After a 10-second countdown, Xiao Lou finally regained his vision.
It was late at night in Secret Room World, and he was at a dock.
A luxury cruise ship was moored not far away, its lights shining brightly. A large number of Challengers were queuing at the dock, the crowd bustling and disorganized, the lines clearly jumbled. Xiao Lou didn't recognize any of the people queuing in front of or behind him.
Xiao Lou looked into the distance, searching for his teammates in the crowd.
Soon, his eyes met those deep, dark eyes.
Yu Hanjiang turned around and met his gaze. Since the two had activated Qin Guan's " Telepathic Connection " channel before entering the secret room, Captain Yu's deep and steady voice immediately rang in Xiao Lou's mind: "Get on the ship first, find your positions, and then meet up on the deck."
Xiao Lou said, "Okay, see you later, Captain Yu."
The cruise ship's staff were checking the equipment. A moment later, the boarding gate opened, and two crew members in formal attire checked tickets at the entrance: "Passengers, please show your ID cards and tickets. We need to verify your information!"
Xiao Lou opened the card holder and, sure enough, found a new boat ticket inside.
Royal Caribbean luxury cruise ticket
[Passenger Name: Xiao Lou ]
[Departure time: 24:00 on July 15th]
[Sailing Route: Moon City Pier - Sun City Pier]
[Seating: Deck 3 - Cabin 309]
Xiao Lou took the card out of her bag, and also took out her ID card.
The group began to move forward slowly. Most of the Challengers remained silent, probably because they had become separated from their teammates. The entire dock was very quiet. The girl standing in front of Xiao Lou looked around anxiously, occasionally turning back to search for her teammates in the crowd. The man behind him, who was probably not a first-timer in the Weekly Routine, appeared very calm.
Endless Sea, survive for seven days. This time, the randomly assigned Weekly Routine is a spade- type escape room.
Xiao Lou is least skilled at pure survival Spade Secret Room, but fortunately, with Yu Hanjiang leading the team, he is not worried about clearing the level.
After following the crowd for about ten minutes, Xiao Lou saw the boarding passageway covered with a red carpet. A security officer wearing snow-white gloves smiled and said, "Sir, please show your ticket and ID card."
Xiao Lou politely handed him the two cards. After carefully checking them, the man made a "please" gesture: "Your cabin is on the third floor. Please go this way and turn left to go up the stairs."
Xiao Lou took his ticket and went to find his seat. Cabin 309 on the third floor was located at a corner. He pushed open the cabin door and went in, and suddenly met a pair of familiar eyes— Yu Hanjiang was actually staying with him!
When Yu Hanjiang saw Xiao Lou push the door open and come in, a hint of gentleness appeared in his eyes. He said, "It seems that this trip is in double cabins. We'll just stay in one."
Xiao Lou breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "That's great!"
Looking at his beaming face, Yu Hanjiang couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Are you happy?"
Xiao Lou's ears burned. The moment he opened the hatch and saw Captain Yu, he had indeed felt happy, always feeling a sense of security by this man's side. Because his emotions were so obvious, Yu Hanjiang saw through him. Xiao Lou coughed lightly, embarrassed, and casually replied, "Staying with teammates is better than staying with strangers. Captain Yu, aren't you happy that our seats are arranged together?"
Yu Hanjiang smiled slightly: "Let's rest first, and then we'll go find the others after the ship sets sail."
Xiao Lou sat down opposite him and looked around.
The conditions on the luxury cruise ship are indeed excellent, equivalent to a five-star hotel on the sea.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were assigned to a double room with a balcony. The cabin contained two beds side by side, and the room, decorated mainly in white and blue, was clean and tidy. There was a floor-to-ceiling window in the room, which led to a small balcony with two rattan chairs and a small wooden table. Passengers could sit in the rattan chairs, drink coffee, enjoy the sea breeze, and admire the sea view, savoring a leisurely time at sea.
Xiao Lou pushed open the French windows and stood on the balcony gazing out at the night sky. The distant lights shone on the shimmering sea, the starry sky was overhead, and a huge moon could be seen. The sound of the waves crashing reached her ears. If this weren't a survival escape room, a trip on a luxury cruise ship would be a relaxing and pleasant journey.
Yu Hanjiang walked onto the balcony. The sea breeze was a bit chilly at night. Seeing that Professor Xiao's hair was ruffled by the wind, Yu Hanjiang said worriedly, "Go inside first, be careful not to catch a cold."
Xiao Lou nodded, went back inside, sat down, and closed the French windows.
Yu Hanjiang handed a map to Xiao Lou: "I just found this in the bedside table drawer; it's a map showing the layout of the entire cruise ship."
Xiao Lou took the map and examined it carefully—
This luxury cruise ship has a total of 7 decks. The first deck has the cheapest interior cabins, which have no windows. The second deck has ocean view cabins, which have windows inside but cannot be opened. The third and fourth decks are all balcony cabins with sliding floor-to-ceiling windows and private balconies. The fifth deck also has luxury suites.
Floor 6 is the dining center, which includes four different themed restaurants for a fee—barbecue, hot pot, Chinese food, and Western food—as well as a completely free buffet restaurant; Floor 7 is the entertainment center with a variety of cruise ship entertainment programs, such as parasailing, music-themed bars, ocean-view cafes, 4D cinemas, captain's dinners, a grand theater, cocktail parties, shopping malls, and more.
This map not only clearly marks the location of each entertainment venue, but also indicates some performance venues.
The time of release.
For example, plays at the Grand Theater are performed twice a day, at 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM; band performances at music bars start at 10:00 PM and end at 3:00 AM; and free movies are shown three times a day, at 10:00 AM, 3:00 PM, and 8:00 PM…
The map also includes a helpful tip: "Passengers who wish to participate in free entertainment activities should make reservations in advance at the reservation center on the 3rd floor of the cruise ship with their ticket and ID card. The Captain's Restaurant, parasailing, sea voyages, and coffee shop are all chargeable services; please inquire about prices on-site."
After reading it, Xiao Lou stroked his chin and said, "Isn't 500 Challengers too few for such a big cruise ship?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "A typical luxury cruise ship can carry more than 1,500 passengers. I just observed this cruise ship, and it has at least 1,000 rooms. Challenger was forcibly brought in, so in the spirit of fairness, everyone's rooms should be the same."
Xiao Lou frowned as he looked at the cruise ship's map and said, "So, all 500 of us Challengers are staying in balcony cabins on the 3rd and 4th floors? Inside cabins on the 1st floor, ocean view cabins on the 2nd floor, and deluxe suites on the 5th floor... Could it be that a large number of Freelancers are staying here again?!"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "That's possible. There were far more than 500 people in line just now."
Xiao Lou took a deep breath: "Arranging for so many freelancers to travel with everyone will only make things more chaotic if something happens. Besides, we can't be sure if any of the freelancers might be Hunters..."
Just then, an announcement came over the loudspeaker in all the cabins: "Dear passengers, Royal Caribbean-0783 is about to depart. Please return to your cabins as soon as possible. The time is now 00:00. Have a pleasant journey!"
With a long, drawn-out whistle, the cruise ship gradually sailed out of the dock.
A notification also appeared simultaneously in the pop-up windows of all Challengers—
[ Weekly Secret Chamber: Endless Sea, Day 1 00:00]
[Number of survivors in the escape room: 500]
All the Challengers are on board. Ahead lies an endless sea, and no one knows what will happen next.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance and got up to leave at the same time. They noticed that many people were also leaving the cabin next door. They went straight to the top deck of the cruise ship and immediately spotted Lao Mo and Long Sen.
Old Mo, as expected of an experienced senior, knew to go to the deck and wait for others immediately in this situation.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly walked up to the two and asked in a low voice, "Where do you live?"
Old Mo said, "Xiao Long and I live on the 4th floor, room 407."
Long Sen said, "When I was queuing just now, I saw Yueyue and Xiaoliu walking together. The two girls were probably assigned to the same room. I told her to meet on the deck, and they will be here soon."
People around were taking photos with their phones, and some pretty girls were taking selfies—these guests who brought their phones up were obviously natives of Card World. Once Challengers enter the secret room, their belongings are cleared, so naturally they can't bring their phones up to contact each other.
After waiting for a while, Liu Qiao and Qu Wanyue arrived as expected. As they walked over, Qu Wanyue said, "We are staying in room 377 on the 3rd floor. I noticed that many Challengers are heading up to the deck. The teams that should have been there have all been scattered."
Soon, CEO Shao and Ye Qi arrived.
Ye Qi excitedly ran over and said, "We're in room 479 on the corner of the fourth floor."
Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought for a moment. The eight people lived on the third floor (309, 377) and the fourth floor (407, 479), which were all quite far apart. Secret Room World deliberately scattered the team members, which made it more difficult for everyone to communicate with each other.
Fortunately, Xiao Lou and his team have the Qin Guan card, which allows them to establish communication channels at any time.
Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "309 and 407 are upstairs and downstairs, and 377 and 479 are also upstairs and downstairs. Our four rooms are like a trapezoid. The distance between rooms on the same floor is far, but the distance between rooms on different floors is very close. Therefore, we need to establish communication channels between rooms on the same floor so that if something happens on a floor, we can directly climb the stairs to find someone."
Xiao Lou handed a qin pass to CEO Shao, who lived on the 4th floor, and said, "Mr. Shao, please establish a communication channel with Lao Mo."
Downstairs, Xiao Lou established a communication channel with Liu Qiao.
A group of Challenger members gradually gathered around. Yu Hanjiang, worried that it would be inconvenient to talk, simply led everyone back to room 309 on the 3rd floor. Eight people in one room was indeed a bit crowded, so the group had to sit on one bed in threes, while Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou stood on the balcony to talk.
Yu Hanjiang took out a map, opened the cruise ship distribution map, and asked everyone to take a close look.
Pointing to the map, he said, "This cruise ship will be at sea for seven days, and there are many potential dangers, such as severe shortages of food and water; encountering pirates; or, most seriously, the cruise ship hitting a reef or iceberg, which could eventually lead to its sinking."
Ye Qi's eyes widened: "Isn't that just like Titanic? I remember when I watched the movie, the cruise ship hit an iceberg, sank, and many people died!"
Yu Hanjiang said, "This is the worst-case scenario, and we need to prepare in advance."
He pointed to the stern of the cruise ship: "This should be where the lifeboats are located. While most of the tourists are looking for people on the deck, Long and Yue, use your Chameleon cards to disguise yourselves and go to the stern to confirm the exact location and number of lifeboats."
Yu Hanjiang followed up, saying, "Basement levels one and two should be the supply depots. After you two confirm the location of the escape pods, go check the warehouses on these two levels to see if the ship is..."
There are sufficient reserves of fresh water and food resources.
Long Sen and Qu Wanyue immediately nodded: "Understood!"
Yu Hanjiang looked at Ye Qi and said, "Xiao Ye, put on the Invisibility Cloak and place an eavesdropping device in the bridge at the bow, the crew's rest cabin, and the service center on the third floor. Liu Qiao will provide cover, and the two of you will work together."
The two nodded: "Okay!"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Go ahead, be careful."
Late at night, Yu Hanjiang arranged for a four-person investigation team to take the lead.
Using the Chameleon's advantage, Long Sen and Qu Wanyue blended into the cabin carpet, quickly crawling to the stern and the first and second basement levels to confirm the information Yu Hanjiang had provided. Ye Qi, wearing an Invisibility Cloak, moved swiftly using a teleportation card, with Liu Qiao assisting him. The two quickly returned after setting up the eavesdropping device.
Yu Hanjiang looked up and asked, "How is the situation?"
Ye Qi said, "Everything is normal in the captain's cabin. The captain is confirming the route. I took a look, and the ship will be at sea for almost the entire seven days. There are no nearby docks where we can moor the ship."
Liu Qiao said, "There are more than 300 crew members on this ship. At the service center, many people are queuing up to book tomorrow's grand theater performance and free 4D movie."
Long Sen reported: "There are 15 electric escape boats with fuel tanks at the stern, each of which can accommodate about 20 people; there are also more than 50 inflatable boats that require manual rowing, which can be folded up together. The smaller ones can accommodate 2 people and the larger ones can accommodate about 8 people."
Xiao Lou did the math carefully and said, "The number of lifeboats can take away 500 Challengers, but there are not only Challengers on this cruise ship, but also many indigenous people. If the ship really has an accident, everyone will rush to escape, and there will definitely not be enough lifeboats."
Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou: " Professor Xiao, may I borrow your quill pen?"
Xiao Lou immediately took out the contract book and handed him a quill pen. Yu Hanjiang quickly marked everyone's accommodations on the map, and then drew a path: "I'm now confirming the location of the escape boats and the best route of movement. In case of any emergency, everyone evacuate immediately."
He drew an arrow and said, " Liu Qiao is the fastest and closest to the stern. Once you receive Professor Xiao's 'evacuate' signal, immediately fly directly from the railing next to the room to the stern and grab an escape boat first."
He pointed to a spot with his pen and said, "Long and Yue, use the Long Jump Master card to jump directly to the stern from this bend and immediately meet up with Liu Qiao. Ye Qi, use the Teleportation card to meet Lao Mo, and teleport to the stern with CEO Shao and Lao Mo to find Liu Qiao. Professor Xiao and I will go downstairs together, and everyone will meet at the stern as quickly as possible. Remember your routes."
He drew the best rendezvous route according to each person's different card, so that in the event of an accident on the cruise ship and the need to abandon ship, the eight people could each rely on their own abilities to reach the stern from different locations as soon as possible and rendezvous at the lifeboats.
Looking at Yu Hanjiang's calm expression and listening to the man's decisive voice, Lao Mo couldn't help but sigh—having a capable commander greatly boosts one's confidence. He believed that no matter what happened next, their team wouldn't suffer a complete annihilation like last week.