430: Chapter 429 Still Staying

When this piece of information appeared, everyone still in the hall—except for Chu Xuan—including Shen Ba, Long Shan, Li Na, and the Double Cannon Brothers, were all slightly stunned.

"The Rule-Breaker has the ability to delay the permission information? Why do I feel like..."

Long Shan frowned deeply and looked at the Minotaur, saying coldly, "Hey, Minotaur, the Rule-Breaker identity you gave me isn't fake, is it?"

The Minotaur ignored Long Shan and instead stared at Chu Xuan with a wide smile. "Am I anxious? No, you're the one who's anxious. Your heart... is already in disarray."

As the Minotaur said this, the next prompt appeared.

[Mechanism X6 Unlocked]

[Rule-Breaker Permission: Each time a mechanism is deactivated, the Rule-Breaker can choose the order in which the permission information appears at will.]

"Damn it, Minotaur, you really are playing us!"

Long Shan cursed and questioned, "Could it be that every identity card you gave us is fake? The real Rule-Breaker received prompts through the System long ago?!"

"What do you think?" the Minotaur asked back instead of answering.

"This is clearly a smokescreen by the Administrator, meant to make us think everyone here is a Rule-Breaker!"

Li Na stood up abruptly, her face grim. "The purpose of doing this is still to favor the Rule-Breaker, allowing the real Rule-Breaker to clear the stage smoothly!"

"So what we really need to do is find the hint boxes as quickly as possible, instead of wasting time here!" The Double Cannon Brothers also looked displeased.

"Time is almost halfway up. Soon, the Rule-Breaker will be able to ignore the non-combat rule and kill people directly!"

"Ho ho ho! Congratulations, you got it right." The Minotaur covered its mouth and laughed loudly. "Unfortunately, it's a bit late. With the hidden Rule-Breaker's interference, you might not have time to unlock any more mechanisms."

Li Na's expression was very ugly.

"Since you already know, what are you standing around for?" Shen Ba scolded sharply. "You lot, why aren't you searching for the hint boxes?"

Li Na's expression shifted; she seemed very afraid of Shen Ba and didn't dare to argue, quickly calling the Double Cannon Brothers upstairs.

"Why are you still here?" Shen Ba looked at Long Shan with an unfriendly expression.

"Based on my experience, in confrontation-type tasks, as long as you keep an eye on the most suspicious person or follow the strongest person besides yourself, you can usually clear the stage smoothly."

Long Shan narrowed his eyes. "And in here, you're the strongest, while this kid is the most suspicious. Staying here is definitely the right choice."

After a brief pause, Long Shan asked again, "Shen Ba, your choice to stay earlier probably wasn't just because you opposed searching for hint boxes, right?"

Shen Ba glanced coldly at Long Shan without answering. His gaze turned chillingly toward Chu Xuan as he asked, "Kid, have you known something for a while? Are you one of the Rule-Breakers? Or... do you think this Minotaur is the Rule-Breaker?"

Before Chu Xuan could answer, blood-red text and a System prompt appeared simultaneously.

[Mechanism X7 Unlocked]

[Rule-Breaker Permission: The Rule-Breaker knows the points obtained by everyone who passed the first stage.]

"I think I don't need to say more, right?"

Chu Xuan didn't even look at Shen Ba, his eyes calm as he said, "The reason this Minotaur knows the points we obtained isn't because of his Administrator status, but because of Rule-Breaker permissions!"

Shen Ba snorted coldly. "Since you knew, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"You were all fooled by the Minotaur. If it weren't for this System prompt, even if I talked until I was blue in the face, how many of you would have believed me? Would you have obediently gone to search for hint boxes? Besides..."

Chu Xuan raised his eyelids slightly and slowly turned his head to look at Shen Ba. Meeting the other's ice-cold, venomous gaze, he said indifferently, "Besides, do I need to explain my actions to you?"

"Trash! I think you really want to die!" Shen Ba's gaze grew even colder. "You should be glad for the rule restrictions here, otherwise you'd already be a dead man!"

"Yo yo yo! Are we starting an internal conflict now?"

The Minotaur tsk-tsked and laughed. "But it really is interesting; you guys actually still think I'm a Rule-Breaker. In that case, I'll stay in the living room the whole time. Once the non-combat rule ends, I'll accept your challenges at any time."

As the Minotaur spoke, hurried footsteps sounded from upstairs. The six Night Watchers led by Lin Liguo came down again, carrying three iron boxes.

Immediately after, Cai Hou and his two companions came down carrying one box and three keys.

At this point, all the remaining iron boxes and keys were gathered.

Li Na and her group, who had gone up last, had found nothing and returned empty-handed.

"Did you hear the prompt just now?"

As Xuan Xuan ran down, she said urgently, "The Rule-Breaker can know the points everyone obtained. In other words... this Minotaur might not be the Administrator, but very likely one of the Rule-Breakers in disguise!"

"If I were a Rule-Breaker, you would have no chance of winning."

The Minotaur's expression was incredibly composed. As he spoke, the wall clock struck six times—half the time had passed.

This meant the Rule-Breaker could now ignore the non-combat rule.

At this moment, everyone's expressions tightened. They looked at the Minotaur with great wariness, fearing he might suddenly lash out and kill.

However, the Minotaur remained leisurely on the sofa from beginning to end, saying with a smile, "Now, does anyone still have doubts?"

The crowd's expressions were hesitant.

Chu Xuan's eyes flickered.

The Minotaur was actually only using a Talent skill to disguise himself as powerful; he would be exposed the moment he actually fought.

However, Chu Xuan didn't state this clearly for now, letting the Minotaur continue his act.

At the same time, the remaining five iron boxes were opened one by one, and the prompt information for unlocking the mechanisms was revealed to everyone.

They involved going to the pet room on the fifth floor to wipe specimen containers, going to the meeting room on the sixth floor to change light fixtures, and so on...

"There's no need to guess who the Rule-Breaker is anymore. As long as we continue with the original plan and unlock the mechanisms in groups, the Rule-Breaker will inevitably lose their cool and reveal themselves." Lin Liguo waved his hand and immediately led the group upstairs.

"As an official, you've finally said something useful."

The corner of Shen Ba's mouth curled. He scanned the crowd, his gaze eventually landing back on Chu Xuan as he sneered, "Now, all of us are going to unlock mechanisms. Can you still sit still?"

Chu Xuan raised his eyelids slightly. "You think I'm the hidden Rule-Breaker?"

Shen Ba let out a cold laugh. "Whether you are or not, you should either participate fully in cracking the mechanisms or continue hiding to wait for the best moment to strike. Either way, you shouldn't really stay in this first-floor hall anymore, right?"

"Then you've guessed wrong."

Chu Xuan gave a light laugh. Under Shen Ba's slightly startled gaze, he sat back down beside the Minotaur with a faint look of mockery. "I still choose to stay here."