427: Chapter 426 The Manager's True Identity

"The outcome is already certain!"

Shen Ba sneered and said, "Since we are all Rule-Breakers, we just need to do nothing."

Long Shan said in a cold tone, "I think no one dares to talk about searching for hint boxes anymore, right?"

"No!"

Chu Xuan shook his head and said in a calm tone, "It is still necessary to search for the hint boxes!"

"What kind of joke are you making?" Shen Ba's face turned cold. "If all twelve mechanisms are unlocked, wouldn't we fail the level?"

Long Shan stared at Chu Xuan with cold, gloomy eyes and laughed coldly, "Could it be that you aren't a Rule-Breaker at all, but rather that ordinary challenger the Minotaur spoke of?"

The others also looked at Chu Xuan with strange expressions.

"Solving this problem is actually very simple! The twelve boxes correspond to the twelve mechanisms. We just need to leave the last mechanism locked before the time limit expires, wouldn't that work?"

Chu Xuan looked around at everyone and said, "Aren't you all curious about what the third point in the System prompt means—that Rule-Breakers possess extra permissions? This might be directly related to our upcoming third level."

"That's just your one-sided claim. You're very suspicious, and who knows what you're plotting." Shen Ba sneered repeatedly, looked around at everyone, and stated directly, "I don't agree to unlocking the mechanisms. Let's see who dares to do it."

Long Shan followed up, "I don't agree either!"

"Does whether you agree or not even matter anymore?" Chu Xuan said with a calm gaze, "Or are you saying that any of you dare to intervene now, betting on whether the combat ban has been lifted?"

A murderous look flashed in Shen Ba's eyes, "At the very least, the combat ban won't be in effect forever!"

At this moment, Wu Wanqiu said, "Brother Lin, shall we go first?"

Lin Liguo pondered for two seconds, then nodded, "Don't worry about what the others do. We six will split into two groups and go search for the hint boxes to unlock the mechanisms!"

The remaining Night Watchers had no objections.

Murderous intent was fully revealed in Shen Ba's eyes as he stared deeply at Chu Xuan, saying word by word, "What exactly are you trying to do? Are you really looking for death?!"

Chu Xuan met Shen Ba's gaze for a moment, then suddenly said, "Since everyone is suspicious of my identity, I can choose not to search and just wait here!"

While speaking, Chu Xuan pointed to the wall clock, "The clock is about to strike two, which means twenty minutes are almost up! From now on, regardless of the outcome, those who go to search must return to report the situation every ten minutes, or every time a mechanism is unlocked. This way, we can control the progress of unlocking the mechanisms."

Originally, Shen Ba had maintained a strongly opposed attitude, but after Chu Xuan finished speaking, his expression suddenly calmed down, and he changed his tone, "Since that's the case, I won't stop you. However, to show my opposition, I won't go searching."

Shen Ba stared coldly at Chu Xuan, "I will be here watching you the whole time, don't try any tricks!"

"Since that's the case, I'll stay too." Long Shan walked to the side and sat down.

Shen Ba looked annoyed and glared at Long Shan, somewhat dissatisfied that Long Shan kept copying him, but in the end, he didn't say anything more.

Meanwhile, the six Night Watchers, led by Lin Liguo, had already started to move.

"Let's go too." Cai Hou chuckled, gave Fat Pig a look, and began to move.

"I'll go with you!" Xuan Xuan quickly followed them.

"Li Na, let's go too!" the Double Cannon Brothers said to Li Na.

However, Li Na shook her head, "We aren't going."

"Why..." the Double Cannon Brothers said in a low voice, "I was only able to survive to the second level because of that person's wine."

"A life-saving grace must of course be repaid, but it also depends on how you repay it. If we offend Shen Ba and Long Shan, even if we manage to get out alive this time, if we happen to run into them again in the future, it might..." Li Na shook her head and didn't finish her sentence.

The Double Cannon Brothers frowned deeply, but seeing Li Na was determined to stay here, they finally sighed and also stayed behind.

Just like that, of the fifteen people, nine split into three groups to search for the hint boxes.

The remaining six stayed in the hall.

Chu Xuan looked at Li Na and the other two with a calm gaze.

The Double Cannon Brothers lowered their heads in shame.

Li Na looked conflicted, but soon her expression firmed up, and she said earnestly, "I said it before, I have remembered your kindness, and I will definitely repay you!"

Chu Xuan withdrew his gaze, stopped looking at those three, and instead sat on the same sofa with the Minotaur.

The distance between them was less than a meter.

"You don't seem to be afraid of me at all."

The Minotaur stared deeply at Chu Xuan, appearing mysterious and unfathomable, and sighed faintly, "You seem very confident, but I have seen many people like you! You don't have much strength yourself, yet relying on a bit of cleverness, you catch a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg and think you have insight into everything. Little do you know, you are just being clever by half, and in the end, it will only lead to a miserable death."

After speaking, the Minotaur shook his head again, his laughter full of disdain and mockery, "As a Rule-Breaker, your performance really disappoints me. I can almost assert that you will definitely be overturned in the end."

Rule-Breaker?

Chu Xuan sneered in his heart.

The so-called Rule-Breaker status was, from beginning to end, an identity tag given by the Minotaur, not a System prompt!

Originally, Chu Xuan only had some suspicions about this.

But after exchanging for the Eye of Insight and sparing no expense of over a thousand spirituality value to observe the Minotaur's relevant information.

Chu Xuan was already absolutely certain that this Minotaur was definitely not the so-called Administrator!

Because, right there in the information obtained from the insight, there were several key points that corroborated Chu Xuan's initial guess.

[Name: Niu Ma, Species: Mutant, Rank: 10, health points: 1900/1900, stamina: 118, Strength: 115, agility: 109, spirit: 140, spirituality value: 850, Currently usable skills: Intimidation, Fraud, Wild Barbarian, Blood Escape]

Most of Chu Xuan's spirituality value was spent on investigating the opponent's two skills: [Intimidation] and [Fraud].

Intimidation is the opponent's Talent skill, which can consume spirituality value and a certain amount of Mental Energy to disguise itself in a form it can manifest, mimicking the might of a powerful creature it has seen before.