Prison Island

Chapter 12 Survival Plan
"Damn it, we join this game just to be toys!" Su Le said with a sad face.

The weak have no human rights and no one cares about their lives.

Even when participating in the game, one has to bear all the disadvantages.

Meimei bit her fingernails and said, "So, we really can only cooperate with cats."

Gao Xin nodded heavily.

Su Le was puzzled again: "Wait a minute, I still don't understand, you said a lot, why... why can we only cooperate with cats?"

Gao Xin looked at Sule with a strange expression. He considered himself just an ordinary man and he had come up with these ideas after racking his brains.

Meimei thought a lot, but she had a blind spot in her thinking and didn't expect to cooperate with the cat.

After I mentioned it, I immediately understood it.

Unexpectedly, Sule hasn't figured it out yet.

Meimei explained: "Cooperation with dogs is based on the premise that their identities cannot be changed. Once a dog can kill a cat and becomes a cat, then all the protection we have agreed on before is bullshit."

"He's already turned into a cat, why is he still protecting us mice? And why is he sharing the money with the dog? Can't he just kill us and take the full 100 points?"

Su Le tilted his head and said, "Then we can also give the dog a hundred and not leave any for the Japanese..."

When he said this, he was stunned for a moment.

Meimei glanced at him and said, "Kid, there are only one hundred indulgences, but there are three dogs."

"Did you tell them: Hey, the three of you go kill the cat, and whoever grabs the cat collar and survives to the end will get all the 100 from us mice? The other two dogs don't get anything?"

"Why would they listen to the orders of a bunch of rats like us if they don't just slap you to death?"

"Even if they feel guilty and agree to it in order to repay our kindness."

"That also means that we have to give all the indulgences we get to the person who eventually becomes a cat... In that case, why don't we just negotiate cooperation with the current cat?"

"We have to talk to three old dogs, go through so much trouble, and add a lot of risks?"

Su Le suddenly realized, yes, dogs are trying hard to become cats anyway, so why not talk to cats directly?

He was confused by the identity of Old Dog.

Meimei curled her lips and said, "This identity of an old dog is the most useless. In the end, I have nothing. I am not even fit to be a dog!"

"An old dog must do everything he can to transform himself into an old cat!"

"So if we talk to the old dog, we are really courting disaster!"

Sule nodded repeatedly, and combined with what he had said before, he finally figured it out.

"Yes, a cat is rewarded with 100 indulgence points for killing a mouse, but if it can also get 100 points for letting a mouse go, then the benefits are the same."

"He can earn the same profit without doing anything, why does he have to kill people?"

"What's more, he has to fight one cat and three dogs, and he has to hunt mice everywhere. The pressure is too great."

"So this is totally possible. As long as the mouse cooperates with the cat, the cat can free up his hands and concentrate on dealing with the three dogs!"

Meimei nodded and said, "That's right. So in the rules, when mentioning the cat's mission, it said that if you survive to the end of the game, you will get 100 indulgences."

"Now that I think about it, the cat is actually also an escape character, and he has a survival bonus."

"As long as he accepts the mice's conditions, he can just avoid the dogs' pursuit throughout the game. If he can drag it out until the time is up, he can get 100 indulgences, plus 2000 indulgences given to him by the mice!"

Suler was shocked: "Fuck, this character is really lucrative."

Meimei sighed, "You have to be strong to get this money. You are jealous, let alone Lao Gou?"

"The rules of the game seem to be that the cat kills the mouse, as if cats and mice are incompatible."

"In fact, cats and dogs are the real enemies! What is worrying is not the lack of food but the imbalance of food. Cats and dogs are bound to fight!"

"On the contrary, the mouse can cooperate with the cat and tell the cat that raising an enemy is the most profitable thing for itself, and the dog is the mortal enemy."

"Besides, it is no good for a dog to kill mice, so the first target must be the cat. Once you become a cat, you can consider killing mice."

"In this way, cats and dogs will not give priority to killing mice. The two will fight to the death, and the mice can hide in the dark and survive to the end."

"This is the best solution for survival as a mouse!"

As she spoke, Meimei looked towards Gao Xin, her eyes shining.

This man actually thought of all these survival methods in a short period of time.

It was thanks to his tips that I realized that cooperating with cats was the best solution.

Unexpectedly, Gao Xin also looked at her with bright eyes and asked, "Did you also go to a technical school? It's not the lack of wealth that is worrying, but the inequality of wealth. This is a very powerful saying."

Meimei smiled sheepishly: "No, technical schools are too expensive. I taught myself in the community library when I was a legal lecturer."

Gao Xin suddenly realized and remembered that Meimei had said in front of Viper that she had been a legal advocate in the community.

I think he took advantage of his position and often went in and out of the library in the name of looking up information, and then taught himself a lot of books.

Meimei continued, "This sentence comes from the Analects of Confucius, and was said by our ancient sage thousands of years ago."

“I have heard that those who have a country and a family do not worry about scarcity but about inequality; they do not worry about poverty but about insecurity. For there is no poverty when there is equality, no scarcity when there is harmony, and no instability when there is security.”

"Whether it is governing a country or a family, one should not worry about the lack of people, but the uneven distribution; one should not worry about the lack of wealth, but only beware of the unrest in the country. Therefore, if wealth is evenly distributed, there will be no poverty; if people live in harmony, there will be no sense of the lack of people; if the country is peaceful and stable, there will be no danger of the country being overthrown."

Gao Xin was stunned, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "This is a very wise saying. I have learned a lot."

Meimei took the opportunity to say, "Since you have already thought of a way to survive, let's do as you say. Um... Gao Xin... let's play the game together."

Gao Xin frowned, thought for a moment and said, "What's the point of following me? If we can reach an agreement, there's no need for us to hide."

"If we can't come to an agreement and we still have to hide, it will be more dangerous if we hide with multiple people."

Meimei paused and opened her mouth but didn't know what to say.

Gao Xin added: "Actually, I really want to learn some culture from educated people..."

Meimei said hurriedly: "Yes, I can teach you."

Gao Kun said bitterly, "But after this game, it's basically impossible for us to live together. Where can I find you?"

"Are we only going to learn from the game for an hour or two? It's a matter of life and death next, so we should focus on survival."

Meimei had nothing to say. Indeed, after this game, they would probably go their separate ways, and she didn't know how the Japanese would arrange for them.

As for learning through games, that's a bit too ambitious.

"Su Le, let's go. We have wasted a lot of time. We need to get familiar with the third and fourth floors." Gao Xin said and was about to leave.

Meimei suddenly felt wronged: "Why can he follow you? Just because he is a man? We can live together and take care of each other in the future? But I am a woman, so it is useless even if we get to know each other?"

"Yes, I don't know either. Even if I survive this game, where will I go and what will happen to me... But are you so utilitarian in making friends?"

Gao Xin left without explaining.

But at this moment, a group of people suddenly rushed up from the stairs and stopped him and Sule.

"Are you done? That's a great idea. I didn't expect that the best way for mice to survive is to cooperate with cats..."

The leader was a bald man, who also brought eight newcomers including Cao Yang, who were wearing prison uniforms.

All three of them were shocked at once. This group of people had actually come up here without them noticing and were eavesdropping at the stairs.

Yes, they said it had been too long and someone should have come up long ago.

Perhaps when it came to the key point, this group of people felt that it made sense, so they continued to listen, and only showed up at this moment.

Gao Xin smiled and said, "Did you understand? Then what do you think of this method?"

The bald man clapped his hands and said, "I think it's great and makes sense. Let's do it this way! I'm also willing to hand over a hundred indulgences to the old cat in exchange for a chance to live."

"How many of you are there?"

He turned around and said to Cao Yang and others.

Cao Yang said hurriedly: "Of course I am willing, as long as I can stay alive."

The bald man said directly: "Okay, Gao Xin, right? I agree with your method, but I have a few questions."

"First of all, if you came up with this idea, why didn't you tell others? We are all mice, tied to the same rope, and you asked us to find a hiding place while you hid yourself. Isn't that a bit mean?" "Isn't it true that the more mice that agree to pay protection fees, the more attractive it will be to the old cat?"

"You guys are the only ones who have made the deal. The other mice have all gone into hiding, and the old cat has to spend energy looking for them. It's very likely that the cat will be worried that it won't have time to kill them all if the dogs chase them, and then take out its anger on you guys."

"Anyway, whether I kill you or let you go, the benefits are the same."

He looked suspicious, worried that there were loopholes in Gao Xin's plan. After all, it was intuitively too stupid for a mouse to work with a cat.

Gao Xin looked at the time. There was also a clock on the wall in the corridor on the third floor. It was already eight minutes past two. Gao Xin looked at the eight people who had blocked the corridor and knew that he would not be able to leave unless he explained clearly.

Then he said with a headache: "Oh, you are talking about this, you haven't figured this out yet?"

"During the negotiation, why don't we just tell the old cat that all of us mice have agreed to pay for our lives?"

"Why do I really have to unite all the mice to talk together? What if he doesn't agree? And everyone has to find a hiding place quickly? I'm afraid we'll all die..."

"In fact, this method only needs to be known by a few people. The key point to attract the old cat to cooperate is... to make the old cat feel that it is troublesome to find all the mice!"

"If all twenty mice really show up to negotiate, wouldn't it be more convenient for the old cat to just pretend to agree and then rush in and kill us all at once when the time comes?"

"Don't forget, the old dog comes in ten minutes later than the old cat!"

"Theoretically, as long as the old cat can kill all the mice, or most of them, within ten minutes, he can concentrate on dealing with the dogs..."

"No, in fact, because there are no mice anymore, the dogs have lost the motivation to attack the cats except for personal vendettas."

The bald man was stunned and said, "Yes."

He suddenly felt a little embarrassed, but once the reason made sense, he immediately realized that it was stupid to gather a bunch of mice to negotiate with the old cat.

For the old cat, it is definitely most convenient to kill the mouse directly. What if the mouse gives him the reward afterwards? This is a variable. What if the mouse refuses to pay?

Although the possibility is very small, it is still the most realistic way to get the reward by killing people directly.

Gao Xin's method only requires a few people to carry it out. If it succeeds, everyone will benefit. If it fails, those who hid early will not suffer any loss.

"Well... ahem, why don't you hurry up and do it? What are you still wandering around here? You can't possibly have to wait until Old Cat can come in and talk to him face to face, right?" said the bald man.

Gao Xin said in a deep voice: "Of course not. We must talk in the last two minutes before he comes in. It will be too dangerous to wait for him to come in. Do you dare to talk to him standing in front of Lao Mao?"

Everyone shook their heads. Who would dare to go? No one wanted to do this.

Others didn't suffer any loss by simply killing them, but what they lost was their lives!
So we have to negotiate it within these twenty minutes when the old cat can't come in.

The bald man asked, "Why don't you go now? Why wait for the last two minutes?"

Gao Xin's eyes widened as he asked, "How did you survive the redemption game?"

The bald man's face turned black. Of course he was lucky as he was carried away by someone.

He immediately said in a muffled voice: "You don't need to know this. I have my own abilities. Just tell me why we have to wait until the last moment to discuss it."

Gao Xin pointed at the wall clock and said, "First of all, I must familiarize myself with the terrain, understand all the passages, and prepare a plan for escape... You have already wasted a lot of my time."

"Besides...if you go to talk too early, how do you know that the cat you are talking to is the cat that comes in last?"

After hearing the last sentence, everyone suddenly realized.

They instinctively felt that the old cat must be the young man with the silver hand.

But actually... not necessarily.

Now the four of them are still fighting for their lives outside. The closer it gets to the end and death is approaching, the more desperate those without collars will fight. The more variables there will be, and a reversal may occur.

The bald man pondered, "Since the three dogs will definitely hunt down the cat no matter who plays the cat, what if the old cat dies in the middle of the game and a new person is replaced? Don't we have to negotiate again? Isn't it still too dangerous?"

Gao Xin said impatiently: "As long as I don't hand over those two collars, there will only be one dog..."

"That young man with the silver hand must have figured out how to play the game a long time ago. At least he knew that the three dogs were designed to kill the cats, so from the beginning, he used the point-killing rule to eliminate the dogs."

"If we only have to deal with one dog, and we don't have to distract ourselves from looking for mice, there's a good chance he'll survive."

"Don't ask if the cat will disagree again. He must agree, otherwise I will throw the dog collars out right away and let the three dogs in!"

"He was not sure he could handle three dogs, otherwise he should have thrown in all three collars instead of just two."

"That guy deliberately left one for self-protection, so as to induce the three dogs to kill each other first and then waste their energy."

"That's why I say that if you want to talk to the dog, you have to do it during those ten minutes when the cat comes in but the dog can't, because we have to see the cat's attitude first!"

The bald man asked, "How do you see the attitude? It can't be just talk, right?"

Gao Xin said: "Of course, we can't believe what Lao Mao promised. It's possible that he promised it to his opponent. The key is to see what he does after he comes in."

"The cooperation plan is to prevent him from entering the mansion and only allow him to move around in the courtyard. Anyway, if he doesn't have to kill rats, he doesn't have to enter the mansion."

"And we mice promised to give him the reward after the game and not give the collar to the people outside. This way, there will be two fewer dogs, and the old cat only needs to stay in the yard and concentrate on dealing with the remaining dog."

"Once the time is up, he will receive 2100 points of indulgence. It's a win-win situation. He has no reason to come to the building."

"So after the cat entered the courtyard, we watched him from upstairs and could tell his attitude by his actions."

The bald man nodded and said, "I see. You are really smart, not much inferior to Brother Qiao."

This is the second time he mentioned Brother Qiao. He must be a powerful figure in the so-called Redemption Group.

Gao Xin took note of it secretly, and then said bitterly: "I don't think I'm that smart. I'm just used to thinking about problems as thoroughly as possible, and I dare not make any mistakes."

The bald man asked again: "That guy is very vicious. What if he insists on killing us? What should we do?"

Gao Xin glanced at the clock and said irritably, "Okay, there is no perfect solution. The mouse is just trying to survive in the cracks. What can we do if the cat doesn't agree?"

"We are all ordinary people. There are too many things in this world that can make us fail in the end even if we work hard. It is possible that someone can destroy all your efforts with just a thought or a word. What can we do?"

"If you have so many concerns, just hide away. I didn't intend for you to get involved in the first place. What the hell are you talking about!"

He got angry and pointed at the other person's nose and cursed.

After hearing these words, Brother Guang was in a daze for a moment, and the others were also sad.

But then the bald man became angry and glared at Gao Xin, saying, "Don't be so arrogant, kid. If the old cat changes its mind, I will just use the collar to talk to the dogs and let three dogs in to restrain the cat."

"The dog collar is an important bargaining chip, leave it to me!"

Gao Xin's face sank and he didn't move.

"Brother Guang, let me search!" Cao Yang took the initiative to step forward and immediately searched Gao Xin's body.

Soon they felt the two collars on their thighs, and a group of people rushed over and started to strip them off.

"Thank you for your hard work, brother!" Su Le screamed and wanted to take action.

Gao Xin raised his hand hastily to stop him, saying, "Okay, if you want it, just take it. I don't have to go and negotiate in person."

"But don't think this collar is that important. The cat only needs to pretend before the dog dies. Once the person who is the dog dies, the collar will be useless."

"So don't think you can threaten the cat with the collar. It's better to let the cat feel your sincerity."

Everyone understands that this possibility exists, but they think it is the least likely.

Because this is based on the premise that the old cat is determined to kill the mouse, so it would be so insidious as to wait until the dog dies before regretting it.

Why bother? They're just a bunch of rats.

The plan Gao Xin mentioned is truly a win-win situation, and it’s the kind that makes the old cat win like crazy!

All you need to do is deal with a dog in the yard to win all the indulgences, what else do you want?

Do we have to force the mice into a corner and hide them deep in the ground for him to find one by one? You know, even if two dogs die, there is still one dog that will definitely kill him. With the last dog restraining him, if he shows signs of regret, everyone still has time to hide.

The bald man said coldly: "Okay, I know all this. As you said, there is no perfect method. Maybe even if you fight to the death, you will still fail in the end."

"But the bargaining chip must be in my hands, so let me negotiate."

Cao Yang quickly took off the two dog collars and handed them to the bald man.

……

PS: Sorry. Actually, I wanted to write this book in my last book. I wrote Yandi to complete the Five Emperors. I didn't expect that AI would affect reality in just two years, so I added the death game in the early stage to enrich the elements. The theme of this book is not the death game. In essence, I just want to write a book about passionate fighting. I still want to write it even if it is not suitable. Just think of it as eating five books of meat in a row and wanting to drink some tea.

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(End of this chapter)