civilwarnovels Chapter 4650 Desperate Escape (22)
Chapter 4650 Desperate Escape (22)
Chapter 4650 A desperate escape (22)
The incandescent bulbs were switched on one by one, reflecting a cold light off the metal walls. Shadows cast on the walls darted about like swimming fish. A figure stopped in front of the door. When the door was pushed open, several people were already in the conference room.
"Welcome, welcome." The figure standing in front of the conference table was wearing a white lab coat. "Welcome our last friend."
"Him?" A figure in white mecha armor propped his feet on the table, interlaced his fingers in front of him, and sized up the person who walked in. "A younger version of you, Schiller. Really?"
“Why not?” he countered. “Besides, I don’t expect him to come up with any good ideas. As long as he can get the job done, that’s enough.”
“That’s interesting.” A green-haired figure blew his nose and coughed loudly. “I hate the smell of guns on him. What else? Marines?”
"Don't say that, you damn bastard. For the past half hour, it's been nothing but your rambling nonsense, without offering a single useful suggestion. I think you're the one who shouldn't have come," said a figure wearing a burlap scarecrow headdress, sitting at the table.
"I really don't understand you bunch of lunatics. Even in the century when my performance was at its worst, I wouldn't waste this much time on this kind of problem. Come on, even the devil is in a hurry!" A red-skinned figure with horns spread his hands.
"Ahem." The figure who had just entered cleared his throat and looked at the person sitting at the conference table who looked exactly like him. "I'm also curious to know why you summoned me here. Why do you think I would participate in the multiverse evil alliance? Greed?"
“There’s no such alliance.” Greed picked at his ear with his finger. “We’re gathered here today for a great cause—to cause trouble for the superheroes!”
"Oh—!!!" The cheers were very enthusiastic.
Greed held out his hand, gesturing for them to calm down. He then turned to the doorway and said, "Alright, come sit down, Agent. I didn't expect you to handle the creative aspects. I'll tell you what to do later."
The agent said nothing, walked to the end of the conference table, and sat down. He appeared to be listening quietly, but in reality, he shut down his brain, preparing to skip directly to when someone called his name.
“Alright, let’s get back to our previous topic.” Greed walked to the table, placed his hands on it, and said, “So, what kind of dungeon should we build? Stark, you tell us first.”
“I still stand by my opinion.” Stark crossed his arms, a glint of light flashing in his light-colored eyes. “Of course, it’s an ingenious mechanical chamber, coupled with an army of robots, that creates the tension and excitement.”
“The style is definitely modern and high-tech. This decor is quite nice,” Stark said, looking around the conference room. “The cold metallic feel and bright but cold lighting can make people feel impersonal, which is a kind of psychological attack. If you add dangerous traps with countdown timers and machine gun turrets, as well as constantly patrolling robot guards, even Batman would have a headache.”
"Vulgar." A voice rang out.
Greed looked over there again and said, "Alright, since Batman has been mentioned, I can tell you that Batman is indeed among the participants in the game. That's where the difficulty in our level design lies. Joker, you tell us about it."
“The slums, without a doubt.” The clown grinned, twitched his nose, and said, “Nothing is more suitable for escape than the slums. Dilapidated houses, flooded streets, the corpses of drug addicts, children’s bones, gangs and cults, criminals and lunatics, pornography, drugs, violence. You can find everything here.”
"Aren't you trying to pull a fast one?" the red-skinned figure said. "Why don't you just say you want to build Gotham?"
"What's the problem?" The Joker raised an eyebrow at him. "You damned devil who ruined all the romance of death. The cruelest punishments you've come up with in Hell aren't even worth a toe in Gotham. You have absolutely no taste, just like you."
"We're discussing serious matters, why are you resorting to personal attacks?!" He slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
"Alright, Mephisto," Greed said, "you know he's mentally unstable, so don't bother with him."
"I don't agree with simply moving Gotham there."
Greed turned to the figure wearing a burlap hood: "What brilliant idea do you have, Dr. Klein?"
Scarecrow scratched his head and said, "This episode's theme is escape rooms, right? It's neither about violent crime nor about showing the gap between rich and poor. While the Gotham slums are certainly rich in content, they're an open-ended map and a bit off-topic. And if we use them, it'll definitely be the Joker and Batman's show, which does have a suspicion of 'smuggling in personal agendas.'"
Greed nodded and said, "That's true. This level design is mainly based on linear puzzle-solving, and the focus is on escaping; the plot is secondary."
"Boring!" the clown commented bluntly.
“But it’s a two-player dungeon,” Greed laughed. “And the two people in the party will definitely have a great relationship.”
"Oh?" The Joker's eyes lit up again. "Who will Batman team up with?"
“It definitely wasn’t you,” Scarecrow retorted. “I already said we’re very close. You don’t expect Batman to think you’d be of any help to him in a difficult situation, do you? He’s not that stupid!”
"If I ask him for something, he definitely will. Because if I play the game here, I won't go to real-world Gotham to cause him trouble. His poor little darlings can live well. Why not?"
"It's Superman," Greed revealed the answer. "Just as I expected, right?"
“Oh, yes,” the Joker said sarcastically. “That blue-eyed giant marshmallow is sickeningly sweet. If he knew how wary Batman is of him, he’d probably be crying and banging his head against the moon.”
“He’s just as wary of Superman as you are,” the Scarecrow said.
“What do you mean no less than me? I definitely have more!” the Joker yelled again. “To deal with Superman, Batman just prepares green candies, what kind of precaution is that? But against me—that’s a completely different story.”
“Can we stop going off-topic like this?” Mephisto said, somewhat annoyed. “I have absolutely no interest in your romantic history with Batman. Greedy, if they keep disrupting the meeting like this, kick them out.”
“Okay, let’s get back to the main topic,” Greed said.
“I don’t think style is important,” Scarecrow said. “Whether it’s modern or ancient decor, isn’t the key the design of the level?”
"You're saying they're a duo?" Mephisto asked Greedy, "and that they're good friends?"
Greed nodded. Mephisto's eyes darted around. "I always compare love to a deadly poison, and sometimes, it can be a confession and evidence. Isn't that interesting?"
The Joker clearly understood this as well, saying, "That's right, we shouldn't get hung up on style and form; the key is in the design of the content, in utilizing the relationships between them. How great and how ugly human emotions are."
“What are you talking about? An aria?” Stark said impatiently. “Let’s get back to the real issue. If we’re going to use their emotions to keep each other in check, how are we going to design the levels?”
"That's your problem." Greed waved his hand. "My think tank, you've designed so many challenging dungeons that terrified players in the battle arena. The curses in the comments section are your glorious achievements. I believe you won't let them down this time either."
“Of course—” they cheered again. Then the clown set a good example; he stood up, walked to the front of the crowd, and, as if performing, paced and twirled.
"Of all the ways to die, I like drowning the most. I can't deny that it has something to do with my experience of falling into a chemical pool. But the feeling of being cut off from the outside world and unable to breathe in your own living space is fascinating, so desperate that you want to scream. But there is only water, water and more water. Water seals everything off, language, thought, even life—it's wonderful."
“I like this plan,” Mephisto said first, “but for more practical reasons. You damn madman, you’re right about one thing: people who are submerged in water can’t speak, which is much better than using some supernatural force to forcibly prevent them from communicating.”
"Can't we communicate in the first level? Isn't the difficulty a bit too high?" Stark frowned and said, "Isn't there a gradual process?"
"Please!" Scarecrow couldn't take it anymore. "This is a high-difficulty dungeon. There are warnings before entering. We've designed so many dungeons, and I've never heard of a high-difficulty dungeon requiring a tutorial. If we don't teach them a lesson right away, do they really think everyone is a high-level player?"
“I agree with that,” Greed said. “High-difficulty dungeons should be difficult from the start; it’s a reasonable way to discourage players. If you can’t get past the first level, then struggling through the later levels is pointless; you’ll never be able to clear the dungeon. It’s better to raise the difficulty from the beginning and weed out new players who want to see how it goes. It’s a very humane approach.”
“Underwater puzzle-solving isn’t out of the question,” Stark said, tapping the table. “I really enjoy combining water and electricity. How about we create a mechanism, and if we can’t solve it, we can simply electrify the water?”
“I thought you had some conscience,” Mephisto said, looking at him. “I never expected you to be plotting this.”
“Conscience?” Stark looked around and smiled. “If I had a conscience, would I be working with you?”
“We can’t put both of them in the water at the same time,” Greed said. “Although we want to increase the difficulty, we can’t do it like this. I’d rather put one in the water and have the other rescue him, just keep the time limit tight.”
“It’s still not difficult enough.” The clown tapped the table and said, “How about we design a psychological trap? When a person realizes they are about to drown, they will instinctively try to save themselves, so let’s give them a chance to save themselves. But in reality, that’s a train to death.”
"You mean..."
“Without professional training, a person's breath-holding time is very short. The more tense and struggling they are in the water, the shorter their breath-holding time will become. If there is no room for struggle, they might just stay still. But if you give them some room to move, and most importantly, give them a tool that seems like they can use to save themselves, they will send themselves to the guillotine…”
"Hiss..." Mephisto gasped. "It's my blessing to work with you all. Sometimes I really don't know who Satan is."
The clown grinned at him and said, "Don't rush, this is just the beginning."
“Exactly,” the scarecrow chimed in. “I think we could add another psychological trap. How about using this tool as a key to solving another person’s puzzle? The will to survive will make someone clutch their only tool tightly, so would they be willing to give that lifeline to the other person?”
"Good heavens!" the Joker exclaimed, already lost in his fantasies. "I can't wait to see several pairs of best friends and lovers break up over this! It'll be hilarious! Hahahaha!"