mtl008 Chapter 4639 Desperate Escape (1)
Chapter 4639 Desperate Escape (1)
Chapter 4639 A Desperate Escape (Part 11)
Thor climbed to the top of the ceiling first, then reached out and pulled Loki up as well. Loki was still grumbling and complaining, "How was this puzzle designed? Why did we have to use brute force? Is all he knows how to do is create dangerous traps?"
“I have a feeling there are some puzzles we haven’t solved,” Thor said. “We’re probably the slowest progressing right now.”
“Impossible. We’ve searched every possible clue. I’ve clearly solved the riddle on the wall. But there’s absolutely no clue pointing this way.”
“But exhaustive search is also a solution,” Thor said. “Besides, this place isn’t big. Apart from that few dozen meters of passageway, there are only three rooms in total. Searching the whole place won’t take long.”
“I’m just not happy about it,” Loki said. “Because the clues weren’t clear, we had to resort to brute force. This slowed us down, and what if we have to race later…”
"Do you think this will be a race?" Thor said. "I think quite the opposite. Going slower might not be a bad thing."
“Then tell me what the benefits are,” Loki said, his tone still tinged with resentment. “If the opponents are all Batman or something, I’ll accept it. But if there are a few idiots among them, and we’re still lagging behind, I’m going to have to ask the puzzle designers what they were thinking…”
"Alright, alright, Loki," Thor had to reassure him. "We don't need to be first in everything. At least neither of us is seriously injured on our way here, are we?"
Loki opened his mouth as if to say something, but quickly shut it. Thor looked at him with some concern. Loki's face was pale in the torchlight. "I think the pain might have clouded my judgment. I'm always restless and can't calm down to think. That might be the reason we're lagging behind."
Thor stopped, turned around, and hugged Loki again, stroking his hair. "The Asgardians never consider the victims of a lost war insignificant," he said. "On the contrary, their sacrifices that didn't bring success are the fault of the living. We must make up for it in the next battle. And those buried deep underground have done everything they could. I am grateful, Loki."
Loki gently nudged him with his hand: "I'm not dead yet."
"Then let us continue onward. May the Father of Gods protect us."
“See? I told you reading more books would be useful,” Harley said, climbing up to the ceiling.
“Indeed,” Pamela followed up, “I never imagined that ‘font’ could also mean ‘source’. I only thought the problem might lie in the way those words were written. If that’s the case, then we’ve reached a dead end.”
“Maybe there will be some puzzles related to biology and plants later,” Harley said. “At that time, I’ll have to rely on you, as I know nothing about them.”
“In fact, I’m already quite surprised that you speak Old English,” Pamela said, turning back to look at her with the torch in hand. “How did you know?”
“It’s not a matter of Old English,” Harley said. “It’s actually a religious term. If you’ve ever been baptized, you know that when they’re collecting holy water, the priest says a whole bunch of things. That’s the word that refers to where the holy water comes from. It sounds like it’s referring to the holy water pool, but it implies ‘the gift of the Lord.’ And that’s considered the source of all love and mercy.”
“I’ve never understood these things, after all, the God I believe in is the Green of All Things. But the religion of the Green of All Things is a makeshift organization; we don’t even have a Bible, so we can’t spread our religion.”
“I can help you write one,” Harley suggested, “but traditional religions that are close to animals and plants are pantheistic. It might be a bit difficult to organize a monotheistic religion.”
“Let’s not,” Pamela said, shaking her head. “I’m worried that if we bring in those plant conservationists, they’ll condemn All Green as cruel plant destroyers.”
Harley laughed. They searched the room as they talked. But the room was very empty; apart from the hole they'd come up through, there was practically nothing there—no doors or windows.
"This is strange, how are we going to get out? Is this another mystery?" Harley frowned warily. "Are we going to have to race against time again?"
"Relax. This might be giving players time to rest. Don't be fooled by how easy we were at solving the previous puzzle; that was a shortcut. If we had followed the normal procedure, we would have been exhausted. Without a proper rest, we simply wouldn't have been able to proceed to the next step."
“You’re always so optimistic,” Halle said, looking at Pamela. “Sometimes I really envy you.”
“I don’t know what you’re in such a hurry for,” Pamela said. “You clearly have great talent and a brilliant mind. But you always seem ready to face crises far beyond your capabilities. Is this childhood trauma?”
Harley thought about it seriously for a moment, then said, "Maybe. Because I'm always doing this kind of thing, it's become a habit. Sometimes I can't tell if I'm too weak or if the world is too dangerous. It's like I can't survive without some kind of superpower to control the world."
Pamela walked over and took her arm, then said, "Perhaps you just don't believe anyone will protect you."
“I’ve never believed in the power of the collective,” Harley shrugged. “Trust and love are things only people with superpowers like you have the luxury to talk about. If I were to deal with the world solely with my mind and strength, it would be normal for me to be a little anxious.”
“Only what you have can protect you,” Pamela said. “I agree with that. But you’re underestimating yourself. Your mind is no less powerful than your superpowers.”
Harley laughed: "You're just trying to comfort me with that. If you ever lose your superpowers and can't save yourself and your plants, you'll definitely come crying to me too."
“I won’t come to you if I want to cry,” Pamela said. “You’re much younger than me. I’d rather find an older sister who’s more mature than me.”
"Then you can't complain that I always seem pessimistic in front of you. Because you're older than me, I'm just subconsciously relying on you. You have to be understanding."
These confident words seemed to have stunned Pamela. Halle laughed triumphantly, like a cat with a fish in its mouth.
"I think I've got an idea," Batman suddenly said. "Why is it so dark here?"
“But the place we came from isn’t well-lit either,” Superman said, looking at Batman with some confusion. “There’s not a single bright spot in any of the checkpoints; it’s so dark I thought I had night blindness.”
“No, think about it carefully, Clark. There’s light wherever there are important clues. Like the writing at the foot of the bed and on the wall before. Light itself is a clue.”
"You mean the clues aren't even in this room?"
Batman said with a hint of exasperation, "What I mean is, we're the ones holding the torches now."
Superman blinked, then looked down at himself. "You said the illuminated areas hold clues. But the whole room is dark, and the only thing illuminated is ourselves. Does that mean the clue is with us? But I don't have any clues?"
“Observe, not just look,” Batman emphasized again. “Think, not just ask questions. Clark, what is there in us?”
“I consider my limbs to be in good working order,” Superman said somewhat uncertainly. “While I’m not as strong as I am outside, I still have all the parts.”
“I’m also sure you don’t have any weird tentacles on you,” Batman continued, “but we’re wet.”
Superman suddenly realized, then looked down at himself. Batman was right. They had just been submerged in water, and they were soaking wet.
"Is water a clue?" Superman pondered. He looked around the room again, and suddenly a thought struck him: "Oh, wait. This room can't hold that much water."
Even though he didn't know how to measure volume or understand things like water pressure and the force of water impact, after looking around with the torch, he realized that the room wasn't actually that big, maybe only slightly larger than the two rooms below. Even if this room were filled with water, the amount wouldn't be enough to submerge the two rooms below, plus that long passageway.
But the room was sealed off, with no door or drain, which was clearly abnormal.
Even though Superman figured it out himself this time, he still greatly admired Batman. Or perhaps it was precisely because he deduced it himself that he enjoyed the pleasure of reasoning. This act of using one's mind and intelligence to solve puzzles is exhilarating.
“That’s right, Clark,” Batman confirmed Superman’s deduction. “It’s not hard to see that there’s a huge contradiction in this room. That is, the water in the enclosed space is definitely not enough to fill the space below.”
"But where did the extra water come from?" Superman looked around. His thoughts stalled again. They had just checked very carefully and there were indeed no drains or mechanisms.
“When you’re stuck, you should try a different approach,” Batman said. “The answer might just be on the surface of the mystery.”
Superman still didn't understand, and Batman seemed to think the educational session could end there. He looked down at the large hole in the floor and said, "We heard the ceiling shatter. It didn't sound like a controlled mechanism, but rather something that was simply smashed. Water is both soft and hard; in a static state, without any impact, it's impossible for it to break a ceiling. Something must have given the water tremendous force to create that effect."
Superman suddenly realized.
Charles and Eric looked up at the top of the large hole. Eric said, "If it's not some super high-tech invisible water cannon, there must be a hidden passage above. Only by continuously pressurizing the water inside and then releasing it instantly can you shatter the ceiling in one blow. And the only thing we haven't checked is the top."
“The problem now is, how do we check up there?” Charles also looked up at the ceiling. Although it was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything, he still raised his torch, hoping to find some clues.
Eric glanced at the crowbar in his hand, then at the ladder beside him. If there weren't a hole in the ground, he could simply set up a ladder to inspect it. But now, there was a large hole in the center of the ground, and the remaining edges weren't large enough to support a ladder, nor would it allow him to reach the middle. So the ladder was definitely not for that purpose.
But if the ladder was meant to help people climb up from below, then it should have been placed at the bottom. However, the ladder was actually the only prop in the upstairs room, meaning the first person to come up couldn't use it and had to find their own way.
The solution wasn't hard to come up with, since the floodwaters had already washed away the wall, leaving many scattered bricks. The ceiling wasn't very high either; you could easily climb up using some bricks as stepping stones. Providing a ladder would be superfluous, unless it could serve some other purpose.
“I understand,” Eric said. He waved for Charles to step back, then picked up the crowbar and threw it up.