Chapter 1939 U: Beyond Major Event (28)_1

The bus wobbled towards the location of the third mission.

Batman, Natasha, and Beihan sat in the first row of the bus, while Shiller was in the third last row. The three men in front didn't dare to glance sideways. Natasha took the initiative to say, "Have you guys noticed that he's acting more and more abnormal?"

Natasha, sitting between the two men, turned her head slightly, using the corner of her eye to glance at Shiller in the back, saying, "If he continues to hold it in, he'll definitely lose his mind, and we'll be the ones in trouble."

The two Batmans also turned their heads ever so slightly in unison, stealing a glance at Shiller.

Shiller's expression was calm, he even had the mood to look out of the window at the scenery. But his calmness, like the calm before a storm, was becoming increasingly apparent. Shiller was like a cloud compressed to its limit, ready to crack open with thunder and rain at any moment.

"Have you ever seen him lose it?" Beihan turned his head to look at the two people next to him, then looked back at Shiller saying, "His mental state may indeed be a bit problematic, but we have had our physical strength reduced, so has he…"

Just then, he saw Natasha looking at him as though he was an idiot.

"Haven't you encountered such a madman?" Batman stated definitively, finally looking directly at Beihan, saying, "Not long after you return to the real world, you will witness how these lunatics, with their madness being their best weapon, will stop at nothing."

Beihan's Adam's apple twitched as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. He took a deep breath and said, "I am also a bit puzzled. The games we've experienced these past two days haven't been that difficult, some would even say too easy."

"Compared to a truly cruel physical or intellectual competition, this seems more like a real game. The previous two killers were both frauds, one using changing abilities, the other hiding in the crowd. It isn't a threat at all."

"I have a premonition, a kind of intuition." Natasha slowly frowned, setting aside her playful expression, and seriously said, "Do you remember the name of this game? Decameron. Boccaccio uses several stories within ten days to satirize the dark affairs of the church, and the number '3' plays a significant role in Christian culture."

"You mean the third game will fundamentally change?" Beihan thought for a moment before saying, "But indeed, I can't guess the method they'll use to increase the difficulty. Are they going to continue to weaken our physical strength? Or make the killer stronger?"

But Batman shook his head saying, "I don't know what happened in the previous games you participated in, but at least the two games I participated in had one common feature - they all test the human heart to some extent."

Batman relaxed slightly, leaning back in his chair and recalling, "The organizers or the game planners they hire seem to be enthusiasts of game theory. They love to create dilemmas of either/or and like to make the game a zero-sum game, encouraging suspicion among each other."

"But the two games we've already experienced do not reflect this kind of nature. They are more like riddles or brain teasers. By catching a key point, the mystery of the entire game can be cracked."

"But obviously, the organizer knows all participating players well, so it's impossible for them not to know that these puzzles are completely basic for us."

"Doctor Shiller's current state is more of boredom rather than frustration. He feels that these games are not stimulating enough. Indeed, from the perspective of a madman, and we have at least two madmen on our team."

Natasha and Beihan looked at each other, and then both turned their heads away. Apparently, in their minds, they each had different picks for the two madmen.

"We all know that the game won't continue like this peacefully." Natasha starts, "I'm not sure if you guys play video games, but when I was in Doctor Schiller's clinic, I would often see people playing. And the more difficult games have longer tutorials. Some even have a special level dedicated to teaching newbies how to play."

"So, you mean that the two days that we have experienced are actually just tutorials?" Beihan asked somewhat dubiously.

"It's not impossible." Shiller suddenly spoke up, and his tone appeared to be saying that he hoped so.

The atmosphere in the bus became quiet as everyone began to wonder. If the game's difficulty truly rises at a certain point, how will it increase, and how would they deal with it if the game gets harder?

The more critical question is if the game continues to go smoothly at this pace, when will Shiller explode?

The bus continued along the road, and after passing through a thick fog, a tall black building appeared in front of everyone.

It was a huge Colosseum.

It appeared to be a magnificent Roman Colosseum, presumably made from obsidian, except without the intricate, ornate decorations. Its design was more straightforward, some corners reinforced with metal. Batman instinctively deduced from the mechanical details in the structure that this was more than just a building.

The four of them stood in front of a signpost, taking in the sight of the building, but it seemed that the host of the Colosseum didn't want to keep them waiting any longer.

Accompanied by a dense friction sound, the towering black door slowly opened. A little shadow stood in the middle of the open door and bowed to them.

Upon closer inspection, it was an obsidian robot. Its body was made of the same black stone as the building, but its joints were delicate mechanical parts. A pair of rectangular eyes flashed with golden light.

"Ladies and gentlemen, follow me, please. The game will start soon."

Following the obsidian robot through the big door into the Colosseum, they walked through a long corridor, only to find a vast round empty space in the middle of the Colosseum, so vast that there seemed to be no end to it.

Suddenly, a projection appeared over the arena, a gigantic figure emitting a rainbow of colors, with a voice so loud it was deafening.

"Welcome all to— the Gem Colosseum!"

As the voice faded, bright colors shot out from the circular center, and rows of seats lifted from the center outwards like wave rippling towards the perimeter of the building, filled with robots having bodies composed of gemstones of various colors.

Their cheering was deafening. Diverse gleams sparked in their eyes, enveloping the entire Colosseum in a brilliant, dreamlike atmosphere.

"People often say that the qualities of humanity shine like gemstones, dazzling at all times. Yet the delicate crystalline structure of gemstones make them susceptible to shattering. Is it a momentary sparkle or eternal brilliance? Duelists, give us your answer!"

"Bang! Bang!"

Two enormous cone-shaped gemstones - one red, one blue - plummeted from the sky and smashed into the ground, stirring up a cloud of thick dust.

Above the gemstones "human nature" was written.

"Brightness" was written on the blue gemstone, and "fragility" was written on the red gemstone.

The gigantic figure, with eyes emitting a golden light, stared at the four people in the arena, saying, "This is the game of the Colosseum, make your choice with your steps!"

All four paused for a moment, then simultaneously and unhesitatingly walked towards the red gemstone signed "fragility".

The Gem Man was stunned.

He slapped his hands down on the edge of the Colosseum, leaning forward, his massive head dropping over them, "Are you not humans? Are you so pessimistic about your own race?"

Then, he extended his gigantic palms, grabbed the two gemstones, crushed them, and promptly planted two new gemstones farther away. "Fragile yet enduring" was written on the blue one, "so fragile it can't stand a blow" on the red.

The group turned towards the red again without looking back.

"Aren't you superheroes?!!!" The giant Gem Man roared, "Can't you have some faith in your own kind?!!"

The two Batmen squinted in unison, looking at the Gem Man, "Have you met other superheroes?"

"Er, no, no, don't look at me that way, I never lie...fine, yes, there have been other competitors before, they were not as pessimistic as you are."

"I can only say that they are incredibly naive." Natasha rolled her eyes, "Even without any external threats, humans find all kinds of excuses to harm and oppress each other. To think anyone would count on the brightness of human nature to save the world is a joke."

"But isn't that what superheroes do? Shine the light of human life to save the world?"

Batman, Natasha, and Beihan exchanged glances, then stepped back in sync, leaving Shiller at the forefront. The enormous Gem Man focused his gaze on Shiller.

"Firstly, I am not a superhero. Secondly, neither are you. And thirdly, you are not a human. Thus, there's no need for this discussion." Shiller replied. There was a barely perceptible tremble in his voice, but its source was unclear.

"I'm just curious. If you're unwilling to explain, then show me through your actions."

The dazzling lights blanketing the stadium in an array of colors died, and above the Colosseum hung a dark cloud. When the light faded, it was almost impossible to see anyone in the dim light.

With a sound of "bang", a huge iron cage descended from the sky. Smoke and dust billowed up all around it.

As the dust cleared, the cage held a group of terrified humans. There were men and women, young and old, sporting athletic wear, business suits, and some even holding dogs.

It was as if they had all been living their normal lives and were suddenly captured and brought here, their faces expressing complete bewilderment and fear.

"These are test subjects randomly chosen from Earth. Undoubtedly, they are of your kind. You should clearly understand the physical limits a human can endure while falling from a significant height."

"If you refuse to answer my question, I will raise the cage by one meter. When the Q&A session is over, the cage will fall."

The other three were not really listening to the Gem Man. The only thing they noticed was the escalating excitement in Shiller's eyes, like a hunter who has chased a deer through the jungle for a long time.