Player Reload

Chapter 45 Ascension (5K)

The window glass is extremely thick, like the explosion-proof glass on the presidential car, which is strong enough to withstand machine gun fire. It is obviously impossible to break it with brute force.

The night outside the window is deep, and the city lights are shining. Judging from the position of the lights, the secret room where Li Sheng is located is at least in a building on the 40th or 50th floor.

"I didn't expect this."

He originally thought that the secret room would be in an abandoned factory or in the wilderness, "but one thing can be confirmed at present, the geographical location here is not Cuba, and the time is not noon."

Beep.

The red landline phone on the coffee table rang. Li Sheng walked forward, wrung out the moisture from his sleeves, then put his hands into his sleeves, picked up the blanket on the sofa through his clothes, and then picked up the phone.

Judging from the drowning trap in the previous secret room, these secret rooms are all aimed at killing people. They may use despicable means such as applying poison on the phone and leaking electricity on the phone, so we have to be on guard.

The call was successfully connected, and a mechanical and pleasant AI female voice came out, "g=t, p=e, r=s, b=o, z=d."

Li Sheng nodded and said to the phone: "锟斤拷,锟斤拷?锟斤拷,锟斤拷!"

锟斤拷 is a very classic Chinese character garbled code, which is essentially the "?" replacement symbol in UTF-8 hexadecimal, and an error occurred when it was converted to GBK encoding.

Li Sheng asked this question, firstly to test the operator on the other end of the phone, and secondly, if there was no operator, maybe he could use the coding language to get close to the AI ​​girl on the phone and leave a WeChat or something.

"."

The other end of the phone was silent for a moment, and repeated again: "g=t, p=e, r=s, b=o, z=d."

Tsk, no response, pretending to be cool.

Li Sheng curled his lips, pressed the phone, and when he lifted it up again, it still reported the string of passwords, obviously not letting him call the outside world for help.

Boom!

There was a loud noise outside the room, and the back wall suddenly moved, moving forward slowly as a whole.

Tables and chairs fell, sofas moved, and glass lamps fell to the ground and shattered.

"The room is eight meters wide, and the wall moves at a speed of about two centimeters per second. It will close completely in just over six minutes and crush me into a meat pie.

At the same time, because only the back wall is moving, not the left and right walls closing, it means that I can't use some hard objects to squeeze open the right window and escape outside."

Li Sheng calmly assessed the situation. He didn't know whether it was because he had been soaking in the sea water for a long time and lost his body temperature that caused his thoughts to wander, or because he was in the script mission and liberated his casual nature.

Part of his mind was still wandering, and he complained: "Crushed into a meat pie, is the designer of the secret room going to send me to the second dimension?

Oh... It seems that your understanding of "secondary" seems to be full of fallacies☆~! Well, even the most basic "propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame" have long been lost... (laughs) Now, I say-does such a kimino have the qualifications to call himself "secondary"★? fufufu——After all, you have already "disqualified from the second dimension", right? Na~"

While reciting the deadly words of the middle school second degree with too high a concentration, he quickly explored the room.

On the side of the fireplace, he found an eight-digit electronic combination lock with a keypad. On the edge of the carpet, he found an old photo.

The photo shows two teenagers, a boy and a girl, wearing European costumes and long skirts from the Renaissance, standing on the opera stage and looking at each other affectionately.

The boy is quite similar to Owen Hedges, who is played by Li Sheng at the moment.

Considering that this old photo has turned yellow, the boy should not be Owen's son or relative, but Owen himself when he was young. .

As for the girl in the photo, is she probably Owen's deceased wife mentioned in the mission brief?

"The two people in the photo are performing a drama. Drama"

He thought of something, avoided the wall that was constantly pressing, and looked at the bookcase next to the fireplace.

The bookcase was full of various books, including those related to economics, law, and politics. The only one related to drama was "Shakespeare's Sonnets".

He took the book off the bookcase and opened the page. There was no password inside, but a lot of repeated English garbled characters.

kbsp wr h rwdt gthg rgwor mn rxbvp

wg wr gtp nmowawpz rnhov wq gtp kbspor pipr

wg wr gtp uhspr rgwoopz mn ​​il gtp kbspor gphor

wg wr gtp uwrprg abox ba xhzqprr

gtp iwggpo ghrgp wq bqpr gtobhg

hqz gtp tbqpl gthg opxhwqr bmg ba ophft

Every page has these contents.

Crackling——

The space is still shrinking, the curtain hooks are all squeezed out, and the seemingly solid leather sofa is easily crushed and broken into pieces under the terrifying thrust of the hydraulic press.

Li Sheng stepped on the wood chips on the ground and thought quickly. The only eight-digit word in this English garbled code is nmowawpz. He entered it into the password disk of the fireplace, and it showed failure.

"g=t, p=e, r=s, b=o, z=d"

The phone on the coffee table was still broadcasting the code until it was run over by the wall and the phone line was broken, and then it stopped repeating.

"I understand, g=t, p=e, which is the clue to decipher the garbled code. The most frequently appearing word in the garbled code, gtp, is actually t*e, and the most likely is tie or the. Considering that the frequency of the in English is much higher than the former, let's assume that t is h, then the fourth word gthg in the last line is actually that, that is, h=a"

After such a quick deciphering, the whole string of garbled code was deciphered, which means "Love is a puff of smoke blown by sighs; there are sparks purified by it in the eyes of lovers; the tears of lovers are the waves it stirs up. It is also the most intelligent madness, the bitter taste that chokes the throat, and the honey that cannot be eaten."

The eight-digit code nmowawpz, which means purified.

After entering the password, the fireplace hummed and slowly moved to the side, revealing a passage that can be passed by one person.

Li Sheng squeezed into the passage sideways and stepped forward thoughtfully.

The two secret rooms are not just secret rooms. The longitude and latitude coordinates in the first room, the photos and codewords in the second room all seem to be related to the life of Owen.

Thinking of this, he came to the third room.

The area here is smaller. The whole room is empty. There is a metal door without any lock in the corner. The words "Only one can survive" are written on the door.

On the floor in the middle of the room, there is an LCD screen and a device.

The device consists of a transparent glass cylinder, a syringe and a hose.

The bottom of the cylinder is firmly welded to the floor and cannot be moved. The top is closed and connected to the hose. There is a milliliter scale on the outside, and four metal discs are attached to the inside, two groups on the top and two on the bottom.

Two sets of power transmission cables, close to the ground, extend all the way to the metal door.

Combined with the syringe hose for blood drawing, it seems that Li Sheng is required to draw at least 800 ml of blood, pour it into the cylinder, and use the conductivity of blood to connect the metal disc electrode and open the metal sealed door.

The sealed top of the cylinder also prevented Li Sheng from filling the bottle with seawater from his clothes or urine.

Sizzle.

Just as he was feeling sorry for this, the LCD screen lit up, projecting a surveillance-like scene.

The picture showed a middle-aged man in a shirt and trousers, with a tired look, dry lips, and dehydrated body. He staggered through the hot desert under the sun and came to a phone booth, inserting coins and dialing the number "001212".

A phone dropped from the ceiling of the secret room at the right time, and it was automatically connected without Li Sheng picking it up. From it came the painful voice of the man in the surveillance, "Owen, this is Mike. Listen, don't go to London for the appointment. The escape room is a trap. They lied to me and left me in the desert of Mexico. I can't get out."

"Wait, you said you were in Mexico?"

Li Sheng called out loudly, but the man on the other end of the phone seemed to be in dehydration shock. He walked out of the phone booth in a daze and fell in front of a cabin.

The door of the wooden house is the same door as the secret room.

It seems that this Mike is the good friend mentioned in the mission briefing who persuaded Owen to participate in the escape room.

Li Sheng thought about it, picked up the syringe, and inserted it into his arm. The blood flowed along the hose into the cylindrical glass container, slowly accumulating to a capacity of 800ml.

The blood was connected to the electrode, and the metal door of the secret room opened, revealing an elevator.

There was a black bag in the corner of the elevator, and the zipper of the bag was open, revealing stacks of US dollars.

These US dollars are the rewards for passing the level, which means that Li Sheng will complete the mission as long as he walks out of the secret room.

He pulled out the needle without hesitation, holding the sextant, and strode forward.

"Uh uh."

The sound in the room's speakers suddenly amplified. It was Mike's shocked gasps. He lay on the desert ground, looking particularly painful.

"Oh? Amplify the sound? You want me to have compassion and stay for my friend, risk blood loss and shock, draw 1600 ml of blood, open the metal door on Mike's side, and let him escape?"

Li Sheng turned around, looked at the surveillance camera, and sneered: "It's meaningless. Only one of the two can survive."

Not to mention that the players who perform the script tasks have no feelings, responsibilities, or obligations for the roles they play.

More importantly, it's meaningless.

Mike is dead.

Li Sheng walked into the elevator and glanced at the indicator light. He found that the building was 70 stories high and his floor was on the 55th floor. As the elevator door closed automatically, the indicator light on the first floor automatically lit up.

The elevator automatically descended, but Li Sheng raised his head, looked directly at the surveillance camera, and said calmly: "Take me to see you. The operator of the game."

Nothing changed. Li Sheng hit the top of the elevator with a sextant, breaking the vent board open, and continued: "If you don't look for me, I will come to you."

This time, the elevator finally stopped gradually, paused for a moment, and began to rise.

The floors kept climbing higher and higher. Li Sheng was in the car, tidying up his clothes leisurely, and flipping through the bag of US dollars.

Five hundred thousand US dollars, nearly three hundred and sixty thousand RMB, when have you ever seen so much cash? !

This is enough to buy one twentieth of the house in Yin City!

Ding Dong.

The car arrived at the top floor, the elevator door opened, and Li Sheng was greeted by a group of security personnel holding pistols.

"Don't move!"

"Don't move!"

"Put your hands up!"

The security guard shouted at Li Sheng, who glared and complained: "One person told me not to move, and the other person told me to put my hands up. Is this how you American gunmen enforce the law?"

"Hey, hey, guys, be polite."

An old white man who had obviously been in a high position for a long time came over, shouted back the armed security guards, pointed at Li Sheng and said: "This Mr. Owen is the super dark horse of tonight's gambling! Be polite to him!"

The old man in the suit had a very high status, and the armed security guards looked at each other and put down their guns.

And passing through this group of security guards, Li Sheng was able to see the situation on the top floor of the building clearly.

A grand banquet was being held here, and the male and female guests were all wearing masks and suits, toasting and chatting happily.

They did not come here to drink and dance, but to participate in a special gambling game - high up in the magnificent hall, there were screens hanging, showing the surveillance perspectives of the secret rooms and the intruders struggling to survive in them.

Some died in the spike traps, some were cut into pieces by sharp steel cables, some inhaled poison gas, fell to the ground with purple faces, and some were burned alive by the fire.

Whenever a challenger died, his screen would turn gray and the words [eliminated] would appear.

And a series of numbers would be added to the screens of the remaining survivors.

Accumulated chips: 6 million.

9 million.

15 million.

27 million.

Unit, US dollars.

This group of dignitaries were playing a betting game, betting on who would die and who would survive among the dozens of challengers in the secret room of the building.

The winners laughed heartily, and the losers did not cry and raged, but just seemed a little regretful.

Millions of dollars and lives were just chips for them.

"Oh, it's just as I thought, leading beasts to eat people."

Li Sheng shook his head and laughed, and asked the old man in a suit: "You let me up like this and let me see this scene. Aren't you afraid that I will tell the media after I go out?"

"Mr. Owen, you are a smart man and should understand the rules of the game. What's more, most of the news media you know are owned by people at this banquet. Even if you release the news, no media will report it.

How to say it, this is like a pastime game in the circle, held every few years. Only by participating in this kind of game can you be considered an insider and get the resources in the circle."

The old man in the suit smiled and said calmly: "I want to know , why did you give up Mike Garcia without hesitation in the third secret room. As far as I know, he is your best friend since childhood, your best friend, best man, and confidant. "

"Because Mike is dead."

Li Sheng said indifferently: "Remember the surveillance footage in the secret room? He said he was in New Mexico City, and this is New York. The time zones are only one hour apart. It is impossible that it is dark here and noon there.

The only explanation is that the surveillance footage was shot long ago and deliberately released to interfere with my judgment. Mike has been dead for a long time."

The old man in the suit was extremely surprised, "Wait, how do you know this is New York? We injected you with anesthetics and took you from London You shouldn't know the location of the phone number. "

"It's very simple, Mike inputs the phone number."

Li Sheng said calmly: "When making an international long-distance call, 001 is the country code of the United States, and 212 is the area code of New York. You adjusted the position of the surveillance camera and deliberately prevented me from seeing the dial of the phone booth. I didn't expect that I could determine the number by the displacement of Mike's arm.

As for what you said about 'shipping back to New York', it's interesting. It seems that this Owen Hedges is originally from New York.

As for the Cuban coordinates in the first secret room, let me think, 20 degrees north latitude and 75.9 degrees west longitude, it should be the Guantanamo US military base, right?

Combined with Owen's identity as a human rights lawyer, All the clues were connected - Owen investigated the torture of prisoners at a US military base, was secretly retaliated, his family was burned to death, and Owen himself fell into depression and lost his job.

You killed Owen's family and his best friend, so you won't let Owen go. You will have to send him to death.

When he dies, it will just be another obituary in the newspaper that no one cares about, just like the leaders of the Occupy Wall Street movement a few years ago and the whistleblower of the Boeing aircraft accident recently. "

You know, the goal of this mission is [stay alive until you escape the dark room]

not [escape the dark room and stay alive]

The system also gave subtle hints on the mission goal.

Li Sheng's overly indifferent tone made the white old man frown unconsciously.

The anesthetic they injected into Owen Hedges will only make people sleepy, and will not change their personality or memory.

"You... you're not Irving?"

"Me? Of course not, I'm a justice partner, a crime nemesis, a night walker, a protector of the weak, a professional mercenary, a winner of the Red Star Kindergarten's full attendance star award, Xiaoshuai, a Kobe hater, Shenyang Tiger Brother, a game master."

When this was mentioned, Li Sheng suddenly became excited and reported a long list of nicknames. Unfortunately, the white old man was not a fan of Teacher Da Bing and didn't understand these jokes, otherwise he would have complained: "Sorry, there's not enough room for so many people here"

[Mission goal completed]

[Player restrictions lifted]

[The script mission "Escape" has been completed, and there are still 5 minutes before the transmission]

The system prompt sound echoed in his mind. Li Sheng chuckled and twisted his neck, introducing: "In 1974, he won the championship in Southeast Asia for the first time in free fighting. In 1980, he defeated the Japanese heavy artillery Lei Long. Then for three consecutive years, he defeated all karate masters and won the All-Japan Free Fighting Championship. He is proficient in ancient Chinese boxing and is known as the nemesis of Japanese karate. His nickname is Devil Muscle Man"

The old man finally couldn't hold back his growing sense of uneasiness and shouted to the armed security guards: "Hold him!"

The armed personnel rushed forward and grabbed Li Sheng's arm.

Zheng!

Li Sheng's hand suddenly ejected the mantis arm bone blade, cutting off all the dozen fingers on his arm.

Blood splattered wantonly, soaking the expensive Persian carpet.

The screams of the security guards echoed in the magnificent high-rise hall.

Those dignitaries who were toasting each other stopped their cheerful conversations upon hearing the noise and turned to look over.

In the horrified eyes of the crowd, black scales slowly covered Li Sheng's cheeks, chest, and back, and long black horns grew on his forehead. He casually chopped the elevator call button with a knife, blocking the escape route.

Turning his head, he smiled at the dignitaries in the room, "The game officially begins."