By the time the five people finished signing the contract book, it was already 10:30. Xiao Lou wanted to get more information, so he used the hotel's internal phone to call Mo Xuemin.
The call connected quickly. Looking at the number on the caller ID, Lao Mo asked in confusion, "Hello? Who is this?"
Xiao Lou said, "Old Mo, it's me. We've already checked into the hotel. Is it convenient for us to come find you? Here's your consultation fee."
Upon hearing that familiar voice, Mo Xuemin immediately said, "Sure! I live in 507, come on over!"
Xiao Lou and several teammates went to knock on the door of room 507.
The door opened quickly, and Old Mo, who had already showered and changed into his pajamas, looked surprised when he saw them and said, "Hey, I thought you were joking about giving me a consultation fee, but you actually brought it over in person?"
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "You make your business by selling information. Every industry has its rules. We can't just ask you for information and then not pay you for it."
Old Mo smiled and waved his hand, "Never mind, I'd be embarrassed to accept such a small amount of money."
Xiao Lou said, "Don't be shy, we have many questions we'd like to ask you. Can we go inside and talk?"
Old Mo opened the door and said, "Please come in quickly."
He invited them inside and sat down. Xiao Lou looked around and noticed that Lao Mo was staying in a double room.
Xiao Lou and his group had a lot of people, so they booked a double room; it's more cost-effective for two people to share. Old Mo is staying alone; doesn't he have any teammates?
Thinking of this, Xiao Lou couldn't help but ask, "Old Mo, do you live alone? Where are your teammates?"
Mo Xuemin was pouring water for everyone when he heard this. His back stiffened slightly, and he sighed softly, "My teammates all died in the previous secret room."
He poured water into a disposable cup and handed it to Xiao Lou, his smile bitter: "My contract book originally had 15 people on it, but last time when we went through the Weekly Routine, we were unlucky enough to run into Hunter and almost got wiped out. I was the only one who escaped."
Yu Hanjiang frowned slightly: " Hunter?"
Mo Xuemin sat down in the wicker chair and said, " You didn't encounter the Freelancer who aimed to kill us Challengers in Spade 3?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "You mean that guy who teamed up with the boss to run a shady business and tried to wipe out Challenger?"
Mo Xuemin nodded and said, "They are called Hunters. They can get a high bounty after killing a Challenger. This organization is called the [ Hunter Alliance]. It is said to have been established by the local natives. They believe that the existence of us outsiders seriously threatens their living environment, so they want to drive us all out."
Ye Qi looked shocked: " The Weekly Secret Chamber has Hunters too?"
Mo Xuemin rubbed his temples, looking troubled: "So, every Weekly Routine is a life-or-death challenge. I remember last week's Weekly Routine, nearly three million people were eliminated."
He paused, then looked at Xiao Lou and said, "You came to me because you wanted to ask about the Weekly Routine, right?"
Xiao Lou smiled and nodded: "Yes, we just passed the fourth level. We don't know what the Weekly Routine mission mode is. We'd like to ask a senior for some advice."
Mo Xuemin said, "For newbies, I suggest you form a team, upgrade your contract book, preferably to the advanced level, and form a team of 8 to 15 people. The more people there are, the higher the probability of clearing the dungeon. This is because the Weekly Routine dungeon will randomly teleport a large number of Challengers, which will definitely lead to infighting among Challenger teams. Large guilds and teams are likely to swallow up small guilds and teams."
Fearing that the others might not understand, Mo Xuemin gave another example: "For instance, if there are only five of you and another team has fifteen, it's 15 against 5, and your chances of winning are extremely high. If the team leader has bad intentions, he could kill all five of you and take your card holders for himself to enhance his team's fighting power. After all, in the world of cards, cards are weapons."
Xiao Lou and his friends exchanged glances, feeling a chill run down their spines.
No wonder the Weekly Secret Chamber is so difficult; besides the existence of " Hunter," the most terrifying thing is actually the internal strife within the Challengers.
They currently only have five people. In the eyes of other teams, they are weak and vulnerable, like easy prey. If they are wiped out, they can obtain their cards.
Normally, when there are no conflicts of interest, everyone can get along harmoniously. But when it comes to a life-or-death situation, who has the time to care about the life or death of others?
Eliminating weaker forces to strengthen oneself is also a most instinctive human reaction.
Xiao Lou frowned and asked, "Is there anywhere to recruit teammates?"
Mo Xuemin said, "There is a professional Challenger forum set up by the Intelligence Bureau online. You can go there to recruit some good teammates. However, there is a great risk in recruiting. If the people you recruit betray the team or drag everyone down, it will be a big headache."
He mentioned the Intelligence Bureau again. Xiao Lou was puzzled. How could the Intelligence Bureau be so powerful that it could not only collect information on Challengers and provide paid services such as "finding people" and "consulting," but also help everyone establish an internal communication forum?
Yu Hanjiang asked with interest, "Does the internal forum have a registration and verification system?"
Mo Xuemin said, "Yes, the Intelligence Bureau's forum verifies the identity of each Challenger. Before registering, you have to fill in all your real-world information, and you can only enter after the verification is approved. Therefore, many Challengers use this forum to find people or post team recruitment notices. You can check it out."
The Intelligence Bureau can collect a vast amount of information, and this registered forum is crucial for its members.
When registering, they will fill in real-world information to help them collect and analyze Challenger data.
What puzzled Xiao Lou was the purpose of the Intelligence Bureau's existence. Was it simply to make money by selling intelligence? Or was the head of the Intelligence Bureau playing a much larger game?
A silence fell over the room as everyone clearly pondered. After a moment, Xiao Lou spoke up: "Old Mo, could you give us a brief overview of last week's Weekly Routine?"
Mo Xuemin said: "Last week was diamonds." The Weekly Routine, the dungeon called [ Rotating Maze ], rotates 90 degrees every so often. Many Challengers get completely lost inside, sometimes for hours. Some fail to find their way out within the time limit and are eliminated. Others accidentally step on traps and are killed by arrows. Still others are killed by Hunters after encountering them… In the dungeon I was in, out of over a hundred people, only twenty managed to complete it.
Xiao Lou exclaimed in shock, " The Diamond Secret Room also has Hunters?"
Mo Xuemin smiled wryly: " The Hunters on the card wall only appear in Spade- type secret rooms. But Weekly Routine missions are different. Anything can happen in Weekly Routine missions. Hunters randomly appear in some secret rooms. If you encounter one, you can only accept your bad luck."
Xiao Lou said, "Your weekly routine had such a high dropout rate last time, mainly because you were unlucky enough to run into Hunter, right?"
Mo Xuemin nodded: "The maze is full of traps and mechanisms. The Hunter is slaughtering us in the maze, and we can't escape..."
Recalling that terrible experience, Lao Mo's face turned pale.
Yu Hanjiang changed the subject, saying, " Before the Weekly Routine starts, is it possible to find out the tasks for this week?"
Mo Xuemin shook his head: "No one can predict it. I once met a senior who had lived in Card World for half a year. He said that the weekly routine is random and there is no pattern to the suits. It is possible that last week's spade will be the same as this week's spade. Anyway, each suit has a 25% probability, so it all depends on luck."
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of worry in each other's eyes.
In summary, the characteristic of the Weekly Routine is that it's very difficult. Furthermore, the type of escape room is unpredictable, and there's a chance of encountering a Hunter.
As we can see from Lao Mo's description, last week's Diamonds -like Weekly Routine resulted in millions of players being eliminated due to the random appearance of Hunters who slaughtered players, coupled with the numerous traps within the maze.
Old Mo is lucky to have survived.
Liu Qiao liked Lao Mo very much because he was about the same age as her father and gave her a feeling of sincerity.
She couldn't help but ask, " Uncle Mo, none of your teammates on the contract book are here anymore, so what are your plans for this week's Weekly Routine?"
Mo Xuelin sighed and said, "I want to recruit some teammates on the forum. Also, I saw a lot of newbies at the train station today. After a week, these newbies will definitely recruit teammates. I won't have trouble finding a team. But whether I can find a stronger team depends on fate."
Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang.
Because the two had established a Telepathic Connection, Yu Hanjiang learned of Xiao Lou's idea immediately.
Xiao Lou's voice echoed in his mind: " Captain Yu, according to Lao Mo, our five-person team is likely to become easy prey after entering the Weekly Secret Chamber. If there are too few of us, we will be targeted by larger groups, which will actually make our actions more difficult."
Yu Hanjiang said, "Yes, in other people's eyes, the five of us are just lambs to the slaughter. They will prioritize eliminating small groups like us. The best way is to find a few more reliable people, upgrade our contract books, and strengthen our team."
Xiao Lou asked, " Captain Yu has been at the Police Station for so many years. In your experience, is this Lao Mo reliable?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "His words were clear and logical, and there was no trace of pretense in his expression or eyes. I believe what he said. He probably wants to try to go back for his daughter. His teammates were wiped out last week, so he is making money and accumulating funds. However, we haven't had much contact with him, and it would be very risky to directly recruit him into the team."
Xiao Lou thought for a moment and said, "I have an idea. We can ask the Intelligence Bureau to check his background. If the Intelligence Bureau's results are true, we can see if we can add him to the team. Anyway, we also need to ask the Intelligence Bureau to help Liu Qiao find her sister."
Yu Hanjiang said, "Okay. But even with Lao Mo, we still don't have enough people to start a high-level contract book. A high-level team needs at least eight people."
Xiao Lou paused for a few seconds, then suddenly asked, " Captain Yu, do you remember the couple we met in Liuxi Village?"
"You mean the man who drew the Chameleon card, and that woman who jumps around like a zombie?"
Xiao Lou said, "They don't have a team, and they might have come to Moon City too. Once they find out about the Weekly Routine, they'll definitely try to team up. We worked together in Liuxi Village before; that couple is pretty strong, and their cards are good. I could tell they really wanted to team up with us back then and were willing to follow your instructions. Why don't you try contacting them?"
Yu Hanjiang readily agreed: "Sure. People we've worked with before are always more reliable than strangers. Those two in Liuxi Village were very cooperative with our plans. If we can find them, along with Lao Mo, we'll have eight people, which will be enough to start a high-level contract book."
Xiao Lou said, "Eight people are better than five. Besides, Lao Mo knows a lot of information. He's a senior and can give us some help. As for that couple, I can tell they really admire Captain Yu. We'll carry them to victory in Liuxi Village. They'll definitely believe in our abilities and be willing to follow our lead."
Yu Hanjiang found that Xiao Lou's considerations were indeed meticulous, taking all aspects into account. He had no objections and said, "Let's do it this way. Go to the Intelligence Bureau on Wednesday."
Others: "???"
Everyone noticed that Professor Xiao and Captain Yu stared at each other for almost a minute without saying a word, just silently looking at each other.
Those in the know understood they were communicating in the spiritual realm using Qin Guan's " Telepathic Connection." Those who didn't—like Lao Mo—looked at Xiao Lou and then at Yu Hanjiang with some confusion. He thought, "These two handsome guys have been staring at each other for almost a minute, completely ignoring everyone else around them. What's going on?!"
How much longer are you two going to stare at each other? Should he speak or remain silent?