Cheese Milk Cap hesitated for a brief second before rushing to the front again to fight with Fathead. He couldn't just watch him die right before his eyes.
With a swift flick of his tail, he used his shrimp pincers to slash open the Fathead fish's abdomen, causing dark, ink-like blood to spill out...
Cheese Milk Cap Eight-Percent Sugar launched a continuous assault, forcing the Fathead fish to release the silk threads on Xie Shaoning's face and fall back to defend. He originally intended to press the advantage, slice the Fathead fish in half, and push it straight out of the iron cage.
However, he never expected that at the critical moment, it would release an even greater number of golden silk threads than before, completely entangling his own tail.
As a result, the moment he threw the Fathead fish out of the cage, he was dragged down along with it. Xie Shaoning watched this scene from the side in utter helplessness, completely unable to assist, and ultimately could only howl and pound the railings with all his might...
Cheese Milk Cap Eight-Percent Sugar was already in despair, cursing himself as an idiot countless times in his heart.
He didn't understand why, with his usually selfish nature, he would risk his life for a completely unrelated cooperative partner.
With his brain, he wouldn't even be able to earn enough points to successfully get himself out, and even if he did, he might not necessarily save him.
What he wanted was to be number one on the server, to have the chance to trample Invincible Black Whirlwind underfoot. Let alone Xie Shaoning, he wouldn't give that up for anyone.
What was even more unimaginable was... he always prided himself on being clear-headed, yet he was actually dying to save someone else. He had clearly been betrayed once before, yet he acted foolishly again. He really deserved it.
From far away, everyone heard the giant sea turtle's sharp, agonizing cries, not knowing what had happened.
But judging from the ascending speed of the iron cage, it was obvious that only Xie Shaoning was left in his team.
Qi Xu's side suddenly became passive; they had originally been in a solid first place.
Threeking had taken the lead in dealing with two teammates, slowly catching up in speed, and had currently managed to surpass them.
Although it was unknown what had happened on Xie Shaoning's side, he would probably be able to catch up in at most two hours.
Jinwen Xingmangyue and the other two were definitely at the bottom, but if they also reacted, it would be too late to find other solutions by then.
One slow step leads to falling behind at every step.
After thinking it through, Dongfang Yuan directly patted Wolf Warrior 004 next to her, pointed to the abyssal depths below, and made a Let's Go gesture.
She then elegantly jumped sideways into the abyss. Even though she was a crab, she possessed the grace of a professional diver.
Wolf Warrior 004 followed closely, afraid that if he was a step late, he would be separated too far from his carry. With Sister Yuan protecting him, the deep sea didn't seem so terrifying anymore.
He just took a moment to give his boss a look, conveying, Don't worry, don't worry, someone's got my back!
Qi Xu did not object, nor did he stop them. This was the only way to secure a steady victory at present. Dragging it out and waiting would only lead to a more passive situation.
He had thought that giving up everything first would give them an advantage in speed, but in the end, he realized they still needed a teammate to voluntarily make a sacrifice.
If the trust between teammates wasn't that high, this stage would be extremely troublesome.
Jinwen Xingmangyue's side could only react quickly as well. The other two teammates jumped straight into the abyss, pinning their hopes on the gap they had just created with the turtle team.
Now, only one person was left in each iron cage. They spent nearly 24 hours in dead silence before finally escaping the bottom of the sea.
The game did this on purpose. If there were three players in the iron cage, it would be impossible for them to successfully get out within 24 hours.
However, as soon as Qi Xu surfaced, he immediately looked at Threeking. He had definitely brought the treasure out.
Otherwise, he would absolutely be in first place; when there was only one person in the cage, his cage ascended faster than Threeking's.
Threeking subtly patted his pocket, confirming Qi Xu's thoughts.
It was a pity that Lao Si wasn't here right now.
[Congratulations to the four of you for successfully escaping!]
As soon as the secret realm's announcement ended, the chains suspended overhead suddenly slackened, and the iron cages crashed onto a hard platform with a loud clang.
The four who successfully ascended transformed back from sea monsters into human forms. A bit unaccustomed to walking, they stumbled out of the cage doors, only to find themselves on a peaceful sandy beach.
The salty sea breeze, mixed with sunlight, blew against their faces. Compared to the dead silence and darkness of the deep sea, the light at this moment was so piercing that they couldn't even open their eyes.
Successfully escaping? Xie Shaoning suddenly chuckled softly, his voice wrapped in the daze and grievance of surviving a disaster.
Then what about my teammates? Didn't they say we could use points to save people? How many points do I have? It can't still be negative, right? What is this nonsense? Treasure Map Secret Realm, I'm never playing this again. It screws me over every single time.
Qi Xu looked over in surprise, only to find that he... had cried so hard that the corners of his eyes were red, and his face was covered in snot and tears.
Although they could vaguely see a rough outline during the cage's ascent, there was no way to know exactly what had happened.
Qi Xu had originally thought that they had a falling out and Xie Shaoning was the ultimate victor and beneficiary. Now it seemed there was a hidden story. The current Xie Shaoning was completely different from the one in the previous secret realm, who had abandoned his pet, the Tyrant Mountain Tiger, without any hesitation.
Jinwen Xingmangyue also looked a bit disheveled as he said in a hoarse voice, I want to exchange points.
As for Threeking, he could only play his act to the end. He stared at the other three with a guarded expression, widening the distance to prevent them from teaming up against him.
He even involuntarily clenched his fists, rapidly brainstorming.
Lao Si wasn't here; he must have jumped down on his own...
If Invincible Black Whirlwind didn't have enough points, he could only redeem one person. If he redeemed Lao Si, it would be hard to explain to Qiuqiu, and his cover would be blown.
Qiuqiu wasn't very smart, but that didn't mean he was actually stupid. He had to find a suitable excuse...
Although the public broadcast didn't answer everyone's questions, the bright light ahead represented everything.
Qi Xu, Xie Shaoning, and Jinwen Xingmangyue were all people who had participated in the previous Treasure Map Secret Realm, so they knew all too well about the nested endpoints of this realm.
While advancing quickly, they were already prepared for battle. Sure enough, it was that extremely crude combination lock again. Without a word, Qi Xu started trying the passwords one by one, just like last time.
Xie Shaoning also took out his longsword again and rushed forward the moment the high-level stitched monster appeared.
Perhaps because he had pent-up anger that needed venting, every sword strike carried significant lethal force. He fought until his strength was exhausted, then exchanged a glance with Jinwen Xingmangyue, and the two seamlessly tagged in and out.
Even though they didn't say a single word, they displayed extraordinary tacit understanding.
...........
