The highest arena, the security check area of the noble boxes.
Long Yuehong was once again following behind Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian, who were in disguise, as a servant and bodyguard.
Seeing that there was still some distance to the entrance and no one was around, he suddenly remembered a problem and hurriedly lowered his voice:
"Team Leader, I think we've overlooked something."
"What?" Jiang Baimian stopped and pretended to reprimand the servant.
Long Yuehong looked around again:
"Our action plan is missing a very important part, which is how to retreat if we fail.
"You don't think we'll definitely succeed, do you?"
As the saying goes, "Consider defeat before victory."
Once things don't go as expected, there must be corresponding measures to avoid panic, blind action, or being captured without resistance.
Jiang Baimian smiled:
"Facing an Awakened who is definitely at the 'Mind Corridor' level and skilled in illusion, and surrounded by many nobles and their bodyguards, do you think we can escape if we fail?
"Even if Lao Ge can enter the arena, he should also be affected."
"Ah..." Long Yuehong's face turned pale instantly.
Shang Jianyao further added:
"Unlike dealing with 'Higher Mindless' and Dimarco before, this time we are in the open, the most dangerous enemy is in the dark, and there are no other helpers."
Long Yuehong's mind raced, and he forced a smile at Jiang Baimian:
"Team Leader, you must have already thought of a way, otherwise you wouldn't be so risky."
It's not yet time to risk our lives!
Jiang Baimian nodded slightly:
"The method is very simple. As soon as we determine failure, immediately raise our hands, hold the back of our heads, and squat down."
"Uh?" Long Yuehong outlined the corresponding scene in his mind.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this didn't seem right.
Shang Jianyao then laughed:
"You can also shout:
"I surrender! I surrender!"
"..." Long Yuehong finally understood what kind of scene Jiang Baimian had just described.
He asked in disbelief:
"Team Leader, are you kidding?"
Jiang Baimian shook her head solemnly:
"No, this is the best solution after weighing various pros and cons.
"In the face of a huge disparity in strength between us and the enemy, thinking of escaping with brains, skills, and experience is too dangerous, and the chances of success are extremely low.
"Actually, if this wasn't a 'Mind Corridor' level Awakened who is good at illusion, there would be ways to think about it, such as destroying the architectural structure below the noble boxes in advance, such as taking hostages, etc., etc., but now none of these can be used, because we simply cannot tell what is real and what is false, whether it has been done or not, whether it has been done successfully.
"Compared to resistance that is likely to cause casualties, surrendering may be the best way to preserve ourselves."
"But, doesn't that mean giving up our chance of survival?" Long Yuehong still couldn't understand.
"No, no, no." Shang Jianyao shook his head and said, "Going to prison is the beginning of the story. At that time, we'll say that General Fookas asked us to do it, so that people from other forces will be afraid to act rashly."
"General Fookas must have been cursed for eight lifetimes to have met you." Jiang Baimian scolded with a smile.
Seeing that nobles were gradually passing by and entering the stands after security checks, she stopped being mysterious and quickly explained:
"Have we done anything in First City that the nobles want to kill us for? Except for those who secretly favor the 'Anti-Intelligence Church,' no one should necessarily want us dead. When we are caught, we will quickly confess that we killed the real 'Father' and have a deep hatred for the 'Anti-Intelligence Church.' This way, anyone who jumps out to target us will be suspected of being a supporter of the 'Anti-Intelligence Church.'"
"That's one point. More importantly, we are from Pangu Biology. There's no need to hide it at that time. Just tell them directly, knowing everything and saying everything. After we lose our intelligence value, the company will send someone to negotiate again. I think they will be very willing to exchange us for something else.
"There are many similar things between big forces. Generally, when a spy is caught and the other party hasn't caused any major problems, they will tend to use them for trade, such as exchanging them for their own people who have been caught."
Long Yuehong was stunned. He didn't expect that there were such unspoken rules between big forces.
But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that this was normal.
As a big force, it naturally has a relatively equal negotiating position.
"But in that case, wouldn't we be betraying the company?" Long Yuehong thought of another question.
Jiang Baimian laughed:
"Others don't know, but don't other major forces know about some of the company's affairs?
"Over the years, it's not just one or two company field personnel who have been caught. Where is the company's entrance? The wasteland wanderers and small forces don't know, but can First City and the White Knights still be kept in the dark for decades?
"As for internal matters, how many secrets do we know? None, right?
"And in the investigation of the cause of the old world's destruction, we have only reached the step of contacting the Olay descendants, which is less than what First City knows."
Long Yuehong probably understood what the Team Leader meant:
The problems that we can confess will not harm the company.
"So, our biggest loss is the items we carry with us, the Destiny Bead, the Blindness Ring, Wu Meng's recording, and Xiao Chong's shushing, which are acceptable." Jiang Baimian made a summary.
"But, but..." Long Yuehong still felt that surrendering wasn't so safe. "Many of the nobles in First City secretly believe in Mandala and are members of the Supreme Desire Church. I, I'm afraid they'll do bad things."
"Then wouldn't that be a profit for you?" Shang Jianyao laughed.
Then, he showed a solemn expression again:
"Not necessarily, the other party may not be a woman."
Long Yuehong shivered inexplicably.
Jiang Baimian nodded:
"This is also a situation that needs to be prevented.
"On the one hand, if we are caught, we will immediately declare that we have cooperated with General Fookas and helped deal with the Anti-Intelligence Church. In short, first, we will use a powerful backer; on the other hand, there is a letter I left for Xiao Bai, explaining two things: one is to return to the safe house if things cannot be done and send a telegram to the company to ask them to send representatives to negotiate a ransom, and the other is to find an elder in First City for help through the contact information left behind. He has a deep friendship with a certain person in the company. He probably wouldn't dare to release people privately, but he should still guarantee our safety during detention. After all, there are many excuses and reasons."
Hearing this, Long Yuehong felt a little relieved.
He breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"Team Leader, why didn't you say so earlier? Why did you have to write a letter?"
Is she watching too many old-world dramas?
Jiang Baimian laughed:
"With Xiao Bai's temper, if I didn't do this, would she be willing to stay outside obediently and be a backup?"
"That's right." Long Yuehong didn't ask any more questions and followed Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao towards the security checkpoint, passing through smoothly.
...
Inside the noble box, many people had already arrived, but not Markus, Olay's grandson.
Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao found their seats and observed who was around.
During this process, Shang Jianyao took out the portable recording device and pretended to be bored and started playing songs.
He played normal Red River language songs, and the volume was not too loud, the kind that people around could hear but wouldn't find noisy.
This was to allow the owner of the Virtual World to adapt to the existence of the song and become numb to it.
In the music, Shang Jianyao chatted with Jiang Baimian from time to time and nodded hello to the nearby nobles.
After a while, five minutes before the start of the arena match, Markus, with light blue eyes and a slightly horizontally developed face, entered the box with four bodyguards and walked towards his own cubicle.
Like last time, he always had a smile on his face and nodded to every noble he met, including Shang Jianyao.
After watching him sit down, Jiang Baimian estimated the distance and nodded to Shang Jianyao.
What she meant was that at this distance, there shouldn't be any problems with the current volume.
Shang Jianyao listened to the song for a few dozen seconds and pretended that he wasn't too satisfied with this one and started to change it.
Long Yuehong subconsciously held his breath, and his heartbeat accelerated slightly.
Once he started playing the song spliced with Xiao Chong's shushing, there would really be "no turning back"!
Soon, a cheerful song rang out:
"Dog woof woof
"Cat meow meow
"Bird chirp chirp
"Mouse squeak squeak..." (Note 1)
The nursery rhyme-like lyrics echoed with a bit of a funny feeling, and the children's voices in the unnoticed background music were matched with shushing.
"Shh...
"Shh...
"Shh..."
Some nobles found the lyrics funny and glanced at Shang Jianyao and the others, seemingly wanting to ask what the name of the song was.
Some of them came earlier and drank a lot of water. They were originally planning to go to the bathroom before the official game, and they stood up one after another at this time.
"But there is a sound
"No one knows
"How the fox says..."
In the song, nobles walked towards the bathroom.
Note 1: From the Norwegian song "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)", Ylvis.