Chapter 20 : Banding Together

There are four police officers, four killers, and eight civilians, making a total of sixteen people.

The win conditions are very simple: the killers need to eliminate either four police officers or eight civilians; fulfilling either one of these conditions means victory.

The police and civilians are on the same team, and they only need to eliminate all four killers to win.

But even with such simple win conditions, achieving victory is incredibly difficult, because aside from knowing their own teammates, no one knows anyone else’s identity at this point.

The worst killing order for the killers would be to eliminate seven civilians and three police officers; in that case, it would take eight days to decide the winner, which is extremely disadvantageous for the killers.

The best order is to kill a police officer on the first night—before 6 a.m. on the second day—then vote out another police officer during the day, precisely kill a third police officer before 6 a.m. on the third day, and finally, vote out the last police officer during the third day’s voting.

That would secure victory in the shortest time possible.

Of course, this kind of dreamlike killing sequence is just that—a dream.

Don’t take it seriously.

Even if you have an undercover among the police and know the identities of all four officers, it’s still very difficult to get them voted out.

Don’t forget, there are eight civilians with eight votes, while the killers only have four votes.

To get the police voted out, you have to trick the civilians into voting for them.

That’s a real test of your silver tongue.

As for Huaru, forget it—she’s busy playing the part of a shy, delicate girl and is in no position to give a speech right now.

That heavy responsibility falls on her other three teammates, but it’s obvious their intelligence is nowhere near our 249-IQ Huaru.

After the meeting ended, as expected, Number 14, Yelena, clung to her, while the other two teammates went off to form their own little clique.

Look at Number 12, Xu Kesi—as soon as the meeting ended, he sprang into action, his eyes searching for a target like a hungry wolf, and quickly locked onto Number 3, Qian Min, who called himself a detective.

With a practiced little jog, he managed to become the first to approach Qian Min before anyone else could strike up a conversation.

Number 7, Lagna, isn’t stupid either. Instead of joining Number 12, he chose to team up with that odd couple who looked like they’d stepped out of a “Shamate” fashion magazine.

After all, those two each held a vote, and they probably wouldn’t vote against each other, so getting close to them basically meant securing two votes.

That’s a huge advantage.

In this game, surviving is the foundation of victory.

If you can’t even stay alive, what’s the point of talking about winning?

So, forming cliques is something everyone fears yet has to do.

It’s easy to be mistaken for a killer or a police officer when you form a group, which could make you a target for the killers at night, or give others a reason to attack you the next day.

But there’s also a benefit to sticking together—you can agree not to vote for your own people.

Those three clearly aren’t thinking as far ahead as Huaru.

While Huaru is already plotting how to lead the civilians into eliminating the police, her two teammates are still focused on self-preservation.

But you can’t really blame them.

Thanks to her disguise, Huaru is temporarily safe and doesn’t need to worry about her identity being exposed for now.

At least, with Number 2, Zhang Huiran, and Number 10, Liu Qingzhu, both being suspicious, she doesn’t have to worry about being targeted yet.

Unless she makes a fatal mistake tonight, the voting on the second day will have nothing to do with her.

That’s exactly why Huaru is thinking a step ahead—she’s already considering how to guide the votes against the police, rather than just worrying about her own safety.

“Zheng Wen?” Suddenly, a weak voice sounded beside her. It was Number 10, Liu Qingzhu, also known as Anxue Wu in the same QQ Group.

Huaru was still deep in thought and didn’t react right away.

Besides, that was her alias—she didn’t instinctively connect herself with the name Zheng Wen, so she naturally didn’t respond to Number 10, Liu Qingzhu.

“Your name is Zheng Wen, right?” The middle-aged man stepped closer, raising his voice a little.

“What do you want?” Number 14, Yelena, shot back, her hostility written all over her face.

Huaru finally snapped out of it, and when she realized Number 10, Liu Qingzhu, was right next to her, she felt a bit uneasy, her mind racing.

Without a doubt, the most dangerous people right now are Number 2 and Number 10.

Number 2 was exposed for lying, and compared to everyone else’s squeaky-clean introductions, Zhang Huiran became the only one with a blemish among the sixteen.

Number 10, on the other hand, became intimidating to everyone after that sharp speech—no one wanted to be targeted by him, and his actions leaned slightly toward those of a killer, making him the second most dangerous person.

Getting too close to either of them is asking for trouble.

Still, it’s clear that some people’s intelligence is dragging down the world’s average.

As Number 10, Liu Qingzhu, strolled over with a cigarette in his mouth, someone else was also approaching slowly.

Catching this out of the corner of her eye, Huaru immediately came up with a plan.

She still kept up her timid, delicate act and softly asked, “Excuse me, do you need something?”

“Don’t be so scared, little girl.”

Liu Qingzhu didn’t answer Huaru right away. Instead, he used his free right hand to gently pat Number 14, Yelena, on the head, looking very friendly.

Then he said, “Here’s the thing—I wanted to ask if you’d like to form an alliance with me. Don’t get the wrong idea, I just want to keep myself alive, that’s all. Aren’t you afraid of dying?”

“An alliance?” Huaru looked confused, though she was just pretending. She knew exactly what he meant—forming an alliance was all about pooling votes, agreeing not to vote against each other, and targeting others instead.

“That’s right, an alliance. Remember the rules? Starting from the second day, there’s voting. Each person gets one vote, and the person with the most votes is eliminated. Elimination obviously means death, right? Aren’t you worried about being voted out by others?”

The middle-aged man’s face took on an expression like a salesman pitching a product, or maybe like a creepy uncle luring kids with candy.

“But… we haven’t done anything… Why would they vote us out?” Huaru kept playing dumb, though she felt pretty awkward inside. That ‘sympathetic look for fools’ from the man was a bit much for her.

It was like an adult talking to a kindergartener—tone softened, words simplified, lowering one’s intelligence to communicate with little kids.

The middle-aged man was doing exactly that. He had to dumb himself down just to hold a conversation with Huaru and Yelena.

“Think about it! None of us know who the killers are, right?”

After posing the question, the man paused, waiting for Huaru and Yelena to nod before continuing, “None of us know who the killers are! So who should we vote for?”

Huaru asked innocently, “Can we not vote?”

“You might be able to skip voting, but think about it… you can’t guarantee others won’t vote. Especially the police—imagine, as soon as they confirm someone is a civilian, they could just vote out everyone else, and wouldn’t that guarantee their win? Don’t you think so? Isn’t that right?”

Number 10, Liu Qingzhu, launched into his strong-armed reasoning, sounding all logical and convincing. If Huaru weren’t so sharp, she might have fallen for it.

The man’s intention was obvious—he wanted to ‘raise pigs’, or in other words, use these two as tools.

With the support of these two weak girls, he’d have three votes in his pocket, able to aim them at anyone or even protect himself with ease.

“Bro, you’re absolutely right. Count me in! I want to join too.” Number 8, Pangzi, finally showed up, saying his purpose outright.

This Number 8 really isn’t too bright—everyone else is avoiding Numbers 2 and 10, but he walks right up to them.

Should they form an alliance or not?

Huaru was very conflicted inside. If only Number 14, Yelena, could be swapped for Number 11, Senior High School Teacher, then they’d have a perfect straight: 8, 9, 10, 11.

That would be a neat freak’s dream come true.

But with Number 14 in the mix, that straight just can’t be completed.

Aside from her obsessive dislike of Number 14, Yelena, Huaru was also worried about her intelligence—honestly, it left much to be desired.

Number 10, Liu Qingzhu, was definitely not an easy opponent!

Still, this was the situation Number 10 most wanted to see.

In his eyes, the other three were basically simpletons, easy to manipulate.

If things went smoothly, with four votes in hand, he wouldn’t have to worry about being voted out on the second or third day—unless someone else managed to rally the remaining votes.