37: Chapter 37 Borrowing a Lighter

Gu Changming nodded, his gaze calm.

Lu Shiyao stood to the side, a hint of confusion on her face, but after looking at everyone's expressions, she ultimately didn't ask and stood there quietly.

Tang Ningfei then turned her gaze back to her phone screen, her fingers tapping quickly on the virtual keyboard as she concisely organized Zhou Tunan's analysis and last night's experience into text.

Gu Changming walked over and stood by her side, his eyes falling on the screen as he watched her input word by word.

He was making sure she wouldn't try to be clever and add her own conjectures to the report.

After a while, she stopped, her fingertip hovering over the send button as she looked up and scanned the group.

"Send it," Gu Changming said, confirming for her.

Tang Ningfei nodded and pressed the send button.

"It's sent."

Gu Changming also took out his phone at this moment, unlocking the screen and looking at the empty notification bar, waiting for the official push notification.

As long as this was accomplished, there would be no need for him to stay here any longer. He still had to handle the scoring for this Assessment.

Also, he would have to think of an excuse to leave later, but fortunately, finding a reason wasn't too difficult.

The wait wasn't long.

A moment later, the phone in Tang Ningfei's hand vibrated.

Gu Changming's ears twitched slightly, and he immediately looked at her and asked, "How is it? Did they reply?"

Zhou Tunan also looked over; he had just been explaining Tang Ningfei's special status to Lu Shiyao.

Tang Ningfei tapped on the new message and quickly scanned the reply. Then, her expression froze slightly, her lips tightening involuntarily before she looked up at Gu Changming and Zhou Tunan.

"They said... acknowledged."

Hearing this, Gu Changming's expression blanked for a moment.

Acknowledged? What does that mean?

It's like calling the police to report a bomb planted somewhere, and instead of reacting, they just reply with 'acknowledged'?

To the side, Zhou Tunan's expression also changed slightly. He stepped forward half a pace and asked, "What exactly did they say?"

Tang Ningfei looked down at her phone screen again and explained, "They said they received the message and will conduct research and testing in this area. They'll notify me when there are results."

The corners of Gu Changming's mouth curled into a mysterious smile.

He had taken such a huge risk to find the hidden rules on the second day of the Assessment, only to be completely ignored.

At this moment, Gu Changming even suspected that in his previous life, Zhou Tunan and the others had long since found or deduced the possible hidden rules. But after reporting them, the response they received was the same as now.

Research?

Where would they find so much time for research? There were only five days, and two had already passed.

Research for two more days and let hundreds of millions more humans die?

So he had worked for nothing these past two days, right?

Zhou Tunan seemed to vaguely sense the change in Gu Changming's mood. He turned his head, trying to ease the atmosphere, and explained, "After all, our deduction conflicts somewhat with the explicit rules... It's normal for them to be cautious and perform more verification."

Actually, both Zhou Tunan and Tang Ningfei could understand.

After all, there was only one explicit rule: weak light sources would attract Shadow Devourers.

Yet the conclusion they submitted was that strong light could restrain Shadow Devourers.

With such contradictory conclusions, the decision-makers would certainly be incredibly cautious.

Otherwise, a single mistake could mean the deaths of tens or hundreds of millions of people.

Moreover, only their side had submitted a relevant description, so... naturally, it was impossible to just adopt it and broadcast it.

Gu Changming nodded, as if conceding.

At the same time, after Zhou Tunan finished speaking, the atmosphere that had been slightly relaxed due to the dawn inevitably slumped, a sense of gloom permeating the air.

They had been excited about discovering a new rule supplement, but now... the higher-ups hadn't taken it seriously.

But in the next second.

Gu Changming turned his head, his gaze fixed directly on Zhou Tunan, and asked:

"Do you have confidence in your own deduction?"

Although Zhou Tunan didn't understand why he suddenly asked this, he still nodded affirmatively: "Yes. I believe in my judgment."

He was certain that this Assessment was definitely related to light, rather than some Fire Magic, so the paralysis that appeared on the Shadow Devourer was also related to light.

Thus, the only explanation was that strong light would affect Shadow Devourers.

Hearing Gu Changming's question, Tang Ningfei suddenly had a bad premonition. She looked over and asked:

"What do you want to do?"

Gu Changming turned his head, smiled, and said, "Just testing it out."

"Since they don't believe it anyway, we'll find more substantial evidence to prove it to them. That way, they won't have to spend another two days verifying it."

Gu Changming paused again, "And if this rule can be confirmed and pushed out earlier, won't many more people be saved?"

Tang Ningfei was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Then what do you plan to do?" she asked.

Actually, she had already vaguely guessed the answer. Yesterday, Gu Changming had asked them a question.

'Should we take the initiative to find a Shadow Devourer and get more hidden rules from it?'

At the time, they hadn't taken it seriously.

They didn't expect that this guy was serious.

To get more rules, he was actually willing to risk looking for the Examiner of this Assessment, who was powerful enough to take their lives.

Gu Changming shrugged, his tone casual, "How about we attract a Shadow Devourer here? We'll know if the rule works by trying it ourselves."

Although his words and tone were inquisitive, what he said left Tang Ningfei and the others no room for rebuttal.

Tang Ningfei turned her head and exchanged a look with Zhou Tunan and Lu Shiyao.

Ultimately, they nodded one after another without voicing any opposition.

...

Near the corridor of the First-floor lobby, the light was dim.

Gu Changming stood alone in the center of the corridor, while Tang Ningfei, Zhou Tunan, and Lu Shiyao gathered around.

"What do we need to do?" Tang Ningfei couldn't help but ask in a lowered voice.

Gu Changming shook his head. "No need, I'll handle it."

Saying this, Gu Changming looked around, glancing at the corner of the corridor and saying, "You guys find a place to hide first. If there's a problem, then act."

Tang Ningfei's eyes flickered, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn't.

She seemed to have accepted that Gu Changming had the ability to do it alone.

"Once it's confirmed, run outside. It's safer outside during the day," Tang Ningfei said.

Gu Changming nodded, then looked at Zhou Tunan, stretched out his hand, and said, "Borrow a Lighter."

He had used the Mimic Beast to monitor him, so he knew that the other would use the flame from a Lighter to attract a Shadow Devourer and buy himself time to escape.

"Ah." Zhou Tunan didn't quite react at first, fumbling around his person and pulling out several Lighters to hand over.

After giving the Lighters to Gu Changming, Zhou Tunan couldn't help but suggest, "Is it... not safe here? Should we go somewhere higher?"

The previous two times, they had jumped from high buildings and survived by luck. Now being on the first floor felt far too dangerous.

"It's fine, right here." Gu Changming shook his head.

Without another word, Tang Ningfei and the other two quickly dispersed, disappearing into the shadows and corners on both sides of the corridor.

Soon, Gu Changming was the only one left in the empty corridor.

He stood in the middle, looking at the Lighter in his hand.

"Click."

With a soft sound, a small cluster of flame lit up in the gloom.

The firelight illuminated his face and provided the Shadow Devourer with the clearest signal possible.