431: Chapter 430 Misidentification

"Then you can stay here forever. I want to see just how long you can last."

Shen Ba turned back and waved his hand at the crowd. "What are you all standing around for? Get moving!"

As he spoke, he looked at Long Shan and said expressionlessly, "Since you insist on following me, then come with me to the sixth floor to replace the light fixtures."

Long Shan cracked his neck. "Fine, no problem."

With those words, the group began heading upstairs one after another.

Chu Xuan's gaze was deep.

He was considering whether this Shen Ba might be one of the hidden Rule-Breakers.

Through his Eye of Insight, Chu Xuan saw that the other party currently only had one usable skill: the Talent skill [Absolute Slaughter].

Clearly, this had been exchanged for 50 points.

Compared to the Minotaur, who had clearly spent many points to exchange for numerous skills, the difference was more than just a little bit.

However, by checking the skills of the others, Chu Xuan found that they all corresponded to the points they had earned when ascending the mountain earlier; there wasn't much discrepancy.

So, who exactly was the remaining one?

Chu Xuan lowered his gaze slightly.

Then he suddenly looked up at the backs of the group as they headed upstairs and shouted, "Listen up! To prevent the mechanisms from being unlocked, the Rule-Breakers will definitely take action. Everyone must be careful! If anyone suddenly attacks without cause, sound the alarm immediately, and the rest of us will resist together!"

His idea was that if someone couldn't hold back and attacked, causing the no-combat rule to be lifted, he would immediately kill the Minotaur—the known Rule-Breaker—first.

Immediately after, he would head to the source of the alarm in the shortest time possible.

As long as the final death toll for this second stage was less than five people, it would be fine.

At this moment, hearing Chu Xuan's words, everyone instinctively looked down at him, then withdrew their gazes with varying expressions and went off to complete their respective tasks.

In the first-floor lobby, only the Minotaur and Chu Xuan remained.

The area fell into a deathly silence once again.

After a long while.

The Minotaur suddenly snorted with dissatisfaction and said:

"If you had followed my plan, you could have just coasted to a win. Why did you have to try and be clever? Now that it's come to this, the situation is very unfavorable for us. What do you plan to do next?"

Chu Xuan's heart stirred.

Is he mistaking me for a Rule-Breaker?

Immediately after, Chu Xuan thought of the Rule-Breaker privilege information he had just obtained: [When the number of unlocked mechanisms reaches ten, Rule-Breakers will know each other's identities.]

In other words, the Minotaur was not yet certain who the other Rule-Breakers were.

However...

Would this Minotaur really admit to being a Rule-Breaker so easily without even testing him?

Chu Xuan's eyes shifted; he instinctively felt something was fishy.

Could it be that after the Minotaur realized he had been seen through, he was putting on another act?

His thoughts racing, Chu Xuan's tone didn't falter for a second. "What's the fun in coasting? Dragging them into the abyss just as they think they're about to pass the stage—now that's interesting, isn't it?"

Hearing this, the Minotaur let out a long sigh of relief and patted his chest. "You scared me to death. So you really are a Rule-Breaker. I still haven't figured out how you saw through me. Not only do you know my name is Niu Ma, you even seem to know I'm a bit of a paper tiger?"

"Naturally, it's because of my Talent. I can know the name of anyone I've come into contact with, and use that as a medium to calculate the strength gap between us," Chu Xuan said calmly, making it up on the spot.

"Such a devious Talent?" The Minotaur clicked his tongue. "So what should we do next? Don't go and screw this up!"

The corners of Chu Xuan's mouth curled up slightly. "It's simple. We'll just go for the brute-force kills."

"Are you sure?"

The Minotaur frowned. "Setting the others aside, that Shen Ba and Long Shan are clearly not easy to deal with. Even in a one-on-one, I'm not certain of victory. If we can't kill enough people right away, we'll be in danger!"

"What's there to fear? As long as the two of us work together, those few are nothing but fodder," Chu Xuan spoke with total confidence.

As they spoke, the hour hand of the wall clock already pointed to seven.

[Mechanisms Unlocked: 8]

[Rule-Breaker Privilege: When Rule-Breakers enter the second stage, they can obtain extra points. These points can be used to exchange for skills at any time.]

Extra points? Exchange for skills at any time?

Chu Xuan's heart skipped a beat.

No wonder he had discovered through the Eye of Insight that everyone's skills were so few and corresponded only to the points they had earned.

Clearly, that hidden Rule-Breaker had intentionally delayed their exchanges!

"Hiss!"

The Minotaur sucked in a breath. "Why did you let this information out? Now they'll be even more certain of your identity as a Rule-Breaker..."

Chu Xuan's eyes flickered, but his face showed only disdain. "So what if they know? In a moment, the two of us will go upstairs together and kill whoever we don't like on sight."

"So blunt? Are you sure?" The Minotaur frowned.

Chu Xuan said without a second thought, "You strike first to intimidate them, and I'll take the opportunity to assassinate them."

"Alright, I can..." Just as the Minotaur was about to say more, he suddenly went silent.

A young, sinister face suddenly peered down from the floor above—it was Shen Ba. He looked at Chu Xuan and said with a cold laugh, "Still claiming you're not a Rule-Breaker? Of all of us, you were the last to pass, yet you obtained the most points!"

Chu Xuan's eyelids twitched as he sneered, "You really are quite attached to me."

"Heh, I just wanted to come down and see what schemes you have, whether you'd quietly follow those fools and look for a chance to strike!" Shen Ba said with a smile. "Now it seems you didn't choose either path and are just staying here to wait for death..."

[Mechanisms Unlocked: 9]

[Rule-Breaker Privilege: Rule-Breakers can delay the System's mission-related prompts for the second stage.]

The moment this prompt appeared—

[Mechanisms Unlocked: 10]

[Rule-Breaker Privilege: When Rule-Breakers enter this place, they may ascend the mountain early during the first stage, or ascend midway, or delay their ascent without suffering pressure damage.]

The moment these two prompts appeared, Shen Ba's expression changed drastically.

"Delaying the mission prompts... ascending early... You two, you're BOTH Rule-Breakers?!"

Shen Ba's face was filled with shock, and the look he gave the Minotaur was especially full of intense surprise and deep wariness.

Chu Xuan naturally knew he wasn't a Rule-Breaker. He had been able to delay his ascent based on his own strength, not some Rule-Breaker privilege.

However...

Ascending early represented the Minotaur's identity.

So who was the one who ascended midway?

Xuan Xuan!

Chu Xuan's eyes flashed, and he immediately shouted, "Minotaur, what are you waiting for? Kill him now!"