Xiao Lou wasn't familiar with Lu Jiuchuan, and calling him "Brother Jiu" on their first meeting seemed too intimate.
But since the other party was so informal, Xiao Lou couldn't continue calling him "Major Lu". He looked at Yu Hanjiang questioningly, and when the latter nodded, he said, "Ninth Brother, did you bring me in because you have something to say to me?"
Lu Jiuchuan said directly, "That's right. My brother trusts you a lot, and I want to see what kind of person you really are and whether you are truly worthy of his trust."
Xiao Lou nodded understandingly and said with a smile, "It's only right that you take a look at us. This world is too dangerous. If we encounter betrayal from our teammates in the later escape rooms, the blow to the team will be far greater than the difficulty of the escape room itself."
Seeing him say this with a smile, Lu Jiuchuan immediately grasped the key point in his words and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Testing us? You think that what I said yesterday was also a test for him?"
Xiao Lou said, "Your identity must be kept secret. Every operation is extremely dangerous, and you could even lose your life at any moment. If he can't completely trust you, there are many things you wouldn't dare tell him, right?"
Yu Hanjiang didn't understand what the two were saying at first, but he realized at this point that the "he" they were referring to was himself.
Last night, Lu Jiuchuan deliberately said things like "I am the Hunter," "I have the right to choose to live for myself," and "What do I care about other people's lives or deaths?" to provoke him. It turned out he was testing whether his brother could have absolute trust in him.
Yu Hanjiang suddenly realized: "You went undercover in the Hunter Alliance?"
Lu Jiuchuan glanced at his younger brother and chuckled, "You're indeed not as smart as Professor Xiao; he guessed it long ago."
Yu Hanjiang's expression darkened—he didn't deny it. Professor Xiao was the team's strategist; in terms of intelligence, he certainly couldn't compare. No wonder Xiao Lou told him to stay calm yesterday; it turned out he had already considered this possibility.
Going undercover is no easy task, especially in an organization like Hunter. It's like walking a tightrope over a cliff, where you could fall and be smashed to pieces at any moment.
Yu Hanjiang's heart tightened slightly. He clenched his fist and asked in a low voice, "Why did you go undercover? With your abilities, you couldn't even clear the secret room on the card wall after three years here?"
A hint of sadness flashed in Lu Jiuchuan's eyes as he said, "We reached Plum Blossom J and almost got wiped out."
Xiao Lou immediately realized: " The strongest elite team that Mr. Old Gui of the Distant Place Association mentioned also includes Brother Jiu?"
Lu Jiuchuan nodded: "We selected elites from all walks of life and formed a team of fifteen people. I was the captain. Every member was outstanding. We spent a whole month practicing the Weekly Secret Chamber to practice teamwork. I trained the entire team in a rigorous and brutal manner, just like the Navy Arrow Commando, so that everyone would develop a conditioned reflex to the unexpected."
"The training is going very well, and I'm confident I can lead them through the challenge."
"Upon reaching the S-level secret chamber, we prioritized Plum Blossom —because Plum Blossom Secret Chambers are mostly card games or lotteries involving coins. Our team has a very professional gambling expert, a rich second-generation who has played cards in Las Vegas casinos and is proficient in all kinds of poker games. However, none of us expected that the S-level Plum Blossom Secret Chamber would no longer be a simple lottery and card game, but a brutal competition!"
Yu Hanjiang couldn't help but ask, " What happened to you at Plum Blossom J?"
Lu Jiuchuan's face suddenly turned extremely gloomy, and he said through gritted teeth, word by word, " Hunter."
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang were suddenly taken aback.
Initially, the Hunter only appeared in the Spade Secret Room, but unexpectedly, the Hunter also appeared in the S-level Secret Chamber and the Plum Blossom!
Lu Jiuchuan closed his eyes, seemingly recalling the horrific scene, his voice becoming low and hoarse: "15 people, 150 Hunters! The name of the secret room is [Cat and Mouse Game] - the Hunter is the cat, we are the mice, we need to evade the pursuit of enemies that outnumber us ten to one, and survive the slaughter of the Hunters."
He remained silent for a long time before whispering, "Of the 15 people in the team, 11 died, and only 4 survived."
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang: "......"
The brutality at the time was unimaginable; 150 to 15, it was a massacre with a huge disparity in strength!
Xiao Lou felt a chill run down her spine when she thought of Plum Blossom Youth's expressionless face.
Back in Plum Blossom 2, the expressionless young man had already mentioned the dangers of the Plum Blossom Secret Chamber. However, Plum Blossom 3 and Plum Blossom 4 were quite mild, leading the Challengers to gradually believe that Plum Blossom was just about playing cards and drawing lots... Who could have predicted that the S-rank Plum Blossom would actually be a direct confrontation with the Hunter Organization!
Lu Jiuchuan said with a gloomy face, " The difficulty of the S-level secret chamber is extremely high."
To our surprise, we struggled for three days and three nights in the world of Plum Blossom J. In the end, the four of us killed 150 Hunters and barely survived, each of us severely wounded.
He took a deep breath and continued, "We knew at the time that if we didn't find out about the Hunter organization, we would never get past the S-rank secret room, and the Plum Blossom Q and Plum Blossom K levels would be even more difficult, no matter how many teammates we had. So, we decided to change our strategy, go undercover, and wait for the right opportunity. With the help of a teammate, I completely erased my identity, changed my appearance, and joined the Hunter Organization."
At this point, Lu Jiuchuan took a card from the card holder.
The S-level special effects card [ Mask ] is a transparent mask that can be worn on the face at any time, allowing the user to completely transform their appearance.
Lu Jiuchuan, standing before me, had indeed changed under the influence of the card effect—he was no longer the handsome and dashing soldier, but a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance and a beard.
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou looked at the completely changed person in front of them, feeling an overwhelming sense of sorrow.
During his time with Hunter Alliance, he used " Mask " to disguise himself every day. It's easy to imagine that during his time as an undercover agent, he walked on thin ice and every day was very difficult.
During the [ Endless Sea ] Weekly Routine, he revealed his true colors after meeting Yu Hanjiang.
Xiao Lou finally understood why he killed the other Hunters to silence them—because if he didn't, the three of them might notice something was wrong and report it to their superiors.
Yu Hanjiang said, "It seems you didn't just happen to run into me?"
Lu Jiuchuan said, "That's right. The organization got information about your Weekly Routine. I knew in advance that you were going to Caribbean, so I bought tickets for this ship in advance. The Weekly Routine will pull me into this world."
Xiao Lou asked in confusion, "But, although Ninth Brother changed his appearance with a card, it's very difficult to change his identity information. Doesn't the Hunter Alliance have professional hackers? How did you manage to bypass their identity verification?"
Lu Jiuchuan removed his mask, smiled slightly, and said, "We have even more powerful hackers."
Xiao Lou paused for a moment, then quickly realized: " The Intelligence Bureau?!"
Lu Jiuchuan nodded: " Tang Ci, the director of the Intelligence Bureau, is my comrade-in-arms. He helped me forge a new identity in the database. My name in Hunter Alliance is Qi Fang. I am an orphan who grew up in an orphanage. I am 35 years old this year. Every time the Weekly Routine starts, I will receive the task from Hunter's intranet in advance and then be pulled into the Weekly Routine world."
Yu Hanjiang: "......"
It seems that the rumors circulating outside, including what Mr. Old Gui told Xiao Lou about the "15-person elite team being wiped out at Hearts J," are clearly false—they didn't go to Hearts J at all, but went to Plum Blossom J first, and they weren't completely wiped out; four of them survived.
Xiao Lou guessed, "Of the four survivors, besides Ninth Brother, the director of the Intelligence Bureau, and Old Gui, the president of the Distant Place Association, is the last one Spider Goddess from Luoying Pavilion?"
Lu Jiuchuan gave Xiao Lou an approving look: "How did you guess that?"
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Because I think that since the four of you have decided to scatter in different places and wait for new opportunities, you will definitely try to find stronger teammates. Ninth Brother went undercover in the Hunter Alliance, the Intelligence Bureau has all the Challenger's identity information, the Distant Place Association sent people to pick us up as soon as we got off the plane, and Luoying Pavilion is specifically recruiting female players. This way, you can find the most suitable teammates from wave after wave of Challengers."
Lu Jiuchuan nodded: "Your analysis is correct."
Xiao Lou asked seriously, "Brother Jiu risked everything to silence the three Hunters and meet with Captain Yu. Do you think the time you've been waiting for has come?"
Lu Jiuchuan laughed and said, "That's right, because of that world announcement."
Yu Hanjiang realized: " The announcement that Xiao Lou and I broke the world record for heart room?"
Lu Jiuchuan nodded: "I knew you came to this world a long time ago. The Intelligence Bureau sent a message to Mr. Old Gui as soon as you entered Moon City. He asked you to make contact and believed that your strength was indeed very strong, so we could start the next step of the plan."
"Our team of 15 at the time had a weak point in heart room. No matter how good a mystery writer is, he can't compare to a criminal police officer with real experience in solving cases. I believe that with the two of you here, we won't have to worry too much about S-level heart rooms in the future."
"Having infiltrated Hunter Alliance for a year, I've got a general idea of what this organization is like. So, we want to restart Plan B." He looked at Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, and said decisively, "Reorganize the team and try again!"
Yu Hanjiang clenched his fist tightly.
His brother's words made him realize how terrifying the S-level secret chamber was, but they also filled him with power!
After experiencing the despair of 11 out of 15 people dying, these four people still did not give up. They lay low and tried to find new opportunities in various ways. Their perseverance is truly admirable—no wonder they are the brothers they have trusted since childhood!
Yu Hanjiang looked into Lu Jiuchuan's eyes and said seriously, "Brother Jiu, how should we cooperate?"
Lu Jiuchuan said, "You guys are still too weak. Try to clear the B and A level secret rooms as soon as possible and get more cards. The four of us are currently in the Plum Blossom J secret room. We can't go back to the secret rooms we've already been to, so we can only team up in Plum Blossom J. "
He looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, "After leaving the Weekly Secret Chamber, go to the Intelligence Bureau and find Tang Ci. He will give you some help."
Yu Hanjiang nodded vigorously: "Okay, we'll speed things up and get to Plum Blossom J as soon as possible!"
Lu Jiuchuan continued, "There's another trick, Weekly Routine..."
The escape room opens promptly at midnight every Saturday. If you enter a more difficult Hearts or Spade Secret Room on Friday night, you'll be in the escape room when the Weekly Routine starts, thus avoiding the forced recruitment during the Weekly Routine.
Xiao Lou's eyes lit up: "So, if we go into the escape room on Friday night, we don't have to participate in the Weekly Routine this week?"
Lu Jiuchuan nodded: "That's right, we only found out about this after we entered Plum Blossom J. To improve efficiency, you go to the easy secret rooms from Monday to Thursday, and enter the difficult secret rooms on Friday night. In about half a month, you can complete all the B-grade and A-grade secret rooms on the card wall. When you reach the tenth stage, I will meet up with you and we will all go to the Weekly Routine to develop teamwork."
Xiao Lou said, "Understood. We'll try our best to control the time and avoid the Weekly Secret Chamber."
Lu Jiuchuan looked at the sky and said in a low voice, " The Hunter Alliance should already know about this mission failure. I need to go back as soon as possible and give them a satisfactory explanation. You can keep the Absolute Domain card. If you want to see me, come in at midnight. No one can hear anything said here, and the eavesdropping device will be disabled."
Yu Hanjiang looked at him worriedly: " If the Hunter mission fails, will you be punished?"
Lu Jiuchuan smiled easily: "It's alright. It's common to fail Hunter missions. After all, there are many skilled Challengers." He walked over, gently patted Yu Hanjiang's shoulder, and said in a low voice, " Hanjiang, take care."
Yu Hanjiang pressed down hard on his shoulder: "Ninth Brother, take care too."
Lu Jiuchuan looked at Xiao Lou and joked, "He's my younger brother. I hope Professor Xiao will take good care of him in the future."
Xiao Lou's ears burned: "Ninth Brother is joking. Captain Yu is very strong. He has been taking care of us."
Lu Jiuchuan glanced at the two of them, turned around, and waved casually, "I'm leaving now. Good luck to you both."
The enclosed space where the sea and sky met completely collapsed the moment he left. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang returned to the escape boat. They looked at each other, their emotions churning, and it was difficult for them to calm down.
The horrors of the secret chamber that followed were unimaginable; Lu Jiuchuan's 15-man squad, trained like a military unit, was nearly wiped out...
However, we must not back down, no matter how difficult it is.
Lu Jiuchuan didn't give up, and Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang shouldn't give up either.
They would stop at nothing to escape this bizarre world!