Global Collapse-Chapter 475 - 450: No Dogs Allowed_1

Perhaps because the event had altered the terrain, the Liannu River’s surface was now much narrower, drawing a large number of players together.

Gu Mian noticed grid-like patterns appearing on the water surface ahead, resembling a chessboard. Following that, an introduction for this stage appeared before him.

[Minefield Waterway]

[The water route ahead has been divided into a grid. The grid is split into safe zones and bomb zones. The first row contains no bomb zones. Bomb zones explode every minute. Players within a bomb zone when it explodes will have their boats immediately overturned. Upon entering a grid square, it will display a number. This number indicates the total count of bomb zones within that square and its adjacent squares. Please navigate through the safe grid squares to reach the destination.] 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Gu Mian saw a sixty-second countdown in the sky ahead. Every time the countdown reached "0," boats in the bomb zones would be overturned.

This was quite similar to the "Minesweeper" game they usually played on the computer. Gu Mian and his companions’ boat was not at the very front. He saw that many of the boats ahead that had entered the grid zone were already overturned.

Of course, not everyone knew how to play Minesweeper. Gu Mian, for instance, had only played casually when bored, randomly clicking around without any real strategy.

Gu Mian had always been unlucky and often triggered a mine right at the start. But that didn’t matter much, as he wouldn’t actually get blown up by hitting a mine in the computer game. Things were different now, though. Triggering a mine here meant he could actually get blown up.

Quite a few people at the front had already died.

Real-life Minesweeper was different from the computer version. On the computer, you could click any grid square. But here, their boats couldn’t fly; they had to enter from an edge, cross the center, and then exit the area.

Their boat had now reached the first row of the grid.

Gu Mian quickly scanned the area, noting that the grid here had seven rows and seven columns. Each grid square was quite large, making it somewhat different from the computer game Minesweeper.

As expected, the first row had no mines. The boats that had capsized all started doing so from the second row onwards.

Currently, the leading boat was in the third row. Gu Mian saw a few players on it craning their necks to observe the surrounding water grids. Other players had followed this boat’s route, but unfortunately, their boats got blown up, suggesting the mine locations differed for each boat.

Fairly confident, Gu Mian directed his older brother and Xiao Hong into the rightmost grid square of the first row. Soon after, the number "1" appeared above their boat.

"I get it," Fatty said, looking up at the number above their boat. "This means one of the adjacent grids has a bomb."

Technically, there was a simple way to clear this stage: dash through the grid zone within sixty seconds.

But that was highly improbable.

Every boat was now equipped with a boatman who rowed at a leisurely pace. Gu Mian had observed earlier that the boats could move a maximum of three grid squares per minute, roughly the distance from the first to the third row.

Even if they charged forward at full speed, it would still take them over two minutes to cross the entire area. Those who tried to rush straight through usually had their boats overturned halfway.

The boat that had been in the lead also capsized for entering the wrong grid square, causing other players to halt.

Fatty sounded troubled. "They just give us one number and expect us to navigate blindly? This is all down to luck! There are three squares around us; who knows which one has the bomb?"

Meanwhile, Chu Changge, whose head had popped up at some point, was quietly observing the boats ahead.

"The first row has no bombs. The bombs can only be in the two grid squares in front of us. Let’s move horizontally first and see," Gu Mian directed Xiao Hong to move the boat one square to the left. A new number, "2," rose above their boat.

This indicated two bombs among the five surrounding grid squares. However, since the first row contained no bombs, the two bombs had to be in the three squares directly ahead.

This still didn’t reveal much, so the group moved one more square to the left. The third grid square from the right in the first row still showed the number "2."

Fatty ruffled his hair. "So, two of the three squares ahead have bombs. That means the far-right square in the second row must be safe, and the one to our front-left is also safe."

As Gu Mian’s group was moving, a minute passed. By now, other players had reached the third row.

Just as Gu Mian was about to head for the grid square to their front-left, Chu Changge, still only showing his head, suddenly spoke up, "The second, fourth, and sixth squares in the third row, counting from right to left, are safe. No players in those squares have capsized.

"Meanwhile, all the odd-numbered squares in the third row, counting from right to left, will explode. I observed earlier that the boatmen row at a speed of three grid squares per minute. I guess this is a hint from the event."

Fatty looked around, completely baffled by Chu Changge’s words.

Gu Mian stroked his chin. "The event must be trying to prevent players from rushing through a single column. Players can only move three squares per minute. Even if you charge forward recklessly, you can only reach the third row before the explosion. If it’s as Chu Changge said—that in the third row, even-numbered squares are safe and odd-numbered ones are bombs—then in the sixth row, the even-numbered squares must be unsafe. Furthermore, the odd-numbered ones in the sixth row won’t necessarily be safe either."

After changing boats, his older brother and Xiao Hong were noticeably slower, hardly faster than the boatmen. So Gu Mian couldn’t just rush through.

Chu Changge continued, "The maximum speed for an average player is three squares per minute. I’ve noticed that starting from a safe square, there’s always another safe square within the next three squares. The event organizers wouldn’t put players in a no-win situation."

Gu Mian looked ahead, frowning. "Based on the third row’s pattern—odds explode, evens are safe—and the sixth row having deadly evens, plus a safe square within every three... Xiao Hong, on my command."

Fatty also frowned, an ominous premonition creeping over him. Here we go, he thought, as Gu Mian, that unlucky fellow, began to issue commands, "We’re currently in the third square from the right in the first row. Move one square left, then two squares forward..."

That would take them to the fourth square in the third row, a completely safe spot.

The fourth square in the second row (which they had passed) displayed the number "4."

Their boat now showed the number "6," indicating six bomb zones around them.

Just as the two ghosts managed to strenuously push the boat into this square, the bomb zones detonated, capsizing boats in the squares on either side of them.

Before the surrounding players could process this new development, they saw the man in the black-rimmed glasses unhesitatingly give more instructions, "Two more squares forward."

The boat, which had no boatman, began to glide forward as if possessed.

At this point, however, no one cared if the boat was possessed. They swallowed hard, watching it move further and further away. "So reckless! Aren’t they afraid of getting blown up?"