Doomsday Wonderland

Chapter 1432: Silvan's Trap

When she crashed into the shelf, knocking countless items down, Lin Sanjiu had a fleeting thought. Perhaps Silvan was trying to signal that there was another identical target item on the adjacent shelf.

Only after she lay amidst the scattered items and the sharp pain began to subside did she start to piece things together.

According to the rules, if the H7 shelf indeed represented Silvan's team's territory, then the removed A4 paper would surely be the target item. However, if that was a target item, the identical object she knocked off from the C2 shelf couldn't possibly be the same – because the target items only appear within each team's designated areas. Outside of these thirty shelf domains, any similar target items, if present, would merely be models made of plastic or cardboard.

In theory, both C2 and H7 could be shelf territories, and both reams of A4 paper could be target items.

However, it was evident that C2 wasn't the domain of Advaita's team – otherwise, Chen Hanwu would have found out. It couldn't be Silvan's domain either; otherwise, he wouldn't have intentionally knocked her in that direction, causing her to topple everything from the C2 shelf.

The volunteer made it clear during the rule briefing: you cannot change the position of the opponent's items.

This "cannot" had two meanings: not allowed and unable. If it was the former, there would be consequences for moving the items, and Silvan wouldn't intentionally endanger her. If it was the latter, meaning you're physically unable to move them, this notion had collapsed since she knocked them down.

How did Silvan discern which meaning was the correct one?

Though some parts remained unclear, the only conclusion Lin Sanjiu could draw was that the A4 paper the round-faced girl took was not a target item. While the game stated players couldn't take away opponents' target items, it never mentioned non-target items. Realizing this, the intent behind Silvan's team purposely taking a non-target ordinary item became crystal clear.

"You two sure are putting up a good fight," Advaita suddenly remarked, catching Lin Sanjiu off guard. So engrossed in her thoughts and the fight, she had momentarily lost track of Advaita. She looked around but couldn't locate her—until Advaita tapped on the H7 shelf. Only then did Lin Sanjiu realize she had been right in front of her, standing beside the H7 shelf. While it sounded absurd since Advaita clearly had a human face, it was genuinely hard to differentiate her from the adjacent laundry detergent at a glance.

Without a doubt, Advaita had activated her power during their fight. No wonder she seemed non-existent in the aisle for those few minutes, even disappearing from Lin Sanjiu's consciousness.

Did she refrain from attacking and stealing more from Silvan earlier because the game suppressed some of her abilities?

Advaita looked at the two of them coldly, then said to Lin Sanjiu, "What? Aren't you planning to get up? You should be searching the shelves."

Lin Sanjiu pretended to twist her waist and propped herself up with an arm, pressing a hand onto the stack of printing papers. Once it transformed into a card and vanished, she slowly got up, taking care to keep her expression in check—she couldn't let her elation show.

Silvan's strategy was effective; Advaita was fooled.

When she saw members of Silvan's team grab something from shelf H7 and flee, she assumed that part of their shelf domain was from H6 to H10. She never realized that Silvan's team was intentionally misleading her. She would now waste significant time on those regular shelves, which lacked any target items.

As Lin Sanjiu reached Chen Hanwu, Advaita said, "You two start searching the shelves. I'll hold them back; they won't catch up to you. As for the other two girls... if you encounter them, you can handle them, right?"

"No problem." Chen Hanwu's confidence was evidently boosted by the girl in green's hasty retreat. Backing away, he shouted, "Let's go!"

As they retreated, Lin Sanjiu cast a glance back at Silvan. Their gazes crossed over Advaita, meeting briefly in mid-air. Silvan suddenly lowered his eyes and smiled, the tips of his long lashes sparkling golden in the light. Though he made no sound, his intention was clear. Just as Advaita was on high alert, he turned and leaped onto a nearby shelf, swiftly disappearing like a seabird skimming over water.

Yes, having achieved their objective, it was naturally time to leave. As for ensuring Advaita wasted as much time as possible, Lin Sanjiu felt that was now her responsibility.

"The score is 1-0 now. They have one item, and we have none," Advaita said after ensuring Silvan was out of sight. Catching up to Chen Hanwu and Lin Sanjiu, she continued, "We must speed up. They're all on the other half of the mall, so we each have our own side. Have you noticed? There's a shelf in the center of the mall, G2. Using G2 as a boundary, I'll hold the front line to prevent them from sending anyone over. You two should search the side of the mall behind the G2 line."

"Alright." Chen Hanwu nodded, quickly scanning the shelf labels.

Advaita added, "Remember, only search shelves H6 to H10."

"Eh?" Lin Sanjiu was taken aback. She had been trying to figure out how to waste more of Advaita's time, but unexpectedly, Advaita seemed to be playing right into her hands. "Why?"

"We just followed them and found their shelf, so naturally, they can return the favor using the same tactics," Advaita explained, glancing at Lin Sanjiu but seemingly addressing Chen Hanwu more. "I don't know if they have remote monitoring capabilities, but let's assume they do. Even if the two of you come across your own shelf domain, you must rush past it without glancing... Just remember its location. We can search our own shelf when the game is about to end."

Lin Sanjiu silently cursed in her heart. Wouldn't Silvan be searching for a needle in a haystack?

"Chen Hanwu," Advaita said without finishing her previous thought. Unmindful of Lin Sanjiu's presence, she instructed the dark-skinned young man, "Remember, you must stay by her side at all times. Don't let her out of your sight even for half a second."