Chapter 974: Have You Not Considered the Contradiction?

Chapter 974: Have You Not Considered the Contradiction?

"The first deposit is for all evolutionary abilities, the second deposit is for all Special Items, and the third deposit is for all Potential Growth Value. Remember, you must speak to successfully renew the rental... Well then, I'll start filling the water now."
As the green water beneath their feet slowly rippled, the voice from the speaker seemed to linger in their ears.
The danger of this instance greatly exceeded everyone's expectations. Lin Sanjiu understood why no one continued renting for the fourth time—after all, they were stripped down to nothing, leaving only a white husk of an evolved being. Who could survive for the fourth time?
The rules did sound simple—go for ten minutes, find a boat, return for ten minutes, and return the boat. But when the two additional rules of "only one boat return every ten minutes" and "only four intact pedal boats available" were added...
Just as Lin Sanjiu was thinking about this, she suddenly kicked something with her foot, almost stumbling and falling into the water. She quickly used her arms to steady herself, sighing internally at how she had never been in such a sorry state since evolving. At that moment, she felt her hands press against something fluffy and swollen, like a bubble.
Between the swaying emerald water patterns, a swollen white face met her gaze with two dark, wobbling eyes.
Lin Sanjiu involuntarily gasped and immediately stood up straight. By now, the water had reached her calves, and their group of six had distanced themselves from the rental point on the shore. Just as the speaker had said, regardless of one's height, leg length, or physical fitness, the maximum speed when walking towards the pedal boats was forcibly made the same for everyone. At this moment, the other five people were almost in a straight line with her. When they heard her gasp, their gazes turned to her one by one.
"They are people who died here before," the Eastern European girl, who was closest to Lin Sanjiu, glanced at the bodies and explained to her companions, "There are many underwater."
Lin Sanjiu looked at the corpses with a tinge of regret, then lifted her leg to step over one. Without [Planar World], she couldn't store it away; otherwise, it might have come in handy later.
With every step, they were battling against the lake water.
Several minutes passed without anyone speaking, only the splashing sound of footsteps breaking through the water, carried away by the waves with each passing moment. Without any evolutionary abilities, it made one feel anxious in waves. Even the conversations between the five group members ceased. When they set off, they had intentionally squeezed Lin Sanjiu into the middle, waiting for the moment they touched the pedal boats to launch their attack.
The speaker hadn't lied; the water was indeed clean. However, there was no shortage of various debris on the lakebed. Besides the swollen bodies, there were leftover snack wrappers, beverage bottles, wallets, a lone shoe, and other miscellaneous items that couldn't be identified. The farther they walked, the more items there were on the lakebed, greatly slowing down the pace of the group of six. After walking for a while, everyone began to realize the situation.
"Damn it," the droopy-faced man was the first to curse. "It means it will take at least ten minutes to reach the other side!"
"Just a bit longer," the round-faced man quickly glanced at Lin Sanjiu, gritting his teeth. "It won't affect us." He had already placed his bets and hopes on "eliminating Lin Sanjiu."
Without the basic physical enhancement, everyone was struggling in the rising lake water. Sweat dripped from their foreheads. Except for the dashing middle-aged man, the other two men took off their clothes and stuffed them into storage items, lightening their burden and increasing their speed slightly. The Eastern European girl hesitated for a moment, then bent down to remove her jeans.
The leader immediately turned back and scolded her in a low voice, "What are you doing!"
Ignoring the leader's words, the Eastern European girl removed her jeans, revealing a patch of white skin. She reached into the water, pulling up her pant legs as she questioned, "Haven't you ever worn a swimsuit? What's the difference—"
She didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she suddenly froze. Then, she crouched down, searching the lakebed with her hands, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.
"What's wrong?" The leader stopped walking. After walking through the water for some time, even their breathing became slightly labored.
"It's just another piece of garbage," the Eastern European girl paused for a moment, stood up, and kicked away her jeans. "It's a big piece. I thought it might be something useful."
Lin Sanjiu's heart skipped a beat as she turned her head to take a closer look at her.
The Eastern European girl tied her jeans around her waist and as she continued walking, her eyes briefly met with Lin Sanjiu's before quickly looking away.
Lin Sanjiu nonchalantly withdrew her gaze and mentally compared her height to the Eastern European girl's. By the time the water reached her shoulders, the Eastern European girl would have already been submerged...
She did have one advantage: if everyone couldn't find a boat, she would be the last one among the six to drown—if she wasn't killed by the others first.
They struggled through the water, occasionally stepping on corpses or getting scratched by debris. After walking for some time, the dense cluster of pedal boats gradually became clear. They were large in number, with countless dull-colored swan heads and duck faces pressing heavily on their retinas, almost causing them to hold their breath.
There were too many.
The closer they got, the more shocked they were by the sheer number of pedal boats. It was definitely more than a hundred. The boats were tightly packed, leaving almost no gaps for the water to flow through.
"Why are there so many?" the class monitor murmured.
The pedal boats were only three to four minutes away from them. Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and quickened her pace, taking advantage of her long legs to get closer to the maximum speed defined by the horn's rules. She managed to create a slight gap between herself and the stumbling group. The horn didn't bother defining what constituted "physical attacks," so it simply categorized all conflicting actions as "physical attacks." Even though the five-person group still had many special items in their possession, they could only resort to the most straightforward method. The round-faced man hurriedly shouted, "Keep up with her! Don't let her get too far!"
class monitor responded first, surpassing the Eastern European girl and rushing after Lin Sanjiu with splashing sounds.
Of course, Lin Sanjiu knew they would catch up with her, but her intention was not to run away and hide. As long as she could spend even a minute alone with someone—no, even just a few seconds—she would at least have a chance to try.
But why did it have to be this stubborn woman who caught up with her?
As they swiftly moved through the water, the boats grew closer. These pedal boats had been parked here for who knows how many years, swaying on the water's surface. The worn-out paint on their mottled surfaces made it difficult to discern their original colors. The boats were not large, accommodating at most two people. The bottom, closer to the water's surface, was covered in a thick layer of black, sludgy material.
Lin Sanjiu gasped for breath as she lunged forward a few steps. Just as she was about to reach out and grab the edge of a pedal boat, she abruptly turned and came face-to-face with the class monitor. The other four people were not far behind, wading through the water in a hurry.
"It really wasn't me," Lin Sanjiu whispered urgently to the class monitor, lowering her voice. "Have you not considered the contradiction here? If it was my special item that caused this instance, then when I renew for the second time, I would have to give the item that created the instance to the instance. Even if I die, you wouldn't want to become the sacrificial person, right?"