Endless Sea, Day 3.
The Challenger team drifted on the vast ocean without any incidents throughout the morning.
However, the sun was too glaring today. Starting at ten o'clock in the morning, the scorching sun was like a huge fireball baking the sea. The temperature of the seawater kept rising, and everyone was so hot from the strong ultraviolet rays that their skin was almost peeling.
Normally, everyone takes precautions against the sun when going out to sea. Men wear sun hats and sunglasses, and women carefully apply sunscreen to their cheeks, necks, and arms. But Secret Room World doesn't offer that.
After being exposed to the scorching sun all morning, everyone got a shade darker.
By noon, Xiao Lou's cheeks and neck were sunburned bright red, with a clear dividing line appearing on his neck. His skin was originally fair, but the redness was very noticeable, making his whole face look like a ripe apple.
Shao Qingge was also feeling very uncomfortable from the sun and couldn't help but ask, "Old Mo, does Weekly Secret Chamber ever delete data?"
In the previous secret chambers, Challenger's injuries would automatically heal after he left, and his tan would naturally return to normal. But the Weekly Secret Chamber was a first for everyone, and upon hearing this, everyone looked at Old Mo expectantly.
Old Mo said with a wry smile, " If you get injured in the Weekly Secret Chamber, you'll be brought back to the main city, and your data won't be erased."
Ye Qi couldn't help but complain, "With the sun so strong, if we continue to drift at sea for four more days, we'll definitely get tanned to a crisp, right? When we get back to the main city, everyone will look like they've been mining coal in Africa!"
Long Sen, however, was quite nonchalant and optimistic, saying, "A bronze complexion is good too; it makes you look healthy!"
Qu Wanyue looked at everyone, her eyes full of worry: "Those who like to sunbathe at the beach also take precautions against sunburn. If you keep sunbathing like this, it's not just a matter of getting tanned, I'm more worried that you will get sunburned."
Xiao Lou nodded: "That's right. Right now, everyone's skin is just turning red and dark. If you keep getting sun exposure, your skin will become severely dehydrated and tight, which will cause itching and even a severe burning or stinging sensation. In more severe cases, it will peel and develop blisters. Please be careful. If you feel itchy later, don't scratch with your fingernails. There are a lot of bacteria under your fingernails, and scratching at this time could easily cause an infection."
Ye Qi already felt an itch on his neck and was about to reach out to scratch it when he heard this, so he immediately withdrew his hand.
Yu Hanjiang isn't afraid of the sun. He often goes on missions under the blazing sun, so his skin isn't exactly fair, and getting a shade darker wouldn't bother him. However, the ultraviolet rays at sea are just too strong. Seeing Xiao Lou's face all red from the sun, Yu Hanjiang felt a little sorry for him.
Professor Xiao isn't as thick-skinned as him. He's always been in the office and has never suffered like this. If he gets sunburned and his skin peels all over, he must feel terrible. Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou worriedly and suggested, "Should we make a sunshade and hang it on the boat? If we keep getting sunburned like this, it's not just a matter of sunburn; I'm worried that everyone will get heatstroke."
After thinking it over carefully, Xiao Lou took out the [ white silk card ] [scissor card] from the card holder.
He cut the white silk into several strips, then drew several rings and cut them open to use as wire. He then "stitched" two strips of cloth together with the wire. After all the strips were connected, their length and width were just enough to cover the lifeboat.
He then bent some wires into arcs and passed them through the front, middle, and back of the drape. He then fixed the wires to both sides of the lifeboat's hull, so that the huge drape could "cover" the entire lifeboat.
And just like that, a simple sunshade was created.
The white awning didn't provide much shade; covering the hull of the boat made it look like a funeral procession...
However, the conditions in the escape room are limited, so we can only make do with what we have.
Xiao Lou looked at Ye Qi's large travel bag and said, "Put the food inside into Long Sen's bag, and let me use the backpack."
For the past two days, everyone had been eating the food from Ye Qi's bag, which was now more than half empty. Upon hearing this, Ye Qi immediately did as instructed, putting the remaining Mineral Water and biscuits into Long Sen's backpack.
Xiao Lou took his schoolbag, picked up a pair of scissors, and deftly cut it open.
With his slender fingers moving like magic, he cut the backpack into eight pieces of fabric in the blink of an eye. Then, he used Compass to measure the dimensions, draw circles, and bend them—and miraculously made eight simple sun hats for everyone!
Xiao Lou smiled and handed out hats to everyone: "This way you won't get sunburned."
Teammates: "..."
Awesome!
Ye Qi took the hat and put it on, exclaiming, "All-powerful Professor Xiao, is there anything you can't do? Maybe when we go to the wilderness, you can use the Compass to make an iron wok for cooking?"
Shao Qingge squinted and teased, " Professor Xiao is truly an indispensable helper for both home and travel. Any girl who marries you would be so lucky... right, Captain Yu?"
Yu Hanjiang, caught in the crossfire, turned and gave him a cold look: "What do you want? You're still in the mood for jokes?"
Shao Qingge shrugged: "It's too boring if we don't joke around. Are we all going to just sit at sea and do nothing for four days?"
Yu Hanjiang didn't reply, but frowned slightly, looking rather unhappy.
It wasn't the first time CEO Shao had made a joke, but for some reason, Yu Hanjiang felt inexplicably angry when Shao Qingge made that joke about Xiao Lou. Finding that Xiao Lou didn't seem to mind, Yu Hanjiang ignored Shao Qingge and turned to look into the distance.
The Challengers ' forty-odd boats were drifting aimlessly at sea. Soon, they discovered that Xiao Lou's escape boat had even made its own sunshade, with eight...
The person was also wearing a "hat" made of scraps of cloth?
Someone nearby exclaimed, "Holy crap, the people on that ship are so clever! We should make a sunshade too!"
Someone exclaimed excitedly, "My backpack is empty! Get the scissors out, quick! I'm going to get sunburned!"
So everyone followed suit. Some people drew umbrella cards and immediately opened them to block the sun; some used clothes as sunshades; and others placed wooden planks above the lifeboats to block the sun. Some even sewed together plastic food bags to make umbrellas that were incredibly colorful.
A girl picked up a megaphone and shouted: "I have [ tool card; needle and thread] here, I can sew umbrellas for everyone. If you need them, come find me by boat. The fee is 100,000 gold coins per job! Just bring your leftover cookies, chocolate plastic bags, etc., and I'll make plastic sun umbrellas!"
Xiao Lou: "..."
This world is never short of smart people; the girl actually started a "sew umbrellas" business on the spot.
At noon, with the sun high overhead, most Challengers left their lifeboats in the area to prepare for lunch. The girl with the needle and thread quickly became popular, and people immediately approached her with piles of plastic bags and rags to help make parasols and hats. In the blink of an eye, the girl had earned millions of gold coins.
Immediately afterward, another girl nearby started shouting loudly: "Does anyone need to use the restroom? We have temporary toilets here, complete with flushing systems. You can use the restroom here for 50,000 gold coins per use!"
50,000 is equivalent to 500 RMB.
Ye Qi exclaimed, "This is the most expensive toilet I've ever heard of! Is the toilet made of gold?!"
The girl was the one who had given them a [Temporary Toilet] sign this morning. She indeed had two signs and was now doing business. A few Challengers nearby were cursing: "Damn, this is expensive for one toilet visit? Are you robbing us?" "Well, you can't exactly pee in your pants, right? Conditions at sea are limited; having a toilet is better than nothing..." "I can't hold it anymore, I'm going!"
Gradually, some Challengers started sailing off to the restroom with strange expressions, and long lines formed outside the girl's "makeshift toilet," where she was happily collecting money.
Xiao Lou sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation: "There are so many talented people."
It's heartbreaking to think that everyone has become like this because they were forced into this bizarre state of the world.
The main city has beautiful accommodations, delicious food, and low prices. Challengers can easily own a house, a car, and even a villa by earning some coins. However, you can't bring any items into Secret Room World, only cards. It's really embarrassing to encounter a situation where there's nowhere to relieve yourself.
After drifting at sea for seven days, the human body needs to metabolize. If this girl hadn't happened to have a toilet sign, everyone might have been in even more of a mess. So, it wasn't wrong for her to charge people to use the restroom; there's a reason why it's more expensive.
It seems that in order to clear the escape rooms in the future, we'll need to collect household item cards. Xiao Lou's team doesn't have enough household item cards yet.
***
Compared to the collective diarrhea on the first day and the typhoon and rain on the second day, the third day was relatively calm, probably to allow the Challengers a little respite. No accidents happened throughout the day.
The only unpleasant thing was the direct sunlight at sea. Even though everyone was inspired by Xiao Lou's idea and made all sorts of colorful sunshades, the sunlight at sea was too strong. In the afternoon, everyone's skin started to become red, swollen, and stinging. Some girls with sensitive skin started to peel and get blisters. The entire Challenger team was sunburned and looked exhausted, and curses could be heard from all around.
Xiao Lou's team is relatively good; no one has been dishonest.
As evening approached, everyone moored the boat again and had a simple dinner.
The sunset was still beautiful today, but everyone was exhausted by the sun and no one was in the mood to appreciate it. They all leaned against the boat and closed their eyes to rest.
Yu Hanjiang gazed at the setting sun, lost in thought.
Lu Jiuchuan disappeared last night and hasn't reappeared since; we don't know where he went.
Upon meeting Lu Jiuchuan in this world, Yu Hanjiang's long-held beliefs were suddenly and violently shaken—because he knew very well that Lu Jiuchuan had been cremated in reality, and he didn't know how he could go back under these circumstances.
Will I go back and turn into ashes?
Yu Hanjiang had no idea how credible Guardian's words were, or whether they should continue on with the hope of "going back." For the first time, he began to waver.
Xiao Lou sensed his thoughts and whispered in his mind, " Captain Yu, have you ever heard of rebirth?"
Yu Hanjiang paused, then asked, "What do you mean?"
Captain Yu, with his serious demeanor, clearly doesn't read online novels.
Xiao Lou smiled and explained, "Many popular online novels these days feature rebirth stories, where the protagonist dies unexpectedly and is reborn in the past to change history. Although those novels are fantasy, the world we live in now cannot be explained scientifically. Maybe, such a miracle as 'rebirth' really exists. So, even if your brother turned to ashes in reality, he's not without hope of survival—if we could go back in time, wouldn't he come back to life?"
Yu Hanjiang's eyes suddenly lit up. He clenched his fists tightly, turned to look at Xiao Lou, and said in disbelief, "You mean, Guardian letting us go back might be sending us back to the past?"
Xiao Lou nodded: "In reality, we should all be dead. Guardian can't possibly send us back to be corpses, can he? So I speculate that Guardian might control the flow of time, sending us back to the past to change history."
Yu Hanjiang: "......"
Professor Xiao truly lives up to his reputation as a high-IQ academic star.
They figured out the core rules of Secret Room World so quickly.
--time.
Time flows at a different rate in each secret room. Sometimes, three days may have passed in the Heart Room, and 30 minutes in the Plum Blossom Secret Chamber, yet everyone can meet in the Spade Secret Room. Clearly, the Guardian has the ability to manipulate time.
Furthermore, the existence of Freelancer proves that the Guardian can freely send everyone back to the past. For example, Heart 3. Xie Xinghe from Fenglin High School is now a police officer, but they travel back to Xie Xinghe's childhood; Li Mo from Red Heart 4 is now the biggest real estate developer, but they travel back to a high-speed train many years ago and experience the plot where Li Mo secretly plots to kill his scumbag father, Li Zhemin.
Going back in time was a piece of cake for the Guardian.
Xiao Lou's speculation is reasonable—only by going back in time can the accident be avoided.
Lu Jiuchuan is dead, that's a fact. Yu Hanjiang witnessed his body being cremated and reduced to ashes—that's an undeniable fact. But what about three years ago? Back then, Lu Jiuchuan was a dashing soldier, a major in the Navy's Arrow Commando Unit!
If time could go back three years, wouldn't Lu Jiuchuan have been reborn?
Knowing in advance that unexpected events might occur during the mission, he could naturally find ways to avoid the risks and prevent his own death during the mission.
Yu Hanjiang became more and more excited as he thought about it— Xiao Lou's words completely solved the mystery in his heart!
You can trust what the Guardian says.
All those who have died have a chance to be reborn after completing this game!
Reborn into the past, before the accident happened.
At that moment, Yu Hanjiang was overjoyed beyond words. He gripped Xiao Lou's hand tightly, and a renewed light of faith shone in his deep eyes: " Professor Xiao, you're right. We can go back to the past and change history. That way, the dead can be reborn, and my brother might be able to live!"
Ever since he met his brother, he has been confused, wondering how someone who has turned into ashes can go back.
Now that Professor Xiao has explained it this way, his mind is suddenly clear and enlightened.
If we could really go back to the past, everyone would be living well in the present...
He desperately wanted to be transferred to Jiangzhou Police Station as soon as possible so he could meet Xiao Lou.