Don't provoke mentally ill people in the infinite flow genre!

At the prison guard's command, the nine competitors in the center of the arena began to sprint towards their respective numbered control panels with all their might.

The nine ropes tightened almost simultaneously, then pulled and competed with each other, none daring to slacken in the slightest.

The situation initially reached a stalemate, with everyone being evenly matched and neither making much progress. Only Yi Zanglan (number 6) and Wu Ying (number 3) were dragged back a few steps.

Just then, Wu Ying spoke up: "Brothers, I don't think we need to go all out right from the start. Let's distribute our efforts evenly, press the switches first, and let our teammates see what the puzzle looks like, okay?"

Soon someone retorted, "Equal strength? How can it be equal? ​​They're all competing! Whoever goes first gets the advantage!"

Every player wants to win, since the first place winner gets a six-month reduction in their sentence, so why would they give up the advantage to someone else?

"The problem is that you're just wasting time here, there's no point in you doing anything," Wu Ying suggested again. "How about I and Number 6 try pressing the button first? We're girls, we're not a threat to you. To be honest, I just want to complete the mission and not be eliminated."

"Bullshit! Who would believe your nonsense?"

"This is a game of bad luck; there's no ladies first rule. Shut up and save your energy!"

"That young woman is really cunning!"

Wu Ying was scolded in a messy way, but no one noticed that in the half minute that she was being scolded, she had taken the opportunity to take several steps forward.

In the blink of an eye, she suddenly exerted her strength and charged forward, instantly flashing to the front of control panel number 3.

Just a second before the others realized what was happening and pulled her away, she quickly pressed the button.

At the same moment, her teammate's chair rose up, and the mechanism on the wall above their head activated, revealing the outline of the pattern on the background panel and popping out a box containing puzzle pieces.

"Damn it! This woman is deliberately trying to distract us!"

"You fell for her trick!"

The surrounding male players erupted in another barrage of curses, and at the same time, their observer teammates also began to get restless, urging them on.

"What on earth is she doing? Never mind her, just press the switch!"

"A 200-piece puzzle, that'll take a long time to complete, and I wasn't confident about it to begin with!"

"Hurry up, we won't have enough time!"

Originally, everyone was in a temporary team and didn't have any prior relationship or trust with each other.

This angered several male players, who felt they were doing thankless work in the team and were not only not appreciated but also complained about.

"What's the rush? You're sitting there comfortably, while my back is about to break. Why don't you get down and try it yourself?!"

"What, this game requires teamwork? You think you can win by pulling the rope all by yourself?"

Yan Zhao sat in his seat, rubbing his temples with both hands, closing his eyes to rest, and did not say a word from beginning to end.

She knew Yi Zanglan was waiting for an opportunity, and until then, she just needed to maintain her best condition.

...until the seat suddenly rose rapidly, reaching its limit in almost a few seconds.

The mechanism in front of them opened immediately.

Yan Zhao suddenly opened his eyes and subconsciously glanced behind him.

Yes, Yi Zanglan has waited for his opportunity.

While Wu Ying deliberately distracted them, and while these people argued and fought amongst themselves out of anxiety, she waited patiently.

She wanted to land a fatal blow, and given her complete disadvantage, once she touched the control panel, she had no intention of leaving.

After all, once you leave, it's not so easy to come back.

In the instant they were almost upon each other, Yi Zanglan unleashed the power she had been accumulating. She lunged at the control panel, tightening her arms and legs to lock herself securely to the fixed lever.

She gritted her teeth and slammed her forehead into the button to light it up.

...Yan Zhao's heart pounded. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and concentrate all her energy on the puzzle.

Yi Zanglan was doing everything she could to buy time, so she had to make the most of every 30 seconds to end the battle as quickly as possible.

The shouts and curses behind her faded from her mind. She cleared her mind of all distractions and, as if she were back in her childhood with her grandmother, began to immerse herself in the moment.

* * * * * *

Yan Zhao completed the 200-piece jigsaw puzzle in a total of thirty minutes.

This means that Yi Zanglan pressed the button a total of sixty times.

During this time, the male players cursed and yelled, trying countless times to pull Yi Zanglan off the console, but she simply treated herself as a chain, tightly wrapped around it, silently fighting against them.

She kept track of the time in her mind, repeatedly slamming her forehead against the button.

No one knows where the limits of her potential lie.

Just as no one knows how insane her competitive spirit is.

Fortunately, Yan Zhao succeeded.

While other players were cursing and complaining with their teammates and struggling with the puzzle, she had already efficiently completed her task.

When the last piece of the puzzle is put in place, the mechanism suddenly flips, and Tang Yunxi in the next room is about to receive a message.

The prison guard announced loudly, "Observer group 6 is complete! The resister may untie the ropes!"

Yi Zanglan lost her grip and rolled off the control panel to the ground, where she was quickly dragged away by the other players who were rushing forward.

As the rope was retrieved, the seat attached to it also plummeted at high speed. At that speed, it was very likely that Yan Zhao, who was sitting on it, would be injured.

At the critical moment, Yi Zanglan steadied himself, pulled the ropes tight with both hands, and like a bow stretched to its limit, managed to stop the seat two or three meters off the ground.

The next second, Yan Zhao flipped over the seat and stumbled towards Yi Zanglan.

"Are you alright? Are you alright?" Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she trembled as she tried to untie the rope around Yi Canglan's waist. "I'm too slow, I'm still too slow, I should have been faster!"

Yi Zanglan lay on the ground, her prison uniform almost completely soaked with sweat. Her face was pale, and the veins on her forehead were bulging. It took her a long time to open her eyes and look at the other person.

"That's fast enough," she said hoarsely. "Who else in the whole stadium is faster than you?"

Yan Zhao massaged her shoulders and back, his voice trembling with tears: "I haven't done jigsaw puzzles in years. I used to be able to finish one in twenty minutes at most, but... for every 30 seconds I spend, you have to press the button again."

"It doesn't matter if we take one or two more takes. Don't cry, I'm not dead."

Before her tears could even fall, Yan Zhao was so angry she almost laughed. Her heart was filled with mixed feelings, and she couldn't quite put her finger on what they were.

"...You're really something."

Like a stray cat that hadn't yet bared its teeth and shown its fierce side, but suddenly became aggrieved, she wrapped her arms around Yi Zanglan and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"We've done everything we could. If Tang Yunxi can't handle things over there, I'll definitely not let her off the hook."