Everyone's playing hide-and-seek: This crazy beauty has maxed-out third eyes.

Li Yu's mind raced. That cat just now smelled of oranges as it walked to the door, and the calico cat even mimicked a calming voice. Who knows if the one in the ventilation duct is another one?

"Wait a minute." Li Yu stared at the ceiling.

There was a two-second silence above.

Then......

Ta-da!

Two short, sharp impacts, the sound of a cat's paws slapping the ceiling.

Tap tap! Tap tap!

It's rhythmic, two short, two short.

Lina jumped to her feet, the rope taut, and her wrist was tightened slightly, but she didn't care: "It's Sui An!"

Lydia jumped up too: "Yes! Lin did the same thing when he transformed last time!"

Lina had already started untying the ropes on her wrists, and Sergei didn't stop her. He untied his own knots first, and then helped Lydia untie hers.

Li Yu's wrists were too thin, and the rope that was wrapped around her three times was the hardest to untie. She was so anxious that she kept stamping her feet. In the end, Lydia came over and ripped it open.

Sergei moved a shelf over, stepped on it, and pulled out the backpack that was blocking the vent. The smell of orange peel wafted out.

A cow-patterned cat poked its head out of the hole, tucked its ears in, and with a push of its four legs, lightly jumped down and landed on the floor without making a sound.

Li Yu squatted down, her eyes practically sparkling: "Relax!"

Lin Sui'an meowed at her, then opened her mouth and said, "Meow? Meow!"

Li Yu scratched her head. What did An Shen want to say to her?

Lin Sui'an meowed twice more, flicked its tail, and spun around in a hurry.

Cat.

She is a cat.

Cats can't speak human language or write.

When she turned into a tree last time, she could use the branches to draw words on the ground. This time, as a cat, her four paws are on the floor, leaving only messy scratch marks.

Lin Sui'an squatted on the ground, his cat face contorted in pain, giving up struggling, and silently chanting to deactivate the transformation.

A flash of white light, and the cat's body grew taller and longer, its bones cracking, its fur falling away, and Lin Sui'an stood among the group in human form once more.

She stretched her neck, looked down at her hands, and saw that all ten fingers worked perfectly.

"I used the viewing crystal ball to see the orange cat's memories."

Lin Sui'an didn't waste any words and directly took out the viewing crystal ball, revealing the orange cat's memories inside.

Four people surrounded them.

The scene depicts a city with narrow streets, low buildings, and signs with characters that are not written in the Dragon script.

A woman stood in front of a door. She was in her early forties, with long hair, deep-set eyes, and thin lips. She wore a dark gray coat and a badge pinned to her chest.

She pushed open the door and went inside. There was a room with a document on the table, the cover of which had the game's logo printed on it.

The woman picked up the document, opened it to the first page, and saw her name written on it.

Ivana Petrova.

The screen changes.

The same woman stood in an open space, surrounded by other people, each with fear on their face.

The game has begun.

The screen jumps again.

Darkness, chase, screams, and then nothing.

The final image freezes on the moment Ivana falls, her eyes still open, her lips slightly parted, unable to utter a last word.

The light sphere dimmed, and the shop was quiet for a few seconds.

Lina's eyes reddened, and her fingers gripped the hem of her clothes so tightly that the fabric crumpled into a ball.

"Ivana."

Lina's voice was soft: "She is a contestant from the third round in the Southern Kingdom."

"I know her."

"She is a soldier of our country."

Lydia walked over, put a hand on Lina's shoulder, and didn't say anything to comfort her.

There's not much to say.

Every country has its fallen athletes. The Russian nation, with its thirty-eight districts, fought their way through round after round, and countless people died in the process.

All they can do now is win.

Lin Sui'an gave Lina a minute, then said, "There's a supermarket underground, and at the far end of the supermarket is a locked iron gate that requires authorization to open."

"The cat has the right to do so, but we don't."

"The orange cat's name is Ivana Petrova."

Lin Sui'an looked at Lydia.

"Lydia, use the Book of True Names to command her to open that door."

Lydia patted Lina on the shoulder, let go, and nodded: "Okay."

"Wait a minute." Li Yu raised his hand.

Lin Sui'an looked down at her: "An Shen, how do we get there?"

Li Yu counted on her fingers: "An Shen used a transformation card to go out, but how will Lydia go out? Does she also use An Shen's transformation card? If not, going out through the front door will definitely attract the cat's attention with the noise."

Lin Sui'an didn't answer immediately. She squatted down and looked Li Yu in the eye: "You're right, going now is too risky."

She stood up and flicked Li Yu's forehead with her finger: "So we'll wait."

Lina wiped her eyes. "What are you waiting for?"

"Treasure chest".

Lin Sui'an leaned against the counter: "According to the dungeon's pattern, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the treasure chest will respawn in the second hour."

"And the game will try to get all the players out, which is when things get most chaotic."

Lydia added, "As soon as the player moves, the cats have to scatter to chase after them."

"right."

Lin Sui'an raised an index finger: "The most chaotic few minutes in the whole place were when we went down to the window on the basement level."

Sergei calculated for a moment: "The game has been going on for about an hour and a half."

Lin Sui'an sat down on the fishing chair, leaned against the pillar, and rummaged through his backpack to find an unopened cup of bubble tea, inserting a straw.

"No rush, conserve your energy and wait for the treasure chest to respawn."

She took a sip of milk tea, then casually pulled a piece of cake from her bag, broke it in half, and handed it to Li Yu.

Li Yu took the cake and took a big bite. After chewing a couple of times, she suddenly remembered something and asked, with her mouth full of cake, "An Shen, if we go to the basement in the chaos, will we be unable to grab the treasure chest?"

Lin Sui'an chewed on a pearl, narrowed her eyes, and looked at them: "Those of you who want to go and grab the treasure chest can go, Lydia and I will go to the basement."

"I'll go too!" Lina said immediately. "Now that I know the orange cat is my senior, I want to see her one last time, even if it's just as a cat."

"it is good."

"I'm fine with anything! Wherever An Shen arranges for me to go, I'll go!" Li Yu declared while eating.

"Alright, let's go together then. We'll see if we find the treasure chests."

Sergei saw that everyone else was heading to the basement level, leaving only him: "Then let's all go together. If you want to grab the treasure chests, there's a second round."

"Alright! Everyone check your gear beforehand. If a cat targets us, we need to give ourselves enough time to escape."

"Okay," everyone responded in unison.

Lydia opened her backpack and checked her gear: perfume, orange peel, headlamp, glow stick—everything was there.

Sergei plugged the vent of his backpack back in place and wrapped the outside with orange peel again.

Lina sprayed the citrus perfume three more times through the crack in the door and began checking her equipment.

Li Yu sat next to Lin Sui'an, with the whistle chain wrapped around her wrist and half a cake in her other hand. She didn't check; she remembered exactly where her equipment was.

"Calm your nerves," Li Yu said, leaning closer.

"Um?"

"Have you ever wondered what's behind that door?"