“You must be Alice.”

Li Ang nodded, scanning the black-dressed woman from head to toe. “Nice Lolita dress. Not a knockoff, is it?

The KC design is a bit old, and the color doesn’t match the necklace.

The tulle over the whalebone petticoat is too thin; you can see the frame.

The shoes are too Earthly.

As for the overall full set, the quality is… passable.

100 points max, I’d only give you 82.”

“?”

Alice tilted her head, not understanding what he was saying.

“Anyway,”

Li Ang waved his hand. “What time is it now?”

Alice inclined her head slightly. “10:20 PM.”

“I know that,”

Li Ang chuckled. “I want to know the month, and the date.”

Alice didn’t directly answer, but simply stood there with a smile, her eyes seemingly able to pierce through the eye mask, staring at Li Ang’s face. “You already heard it in the tunnel, today is the 7th of March in the 121st year of the Amestris Kingdom.”

“Wrong!”

Li Ang said coldly, “The correct time

should be 10:20 PM on March 4th.

An hour and twenty minutes have passed since I woke up.”

Alice was silent for a moment before slowly saying, “...Why do you think that?”

“Ever since I woke up, I’ve felt that something was very wrong here,”

Li Ang said calmly. “The torturous password decryption process,

the inexplicable level design,

the sudden appearance and disappearance of terrifying figures like me.

If this tunnel were a commercial escape room project,

then the project designer would probably be fired by the boss on the first day for stepping into the company with his left foot,

or directly transferred to Africa to play in the mud with the black bros.”

He shook the few letters in his hand and said calmly, “The most suspicious thing is that every time I enter a room and read a letter,

different conversations would precisely ring out from above the ceiling,

very punctual, never late.

At first, I suspected that there were security cameras in the tunnel that could monitor my every move in real time.

When I entered a room,

the mastermind would issue instructions, ordering the man and woman upstairs to act out a scene,

or directly press a button to activate a recorder hidden in the ceiling, playing a pre-recorded audio.

But based on my understanding of private surveillance, I searched the first few rooms and didn’t see any surveillance cameras.

In room E, I deliberately didn’t directly read the letter on the floor, but instead used a special method, covering the letter in room E with the letter from room B, pretending to read it.

As a result, the conversation still rang out from the ceiling.”

Li Ang spread his hands. “There are several possibilities.

The mastermind of the dungeon didn’t see or didn’t care about my small actions;

motion capture sensors are buried in the wall bricks or doors, and the mastermind issues instructions based on the time I enter the room;

there are GPS locators hidden under the clothing or skin—considering that this world has just started researching alkylating agents, GPS doesn’t seem very realistic.”

He looked at the black-dressed woman, took out the family photo, and smiled: “Excluding the unreasonable illusions, there is only one possibility left,

that is, all the conversations upstairs are happening in real time.

The alchemist and his wife in the photo, including you, are all having normal conversations without receiving any manipulation.

These conversations just happened to be heard by me underground.”

Alice didn’t seem too surprised. She raised her chin slightly and said softly, “Sounds strange.”

“It is indeed very strange,”

Li Ang nodded. “Let’s sort out the timeline.

Assuming that the conversation between you and your father in room C is accurate, the time was 9:30 PM on the 7th.

Deducting from that, I should have woken up on the bed in room A at 9:00 PM on the 7th.

At 9:15, I entered room B and heard the couple talking upstairs.

The content of the conversation was the alchemist complaining that the sample was destroyed, and the wife comforted her husband that everything would be alright.

After that, I left room B,

and at 9:20, I heard a noise, ran to the end of the tunnel,

and saw a figure wearing the same rubber suit as me entering the stone wall next to room F—which is where you are standing now.

At 9:30, I entered room C and heard the alchemist and his eldest daughter, Alice, who is you, talking.

The content of the conversation was that the alchemist believed he had completely failed, unable to produce the correct medicine to save his wife and daughter. Under your comfort, he decided to go down the well to carry out his final plan.

At 9:40, I heard the noise again, left room C, saw a figure walking into room D, failed to pursue him, and because of time constraints, rushed to room A to perform the necessary steps to solve the puzzle.

As a result, when I came out of room A, I saw the rubber-suited man carrying a deformed monster, entering behind the stone wall.

At 9:45, I entered room D and heard the alchemist and your conversation.

The content of the conversation was that everything had failed. Someone exactly like him had deceived him, trapped him in the tunnel, and then tried to take you and your mother away at 9:15,

and took Siri, your sister, away at 9:40, leading to the death of your mother, Tris.

At 9:55, I entered room E and heard the alchemist and his wife talking.

The content was that Siri had another nightmare, feeling that someone crawled out of the closet at night to give her medicine. After that, the alchemist gave his alchemist badge to his wife.

At 10:05, I entered room F, got the sugar cane, made an energy battery in room A,

and finally met you here.”

Li Ang held all the letters in his hand, spread them out like playing cards, and said indifferently: “There are two problems with this timeline.

The alchemist’s wife’s time of death was around 9:40 to 9:45,

but at 9:30, the alchemist told you that he couldn’t make the medicine to save his wife and daughter and had to implement a certain plan.

Note that it was the youngest daughter who was sick. His wife was not sick and was very normal. Judging from the conversation at 9:15, the alchemist’s wife didn’t seem to have any problems either.

Secondly, the alchemist’s wife died before 9:45,

but at 9:55, she ‘came back to life’ and calmly discussed her youngest daughter’s nightmares with her husband.”

Li Ang paused and said slowly: “The resurrection of the dead is naturally impossible,

except for online game planners who are always in a Schrödinger state of life or death,

no one can go from death to life.

If the information provided to me by this dungeon is true and reliable, then there is only one possibility,

the conversations upstairs are not happening on the same timeline.”