Chapter 1916: U: Beyond Major Events (Part 5)_1

"After returning to the camp, several of them quickly organized their luggage. They found out that the camp was like someone said lived there before — the living utensils were complete, and there were many clothes. Unfortunately, the sizes were not quite right, but they could be worn with some modifications.

After Shiller inspected the master bedroom and kitchen, he said to everyone, \"A couple of forest rangers probably lived here before, both aged from thirty to forty, without children. The male master worked in high-intensity physical labor for a long time, and he had a robust figure. The female master seemed to have a disability in her left foot but was good at sewing and cooking.\"

\"I guess this building might have been duplicated directly from Earth by the organizer. Fortunately, it appears to be the home where the couple has lived all year round, so it's well-maintained. We can live in it after cleaning up.\"

\"So, let's split into two teams like the old days. One team will clean up the camp, and the other will go out to explore the surrounding environment. But don't drag it for too long; we still need to seize the initiative.\"

After making the decision, they start to divide into groups. Steve, Natasha, and Matt, who had strong mobility and keen senses, went out to adventure while Shiller, Peter, Stark, and Pikachu stayed in the base to organize the necessities.

After the expedition team led by Steve left, Shiller and Peter were responsible for tidying up the house, Stark and Pikachu went to the storeroom and workshop to see if they could find lathes or mechanical parts to make some trinkets.

First, Shiller moved all the sheets, quilts, and clothes in the room to the sofa in the living room. He then set up several clotheslines on the edge of the logging yard and dried everything up.

Peter turned out all the clothes and divided them according to size. As Shiller said, this couple probably moved here when they were very young.

These old clothes were of smaller sizes, suitable for Peter and Natasha to wear. Later, the male master seemed to have become robust, and the clothes sizes also grew, which fit the three taller people: Steve, Stark, and Shiller.

After drying the quilts, Shiller went to the kitchen to put the pots and pans in place. Meanwhile, Peter adjusted the position of the sofa, moved the large sofa a bit backwards, brought over the two small sofas from the upstairs bedroom, and even brought over an armchair to facilitate meetings around the fireplace.

In the shoe cabinet at the door, Shiller found two walkie-talkies. He speculated they were probably used by the couple when they were active in the woods. He also found several pairs of wading boots. The size of the men's wading shoes was alright, but Natasha definitely wouldn't fit in the lady's pair.

After a while, Stark came back. He was pushing a flatbed loaded with a hodgepodge of things, all covered with dust.

\"I found a broken small speedboat in the warehouse, which I guess was used for fishing in the lake. I also found some fishing gear, but I didn't recognize the models. I brought it here for you guys to check.\"

Shiller wasn't too familiar with fishing, at least his skills were average when it came to lake fishing, but Peter ran excitedly to take a look. He said, \"Harry loves fishing so much. I went sea fishing with him a few times; let me see.\"

He rushed over to look at the fishing rods, toolboxes, and fishnets, and after studying for a while, said, \"The original owner of this place might have been a master in lure fishing. The equipment is very professional, and the skill to make bait is also quite exquisite.\"

Scratching his head, Peter said, \"This proves that the fish resources here are fairly abundant. At least our food problem is solved.\"

When the adventure team returned, Stark was repairing the old television in the living room. He confirmed that once he took off the cover, the TV was not broken, just too dusty. It should be cleaned before powering it on.

Steve and Natasha walked in one after the other, with Matt following behind them, unexpectedly holding a big fish in his hand.

\"This guy's quite a good fisherman.\" Steve pointed back and said, \"He could even fish with his fingers alone.\"

\"It's not a particularly brilliant skill.\" Matt said modestly, \"Just using my fingers to simulate the bait. But I can hear the sound of big fish swimming by. There are plenty of fish nearby, enough for a few of us to eat.\"

Stark in the living room stood upright, patted the back of the TV and said, \"Not bad, it should be fine. Peter, connect the power.\"

After powering on, the screen successfully turned on, but there was no signal, so all the channels were snowflakes. But Pikachu had already turned out a bunch of discs from a nearby cabinet, all old movies from around the turn of the millennium.

Shiller carried Matt's fish into the kitchen to prepare, while Peter and Pikachu organized the discs. Steve and Natasha cleaned the dust in the living room, and Matt toyed with the fishing gear.

The whole house was spacious, and the original owner added two more windows to the living room, making the entire living room extraordinarily bright under the morning light. Even the floating dust was clearly visible. The view outside the window was a mixture of warm and cold autumn colors, which brightened everyone's mood.

\"You're right, Doctor Shiller. We are indeed lucky. The environment here is good and very conducive to calming the mind and thinking.\" Matt said as he fiddled with the bait.

As Shiller was scraping off the fish scales and about to chat, everyone heard a prompt ringing in their ears:\" nearby teams have begun game challenges. Do you want to open spectator mode?\""

Everyone was startled, with Stark being the first to shout: "We can view other teams playing the game?!"

"Turn it on." Steve exclaimed.

"Observer mode initializing... initialization failed. Insufficient betting points. Cannot activate observer mode. Please ensure that you have a minimum betting amount of 1 point in order to activate observer mode."

Everyone exchanged brief glances, quickly realizing something, and immediately set down what they were working on. Once settled on the couch near the fireplace, Schiller spoke quickly, "First, he mentioned that nearby teams have started game challenges, which means if a neighboring team enters the game, we'll receive a notification - and vice versa. We can monitor the opponents' moves at any time, and that could probably be one of the clues for us to guess their points."

"Second, we can activate observer mode to watch others playing, but it requires a minimum of 1 point to bet. Being able to bet presumably implies being able to gamble - I guess we're betting on the outcome of the games."

"But if we see the success or failure of nearby teams' games, won't we know how many points they have?" Peter immediately asked.

"If it were all strangers' games, yes, but don't forget, we all have many doppelgangers, and others will also assume that they have more than one copy of themselves, so determining their points by the appearance of the players is not reliable."

"Wait, there's another possibility." Stark proposed pensively, "Since there are many identical people, could we potentially mimic the behaviors of others seen in observer mode, hence impersonating others?"

The remaining members instantly felt a chill, only then did they realize the true intensity of observer mode.

Remember, in the Multiverse, countless duplicates exist. Even among six hundred participants, it's normal to have two or three looking exactly the same as one does. So how do you judge who you're observing?

If everyone looked completely different, you could memorize every individual's wins and losses through observer mode, and thus, when you participate in the game, determine whether to target or spare them based on the points they have.

However, among Superheroes who have doppelgangers, this doesn't apply. Observer mode only allows visual observation, and most doppelgangers not only look the same, but also behave similarly. Even knowing that a certain Iron Man lost, how can you distinguish which Iron Man it was?

Moreover, there's also the possibility Stark mentioned, I could deliberately imitate you, making the observer think that you lost the game, thereby misleading their judgment of your points."

Natasha vigorously squeezed her forehead, "If that's the case, an endless game is on the cards because seeing someone in a match will make you wonder if it's them that you just observed, or someone mimicking them, or even if they're feigning to be the doppelganger. This simply never ends."

"But this confirms one of our speculations." Schiller spoke again, "Starting first does have an advantage. Once we complete a game, we have the funds to observe. It's like getting information from two games in one. We need to hurry."

Steve quickly agreed: "Then let's send a representative to participate in the first round right away. As for the game topic, let's not fuss over it; let's just pick 'Wisdom'. Afterall, under circumstances where everyone is blindly guessing, nobody knows what's going on..."

However, Stark interrupted him: "Right now, we can't determine whether other nearby teams have already completed games and obtained observer points."

"If they have already earned a point and can view games, they'll likely end up watching our games, which could leak information."

The team realized another trap in the observer rule: if you strive to participate in the game and happen to be observed, the opposing team might discover your weaknesses through observation, and exploit them the next time you play.

But if you don't fully commit to the game, you risk losing, and hindering your abilities could lead to self-defeat.

As if he had realized something, Stark turned to Schiller, "This is particularly disadvantageous for those without duplicates, and among the Avengers, you're the only one without a duplicate, Schiller. So, you must participate less."

"We also must limit the use of abilities that are different from others'. By blending into the sea of typical doppelgangers, we're less likely to draw attention."

But Schiller shook his head, "No, this is my advantage. Have you thought about it? Soon, everyone will realize that doppelgangers look and behave similarly, implying that their weaknesses are probably similar."

"The more copies you have, the greater your chances of being observed, and the higher the chances of your weaknesses getting spotted. On the contrary, beings like me, without a second version, have a smaller chance of being observed and having our weaknesses detected."

Clearly, the others were now more confused, yet Schiller was very firm, "Since we'll know the situation with the surrounding teams, confrontations in the later stages would be inevitable. While observer mode seems to be a clue to confirming points, it could also be our weapon."

All eyes landed on him. Schiller smiled and said, "People often regard what they see as truth. But in such games, that might not apply. We can completely misdirect observers through our performances in the game, making them believe we have weaknesses, whereas in reality, we are just setting up a trap for them."