Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had disappeared for a long time. Ye Qi was sitting right behind them. He looked at their empty spots and couldn’t help worrying. “Group Leader Yu and Professor Xiao haven’t come back?”
Just then, Xiao Lou’s gentle voice was heard. “Don’t worry. We went around the area to look at other escape boats and check their safety.”
Yu Hanjiang followed after him. “I’ll keep watch so you can all go to sleep.”
The moment he spoke, Yu Hanjiang took off the invisibility cloak and appeared in the seat. Xiao Lou also took off the cloak. The two of them had already boarded the boat and sat in the second row but no one had seen them.
Ye Qi finally put down his worries. “If there’s nothing then it is fine.”
Shao Qingge wondered, “Shouldn’t I be keeping watch with Ye Qi now?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not sleepy at all and I’ll call you if I am.” Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. “You also rest.”
Xiao Lou smiled and shook his head. “I’m not sleepy. I’ll accompany you.”
The others saw them insist so they agreed to the teammates and went to sleep.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang sat side by side on the boat, silent for a long time. Then Yu Hanjiang’s voice rang only in Xiao Lou’s mind. “Brother Jiu’s team was so strong yet they almost died in J of Clubs. If our team goes to J of Clubs now and faces 10 times the hunters, it is likely we won’t survive.”
Xiao Lou’s words were warm. “Brother Jiu’s team weren’t strong from the beginning. Among out teammates, Xiao Qi experienced the Nightmare Room and almost starved to death, yet he persisted. I believe he won’t give up easily in the future. Liu Qiao reached 4 of Spades alone. She might look weak but her psychological quality is very strong. The Long Que husband and wife have experienced so much and they are bound to have a tacit understanding. The advantages of Chief Shao and Old Mo are obvious. As long as we stick to it, or team will become stronger and stronger in the future.”
Yu Hanjiang agreed. “Yes, in order to go to J of Clubs, we have to go through the fifth to the tenth level. That is 24 secret rooms and we can get a lot of good cards. The key is that we must stick to the desire to go back and not shake in the middle. We have to carefully watch our teammates. Once someone can’t endure it anymore, they have to be eliminated ahead of time rather than become a drag for the entire team.”
It was impossible to bring them to pass through the S-grade secret rooms.
Lu Jiuchuan’s group of four could come out of J of Clubs’ Nightmare Room so their strength was beyond doubt. Yu Hanjiang didn’t want to drag his brother’s hind legs with weak teammates. It would naturally be best if these eight people could walk all the way to the end. However, if someone shook halfway then Yu Hanjiang would kick them out of the team without hesitation. At this point, he must be cruel and decisive.
Xiao Lou also agreed with Yu Hanjiang’s thoughts and sighed. “After leaving this World Weekly, we will carefully explain to them Brother Jiu’s words. I think they have the right to know the truth.”
Yu Hanjiang nodded. “For the sake of my brother Lu Jiuchuan, don’t tell them about my brother’s matter for the time being. He is special and still undercover in the Hunter’s League. I don’t want to bring trouble to him.”
“OF course. It isn’t too late to explain Brother Jiu’s identity once we reach J of Clubs.”
In order to keep the secret room from feeling too depressed, Xiao Lou took the initiative to change the topic. “Is your relationship with Brother Jiu so good? He cares about you and after knowing you were here, he took great risks to enter the same World Weekly room as you.”
Yu Hanjiang was silent for a moment before replying, “My mother was a soldier and my father a police officer. They have been long separated and have no time to take care of me. As a child, I was raised in my grandfather’s house and grew up with Brother Jiu. We were just like brothers.”
“No wonder. Brother Jiu joined the army and you joined the police force. Is that due to the influence of your father?”
Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, I was simple as a child. I felt that my father and my uncle were particularly handsome in a uniform and a gun. I was hesitating between becoming a soldier or a policeman and I finally chose a policeman because when I was 1, my father cracked a major criminal case and caught a serial murderer who had escaped for many years. I saw the family members of the deceased crying in court and the shock was difficult to imagine.”
Xiao Lou imagined this scene and smiled. “I understand. You must’ve been very proud of your father.”
Yu Hanjiang touched his nose. “In fact, I don’t have a good relationship with him. I only see him a few times a year. He is too serious and will criticize me every time we met. He was admitted to the Standing Committee the year I was admitted to the police academy. Thus, he was more careful and cautious and had very strict and demanding requirements for me. I wanted to transfer to Jiangzhou and he delayed the transfer order for two years.”
Yu Hanjiang had never mentioned these private matters with anyone. Xiao Lou was the first person he sat down with to talk about his past and his family. Yu Hanjiang looked into Xiao Lou’s clear eyes and was slightly warm. “I grew up with no friends. You are the first.”
Xiao Lou heard this sentence and inexplicably felt happy. He joked, “Then I’m really honoured.”
Yu Hanjiang’s mouth gently raised. “Brother Jiu previously always made fun of me. He said I was like a piece of hard stone frozen in the refrigerator for half a month. The words ‘no entry for strangers’ were written on my face. I would definitely be single until I was 60 years old.”
Xiao Lou ridiculed, “Brother Jiu has a really poisonous tongue. How can he say that?”
Yu Hanjiang said, “He is the opposite of me. He was very rebellious since he was young, smoking and drinking. My uncle couldn’t take care of him. After he went to the army, he changed his mind and developed the bad habit of being cynical.”
After perceiving that Xiao Lou had been listening carefully, Yu Hanjiang asked with interest, “What about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters in your family?”
Xiao Lou smiled. “I’m an only child but I have a cousin. She is a senior in high school and ready to test into a medical school. Another cousin is in university and will graduate in another year. I grew up with them and we have a close relationship.”
Yu Hanjiang wondered, “You must be their favourite, the big brother they really worship?”
Xiao Lou helplessly touched his forehead. “Those two people are very naughty. If it wasn’t for my sister pulling me to play Fight the Landlord on New Year’s day, I might not have come to this world.”
It hadn’t been long since the Spring Festival but Xiao Lou felt like it was a century. The impression of these beloved relatives in his mind had gradually become blurred. The memories from reality made both of them silent.
This was the first time they had mentioned their family members in front of each other. The distance between them had been shortened invisibly and they had a deeper understanding of each other.
Xiao Lou thought that his friendship with Group Leader Yu probably changed from ‘ordinary friends’ to ‘talkative friends’?
Yu Hanjiang also felt it was very novel. He never chatted about this with others. At this time, it was late at night and they could hear each other’s breathing. After talking about his family and his past with Xiao Lou, it was like an emotion suppressed in the bottom of his heart was suddenly released.
Having a friend to talk to really felt different.
He looked at Xiao Lou who was looking back at him. The two men looked at the person opposite them before embarrassedly moving their gazes away at the same time.
Perhaps the sea at night was too quiet but Yu Hanjiang felt his thumping heartbeat that seemed to speed up more than usual. He turned his head and no longer watched Xiao Lou, who was looking into the distance.
The escape boats parked here were lit up with the Night Pearl. Many people didn’t speak because they were worried about accidents. However, the night was particularly calm. The sky brightened and nothing had happened.
The challengers woke up, washed up and had breakfast. Today was cloudy with no direct sunlight so they didn’t have to worry about their skin peeling.
At 9 o’clock in the morning, the challengers reorganized and someone suggested, “If we continue, it is unknown what we will encounter. The task is to survive at sea for seven days. Why don’t we stop where we are?”
This suggestion was immediately endorsed by everyone.
Ye Qi’s eyes brightened and he spoke excitedly, “Stopping in place is really a good method. We checked the nearby sea last night and there were no dangerous fish. We don’t have to move. As long as we stay at sea for seven days, we will clear the instance, right?”
Old Mo was experienced in the World Weekly and his face was full of worry. He frowned and stated, “If it is so simple—”
Xiao Lou spoke cautiously, “We can’t relax even if we checked it last night. We might not be looking for trouble but it can come to us. If you can pass the instance without moving for seven days, this World Weekly is too simple.”
Ye Qi scratched the back of his head and laughed slightly. “Professor Xiao’s words are reasonable!”
Liu Qiao suggested, “Last night’s safety doesn’t mean it will now be safe. Do you want to check again?”
Qu Wanyue took out the chameleon card. “Brother Long, let’s go to the water again to check…
Before she had finished, Yu Hanjiang’s low voice interrupted her. “Don’t go into the water. Look behind you.”
They found that Yu Hanjiang’s sharp eyes were staring straight behind them. Everyone was slightly stunned while turning their heads.
Not far away, a group of large sharks slowly surrounded the challenger teams. The leader was huge. The moment they looked back, the leader stuck its head out of the water, opening its mouth toward the people and exposing sharp fangs.
Everyone, “……”
Xiao Lou saw that the mouth was large enough to swallow two adults and immediately straightened nervously. “Sharks!”
Ye Qi was pale and he cursed, “We really shouldn’t underestimate that damn pervert A of Spade! Where the fuck did so many sharks come from? Are there more underwater?”
Yu Hanjiang spoke calmly. “A great white shark, also knew as the human-eating shark, is the fiercest predatory shark in the sea. They weight more than 3,000 kilograms and have extremely sharp teeth that can instantly break a human’s neck. They are at the top of the food chain.”
Listening to Group Leader Yu calmly say this, everyone felt their backs become cold.
Xiao Lou finally understood why 20 out of the 40 challengers on the Full Star had died. They were likely attacked by sharks!
At this time, the furthest escape boat was suddenly bitten by the great white shark. Before the challengers on the boat had recovered, two people were directly swallowed by the great white sharks! There was a pig-like scream on the sea. “Ahhhh! Sharks! There are sharks!”
”Oh my god, there are so many sharks!”
The girl who saw her teammates being eaten panicked and tried to steer the boat to run. However, a big shark turned her boat upside down and the girl fell into the sea and was bitten by a sharp. It was also across the middle at her waist! The boat’s people were quickly split up among the sharks who smelled them.
Looking at the bloody scene, Xiao Lou’s scalp was numb and he tightly clenched his fists. “We are surrounded by sharks!”
Ye Qi was pale as he scolded A of Spades. Now he asked, “What to do? Professor Xiao, can your safety circle hold?”
Xiao Lou laughed bitterly. “The safety circle has a time limit and that time is coming…”
Everyone’s hearts were cold when they heard this.
In the distance, another boat was attacked by the shark population. A man’s leg was bitten off by a shark and he screamed with fear. A woman’s arm was bitten and her cries of collapse almost pierced their eardrums.
“Ahhhh—Help! Sharks. Sharks!”
The challengers were in a state of extreme panic and it was unknown who yelled. “We’re surrounded by sharks! Run!”
A few escape boats stepped on the accelerator and quickly tried to escape!
However, there were sharks ahead. They ran forward and had only run less than a hundred metres when one escape bit was hit by a large number of sharks. The boat quickly sunk due to the ferocious impact and the people in the water once again turned into shark food!
It was unknown when this group of sharks had started lurking but they had completely surrounded all the challenger teams! The most ferocious fish in the sea, it was unknown how long they had been hungry but the hundreds of challengers made mouthwatering food. Stimulated by blood, the sharks swam in an even more brutal manner. A group of sharks wildly attacked different escape boats!
The sound of crashing filled their eardrums. The challengers were bitten and blood quickly reddened the water… this scene was hell on earth! In front of the ocean killer, humans suddenly became extremely weak.
Yu Hanjiang’s eyes narrowed. He clenched his fists and shouted loudly. “Don’t panic, keep calm! Where are all your cards? Take them out and get these sharks under control!”
Once humans saw sharks, they instinctively felt fear. In the midst of the extreme fear, most people lost their calm and reflexively wanted to scream and run away. They seemed to have forgotten that they weren’t ordinary humans but challengers with a large number of cards.
There were a few sharks swimming towards their escape boat with Xiao Lou’s safety ring. Yu Hanjiang’s hands were fast and he dropped the Balance to trap the sharks!
The Balance card was very easy to use in the event of a group attack. Two huge scales with a diameter of five metres were thrown into the sea. As long as sharks entered the range of the scales and the weight on both sides wasn’t equal, they had no way of moving for five minutes.
Seeing Yu Hanjiang’s actions, Xiao Lou immediately drew two circles and accurately wrapped them around the neck of the two big sharks! Yu Hanjiang decisively used the Water Ghost card to enter the water. He swam below the sharks and thrust the Night Devil Saber up—
The knife could cut through iron like it was mud and pierced the belly of two big sharks! The two big sharks started struggling frantically. The blood that splatted covered Yu Hanjiang’s entire body. His teammates were scared when they saw this scene. Xiao Lou’s eyes widened and his voice was shaking. “Group Leader Yu, be careful—”
This was a shark! A shark that could open its mouth to eat several adults!
Yu Hanjiang looked calm. Since the big shark couldn’t bring the balance in time, his hand went up and the blade descended, directly splitting the shark in two from the middle. A big shark more than 3,000 kilograms was actually…
Slaughtered?
The surrounding challengers watched as the man held a blade and killed two sharks. They were horrified like he was a devil from hell! Yu Hanjiang was covered in blood and his face full of anger as he yelled at the stunned challengers, “What are you panicking about? Sharks don’t have IQs and don’t you have brains? Use the Balance!”
In a boat not far away, the frightened girl seemed to be awakened by this roar. Seeing two big sharks swimming under her escape boat, she immediately threw out the Balance. The two big sharps were unequal in weight and were trapped by the Balance, unable to move. Her teammate saw this scene and quickly pulled out a sword, pointing it firmly at the shark’s head.
Yu Hanjiang followed by prompting, “Use Balance and Nine Palaces Grid to fix all the sharks in place! Then quickly sail to the southeast!”
Amidst the chaotic screaming, Yu Hanjiang’s voice was calm, clear and decisive. His leadership, which was used to commanding teams, wasn’t comparable to that of an average person. The bewildered challengers seemed affected by his voice.
Balance and Nine Palaces Grid were cards given in low-level Diamonds rooms. In particular, the Nine Palaces Grid which had a control time of 9 seconds. Meanwhile, Balance could control the opponent for 5 minutes. Even the fierce sharks were helpless in front of it!
The people’s senses returned and they threw their cards. Apart from Balance and Nine Palaces Grid, some teams used ranged sleepiness, ranged dizziness and other control cards to control the nearby sharks!
Old Mo might’ve seen many sharks in the southeast direction but he obeyed Yu Hanjiang’s instructions without hesitation. He was the first to drive forward in a fast manner to the southeast. Their boat was covered with a white sunshade and others followed suit.
Nearly 40 escape boats collectively shifted to the southeast under Yu Hanjiang’s command.
Of course, there were some people who didn’t want to listen to Yu Hanjiang’s command. Once the sharks were fixed in place, they rushed out and ran away to the east!
After a while, most of the challengers’ escape boats came to the south-east sea and surrounded Xiao Lou’s escape boat. Five minutes was long enough for the escape boat to drive a long distance, leaving the sharks behind.
A girl who was almost eaten just now looked at Yu Hanjiang and asked, “What are you going to do?”
Yu Hanjiang coldly looked at the distance sharks. “Sharks like the smell of blood. This group of sharks are already mad from hungry. If we don’t take care of them, they will always be behind us. We must kill them here.”
Everyone, “…………………………”
Kill the sharks? Was this man sick? The challengers who heard this was full of disbelief, looking at him like he was a madman.
Xiao Lou reflected on Group Leader Yu’s plan and spoke loudly, “Don’t panic. All the sharks are in that area of the sea and the human bone medicine obtained in 4 of Spades can make any sharks within 500 metres collectively blind. Friends with control cards can help trap the sharps in place. Friends with invisibility cloaks can put them on and don’t have to worry about being found. They can take weapons into the sea to kill the sharks.
Yu Hanjiang had just killed two sharks. As it turned out, the sharks at the top of the food chain weren’t so scary as long as they had cards in hand.
Yu Hanjiang’s sharp eyes swept over the crowd. “Is there anyone willing to act with me?”
The people around him bowed their heads, the horror on their faces difficult to conceal. This plan might be theoretically feasible but they were sharks! Sharks were five or six metres long and could instantly bite a person’s waist in half. Thinking of the bloody scene just now, who would dare to go into the water to fight the sharks?
Most people’s idea was to run away! Leave these sharks alone!
People who thought this way seemed to have ignored a fact. This was a survival room and it would be difficult to reach the end of they just thought of escaping. Sometimes, challengers would have to face the danger. It was because one day, they would face a situation where they couldn’t escape. What would happen then?
If you meet a god, kill a god. If you meet Buddha, kill Buddha. This was the correct way to survive the secret room! Daring to fight with powerful beasts in order to enhance everyone’s survival ability in actual combat.
Yu Hanjiang looked at his teammates around him. “What about you?”
Long Sen and Qu Wanyue glanced at each other. There was some panic in their eyes but they quickly calmed down. Long Sen said, “We can integrate with the water and the sharks can’t see us. We will help Group Leader Yu with poisoning and control.”
Ye Qi immediately pulled out his music cards. “My Guitar can cause ranged sleepiness while Flute is a single-target sleepiness.” He looked at the sea for a moment and scratched his head. “However, I can’t swim!”
Old Mo added, “I can drive the boat and Group Leader Yu will take the Night Pearl as a guide. When necessary, my dyeing card, model room and space rotation can help. I also have several Nine Palaces Grid in my hand, which were all bought cheaply. They can be distributed to you to control the sharks.”
Xiao Lou smiled. “My Compass can trap the sharks and Bai Juyi also has several group control skills. I can also help.”
Liu Qiao stated, “I can directly poison a shark with the poisonous apple. I can fly on the sea to help everyone with location and in addition… I might be able to use the Twin card to become a shark? I don’t know if I can copy a shark but I’ll try it later.”
Everyone, “……”
They thought of Liu Qiao turning into a shark and didn’t know if they should laugh or cry.
Shao Qingge smiled. “My best S-grade card is the ATM machine and I can’t kill a shark with money. Old Mo, give me Nine Palaces Grid. I will help with control while you concentrate on the boat.”
Yu Hanjiang listened to everyone’s opinions and his heart was slightly warm. All his teammates were reliable. The challengers on other escape boats were frightened by his plan and no one dared to join this shark hunting operation.
However, his teammates didn’t question his decision. Hearing Yu Hanjiang’s plan, everyone’s first opinion wasn’t to run away but to cooperate with Yu Hanjiang. It was because everyone saw him nearly slice two sharks apart and they all believed in his strength.
Trust was the cornerstone of a team.
Yu Hanjiang nodded to his teammates and simply order, “Old Mo, set off. Be ready to act!”
