Global Collapse-Chapter 476 - 451: Grand Dragon Boat Event_1

Chu Changge poked out half of his head, his eyes surreptitiously observing the surroundings. He did not offer any comments on Gu Mian’s actions but was thoughtfully staring at the ripples beneath the boat.

By now, one of the men and Xiao Hong had already pushed the boat into the first square ahead, displaying the number "5." Before Fatty could analyze this number, the boat continued to move forward, crossing the square marked with "5" and entering the fifth row ahead. The square they were now in displayed the number "4," indicating that there were four bomb zones among the nine squares comprising their current position and its immediate surroundings.

The boat stopped, halting in the fifth row.

Fatty was somewhat anxious; he didn’t know whether the square he was in was a bomb zone or not. Sixty seconds were not up yet, but they were quickly approaching.

After a slight contemplation, Gu Mian spoke quickly, "Based on previous deductions, the square directly in front of us must be a bomb zone. Furthermore, based on the numbers from the squares we’ve just passed, we can infer that within this nine-square grid, the row behind us has two bomb zones, the row in front has at least one, and the remaining bomb zone could be in our current row or the row ahead."

Fatty was a bit puzzled, "Doctor, how did you figure that out..."

Before Gu Mian could answer, Chu Changge’s soft voice came, "Just draw a picture and you will know."

Gu Mian continued, "So our square, plus the two adjacent ones, make a combination of three squares. Within these three squares, there is either one bomb zone or none. Hence, our current position is the safest."

Fatty vaguely understood some of it, "Doctor, you’re gambling, huh? What makes you so confident about your luck? Have you forgotten what you’ve drawn each time you play a lottery?"

Hearing this, images of the phrase "Thank You for Your Patronage" in different fonts flashed through Gu Mian’s mind. After being confronted with those characters for some time, Gu Mian had even forgotten how to write "Thank You".

He shrugged off those four words swirling in his mind and patted Fatty’s shoulder, "Don’t worry, those who capsized their boats weren’t blown to death."

Upon hearing this, Fatty looked around keenly, just in time to witness a boat overturn in the distance behind them. Fatty watched with wide eyes as the people from the capsized boat fell into the water, struggling. But they were immediately dragged under the water by the hungry Evil Ghosts lurking beneath.

The ghosts lurked around each boat like fish waiting to feast, latching on at the sight of flesh.

Gu Mian put his hand on Fatty’s shoulder again, "Look under our boat again."

Fatty did as instructed. The water of the Liannu River wasn’t clear, but you could still see about a meter or two underwater.

To his surprise, there was nothing under their boat, not even a single ghost. It was a stark contrast to the scene under the other players’ boats, as if their boat was emitting a foul smell that deterred the countless Evil Ghosts from approaching.

Only Xiao Hong casually swam around the boat, her red dress fluttering flirtatiously as if she were trying to entice someone. Of course, Xiao Hong had successfully attracted someone. Xiao Qiao kept reaching into the water to tug at her red dress, much to Xiao Hong’s annoyance as she flailed about.

Gu Mian patted the dust off Fatty’s clothes, "See? The ghosts are so considerate. They’re avoiding you so as not to scare you. So even if the boat capsizes, we’ll be fine."

Feeling Gu Mian’s hand on his shoulder, Fatty shivered, "Doctor, are you sure they moved away to avoid scaring me?"

Just as Fatty was contemplating who was scaring whom, the sixty seconds were up.

Fatty instinctively ducked, bracing for the boat to sink. However, their square surprisingly did not explode.

On the contrary, some boats in the third row behind them, which were carelessly trying to surge forward, capsized.

"See, my luck isn’t always terrible," Gu Mian straightened up and began to direct, "There are only two rows ahead. We can dash straight through them in sixty seconds. Xiao Hong, stop squirming and push the boat."

With that, Xiao Hong, who was reluctantly swaying in the water, began to push the boat again.

By this time, Gu Mian’s group at the very front had already attracted the attention of the players trailing behind them.

The players who hadn’t been able to cross the fourth row helplessly watched as a boat charged straight ahead, successfully clearing the last row in one go.

The players who were wracking their brains to analyze the numbers gaped in astonishment.

"What the hell?"

"It seems like that boat just kept moving forward in a straight line without really stopping. Did they recklessly charge onwards, not caring about their lives, and luckily made it through in the end?"

"I’ve been quite curious all this while about where the boatman on that boat vanished."

At this moment, Fatty was perched at the stern of their boat, looking back at the other boats with lingering fear, "Although it might sound like I’m gloating after getting off easy, I feel this event is relatively simple..."

By now, Chu Changge had already sat up. He gazed at the players still stuck in the mine-sweeping zone, "The players who fell into the water certainly wouldn’t agree with you."

Fatty thought carefully for a moment, "You’re right."

There were only two stages to the dragon boat race event. After the minesweeper segment, one could sprint straight to the finish.

It was well-known that there would be a distinct marker at the finish line, and at this moment, Gu Mian spotted a red line stretched across the river surface in the far distance.

Victory was within sight, and provided there were no unexpected bumps along the way, Gu Mian and his crew would be the first to finish the event.

The sun was now leaning towards the west, about to set. Fatty sat at the stern of their boat under the setting sun, gazing behind them, "Going by my years of experience reading novels, the protagonist often encounters a setback just when he’s about to succeed. For instance, the boat might suddenly split apart or another team might suddenly appear out of nowhere to snatch first place."

"We’d then become adversaries with that team and find out that all the players on that boat are proud sons of heaven, geniuses. We wouldn’t be able to defeat them, and they’d mock us. We would then roar something like, ’What goes around comes around. We’ll fight again in ten years’ and embark on a journey of leveling up, overcoming monsters, and humiliating opponents," Gu Mian’s voice suddenly interrupted Fatty’s daydream.

Fatty stared at Gu Mian in surprise, "Doctor, how are you so clear on this?"

Gu Mian flashed a small smile, "It’s a standard fantasy novel trope. I could even write one."

Fatty was left speechless.

Reality is often much more drab, lacking the twists and turns of fantasy.

The dark horse that Fatty had imagined didn’t appear. Under the setting sun, they moved forward quietly and crossed the finish line just as peacefully.

However, the situation after crossing the finish line was anything but quiet.

[Congratulations to the players who came first in the ’Dragon Boat Race’ event: Gu Mian, Meiren Chu, Chu Changge, Xiao Qiao, Liu Ruyan]

[Players will be teleported out of the event once they have selected their rewards]

These were the words that appeared in the sky the second after they crossed the finish line.

As Fatty was still wearing Meiren Chu’s badge, his nickname was still Meiren Chu.

Gu Mian silently looked up at the large characters "Gu Mian" in the sky, "Well, now everyone knows that Gu Mian was on the boat that charged ahead."