mtl008 Chapter 4657 Desperate Escape (29)
Chapter 4657 Desperate Escape (29)
Chapter 4657 A Desperate Escape (Twenty-Nine)
"What's this?" Harley pulled a strip of cloth from the edge of the door crack. It looked like it had been torn from her clothes. There were words written on it in blood, but judging from the handwriting, it wasn't handwritten; it looked more like it had been written with blood dipped in some sharp object.
There's a big difference between the two, because if you write with your finger, the characters will be very large; but if you use something sharp, dipped in blood, like a pen, you can write many characters in a very small area. The characters on this strip of cloth are like that, showing that the person who wrote them had some ingenuity.
"You didn't go back in time. This was just a kidnapping in a locked room. I heard someone moving inside the walls. The mechanism was powered by modern energy."
This passage, written in English, isn't very long, but the piece of cloth is simply too small. Even when written with a sharp object dipped in blood, it's still filled to the brim, and some parts are blurred and difficult to read.
Pamela leaned closer to look and then said, "We already know the first two points."
“That’s right. But not everyone is as vigilant as we are,” Harley said. “Some people might get electrocuted without even realizing it, let alone notice the unusual torch. This might have been a warning to ordinary people. It shows that the person who left the note was very cautious, because misjudging the era could have devastating consequences.”
Pamela smiled and said, "Indeed. If you walk up to the mastermind and think you're dealing with a medieval knight, but instead you're facing heavily armed modern security personnel, then it'll be a Chaplin comedy."
“In that case, the latter two must also be useful,” Harley analyzed. “I guess it might be one of his two plans: either to find a way to capture the person moving inside the wall, or to find a way to cut off the power.”
"Which option do you think is better?" Pamela thought for a moment and said, "I still prefer the second one. We're not Batman, we're not that good at hand-to-hand combat, and besides, those staff members might be carrying guns, it's too risky to deal with them."
Harley nodded and said, "Indeed. If he hadn't given the first two points, people who saw the two plans later might have leaned more towards the former. Or, who knows, there might have already been some unlucky souls who misjudged the times, attacked the staff, and died a horrible death."
“I can only say that the decorating style is too deceptive,” Pamela sighed. “We don’t have any real medieval people here. If you see a dungeon that looks similar, you might think it’s real and even think you’ve traveled back in time and are about to embark on a medieval adventure.”
“But cutting off the power isn’t easy either,” Harley frowned. “First of all, we didn’t see any exposed wiring. The person behind this should be able to build such a large secret room; they couldn’t possibly be unable to find a good electrician. Besides, cutting just one or two wires won’t work. How can we completely cut off the power to the entire secret room?”
“Wait, do you remember?” Pamela suddenly said, “You poked a hole in the seam and looked down, and you saw a person there.”
"Of course, but the hole was too small, and I couldn't see who he was, and he left very quickly."
What do you think he went there to do?
“He’s probably repairing the equipment,” Harley said. “Judging from where he is, he’s probably near the scales. I didn’t see him move, but he’s probably busy with something. We’ve already passed the test, so there’s no need for us to mess with the scales, unless there’s something wrong with the mechanism.”
"That's right, they went to fix something. But can they fix a metal mechanism without pulling the switch?"
"But the torch hasn't gone out..."
“You haven’t been to the lab enough,” Pamela said. “The power supply and lighting power supply for such important facilities are separate. If the power supply is cut off, the lighting power supply can still work normally. Otherwise, if a laboratory accident occurs and the power is cut off, turning off the lights as well, how would someone escape?”
“That makes sense. So, if any important equipment is damaged, they'll shut down the power to fix it?” Harley’s eyes darted around.
At this point, the two exchanged a glance and tacitly fell silent. After all, such a large, secret room couldn't possibly be without surveillance cameras; they couldn't very well plot in person. This matter needed further consideration.
Batman looked up at the ceiling, and Superman followed suit. Superman asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Batman had clearly seen something, but he didn't say anything. Just as Superman was about to ask, Batman gave him a look, and Superman looked enlightened.
Batman must have discovered some clue, but was hesitant to reveal it due to concerns about surveillance. Superman naturally steadied Batman, asking with concern, "Are you feeling any better about your dizziness?"
“It’s alright.” Batman also supported his arm, but was actually writing on his palm with his fingers.
"Password?" Superman mentally spelled out the word Batman had written. He glanced at the ceiling again, this time examining it closely, and noticed some marks on certain bricks, as if something had been thrown up there and hit them.
Superman immediately realized it must be some kind of code, and Batman cracked it. Superman wanted to know what the code was, but writing it this way was too cumbersome, and Batman, already in poor condition, didn't want to waste his energy on such a thing.
Superman withdrew his hand and gave Batman a reassuring look. Batman nodded and looked at the cage in the center of the room.
The cage was rectangular, about two meters high, and only slightly wider than an adult male's shoulder. It was suspended from the ceiling by an iron chain, about half a meter off the ground—a height easily accessible with a single step. The top and four sides were made of openwork iron bars, and there was a board at the bottom.
The cage door was open, and it looked like someone was about to go in, but what would happen afterward was unclear. Batman circled the cage a few times, then looked up at the wall above, seemingly having figured something out.
Superman looked up in the direction Batman had been looking and saw a drain above the room, somewhat similar to the one in the previous level, so it was easy to spot.
"Playing in the water again?" Superman frowned. He had a terrible experience being submerged in the water prison before, and he didn't want to go through that again.
"What does water have to do with a cage?" Batman asked. "The design of a standing cage must have a purpose. Is it to control the water level?"
“This challenge shouldn’t be a test of physical strength,” Batman said. “Otherwise, we could put a pulley system on the side, fill it with water, and have someone pull the cage up. Otherwise, my companion would drown…”
"Hiss..." Superman grinned at Batman and said, "Don't give them any advice."
“They probably won’t use the same trick twice,” Batman said. “And this room should be open for unlimited time…”
"Then we need to hurry. Have you forgotten about the scales? Although the scales challenge isn't very friendly to the first group, it might turn around later. We'd better hurry."
"That's exactly what they meant. They used the scale to tell us: you can rest, but it's best to have a long-term perspective. Anxiety will force us to keep moving forward, and the more this happens, the less we should rush."
Batman continued to stare at the cage. There were no other mechanisms in the room besides the cage, and it seemed that, apart from the person locked inside, the other person was powerless to do anything.
But that's not actually the case at all, because if the water is drained, the other person could swim. But what would they swim for?
The cage is half a meter off the ground. If a person is 1.8 meters tall, that's over two meters. The drainage speed is uncertain, but it will take time to fill the water to over two meters. Someone must be doing something during that time. Otherwise, if someone is submerged, their life will be on the line.
After searching for a long time, there really weren't any clues left. Batman pondered for a moment, then said, "Looks like it'll be a test of our on-the-spot reaction skills."
"But if we don't know how the authorities will operate, how can we decide who goes into the cage?"
“It’s simple, smaller ones go in,” Batman said. “Being smaller means more room to move around in the cage; and if you’re short enough, you can even float on the water and survive longer.”
“Indeed.” Superman nodded and said, “Then you can go up now.”
Batman didn't mince words; he was indeed smaller than Superman. However, what he didn't say was that staying in the cage didn't mean rest. Since it wasn't purely a physical challenge, the person sitting still probably had more to do.
Batman entered the cage. To his surprise, the cage was very light; it swayed for quite a while after he entered. Batman had a vague sense of foreboding.
After he went in, Superman hesitated, wondering whether he should close the door.
If you don't close it, the level might not start. Batman nodded, and Superman closed the door.
The next second, the drain started to discharge water. Batman turned to look at the drain, his hand instinctively gripping the cage bars. The next second, he let out a cry of pain, his entire body stiffening for a long time before he dared to move.
Even Batman couldn't help but swear. The designer of this level is so unethical; he electrified the cage!
Fortunately, the board beneath his feet was insulated, otherwise he would have been electrocuted just by standing there. But Batman quickly realized another problem: if the water came up, he and Superman would both get electrocuted.
"Batman, are you alright?!" Superman wanted to go over and check on him, but Batman quickly shouted, "Don't come any closer! The cage is electrified, don't touch it!"
He then glanced down at the rising water. The water wasn't rising quickly; it would probably take several tens of seconds for it to reach half a meter in height. If he couldn't find a solution within those few tens of seconds, the time left for action would be extremely limited. If Superman was operating while being electrocuted, and a mistake occurred, they would both be doomed. He had to act quickly to leave ample room for maneuver.
There are no word puzzles in this level. The walls and floor are bare, and there's a puzzle on the ceiling, but Batman determines it's not an official puzzle but rather clues left by other players, so it can be ignored. The mechanism is ridiculously simple; anyone else would rack their brains trying to figure out where the clues are.
But Batman, through the few clues he had, or rather, some feelings, deduced the key to the mystery—the cage.
That's obvious, since there's only one cage in the whole room. But the key point about the cage is that it's suspended from the ceiling, not propped up on the ground.
While hanging it up seems more logical, it's actually quite possible to put it on a platform on the ground with a support board underneath, and it might even be simpler.
The reason it's suspended from the ceiling by chains is because it has more room to move around when suspended than when supported on the ground. This refers not to the space inside the cage, but to the space the cage has to move around in the room.
Batman suddenly looked up at the joint of the chains, where he could vaguely see a circular metal plate, but it was too high to make out clearly. Batman asked, "Clark, can you see what's on that disc?"
Superman looked up at where Batman was pointing, but because it was too high and the light above was dim, he couldn't see anything.
“I understand,” Batman said. “We need to wait for the water to rise so you can swim up and check. But that would be too much trouble. We can try another method.”
"What method?" Superman asked hastily.
"Exhaustive search method".