Chapter 9: The Strategist

What did she mean?

Had someone else gotten their home stolen again?!

Several thoughts flashed through Lu Nan’s mind. She even wondered about Number Ten’s words—was it possible that she was a heteromorph too, planning to take the same old path and stab her in the back? As expected, knowing too many secrets wasn’t a good idea. No way…

Her judgment couldn’t be that bad, could it?

It was rare for her to commit Romance Brain once, yet you made her lose so thoroughly.

Fine, if she ended up stabbing her wife, then it was just her good fortune, what she deserved.

In those few seconds, Lu Nan was fully prepared to spread her arms and embrace the moment of death.

Meanwhile, Number Ten neatly tore open the woolen felt in front of her, splitting the paper beneath it in two.

She tore off a sheet of white paper and held up the woolen felt in front of Lu Nan. On the yellowed paper were two large characters: 【Sun and Moon】.

Just like the previous rules, the only difference was that the survival time had changed—from five days to three.

Someone had swapped the rules to mislead them.

The one who swapped the rules was obviously the heteromorph they needed to vote out—the two demon wolves.

This lined up perfectly with Number One’s guess. She thought to herself: This person is reliable after all.

“It’s three days. We’ve already wasted one day yesterday. Tonight might bring…”

She trailed off, but Lu Nan knew what she meant even without her saying it.

Today and tomorrow would decide the winner. Tonight, a heteromorph might start testing them.

“Since we’re teammates now, I’ll share my findings with you too.” Number Ten tucked the woolen felt into her pocket, then rummaged around in the outer pocket of her pure white cotton jacket.

Soon, she pulled out the bottle of medicine that Number Five had placed beside him when he died.

The bottle was pure white. She shook it toward Number One with a smile.

No one had noticed this bottle. Right from the start, she had swapped it out. Everyone thought it contained medicine, but it didn’t.

With particular care, she opened the bottle, tilting it cautiously toward Lu Nan to avoid spilling its contents.

Lu Nan peered inside and was momentarily stunned.

There was no medicine in the bottle—just a green worm, a large caterpillar nearly as big as the bottle itself.

“What is that?” Lu Nan asked.

Once Number Ten saw that she had looked, she quickly screwed the cap back on to prevent the worm from escaping.

“I don’t know either, but it must be useful.”

“You’d better keep it safe. If it gets lost or stepped on, it’s gone.”

“Mm.”

Suddenly, a funny image flashed through Lu Nan’s mind, and she lowered her head with a chuckle.

Though it was fleeting, Number Ten caught it easily.

“What are you laughing at?” Number Ten asked, puzzled.

It was just a bottle that was supposed to have medicine but had a worm instead. Why was Number One laughing?

Could the thing in the bottle have a side effect that made people laugh?!

How weird. Then why didn’t she find it funny…

“I wasn’t laughing.” Lu Nan denied it stubbornly.

Number Ten exposed her lie: “I saw it…”

Lu Nan shook her head lightly, her eyes full of amusement. She said, “You’re really smart.”

She said it with complete sincerity, without a hint of sarcasm, which only puzzled Number Ten more.

“Thanks…?”

“You’re welcome.”

At that moment, Lu Nan absolutely wouldn’t let the topic drop. She would pick it up, dust it off, and force it to continue.

“After telling me all this, what’s your plan?”

Number Ten asked bluntly. No one shared information with a stranger for no reason. Since they were teammates now, she believed her teammate needed her for something.

“Mm.” Lu Nan nodded calmly, putting on a mysterious air. “I want you to come to my room tonight at eleven.”

Number Ten’s eyebrow arched at the seemingly nonsensical request.

“Eleven?”

She repeated her words, as if chewing on them carefully.

Just as she was about to speak again, Number One raised a finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture.

She whispered, “You’ll know tonight.”

Number Ten swallowed her words. She had wanted to ask if Number One suspected someone already.

To vote out the enemy, they needed to know who the enemy was. If they waited for the foxes to show their tails, everyone would be dead by then.

Lu Nan’s lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

Number Ten immediately understood, silently mimicking her lip movements in her mind—use someone else’s knife to kill.

Now she instantly grasped what Number One intended.

It seemed Number One already had a suspect but couldn’t say it aloud here. What Number One planned now was to borrow a knife to kill—with a strategic retreat.

Whose knife to borrow?

Number Ten looked up and unexpectedly met her gaze.

Those eyes held an invasive yet gentle and complex expression, leaving her momentarily dazed.

Number Ten couldn’t help thinking: Good thing Number One was an ally. If she were from the other side, the difficulty would be way too high.

“In the crucial moment, sacrifice myself and stall for time.” Number Ten spoke, looking at the woman before her.

In saying this, she was also telling Lu Nan that if she hadn’t arrived by then, that captivating face alone could buy time.

“I’ll follow your lead, Strategist.”

Lu Nan’s voice was as cool as ever, yet laced with a hint of amusement, deliberately teasing her.

The words made both of them chuckle. Number Ten tapped the wooden table repeatedly with her finger.

She still voiced that thought—

“For some reason, I feel like you’re really familiar…”

Lu Nan’s expression froze for a moment upon hearing this. She said frankly, “What, you don’t recognize me? But I recognize you.”

Familiar was right. Stranger would be weird!

“Really?” Number Ten’s expression carried a trace of scrutiny.

She thought to herself—how could anyone recognize her?

In this variety show, everyone’s appearance was basically altered. Only those very familiar with you could pick you out.

But in the entertainment industry, she didn’t have anyone that familiar with her, nor this strange sense of familiarity.

Lu Nan curved her lips into a smile that reached her eyes. “You’ll find out when the time comes.”

To her surprise, Number Ten felt a spark of anticipation—for that “time,” for who was beneath this skin, for who made her feel so familiar.

【Damn, Lu Nan’s smile is so swoony!】

【Does anyone know if these two actually know each other?】

【Why is Lu Nan smiling so much? Was it that the previous person didn’t inspire any desire to smile…?】

【Cold Sis is so chatty today. Worth celebrating.】

【This sis finally smiled. I thought she was paralyzed or something.】

【I wanna know what their faces will be like when they watch the replay after recording and realize they’re rivals!】

【Anyone shipping these two? People who don’t get it are in trouble!】

【People who don’t get it are definitely in trouble. When has Cold Sis ever been this happy? She used to not waste words before, but now she won’t let a single one drop.】

【Shipping them randomly will bring bad karma!】

“Right, I think Number Eight was right too. The two Demon Spaces are mixed together. The Demon Wolves want to trigger Ragnarok in one Demon Space, while Number Three and the others entered another spacetime.”

“Around 11:58, another spacetime opens. We don’t know how to enter yet, but from after dinner to 11:30 is the current spacetime.”

“What’s your basis?” Number Ten asked.

She didn’t follow Lu Nan’s train of thought blindly. She wanted evidence-based reasoning for it to have value.

At the same time, she knew Lu Nan likely had other evidence.

“What are you two talking about?”

A voice suddenly interrupted their conversation from behind.

The person emerged from the dim corner—it was Number Six, her standard straight bangs swaying slightly in the breeze.

She flashed her signature smile, as if she hadn’t noticed Number Ten at all, and approached Lu Nan step by step.

She repeated, “Sis, what are you two talking about?”

Lu Nan didn’t know how long Number Six had been behind them or what she’d overheard.

Yet neither of them had heard her footsteps on the stairs.