth-Dog arranged everyone and went to the front desk alone.

In both corridors, everyone had taken their positions.

The “Senders” all sat in the first room of their corridors, the “Spies” sent by the opposing side stood in the corridors, and the last room contained the “Recipients” and “Hostages.”

The rules of this game seemed very simple—the “Sender” passes the password to the “Spy,” the “Spy” passes it to the “Recipient,” the “Recipient” checks the password, and finally opens the door.

However, the rules that could be explained in just a few words left everyone feeling uncertain. After all, the most crucial link in this game was controlled by the opposing team.

“Everyone.” Earth-Dog spoke into a microphone at the front desk.

At the same moment, his voice came through the speakers in each room and corridor.

“The game will begin in ten minutes. Now please have the ‘Spies’ meet with the ‘Senders.'”

Lin Qin looked at the various props in the room, continuously thinking of countermeasures.

Box, lock, key, letter.

Three of the four items could potentially be destroyed by the shredder.

To avoid the shredder, the letter must be placed inside the box and locked.

This way, the entire box couldn’t be thrown into the shredder, and the “Spy” could only deliver it to the other side.

But the question was, what about the “key”?

Although she didn’t know what tools Qi Xia had on hand, based on the game’s setup, there certainly couldn’t be a matching key or any lock-picking tools.

So how would he open the box after receiving it?

Knock knock knock—

A faint knocking sound came, and the “Spy” girl opened the door from outside.

“Ready?” she asked expressionlessly.

Lin Qin looked at the girl and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Jiang Ruoxue. Are you ready?”

“Ruoxue, do you want to join us?” Lin Qin asked straight to the point.

The girl named Jiang Ruoxue thought for a moment and said, “Joining you is too risky. I can’t gamble on it.”

“Risk?”

“That’s right.” Jiang Ruoxue nodded. “If I help you win the game and you choose not to accept me at the final moment, I’ll die just the same.”

Her expression was very serious, as if she had already thought through this question.

“Your concern is not without merit.” Lin Qin nodded and began employing her most skilled conversational technique. “But let’s make a hypothesis. In your understanding, what methods would your team use to win the game?”

Jiang Ruoxue frowned slightly and said, “You mean… they would also cooperate with the ‘Spy’?”

“Yes, exactly that.” Lin Qin said. “It’s like a job interview—we’re now in a ‘mutual selection.’ The same goes for you. What you need to consider isn’t whether we’ll abandon you, but whether your original team will abandon you.”

“They won’t.” Jiang Ruoxue said firmly. “Abandoning me for some old geezer—no matter how you think about it, that’s impossible.”

“They’re not doing it ‘for some old geezer,’ but ‘to survive.'” Lin Qin slowed her tone as much as possible, which would continuously lower the other party’s psychological guard. “Most people would keep their fate in their own hands rather than someone else’s, right?”

This time, Jiang Ruoxue was clearly hesitant.

She opened her mouth as if wanting to say something but remained silent.

“And my cooperation with you is also just to survive.”

“What about the ‘Spy’ you sent out?” Jiang Ruoxue said. “He’s clearly your teammate, yet you can just abandon him directly?”

“I’ve known him for less than four hours, and I certainly won’t gamble my life on four hours of acquaintance.” Lin Qin said with a serious expression. “And how long have you known your teammates? Will they choose to take risks for you?”

Jiang Ruoxue stood there in a daze for a while.

After thinking it over repeatedly, she still didn’t agree to Lin Qin’s request.

“I can’t trust you. Just prepare the letter quickly. I suggest you make it sturdy—I’ll use every means possible to destroy the letter inside.” Jiang Ruoxue shook her head. “Don’t say anything else.”

“Can I ask what your reason is for being so persistent?” Lin Qin asked finally.

“A’Mu is my boyfriend. What other reason do I need?”

As a psychological counselor, Lin Qin knew that breaking down a person’s psychological defenses in just a few minutes was almost impossible—that was a plot that only appeared in science fiction novels.

Normal people were extremely wary of strangers, especially in life-or-death situations like this. Every sentence spoken by both sides could lead to the other’s death, making everyone even more careful than usual.

Lin Qin stopped wasting time and instead focused her attention on the box before her.

If she completely disregarded cooperating with the “Spy,” was there a way to get the letter to Qi Xia?

On the other side, A’Mu, sitting in the “Sender’s” room, also met the “Spy” Old Lu.

“Hey kid, hurry up and give me the stuff.” Old Lu leaned one hand on the doorframe, speaking very impatiently.

A’Mu scratched his emerald green hair and cast a contemptuous look at Old Lu.

He didn’t look at the items on the table but instead thought for a moment and said, “Old man, ten ‘Dao’ to buy your companions’ lives. How about it?”

“What…?” Old Lu was stunned. “Ten ‘Dao’?”

“You don’t look stupid, so naturally you know the survival rules here, right?”

Old Lu thought for a long time before slowly saying, “What nonsense are you saying, kid? How can I betray my teammates for ten ‘Dao’? Besides, I paid for the admission fees…”

“Fifteen.” A’Mu continued. “In addition to the rewards from this game, I’ll give you another fifteen ‘Dao.'”

Old Lu’s gaze slowly moved to the floor, his face filled with hesitation.

“Stop thinking, old man. You should know how to survive with ‘one hundred percent’ certainty.” A’Mu’s fingers tapped the table, his voice filled with warning. “We’ll accept you, let you survive, and after leaving we’ll go our separate ways.”

Old Lu asked cautiously, “Giving me fifteen ‘Dao’… won’t you all come away with nothing?”

“It doesn’t matter.” A’Mu shook his head unconcernedly. “We’ll take their lives and get the spoils from their bodies—can’t say we’d come away with nothing.”

“What about that woman?” Old Lu asked again. “Isn’t she your girlfriend?”

“Just a woman!” A’Mu leaned forward and stared fiercely at Old Lu. “If a woman dies, I can find another. But if I die once, the situation will be a bit troublesome…”

Old Lu felt that the man before him had an indescribable danger about him.

But thinking it over carefully, Qi Xia and the others couldn’t scrape together fifteen “Dao” from their entire bodies. Agreeing to this request here would earn him a fortune.

“I want a deposit.” Old Lu said. “Give me five ‘Dao’ right now.”

“What…?”

“This way you won’t be able to kill me.” Old Lu showed a smile, cold sweat sliding down his face. “‘Killing to seize Dao’ won’t work, right?”