The current situation was:

Red-eyes: 10 members — eliminate 2, leaving 8.

Yellow-eyes: 8 members — eliminate 2, leaving 6.

Blue-eyes: 7 members — eliminate 1, leaving 6.

On the surface, yellow-eyes and blue-eyes appeared equal — but in truth, the difference was enormous.

Because among the yellow-eyes’ 6 members, Bai Youwei was one of them. The actual yellow-eyed count was only 5!

And while the blue-eyes appeared to have dropped to 6, they still had one genuine blue-eye embedded in the red team. The real situation, therefore, was:

Red-eyes: 8 members.

Yellow-eyes: 5 members.

Blue-eyes: 7 members.

By cooperating with Xu Fang He and then making only a minor adjustment to the votes, the Black man had immediately seized the upper hand!

The yellow-eyes — with only 5 survivors left — could not afford to lose a single member. They had no choice but to swallow their pride and cooperate with him. And facing the red team’s 8 members, a difference of just 1 vote posed no concern whatsoever.

Moreover, after joining forces with Xu Fang He, the Black man now commanded 12 votes — more than enough to suppress the red team!

The Black man had not only outmaneuvered Xu Fang He — he had left Xu Fang He suffering in silence with nowhere to vent his grievances.

The bespectacled man charged out in righteous indignation: “How could you not honor your word?! How do you expect us to cooperate with you after this?!”

The Black man burst out laughing as though he’d heard the funniest joke.

His white companion also broke into a contemptuous smirk and said: “You’re perfectly welcome not to cooperate with us. But with the number of people you have right now — do you really think refusing to cooperate will amount to anything? Ha ha ha ha…”

The two of them laughed without the slightest restraint.

Xu Fang He’s face had gone cold and hard as frost.

But he did not lose his temper. Instead, after a moment of silence, he spoke in an unusually loud and deliberate voice:

“What has been done cannot be undone. Of course we have no choice but to cooperate with you. However, I hope you understand one principle —

“Those who betray their promises and abandon all integrity will ultimately face — Heaven’s — punishment!”

The final two words were struck out with sharp, ringing force, like a solemn curse.

The Black man stared at him as if looking at a lunatic, then laughed with his companion: “Is this guy mentally broken from what we did to him? What the hell is wrong with him!”

“Let’s go, time to sleep,” his companion said dismissively. “Lost face, so now he wants to throw out some tough words to save it. Don’t pay him any attention…”

The blue-eyes left.

Then the yellow-eyes left.

The red-eyes, having watched enough of the spectacle, finally left as well.

The stone orb watched the players disperse, still a little unsatisfied, rolling in circles on the rooftop and muttering to itself:

“Isn’t that the ‘doctor’ that so many overseers had their eye on… looks like he’s nothing special after all. And that Bai Youwei — she’s been quiet the whole time too. Hmm… who will win, I wonder? Who will win?… This feeling of anticipation where the answer could be revealed at any moment is truly wonderful — how delightful, how delightful~”

……

The Black man returned to the rest quarters together with his companion.

He took out paper and pen, swiftly jotted down a string of numbers, and handed it to his companion: “Deliver this slip to that doctor and have him cross out the yellow-eyes’ numbers, then send it back to us. In Round Three, we must eliminate three from the red team.”

His companion took the slip, hesitating. “Should we wait until morning? Right now, the other side is probably still fuming…”

The Black man gave a contemptuous cold snort. “Do you know what? Human prejudice is like trying to move a mountain — no matter how much you shift, that mountain never completely moves. They look at me — a Black man, a big guy — and assume I’m easy to fool. All brawn, no brains, right? Ha. But from where I’m standing, every last one of them is nothing but a clown — stupid and laughable.”

His white companion nodded in agreement: “These people are indeed foolish enough. Did they ever stop to think — this game values fairness above all else. How could it possibly assign someone with a talent for physical force into a game that prohibits violence? Every player who makes it into this dungeon has a complicated mind.”

“I wouldn’t say that — I think there are plenty of idiots!” The Black man waved it off. “Go on. No matter how angry he is, he’ll agree to cooperate. Unless he doesn’t want to win.”

His white companion took two steps toward the door, then hesitated and turned back: “That thing he said — about Heaven’s punishment…”

The Black man snorted coldly: “A bluff to scare people.”

……

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