What malicious intent could NPCs possibly have? C34.1

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Chp34. part1

Ning Ge suddenly sat up, her movement so abrupt that she slammed her head into Pei Han.

Pei Han, who had been leaning over to look at her, lost in thought, was caught completely off guard, his chin taking the full impact.

Thud! The collision made Ning Ge’s eyes water.

Ignoring his own chin, Pei Han immediately reached out to rub her forehead. “What’s with the panic? At worst, we’ll die. I’ll be with you.”

Ning Ge didn’t really want to die, not even with him by her side.

The romantic fantasies stirred by the intimate atmosphere vanished. She thought, “So, it’s time to sprint now. I wonder how we’ll sprint. Do we really have to run?”

She still shuddered at the memory of the 800-meter run during the Sacrificial Ball.

“We have a total of…” Ning Ge calculated. “…twenty-six minutes.”

“Don’t worry. This message came five minutes ago, and the countdown hasn’t started yet.”

Pei Han stood up and offered her a hand.

“Given this dungeon’s style,” he said, “after waking us up, they should give us plenty of time for the most important thing after getting up— breakfast.”

This was an SSS-class luxury dungeon, where eating and sleeping were top priorities, and every moment had to be allotted without delay.

Before long, there was a knock at the door—it was Owen and the others.

Ning Ge and Pei Han dressed and went out to find everyone wide awake, roused by the vibration of their bracelet, all gathered together.

The Wooden Puppet Guard posted at the door saw Ning Ge was up and immediately went to fetch Iris.

Just as Pei Han had predicted, the bracelet remained silent, patiently waiting for Iris to arrange breakfast for everyone.

The dining hall was lit, the air cool and crisp.

It was still very early. Peeking through the open curtains, the sky outside was nearly black. The Royal Palace was silent; even the birds hadn’t stirred.

Waking up this early felt like those days of rushing to catch planes, trains, or exams, everyone tense with anxiety.

Faced with a table laden with a lavish breakfast, no one could stomach a bite.

“What exactly is this ‘Sprint Time’?” Social Bro asked, his appetite gone, cradling his milk glass in thought.

“If I’m guessing correctly,” Ning Ge said, “it probably means we have to find the Anchor Point during the Sprint Time.”

Social Bro was distraught. “But we have no idea where the Anchor Point is! We have to find it in twenty-six minutes? That’s insane!”

Owen, with his hearty appetite, scooped up a generous spoonful of runny egg yolk and savored it. As he ate, he mused, “What if we just take our time eating, thinking as we go? If we stretched this out for hours, maybe we could figure something out.”

Pei Han shattered his naive fantasy with a single sentence.

“I’ve noticed the Wooden Puppet deliberately controls the meal duration. We just don’t feel it because there’s so much time. Since entering the dungeon, every meal has lasted exactly one hour, down to the minute.”

Pei Han glanced at his bracelet. “So we have about twenty more minutes.”

His words only heightened everyone’s tension.

As they ate, they pondered the Anchor Point.

Ning Ge, meanwhile, absently tore at her croissant, deep in thought.

After watching her for a moment, Pei Han asked, “Any ideas?”

Ning Ge nodded. “I have a hunch. From finding the most beloved Wooden Puppet, to assembling Little Husky, to searching for the medal—all the clues seem to be pointing us in one direction. I just don’t know if we’re on the right track.”

Pei Han twirled his fork between his fingers like a pen. “Hmm, I think we’re thinking along the same lines.”

He glanced at his bracelet and set the fork down. “Time’s almost up. Let’s go. We’ll head to the top floor first.”

Ning Ge nodded in agreement, standing up as well.

Owen watched in surprise as Pei Han, who had been dozing, suddenly sprang to his feet and strode toward the exit. “Whoa, the sleeping lion has woken up! Aren’t you going to keep slacking off? Is the free ride not as sweet anymore, or does our Ning Ge not want to support you anymore?”

Pei Han ignored him.

The staircase twisted and turned, winding upward layer by layer.

As they climbed, the Delivery Man timidly asked, “Why are we going to the top floor?”

Ning Ge replied, “Because I suspect if we don’t get there first, the bracelet will make us sprint up later.”

Engineer Zheng jumped. “If we have to sprint up the stairs under a time limit, I’ll break my old bones!”

Today’s Royal Palace felt different from usual, with a strange atmosphere.

Normally, Wooden Puppet Guards stood at every stair landing and corridor turn, and two or three patrolled the halls from time to time.

But as Ning Ge and the others ascended, they saw only a few at first. The higher they climbed, the fewer Wooden Puppet Guards they saw.

Silence reigned everywhere.

The living were asleep, the Puppet Servants had vanished, and only the sound of their footsteps echoed in the corridors.

By the time they reached the top floor, navigating the maze-like stairs, not a single Wooden Puppet Guard was in sight.

They had barely arrived when the one-hour breakfast time limit expired.

The Bracelet immediately displayed a new message.

[Ready for the sprint?]

[Whether you’re ready or not, it doesn’t matter. You have twenty-six minutes to scan the Anchor Point. The countdown is absolute—this is your only chance to escape the dungeon. Players who fail to escape within this time will be eliminated.]

[Five, four, three, two, one—begin.]

The twenty-six-minute countdown started immediately.

Just as Ning Ge and the others thought the bracelet had finished speaking, it sent another message.

[Still hopelessly stuck? Want a hint for the next Anchor Point? (This will consume a significant amount of time.)]

Below were two buttons: “Yes” and “No”.

Ning Ge glanced at the others.

“I’ll follow your lead,” Pei Han said.

Engineer Zheng and the others agreed, “We’ll follow your lead. You decide.”

Although Ning Ge already had an idea, she chose “Yes” to be safe.

The bracelet immediately announced: [The Queen is in danger! Rush to the top floor of the Puppet-Making Competition venue immediately!]

Just as Ning Ge and Pei Han had predicted, the sprint was indeed toward the top floor.

Fortunately, they had climbed up during breakfast. Otherwise, trying to reach the top floor and find the Anchor Point within the twenty-six-minute timeframe would have likely cost them half their lives.

The group walked a short distance and arrived outside the hall of the Puppet-Making Competition they had visited the previous day.

The entrance, which had been bustling with Puppet Servants during the day, was now silent. The Wooden Puppets that had stood guard at the door were gone.

The hall was well soundproofed, and only faint voices could be heard from within.

The door was closed and wouldn’t budge.

They knew how the door was locked.

Ning Ge focused her mind, extending her Thought Silk to the door and controlling it.

The heavy door slid open silently, revealing a narrow gap. Ning Ge pressed her ear to the crack, then gestured for silence and widened the opening.

She cautiously peered inside.

As expected, there were people inside.

The Queen and Mosh were both present, strangely confined within a transparent containment dome on the stage.

Ning Ge immediately understood why.

The Queen was an exceptional Puppet Master. To prevent her from extending her Thought Silk and summoning the puppets, she had to be neutralized.

Ning Ge’s Thought Silk could reach the entire room and control puppets, but the Queen’s might extend even further.

The transparent dome, which blocked Thought Silk, was the ideal place to keep her contained.

It seemed Mosh had diverted the Wooden Puppet Guards upstairs. Even after finding a way to distract them, he still didn’t fully trust the “Empire’s finest Puppet Master” and had locked her in the dome.

The Queen wore a comfortable casual dress, her hair loosely pinned up in an elegant bun at the back of her head. She sat lazily on the throne of the winner puppet, resting her elbow on the armrest and propping her head with her hand.

Mosh stood with his back to the door, but the Queen faced it, immediately spotting Ning Ge’s head peeking around the frame.

Just as Ning Ge was about to push the door open, she saw the Queen smile slightly and raise her hand in a clear gesture to stop her.

Ning Ge froze for a moment, then quickly retreated behind the door, leaving it open with only a sliver.

Everyone crowded around the narrow crack, peering inside.