Global Collapse-Chapter 472 - 447: Sexy Gu Mian Slacking off Online _1
The last checkpoint appeared at three in the afternoon.
During this time, Gu Mian and his team rode their dragon boat through wind and waves. Chu Changge suggested letting the players in front test the waters, so their boat never rushed to the front.
Fatty had bought a pocket watch at some point, which he wore around his neck. The watch case was made of copper and looked quite antiquated.
He occasionally opened his pocket watch with a CLICK to check the time. At precisely three o’clock, Gu Mian saw the dragon boats on the screen ahead all stop moving.
The dragon boats were scattered across the river surface. Not many players participated in this activity with its high death rate, and after several rounds of selection, the remaining dragon boats were sparsely dispersed.
At this point, Gu Mian’s boat also came to a halt. Fatty curiously peered at the water and saw Xiao Hong poke her head out, a puzzled expression on her rather plain face, as if she couldn’t push the boat any further.
An option then appeared before Gu Mian and the others—
[Do you accept the last teammate?] 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
This crude choice alerted Fatty. "Why is there no formality this time? They’re directly asking if we want someone... Could it be a trap?"
Chu Changge adjusted his glasses, "The event shouldn’t set such a pointless trap."
While Chu Changge was still speaking, Gu Mian had already chosen "Yes."
Immediately, Liu Ruyan appeared on the boat.
After appearing, she first looked around and then lazily sat down, remarkably calm.
Fatty was already anxiously observing Liu Ruyan to see if she was an imposter.
The boat still wasn’t moving. Xiao Hong could be seen pushing hard at the stern a few times, but the dragon boat didn’t budge an inch.
Then, something else appeared before them.
[Fourth Checkpoint: Give and Take]
What the heck? Gu Mian stared quizzically at this bizarre fourth checkpoint. First, they were given a teammate, and then the checkpoint appeared—it was mind-boggling.
The checkpoint didn’t elaborate on its contents. Gu Mian only saw the boat’s hull transform from a dragon boat into a rickety vessel, and an old man suddenly materialized at the bow.
This old man had appeared out of thin air like a ghost. Standing at the bow, he swept his gaze over them before coldly announcing, "I am the boatman of this vessel. You will need to ride it for the next stage. Your current boat is overloaded. There must be give and take, loss and gain. You must abandon one person before I can ferry you."
Fatty’s mouth fell slightly open, and he whispered, "Is this the turning point Brother Chu mentioned? Having to abandon one person... this must be to make players find the ghost hidden among their teammates, right? But why don’t they just point out who the ghost is?"
"There might be some restriction," Chu Changge replied.
"But the ghost hidden among us already ran off," Fatty said, looking troubled. "And there’s no one for us to abandon. Otherwise, should we try to explain it to this old man?"
Chu Changge continued, "But if he’s determined to make things difficult for us, then nothing we say will work."
And indeed, the old man seemed intent on giving them a hard time.
No matter how Fatty tried to argue, he wouldn’t listen, insisting they had to throw someone off.
Just as Fatty, agitated, was about to stand up, Gu Mian reached out and pressed him down. "That’s right. You have to give something up to gain something; lose something to obtain something."
Fatty looked at Gu Mian in confusion. Gu Mian paused in thought for a moment, then kicked the boatman off the boat.
"Alright," Gu Mian said cheerfully. "Now we can move forward."
Fatty: "..."
Indeed, the boat began to move forward slowly again, though the two ghosts pushing it from the stern seemed to be struggling, and its speed had decreased considerably.
Gu Mian gazed contemplatively at the water’s surface. "The speed has dropped so much. That old man really was useful. If he had been rowing, we would have been much faster."
Fatty nodded in agreement. "We should’ve tried to reason with him, appeal to his better nature, and persuade him to stay and help us..."
Gu Mian was still muttering to himself, "If I’d known earlier, I would’ve just tied a rope around him and thrown him into the water to push the boat."
Fatty choked on his words.
Despite not having a boatman, Xiao Hong and her brother—the two ghosts—weren’t particularly slow. Their boat continued to move forward steadily, overtaking many other players.
But as their boat advanced, the waterway became increasingly narrower.
With the narrowing waters, boats had to steer towards the center, causing the players to become more densely packed. From his boat, Gu Mian could even spot other players in the distance.
"The Doctor’s Gorgeous Fan Club" boat had previously garnered a lot of attention. However, everyone had since changed boats, and now none of them bore any names.
Consequently, Gu Mian and his companions didn’t attract other players’ notice.
But as the river grew narrower and the distance between players decreased, people began to notice something unusual.
Gu Mian noticed it too.
Every other boat had an old man standing at the bow, rowing. Only Gu Mian’s boat moved as if on its own, gliding swiftly forward—it was extraordinarily strange.
If one looked carefully, they could see something under the stern, apparently pushing the boat. However, people didn’t dare crane their necks too far, as they knew many ghosts were lurking in the water, waiting for an opportunity.
However, not too far away, one man had his neck craned out so far, staring in their direction, that he looked like he wished he could stretch it into a giraffe’s. Gu Mian also noticed this particularly conspicuous player.
He glanced over and saw a somewhat familiar face.
For a moment, though, I can’t recall who it is. Gu Mian thought.
Fatty had also spotted the man who looked like he wished he could turn into a giraffe and whispered to Gu Mian, "Doctor, an acquaintance."
Who was that again? Gu Mian silently tried to recall.
Fatty helpfully prompted, "I remember his username seems to be ’I Desire to Rule the World’."
Ah, the name sounds familiar too, but I forgot which instance we met this player in. Gu Mian thought.
Fatty continued, "The Mr. Green instance. He used a special item to trick you, Doctor, and you tore off his prompt card and pocketed it. Remember now?"
