Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1436: This is Called... a Coincidence

"So, if they haven't found the target item over there during this time, our score might still be zero to zero."

By the time Advaita finished, Chen Hanwu's eyes were still wide in disbelief.

"You mean to say, they purposely led us to believe that H7 was their shelf territory, but in reality, that pack of A4 paper wasn't the target item at all?" he murmured, still somewhat in disbelief. "No wonder."

"Yes, this tactic not only made us waste time looking from shelf H6 to H10 but also diverted our attention away from the third member of their team." Advaita lowered her gaze to the unconscious fox-eyed girl on the ground. "You both thought that the third member of Silvan's team was always on their side, right? I initially thought the same. Silvan really is..."

She shook her head and tsked softly. "The game only started twenty minutes ago, and he's already laid a trap for me. If it wasn't for my ability allowing me to sense a stranger's presence here, she would've already returned to Silvan's side with the target item."

Lin Sanjiu's attention wandered in and out of the conversation. The fox-eyed girl lay next to her, her breath sometimes faint, sometimes heavy, as if she might stop breathing at any moment. If only Caster had properly communicated, she wouldn't have let Advaita ruin Silvan's plan so easily. Chen Hanwu seemed hesitant to look at the fox-eyed girl, his gaze wandering. "What should we do now?"

"Wake her up," Advaita said, her expression unchanged. "Since she got the target items, it means she knows which shelves are under Silvan's team's domain. We've intercepted two of their items. If we can find our target items in their territory, we can regain the advantage."

Her words were logical, but the implications were clear. Whether the fox-eyed girl was unconscious or injured, Advaita would ensure she spilled everything.

If it wasn't for the greater good, Lin Sanjiu really wanted to punch her.

The thousands of items that had caused the previous chaos now floated in mid-air, forming a thick wall, seemingly gathering energy for the next attack. As Chen Hanwu hesitated and picked up a bottle of water, preparing to pour it on the fox-eyed girl's face, a voice suddenly said from behind the wall of items, "D7 to D12!"

All three of them looked up. Lin Sanjiu sighed inwardly—this was the Silvan she knew. She wasn't surprised at all.

"What?" Chen Hanwu said, taken aback.

"The shelves on your side that belong to us are from D7 to D12," a woman said, probably the round-faced girl. Clearly, she wasn't speaking of her own volition. It sounded like she was reading from a paper, her voice trembling slightly—Silvan's anger was discernible. "Now that you know, get away from her."

"Indeed, as gentle and chivalrous as legends say," Advaita said, smirking. Lin Sanjiu suspected she purposely targeted the fox-eyed girl to get Silvan to speak.

Upon receiving a nod from Advaita, Chen Hanwu quickly disappeared among the rear shelves while Lin Sanjiu stood still.

She never imagined that the dynamics between the two teams would shift dramatically in such a short time. Silvan's plan had been exposed. If she wanted to assist him, she needed to somehow convey their shelf territories to him. Fortunately, when Advaita said she was coming over, Lin Sanjiu had already stashed away Caster's card. Maybe there was an opportunity to send a discreet message to Silvan.

"From now on, you move with me," Advaita said calmly as if she was merely inviting her to dinner. "We can't let them know your shelf numbers."

Darn, this woman had thought of everything.

Advaita crouched down, gripping the fox-eyed girl by her collar and pulling her up, prying open her mouth. They couldn't move the opponent's target items, but if an item remained in the fox-eyed girl's mouth until the game's end, it would still be valid. As if dumping out trash, Advaita shook the girl's head, emptying out a stapler she had hidden in her mouth.

"So, there was just one item?" Advaita looked down at the wet item on the ground, slightly dissatisfied, then threw the fox-eyed girl back down. Lin Sanjiu rushed forward, catching her before she hit the ground, ensuring she didn't suffer another unnecessary injury.

"You both seem quite chivalrous," Advaita remarked emotionlessly. "Have you vented enough? Once you're done, leave her behind and go."

With the correct shelf locations and Advaita joining, their efficiency improved drastically. The trio spent only another ten minutes scanning the remaining territories. They located Silvan's team's D8 and D10 shelves and Lin Sanjiu's B1 shelf. They harvested two target items from D8 and D10 but conspicuously bypassed the B1 shelf.

Only thirty minutes had passed in the game, and Advaita seemed concerned that Silvan might be monitoring them somehow, trying to uncover their shelf territories. She was cautious; upon discovering the B1 shelf, she not only refrained from giving it another glance but also chose a different route when heading back. She led the two of them along the edge of the shelf area, near the cashier counter, returning to the G2 shelf, the frontline floating with thousands of items.

This made Lin Sanjiu wonder. Was the only shelf they found hers, B1? If they had come across a shelf belonging to either Advaita or Chen Hanwu, she wouldn't have realized, right? Chen Hanwu had been dispatched early on, distancing himself from Lin Sanjiu and Advaita; if he had indeed stumbled upon another shelf and was surprised by it, Lin Sanjiu was unaware.

Now, while Advaita's team was aware of one of Silvan's shelf territories, Silvan's team had no clue about theirs — naturally putting them at a disadvantage when searching for items. Of Lin Sanjiu's shelf territories, only B1 was on Advaita's side, so presumably, the rest were on Silvan's side. They evidently guarded four shelves but were unable to take action.

By this point, Silvan's team must have finished searching in their half of the territory. How many items had they found? Lin Sanjiu contemplated her next steps, suppressing her anxiety. She realized that she had practically no way of conveying a message right under Advaita's watchful eyes on her own.

'If only Silvan would launch an attack,' she thought.

The wall of items floating in mid-air exploded as if hit by a bomb, causing a gush of debris to surge forth.