Looking at Brad's gaze, Li Xiuman felt like this guy was thinking about something very impolite regarding him.
However, considering the guy had dropped that hateful “Miss” suffix, Li Xiuman could only swallow his annoyance.
“That crystal statue has the ability to control people's bodies.”
“If we rely on a single person with their eyes open to give us directions, it will be very dangerous.”
“They might end up controlled and give us wrong directions without us even knowing.”
Brad frowned and nodded.
“What if we have another person keep their eyes open?”
“Wouldn't that be the same? This isn't a matter of how many people open their eyes.”
“As expected of Xiuman, you really are quick-witted,” Brad offered a compliment.
Li Xiuman gritted his teeth, for the first time entertaining the thought of forfeiting the ten thousand gold coins and just walking away.
No, endure it. Just endure it and it'll pass.
Once I pull through this, over ten thousand gold coins are waiting for me!
“Then what do you think we should do, Xiuman?”
What can I do? I think we should leave the dungeon right now, avoid dying here, and pay me my ten thousand gold coins.
What Spirit Spring? It's completely unreliable, okay?
“...We need a signal. If the person with their eyes open has their speech controlled, they need a way to quickly signal the rest of us.”
“You're right, Xiuman, that kind of signal is exactly what we need!” Brad chimed in with enthusiastic agreement, then hastily asked: “So how should they signal us?”
Damn it, stop asking me everything.
If both their body and speech are controlled, there's no way to give a signal at all.
Let's rack this 'quick-witted' skull of mine and fool these naive fools.
“Code words.”
“Code words?”
“That's right. We set a list of completely unrelated words, and everyone memorizes the sequence.”
“The person with their eyes open will call out the next word in sequence every ten seconds.”
“If more than ten seconds pass without a word, or if they report the wrong word, it means the guide has been mind-controlled.”
“At that point, stop trusting the guide's words and begin falling back.”
Li Xiuman's words made everyone's eyes light up.
“Brilliant!”
“As expected of Miss Li... I mean, Li! Not only are you beautiful, but you're also full of intellect and wisdom.”
“...”
He gritted his teeth hard once more.
That ten thousand gold coins must be compensation for my mental distress...
It's all Number Zero's fault. During her next upgrade, I'm not just giving her a tail—I'm installing even weirder attachments on her.
“Then let's carry out the plan according to Li's proposal.”
“No, we still need a backup plan. Never put all your eggs in one basket,” Li Xiuman spoke up again.
At this moment, everyone looked at Li Xiuman with eyes full of admiration and adoration.
“Have one person stay behind to guard, and tie everyone to steel cables.”
“That way, if an accident occurs, there's still a chance we can be pulled out.”
“Furthermore, although the likelihood is low, we can't rule out the possibility that the crystal statue was just putting on an act earlier, and that it might still control us even if our vision is obscured.”
“If we all go in together and get controlled in one fell swoop, it's game over.”
As Li Xiuman spoke, he pulled out a bunch of steel cables and handed them to the group, whose eyes were filled with little stars.
“As expected of Xiuman, so thorough!”
“If we hadn't met you, I'm afraid we would have been doomed in this dungeon.”
“Who is willing to stay behind and protect our lifeline?”
“I will!”
They quickly decided who would stay behind to watch over the steel cables, established the random code words, and memorized them.
Then, following a concentric ring formation, they gathered into a large circle.
The person with her eyes open was Mia, who stood at the very center alongside Li Xiuman.
“Advance!”
The party entered the cavern.
Mia's body instantly stiffened as she lost control, turning rigid like a wax statue.
The others, keeping their eyes shut, remained completely unharmed.
The crystal statue opened its bloodshot eyes wide, manipulating crystal spikes to attack the party.
At that exact moment, Mia regained her ability to speak, rapidly shouting out the code word to show her speech wasn't hijacked.
“Moulting bitch!”
“Brad, watch your right!”
“Large wave of crystal spikes behind us!”
“Move to the right! Ground spikes on the left!”
“The right too—stop moving right, go forward!”
“Charge! Crystal spikes coming from both sides! Heavy Warriors on the left and right, defend!”
“A rose is dancing!”
“Watch out to the front-left! Swordsmen, step up!”
“...”
“Dancing in a pigpen!”
“...”
These completely unrelated code words were all meticulously designed by Li Xiuman.
Guaranteeing that the crystal statue could never figure out a pattern.
Though shouting these phrases made Mia look like a pervert on the brink of a mental breakdown.
Goddess of Light above, making your Holy Maiden act like a lunatic... I suppose I am truly sinful.
I hope you can understand. The situation at hand is rather urgent.
“A monkey is climbing a tree!”
“Run to the right! Watch out for falling crystals!”
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, adopting defensive stances against their surroundings.
Li Xiuman also rapidly brandished his wand, spreading a Water Curtain to envelop the entire party.
In such a short time, the people present might not have fully memorized all the code words.
However, all the phrases shared a single common trait: they were utterly unhinged.
Meanwhile, “A monkey is climbing a tree” was far too normal—not unhinged in the slightest.
The correct code word right now should have been “A mantis cutting steak.”
“Mia's speech has been controlled!” Brad shouted.
“But the surrounding crystal attacks have weakened!”
“Controlling speech and launching attacks at the same time is indeed too much for the crystal statue,” Li Xiuman said as he raised his wand, attempting to cast detection magic.
However, the surrounding crystals were as if intangible, completely impossible to detect.
“A mantis cutting steak—move forward!” Li Xiuman shouted out.
Logically speaking, they should be close to the end of the crystal cavern by now.
At this point, charging forward was better than trying to retreat.
“Mia, if you regain control of your speech later, state the code word immediately before giving directions!”
“And shorten the code word interval to five seconds!”
Li Xiuman was taking precautions against the crystal using Mia to state a safe code word before instantly controlling her to issue false directions.
Bang!
The front of the group seemed to bump into something and was forced to a halt.
Was this... the end of the crystal cavern?
No passage forward?
Having no vision really was terrible.
Li Xiuman's method of closing his eyes didn't rely on eyelids, but rather a technique unique to skeletons.
Upon “closing” his eyes, his eye sockets would turn completely pitch-black, and his soul fire would hide in the shadows, disappearing from view.
The surrounding crystal attacks ceased as well. It seemed the crystal statue intended to give up attacking, thereby robbing Mia of the trigger to provide information and vision.
And why would it do that?
It was likely... a sense of crisis?
To prevent them from finding something, or finding the path forward?
Was the crystal statue's role to stop—or screen—those who entered?
It seemed highly likely that the crystal wall in front of them contained a way forward.
Li Xiuman walked up to the crystal wall, reaching out his hand to touch it.
Rate on N.U.
