Chapter 31: "Please exit the instance within 6 hours."

"Like this—"

"Until only nine players remain in the gambling match, the final nine will transport all the restrained players to the city outskirts via vehicle. This ensures the absolute fairness of the game, giving everyone a chance to complete the main quest."

"How about it?"

Chen Jiang gestured gently toward the hemp ropes that had been prepared nearby.

...

The words fell.

The players nodded thoughtfully. Put that way, it did indeed seem fair, and there was finally a glimmer of hope for completing the quest.

The burly man who had spoken first, in particular, showed no expression on his face, but inside, he was bursting with silent laughter. He had exchanged for the "Hulk Bloodline," which had significantly increased his physical prowess; that hemp rope could never hold him!

Even if he lost, it didn't matter!

At the very last moment, he could easily snap the ropes and emerge as the final winner!

"I agree!"

Unsurprisingly, he was the first to raise his hand in agreement. His teammates behind him, also suppressing their excitement, raised their hands expressionlessly to signal their consent.

Soon, more and more hands were raised, until every player had fully agreed to the plan.

Everyone had their own secret agenda.

Those who were weak and acting like mice were especially pleased; they had been facing certain defeat, so the chance to win made them happy.

"What are we gambling with?"

"What if someone cheats? You organized this game, so you must have arranged a game you're familiar with. Isn't that unfair?"

"It will be fair."

Chen Jiang pointed to a stack of playing cards on a nearby table: "It’s simple. In pairs, each person draws a card and compares values. These cards were just purchased and are absolutely unopened. You are welcome to inspect them."

"No."

The burly man sneered: "You're clever, aren't you? Who knows if you've tampered with these cards? I’ll go out and buy a few new decks, and open the internet cafe doors."

"You’re clever, too."

Chen Jiang looked at the burly man with a calm expression and said softly: "All 66 players are gathered here. If you run out now and find a place to hide, waiting until the very last moment to deal the final blow to the remaining nine winners, you would be the one reaping the fisherman's profit. At the very least, you could drag everyone down with you to a failed quest."

"Do you take us all for fools?"

The other players reacted instantly, their eyes darkening as they stared at the burly man. If someone ran off now, wouldn't this whole gamble be completely ruined?

"Everyone!"

Chen Jiang stood in the middle of the crowd and looked at them all: "This gamble is our only hope of completing the quest. I want everyone to supervise each other. No one is to go near the internet cafe doors, windows, or any other potential exit."

"If you don't trust the cards, after discussion between the two parties, you can also decide the winner by rock-paper-scissors!"

"The gambling match begins now!"

"All players, pair up for the first round of eliminations."

Seeing that he had seemingly provoked public anger, the burly man sheepishly said nothing more. He didn't actually care if the cards were rigged; after all, the ropes couldn't hold him, and his opportunity would come at the very end.

He just wanted to put on a performance, acting as if he cared deeply about the fairness of the game, so that no one would suspect he could break free. After all, his physique would naturally invite suspicion; if they tied him up with extra ropes, he would be doomed.

But it seemed he had overacted a little...

Inside the safe house.

The gambling match officially began!

Even Chen Jiang and his group joined in. Truth be told, this game had countless loopholes.

But precisely because there were so many loopholes, many people thought they had discovered one, which was why they were so willing to cooperate.

...

The perspective shifted upward.

From the moment all the players entered the safe house and Ya She closed the internet cafe doors!

The bustling street, the pedestrians shopping, the hawkers calling out—all retreated and cleared the area rapidly. In the blink of an eye, the entire street was deserted.

At the same time—

A large number of workers emerged from every corner and began assembling a container around the outside of "Neon Internet Cafe." Soon, a massive shipping container had encased the entire cafe, and several steel cables began to pull and adjust it.

A high-tonnage crane slowly drove in from the end of the street.

It hoisted the entire container steadily into mid-air. Thanks to the exquisite design, although the container swayed slightly in the air, the Neon Internet Cafe inside felt not a single vibration.

Next!

Four modified heavy-duty trucks drove into formation from the end of the street. The crane gently lowered the container onto the four trucks, and a large group of workers stepped forward to secure and calibrate them.

The whole scene was extremely lively.

It was like being on a movie set.

The next moment!

Once everything was calibrated and the order was given, the four heavy-duty trucks maintained a steady speed as they drove down the eight-lane road toward their destination: the cross-river bridge.

Police cars with sirens blaring cleared the way in front.

Green belts and railings were knocked aside, and the lead vehicle was marked with the words "Oversized Load."

"Whew..."

The factory manager in charge of the on-site coordination breathed a sigh of relief once they were successfully on the road. The mission was complete; as long as it was delivered to the cross-river bridge, the client would pay him an additional 10 million and provide follow-up orders. This was a truly massive job.

The client’s influence was indeed significant.

They must have promised the government a massive investment project, otherwise, the Neon City government wouldn't have allowed such an unbridled operation. Although it sounded bizarre, it was actually quite normal; there had been instances where governments had blown up their own city halls just to attract investment.

Knocking over a few railings and blocking traffic for a few hours was nothing—hardly worth mentioning.

Though he had originally been told it wasn't a mobile internet cafe, he didn't quite understand why it had ended up like this, but who cared? It wasn't important.

And after this "integrated building internet cafe" was hoisted away.

The space it left behind revealed the real "Neon Internet Cafe" behind it. There was a clear gap in the original row of street shops, but soon, a large number of cranes arrived, hoisted away all the protruding "shops" around it, and the street returned to its original appearance.

The surrounding shops were also part of the integrated structure the client had commissioned him to build, effectively creating a whole new street.

Furthermore—

To cooperate with this investment attraction project, the government had sealed off the street for several days to replan it. Across the street was a park; they had shifted the original street to the left and redrawn the lanes.

Combined with the large number of pedestrians and hawkers affecting distance perception.

Those unfamiliar with the area felt no difference at all.

Only the local residents felt a distinct sense that something was wrong.

...

Half an hour later.

The gambling match inside the safe house had ended, and the nine final winners had been decided. Chen Jiang was among them.

In the corner, the 57 players bound by ropes looked on, full of resentment.

"Hey!"

The burly man appeared highly agitated: "Isn't it time to send them out of the city now?!"

Life is always like this, full of surprises.

According to his plan, he had intended to break free of the ropes at the very end to deliver a fatal blow, but he hadn't expected his luck to be so good that he would actually win until the end.

"Too much trouble."

A bald, middle-aged man among the nine shook his head: "Why don't you pick out your own team members and friends to send out of the city, and just kill the rest once we're out of the safe house? It would be much simpler."

"Kill them?"

The burly man frowned slightly: "Is that necessary? We've already completed the quest; there's no need to have so many lives on our hands, right? Killing other players in this dungeon doesn't give any extra rewards."

"I also suggest killing them."

A young girl standing nearby said with a cold expression: "There are three reasons. First..."

"Alright."

Chen Jiang interrupted her nonchalantly: "You don't need to make suggestions. The game is over."

"What do you mean?"

The burly man felt a sense of unease, his brow furrowing slightly: "What do you mean by that? Did you set us up?"

Ya She, who had been bound by the ropes, had already untied himself at some point and was standing behind Chen Jiang along with Xu Kun.

Chen Jiang glanced down at his phone, looked up at the burly man, smiled, and took a few steps back: "It means, until we meet again."

The next moment—

A panel suddenly popped up in front of all the players in the safe house, except for Chen Jiang and his two companions.

-

"You have left the city limits. Quest failed."

"Forced extraction from the dungeon."

-

"You motherf—!"

The burly man, only then realizing what had happened, felt a flash of disbelief in his eyes. He was clearly still in the safe house; why was he being told he had left the city limits?

But before he could say anything more, the surrounding scene began to freeze and shatter rapidly, forcing them out of the dungeon.

At the very last moment.

The expressions on the faces of the other players who had won the gamble became incredibly dramatic; the rollercoaster of emotions made them look ghastly, while those bound in the corner actually wore expressions of schadenfreude and relief at having survived.

Well, at least everyone was eliminated together.

And if not for this turn of events, they might not have even survived. Many of them, just before departing, stared fixedly at the faces of the middle-aged man and the young girl, as if trying to etch them into their memories.

Clearly...

If they were to encounter each other in a future dungeon, some scores would have to be settled.

...

Chen Jiang pushed open the internet cafe door, jumped onto the bridge, and scanned his surroundings.

The four heavy-duty trucks had shut off their engines, and the traffic police were still waiting for him ahead.

He walked to the edge of the bridge, leaned his arms against the railing, lit a cigarette, and looked quietly at the distant sunset. The sunset over the river was incredibly beautiful, looking just like an MVP settlement screen.

At this moment.

Ya She and Xu Kun walked over: "Brother Jiang, our main quests show as completed, so we're heading out."

"Yeah."

Chen Jiang didn't turn back, just waved his hand: "See you later."

The next moment—

-

"You have completed the hidden quest: become the last surviving player in the dungeon."

"Please exit the dungeon within 6 hours."

-

Chen Jiang made no extra movements, as if he hadn't heard the prompt. After a long while, the cigarette burned down to the end. He looked down at the scarlet ember stained red by the sunset on his fingertip and stretched with a warm, satisfied yawn.

He turned to look at the city shrouded in neon lights behind him and smiled.

"Time to go. See you next time."

"Large-scale dungeons are still the most fun."

Following that.

The surrounding scene began to freeze and shatter rapidly.

Wait—

At the very last moment before leaving the dungeon, he suddenly remembered something. Had he forgotten to tell those traffic police that there was still a high-explosive bomb hidden in the container?

He wondered whether the city would continue to function after he left, or if it would simply cease to exist.