Doomsday Wonderland

Reality quickly extinguished the glimmer of hope Whit E. had sparked.

"Hold on, that won't work. Subtracting the cost of the office and the first-tier employees, which is two hundred minus thirty, leaves him with one hundred seventy..." Lin Sanjiu sighed. "With the money he has left over, he could hire two defensive employees and two offensive employees. When he leaves, his defenses can hold me off for ten minutes. In that time, he can attack my office eight hundred times."

"I haven't forgotten that," Whit E. responded, unphased. "I spoke too quickly earlier. Let me explain in detail. See if there's anything wrong."

He wasn't just dressed in a business suit, but his attitude and tone were also akin to being in a corporate meeting. Lin Sanjiu nodded, wondering if his behavior had something to do with his environmental adaptation ability.

"First, we know that even though he has two clients, he can't receive two hundred yuan all at once."

That was true; Qian Dao, like Lin Sanjiu, had two clients. Based on when he acquired those clients, it would take around forty to fifty minutes for him to receive his first one hundred yuan. Ten minutes later, he'd receive another one hundred yuan.

Unfortunately, due to losing her office once in between, after Qian Dao received his second one hundred yuan, Lin Sanjiu would have to wait for at least two or three minutes before she could get her first one hundred yuan. Qian Dao certainly wouldn't give her the opportunity to set up defenses. When his forces were at her doorstep, her only defensive force left in her office was likely herself.

"So what?" she asked.

"In my plan, the first step is for you to wait outside his office door right now," Whit E. explained. "For instance, you're Qian Dao. You've been waiting in the room until now and finally obtained your first one hundred yuan. Once you have the money, your first choice of hiring will undoubtedly be a defensive employee, right?"

Lily, who had been standing by the door, arms crossed, looked at Whit E. skeptically. Hearing this, she interjected, "How do you know he'll definitely hire a defensive employee? He might hire an offensive one, or he might not hire anyone, saving the money and hiring everyone at the end."

"He'll definitely hire a defensive employee, without a doubt," Whit E. said, shaking his head and pointed at Lin Sanjiu's office. "Because you've forgotten the most crucial factor."

Following his gesture, Lin Sanjiu's gaze landed on the door, and she suddenly shivered as she understood.

"The office Qian Dao took is a small one, only accommodating four people!" Lin Sanjiu said, excitedly slapping Lily's shoulder. "He already has two clients and a first-tier employee in his room. Besides himself, there's only one spot left in the room. He can only choose between hiring defense and offense."

Lily blinked, starting to catch on.

"Exactly." Whit E. stood up and brushed off some dust from his clothes. "He needs to ensure he can defeat you and also have a defense in the room. So, he must hire at least one offense and one defense. But what if the room is full? He has to either rent an additional office or get a bigger one."

He continued, "I'm well aware that the surrounding corridors are filled with small offices. You must have noticed that in this game, small offices are the most common."

Lin Sanjiu had experienced this while searching for an office. She ran for around five or six minutes without finding a medium-sized office.

"Carrying his clients and employees, he can't linger outside for more than five minutes. Besides, once the clients leave the office, even though there are security employees nearby, who knows if someone else might take them away? The game doesn't specify this. For safety's sake, he won't keep his clients outside for too long. Therefore, Qian Dao basically can't move his family and employees to a medium-sized office. His only option is to 'rent another office nearby.'"

Whit E. changed his tone, cleared his throat, and continued, "That's what I mean. He has to rent another office first to hire employees to attack Lin Sanjiu. When he does that, it's Lin Sanjiu's chance."

"To rent another office, he has to leave his own office," Lily said, her eyes brightening. "If he leaves, he must have a defense in his office... Well, Lin Sanjiu can quietly neutralize that defense. But after that, she still has to wait another five minutes to attack that office, right?"

Lin Sanjiu smiled faintly and said, "That won't matter by then. Whit E.'s plan is brilliant. To win, Qian Dao has no choice but to rent a second office, but the second office will only lead to his failure."

Since entering the game, Whit E. had showcased his strengths: he was always able to transform seemingly hopeless disadvantages into less dire situations, even situations with a glimmer of hope. If he were playing chess, he would be a difficult opponent to checkmate.

As long as they figured out where Qian Dao's second office was, Lin Sanjiu's victory was within reach.

After discussing for a while, deducing various possible scenarios, and finalizing many details of their plan, such as when the two of them should follow Qian Dao, how to divert his attention, and more, Lin Sanjiu had never felt so confident in her victory—although the time was still early for Qian Dao to receive his first one hundred yuan, they were getting impatient.

For Lily and Whit E., even though they had already lost, being able to participate and even influence the final outcome of the game still held great allure for them—especially since it also affected their post-game fate.

"Let's give it a try," Lily said. "It's better than doing nothing and waiting to be sent down floor by floor. Who knows what they might do to us?"

Whit E. wasn't surprised and didn't object either; he simply nodded. He glanced at Lin Sanjiu and said to Lily, "You seem to trust her a lot."

"Even though there are catfishes that can deceive everyone with falsehoods without leaving a trace," Lily replied, "most people, well, the vast majority, can't hide their personality, attitude, and demeanor one hundred percent. You can sense a person's general disposition from the way they speak and act, right?"

"I suppose..." Whit E. said.

Lily shrugged and didn't continue. She seemed to lack the urge to convince others at all costs, a characteristic of posthumans born after doomsday: a certain detachment from others that often resulted in an attitude of "you believe your thing, I believe mine; you die your way, I die mine."

Upon closer consideration, even though Lily didn't exactly praise her, Lin Sanjiu felt a bit embarrassed. She cleared her throat and said, "Then let's split up, how long until he gets his next earnings?"

Whit E. checked his watch. "About twenty minutes more."

"I don't think he'll be able to rent another office before he gets his earnings, but just to be safe, could you please look around in that area?" Lin Sanjiu said.

She nodded at Lily, pushed open the door of her office, and disappeared around the corner. Lily quickly vanished from sight as she turned into another corner. Whit E. continued to wait outside the office.

After a few seconds, Whit E. heard some movement and raised his head.

A faint silhouette appeared on the ceiling not far down the corridor behind a ventilation fan. Lin Sanjiu crouched in the ventilation duct, whispering to him, "Which direction should I go?"

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