Chapter 721: The Choices of Small Factions

Worried Zhao Xiuying might not fully follow, Wen Wan paused briefly and added more explanation. "We're both offenders here. If we want to survive this game, it really comes down to two things: guessing other people's numbers, and protecting our own.

"Each of us holds two pieces of information. Combined across all five of us, that's ten pieces, and with all of it pooled together, everyone's crime could be guessed very quickly.

"But that would mean mutual destruction.

"On the other hand, without sharing any information at all, guessing other people's numbers becomes extremely difficult.

"So pairing up two by two is the optimal choice.

"Auntie, whose information do you have?"

Zhao Xiuying hesitated briefly, "It's, yours and that Liang Guicheng's."

Wen Wan's spirits lifted noticeably, relieved that her guess had been correct.

She had noticed that the five machines in the waiting room followed a fixed order: Liang Guicheng (Fruit Farmer), Zeng Yiming (Restaurant Manager), He Qing (Installer), Zhao Xiuying (Stall Owner), Wen Wan (E-commerce).

The two pieces of information she herself held were Liang Guicheng's last digit and the full details of Zeng Yiming's crime.

If the information had been assigned randomly, there would be no way to infer what any other player specifically held.

But if it wasn't random, and instead followed some kind of cyclical pattern, then it would mean each player held information about the two players immediately following them in sequence.

Following that logic, Zhao Xiuying should be holding Wen Wan's last digit and Liang Guicheng's crime details.

That was unambiguously good news for Wen Wan.

Because if the two of them shared what they knew, they would together gain access to both Liang Guicheng's last digit and his crime, dramatically raising the odds of guessing his full number correctly.

And once cooperation was established, as long as Zhao Xiuying didn't reveal Wen Wan's last digit to anyone else, the odds of anyone else successfully guessing Wen Wan's number using only her crime details would become extremely low.

That would, in all likelihood, keep Wen Wan safe.

Of course, Wen Wan couldn't be certain Zhao Xiuying wasn't lying, nor could she be certain this cooperation would hold up over time. But regardless, the game had only just begun, and the odds that Zhao Xiuying had already fabricated a convincing lie this early on seemed low.

Wen Wan felt she had managed to seize a real advantage.

Elsewhere, the courteous-looking middle-aged man, Zeng Yiming, had also taken the initiative and approached Liang Guicheng from Community 24, the two of them now speaking in lowered voices as well.

By the time He Qing from Community 12 finished reading through the notice boards outside the Production Rooms, he belatedly realised he had already been excluded from both small alliances forming around him.

He Qing tried drifting closer to Wen Wan and Zhao Xiuying, but the two of them quickly shifted away, maintaining their distance from him.

Watching the situation unfold on the large screen, Huang Shengjie felt an instinctive wave of concern for Wen Wan.

He had no way of knowing whether she'd received the message, and even if she had, confessing her crime openly to the audience without hesitation would still be an extremely difficult thing for her to do.

In the end, this would come down entirely to her.

"Sister Ye Lin, what kind of advice do you think the other communities' audiences are giving?"

Ye Lin considered for a moment, "Hard to say. But I doubt we're the only community advising someone to confess.

"We don't have much visibility into Community 1 or Community 8, but Community 12 and Community 24 likely both have fairly strong players involved.

"Community 12 especially. There's a real chance Chen Guangming is in this game himself.

"If he's here, he'll certainly be looking for ways to use Community 12's offender player to his advantage."

Huang Shengjie looked back at the screen. "But Community 12 already has a bad reputation. He Qing's been isolated without doing anything at all.

"If I were Wen Wan, I'd actually consider teaming up with the other group right now.

"Get He Qing's number figured out first."

Ye Lin gave a slight shake of her head. "Are you sure about that? If that happens, He Qing would be the first to have his crime exposed, and he'd become the Production Director.

"Handing that kind of advantaged position to a player like him is risky. If he ends up assigning people in whatever way causes the most damage, the outcome of this game becomes very hard to predict.

"And besides, He Qing isn't likely to just sit back and accept it. He'll almost certainly do something about it."

Before Ye Lin had even finished speaking, He Qing was already shown on the screen striding back toward Wen Wan and Zhao Xiuying.

"Don't bother backing away.

"Do you two genuinely not understand the situation you're in? Think isolating me actually accomplishes something?

"I'm holding information on both of you.

"You'd be wise to share information with me instead. Otherwise, I'll hand everything I know about both of you straight to those two men over there.

"Let's see whether it ends up being the two of you isolating me, or the three of us isolating you."

He Qing's tone was aggressive, carrying a heavy weight of pressure.

But almost immediately, his tone softened. "But if you work with me and share what you know, the three of us could take the two of them down first."

Wen Wan and Zhao Xiuying exchanged a glance, both visibly uncertain.

He Qing came across as cunning and dangerous, not unlike the impression Chen Guangming tended to leave on people. Unpleasant as he was, that sense of danger carried real weight with ordinary players, making the cost of refusing to cooperate something worth thinking through carefully.

Wen Wan had simply gone with her first instinct in choosing Zhao Xiuying as a partner, but it was becoming clear her ability to adapt under pressure wasn't especially strong.

The relationships among the five offenders in this game were intricate, and even the smallest shift could trigger major upheaval.

He Qing took another step forward. "Think it over carefully, especially you, Wen Wan.

"Your two pieces of information are split between me and this lady here. As long as neither of us reveals it, you're completely safe.

"There are only five offenders in this game, and each of us holds two pieces of information. Whichever side has three against two holds an absolute advantage.

"In reality, I'm not the one being isolated right now. I'm the swing vote.

"Whichever side I join wins."

Wen Wan found herself hesitating, He Qing's words clearly chipping away at her resolve.

But just then, the other two players, Zeng Yiming and Liang Guicheng, walked over as well.

"Everyone, can I say something?"

It was Zeng Yiming who spoke, the most neatly dressed of the three men, with a manner that came across as courteous and refined. Even in his earlier conversation with Liang Guicheng, he had clearly been the one taking the lead.

"If we're all still focused on splitting five people into competing little factions, this game is going to be the death of every single one of us.

"Surely no one here fails to grasp something this simple?"

He Qing's brow furrowed. He clearly held little goodwill toward Zeng Yiming, and his expression showed visible distaste.

"That sounds nice coming from you, but aren't you running your own little faction too?

"Came over here because you're worried the three of us might team up, didn't you?"