So-called strategists, in a situation where they know the odds are overwhelmingly against them, can be excused for choosing to avoid battle.

But when there’s no room to retreat, they will also make decisive decisions and fight to the death.

At this moment, seeing their teammate thrown out, Honghu, Qiufeng, and Ji Chang naturally couldn’t stay kneeling. They immediately stood up, each adopting a fighting stance, ready to meet the enemy.

"You want to fight me?" Little Red Riding Hood turned her head, her gaze returning to the three of them. "Hmph… have you given up on life already?"

"Don't attack!" Feng Bujue shouted from a distance. "I'm fine!"

Thanks to Brother Jue's timely intervention, the three, who were about to fight to the death, forcibly held back their moves.

"Little Red Riding Hood, you won't kill us." Feng Bujue stood up, swaying slightly. "We are the boss's 'guests,' you can't do that…"

Little Red Riding Hood was silent for a few seconds, staring at Feng Bujue from afar, and coldly snorted, "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"We, the 'interdimensional travelers' you speak of, have certain rules to follow when we make these short trips." Feng Bujue tried to explain in terms that a character in the script would understand, "And you… are just too strong. If we fight you, the possibility of surviving is zero, absolutely zero, 0.00%." He repeatedly emphasized this point, clearly for his teammates to hear.

As someone with Soul Sense, Feng Bujue could more concretely estimate the difference in strength. Facing the Little Red Riding Hood's abilities, he could not see the slightest chance of victory. Even the group of superheroes he encountered in Gotham City before could not compare to this little girl.

"Our journey can never have this kind of certain-death situation…" Feng Bujue said, "So I think you don't want to, or can't, kill us." He rubbed his aching back. "You showed mercy when you threw me over here. Even if I did nothing, I wouldn't die; at most, I'd just be on the verge of death."

Little Red Riding Hood's expression didn't change much as she listened to Feng Bujue, but the palpable killing intent did gradually dissipate.

"I know you're angry… it's my fault for taking it out on me. But…" Feng Bujue said, "Since things have come to this, I suggest you hurry up and chase after the werewolf. The few of us will go to the seventh floor to see the boss. Let's all take care of our own business first. If you still feel unsatisfied afterward, you can come back and kill me later."

"Hmm…" Little Red Riding Hood pondered for a moment, then turned into a red blur and approached Feng Bujue.

She walked as if on solid ground on the mire, instantly arriving in front of Brother Jue, and said, "You have guts, and what you said makes sense." She agreed with Feng Bujue's point of view, but the nail bat in her hand still smashed down mercilessly.

With a *crack*, the nail bat struck Feng Bujue's left knee, shattering it.

"But I hate acting according to other people's instructions the most, even the boss." Little Red Riding Hood "pulled" the bloody nail bat out of Feng Bujue's knee, casually slung it over her shoulder, and sneered, "So, this is extra punishment for you." She looked at Feng Bujue's pained face, revealing a satisfied expression, and then turned to leave.

When she passed by Honghu and the others, the three didn't even dare to breathe loudly, just quietly waiting for Little Red Riding Hood to pass.

No one spoke, and there was no eye contact…

It wasn't until Little Red Riding Hood entered the elevator, and the elevator doors closed, that Qiufeng dared to raise his voice and say to Feng Bujue in the distance, "Are you okay, Brother Feng?"

"Nonsense…" Feng Bujue said, "The fact that I haven't turned into white light and disappeared means I'm still alive."

"We all know that." Honghu said, "We're just a little worried that you've been afflicted with a bleeding effect." His concern was critical, because in this script, they couldn't use the items in their knapsacks. If Feng Bujue was afflicted with a bleeding effect and couldn't stop the bleeding, he would be doomed.

"It's okay, I've only been afflicted with a fractured state, and there's no continuous blood loss." Feng Bujue replied, "My Survival Value is only at 8% now, so I just can't get injured anymore."

"8% is very dangerous." Ji Chang said, "And this kind of injury recovers very slowly on its own. If there's no item to remove this state, the fracture might stay with you until the end of the script."

Feng Bujue said, "That makes sense, so I'll have to trouble the three of you to carry me." He was clearly taking advantage of the situation. "Oh, right, when Little Red Riding Hood picked me up, I dropped the broom on the ground." He pointed to a foothold not far from the three of them. "Don't forget to pick it up."

Ten minutes later…

The four had already crossed the swamp and successfully entered the mural through the stone steps.

Ji Chang, who was relatively burly, was responsible for carrying Feng Bujue on his back, walking in the middle of the team. Qiufeng held the broom and explored the way in front, while Honghu was responsible for guarding the rear.

The stone steps were longer than they had imagined, constantly extending upwards, and the slope became steeper, the path became narrower, and the more they walked, the more dangerous it became.

After another dozen minutes, they had reached a considerable altitude. Looking down from here, there was a hazy mist. The swamp under the mist showed various beautiful colors under the moonlight, like a dream.

"Be careful not to drop me." Feng Bujue put on the witch's pointed hat and deliberately used a crotchety voice. "My old bones will break if I fall."

"I'd like to just throw you off the cliff, but the system won't let me." Ji Chang replied.

"Ah… back in the day, when I fought a Balrog one-on-one, I also fell off a cliff." Feng Bujue stroked the pointed hat on his head. "After this battle, I was promoted from gray robe to white robe."

"You're starting to talk about Gandalf again, aren't you…" Honghu said, "You really can BS."

"Hey! Looks like we're at the end." Qiufeng, at the front of the team, interrupted their chat and said, turning his head.

Everyone looked up and saw that directly ahead and slightly above them, about two hundred meters away, was the top of the stone steps. It was shrouded in a gray-blue cloud. This cloud was shaped like a ring, and there were faint sounds coming from the ring, seemingly the sound of flowing water…

The players slightly quickened their pace and walked all the way to the end of the stone steps, stepping onto a smooth rock surface.

Here, they saw another scene that was enough to stun them.

In the ring of dark clouds above the four people's heads, there was actually a waterfall, and it was a reverse waterfall. The rushing water ignored the principles of gravity, rushing upwards. Standing under this cloud, people would have the illusion that they were hanging upside down in the air.

Ji Chang put down Feng Bujue, who stood on one leg in a very standard loafer stance, and put one hand on his hip, looking up and saying, "Any thoughts, everyone?"

"Hmm…" Honghu pondered for a few seconds and opened his mouth to say, "I have a plan. The three of us will work together to throw Brother Feng up first."

"Oh! Good idea." Qiufeng immediately agreed.

Ji Chang also touched his chin, thoughtfully muttering, "As long as the team bar doesn't show Brother Feng's death a few minutes later, it means that the passage above is safe and can successfully send us to the seventh floor."

"Hmm… that's a good idea indeed." Facing the three people's malicious plan, Feng Bujue surprisingly agreed very calmly. "My leg is injured, and it will be more difficult to jump up by myself. If I jump crookedly and fall from this height into the swamp below, I'll definitely kick the bucket." As he said this, he took off his hat and handed it to Ji Chang. "To be on the safe side, you guys should hold the plot item first. After you throw me up, just wait three minutes. If I'm not dead by then, you can jump up one by one."

Honghu was quite surprised by Feng Bujue's cooperative attitude. In fact, his suggestion was partly a joke, but he didn't expect the person involved to agree.

Now that the strategy was set, after discussing some details, they put it into action. Ji Chang, Honghu, and Qiufeng stood in position, supported Feng Bujue, and threw him high into the air, aiming him at the cloud vortex head-first.

As soon as his body touched the reverse-flowing waterfall water, Feng Bujue felt all the blood in his body rush from the soles of his feet to his head. Gravity seemed to be reversed at that moment, causing him to "fall" into the water in an instant.

As mentioned earlier… he can't swim.

Of course, in such a turbulent rapid, whether or not he could swim didn't make much of a difference.

Feng Bujue was like a substance thrown into a toilet, moving involuntarily at high speed under the drag of the water. He couldn't open his eyes at all, and his body was under considerable water pressure. But this didn't cause him to lose Survival Value, and the cold water temperature temporarily numbed the pain in his left leg.

About thirty seconds later, Feng Bujue suddenly felt the pressure on his body lighten, and his back leaned against something, putting him in a lying position.

He tried to sit up, but he didn't expect this action to allow his upper body to emerge from the water.

"Hmm?" Feng Bujue opened his eyes. The bright light made him feel uncomfortable for a moment. When he saw the situation around him clearly, he showed a rare expression of surprise.

At this moment, he saw his own bathroom, and he was lying in the bathtub.

"What… did I fall asleep while taking a bath…" Feng Bujue muttered.

It turned out that after the cloak battle, Brother Jue logged off to take a bath, and as a result, fell asleep in the bathtub. Everything before was just a dream.

…………

This… is impossible.

Feng Bujue was not fortunate enough to enjoy a script that uses "the protagonist wakes up and finds that everything was a dream," a technique universally recognized as taboo in the scriptwriting world.

…………

[Current mission has been changed, main mission has been updated] A system prompt sounded at this time.

Feng Bujue lowered his head and glanced, finding that he was still wearing his clown costume, so he understood everything.

After sighing, he climbed out of the bathtub and opened the game menu to check.

In the team bar, the names of his three teammates were still there, and they were all alive.

In the task bar, [All surviving players enter the "Reasoning Club."] This entry was not checked off. However, below this task, a new task appeared: [Escape the Memory Space and return to the seventh floor of the "Testing Tower."]

In addition, there was another very important change… he could use the items in his knapsack again.