Chapter 127: Ten Ambiguous Minutes

*Swish—*

The sound of a blade slicing through cardboard cut through the warehouse with jarring sharpness. The man in the pink muscle suit was ruthlessly carving away at the survivors' only hope.

*Swish—*

Another cut.

This time, he didn't follow any principle of symmetry or balance. The blade wandered over the cardboard as he pleased, hacking out fragments of bizarre, jagged shapes.

Standing to the side, the corners of the mouth behind Shen Feng’s smiling mask seemed to twitch. Clearly, this lack of aesthetic symmetry caused even him, a severe obsessive-compulsive, a moment of discomfort. But this minor irritation was nothing compared to the immense torment he was about to inflict upon everyone.

Soon, the new "footholds" were distributed to the remaining nineteen pairs. Each piece was uniquely shaped and hideous, but they all shared one trait: their surface area had been compressed to a size barely large enough for a single foot.

"What the hell! What is this? How the hell are we supposed to stand on this?" a burly man roared in despair as he looked at the palm-sized piece of cardboard on the floor. But as soon as he finished shouting, his eyes darted away, not daring to meet the gaze of Shen Feng in the center of the arena.

Chen Yu stared at the irregular piece of cardboard beneath his feet, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. This time, that son of a bitch Shen Feng really wasn't leaving them any way out. One foot on the board—and what about the other person? Were they supposed to hang off him?

"White Moonlight... how much do you weigh?" Chen Yu turned to ask Li Qing, whose face was equally pale.

Li Qing was sharp; she understood his intent instantly. A blush crept onto her cheeks, but she answered honestly, "One hundred pounds, net."

"Hmm, and you're over five-foot-seven. One hundred pounds—not bad, quite healthy." Chen Yu even had the heart to crack a joke. "I like that."

"Is this really the time for jokes!" Li Qing gave him an annoyed swat.

"Alright, my dear players, it seems you are ready for our final round! Good luck, everyone!"

Shen Feng’s voice, filled with delight and excitement, echoed through the warehouse via the loudspeaker once more. "However, the rules for this round are going to be just a little bit harder..."

He intentionally drew out his words, savoring the thickening terror on the survivors' faces. "Everyone, you must hold on... for ten minutes!"

"What?"

"Ten minutes?!"

"Are you kidding me!"

The moment the words left his lips, the crowd erupted. The five-minute embrace had already exhausted most of them; now, they were expected to carry another person while balancing on a single foot for ten minutes? This was no longer a test; it was cold-blooded murder.

Shen Feng, however, had no intention of offering explanations or entertaining protests. He raised his hand gracefully, checked the massive digital timer on the wall, and announced, "Get ready! The game... begins!"

At his command, the timer on the wall instantly flashed to [00:10:00], ruthlessly beginning the countdown.

"Damn it!"

Chen Yu cursed under his breath, wasting no time. He took a deep breath, planted his right foot firmly in the center of the pathetic little piece of cardboard, and used all his strength to maintain his balance on one leg. He had intended to lift Li Qing in a dominant bridal carry, but the moment he bent down, Li Qing made a move he hadn't expected.

She suddenly spread her legs and climbed onto him, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist, her arms circling his neck.

"With this position, I can use a bit of my own strength to help take some of the load off you." Her voice, trembling with unmasked panic, rang in his ear.

Chen Yu felt a warmth in his heart. Damn, this girl was truly sensible! But... this position... it was way too lethal!

Their upper bodies were pressed together without a sliver of space between them. Through the thin fabric of their clothes, Chen Yu could clearly feel the astonishing elasticity and softness of the young woman’s body. It was a delicacy and fullness that defied description. In particular, her chest was crushed against his torso, transmitting a heart-pounding sensation. A faint, sweet fragrance mixed with the girl's body heat, constantly drifting into his nostrils.

*Damn it.* Who could handle this?

Chen Yu felt the blood in his lower body rushing toward a certain area at an incredibly inopportune speed. *Is this bastard trying to take my life, or the life of my little brother? If this keeps up, I’m not going to die from exhaustion—I’m going to be drained dry!*

He forcibly suppressed the chaotic thoughts, cupped her buttocks with both hands, and hoisted her up to stabilize his center of gravity. The firm, rounded sensation beneath his palms made his head spin.

"Don't move around!" Li Qing, sensing the movement of his hands, flushed until her face looked like it might bleed, and whispered a warning in his ear.

"Big sister, if I don't move, we're both going to fall and go to hell right now," Chen Yu grit his teeth, feeling the immense pressure building in his right leg.

The other eighteen pairs of survivors, seeing this high-difficulty, acrobatic maneuver, followed suit. In an instant, the warehouse turned into a scene of intimate, "koala-climbing-a-tree" postures.

But they were faring much worse than Chen Yu and Li Qing. Those pairs of men and women didn't know each other at all. Now, the women were forced into this shame-inducing position, pressed tightly against a stranger’s most private areas. How many of the men here were truly decent people? The atmosphere between the pairs instantly turned volatile.

"Hand! Where do you think your hand is going!" a woman screamed.

"Shut up! If you don't want to die, hold on tighter!" the man roared back crudely.

"Don't you dare touch my chest! Touch me again and I'll kill you!"

"Wrap your arms around my waist! Yes! Use your legs to clamp on! Didn't you eat today!"

"You... where are you touching? You bastard! Watch it or I'll castrate you later!"

The sounds of women screaming and cursing, mixed with the shouting of men, turned the warehouse into a chaotic mess.

The worst atmosphere, however, wasn't among these mismatched pairs, but the teams composed of two men. Men were naturally heavier, and having one hang off the other like a piece of luggage was a sight to behold. More importantly: who would be the "luggage"? This wasn't just a matter of pride; it was a life-or-death struggle for survival.

Sure enough, as the timer started ticking, one pair of burly men was still locked in a heated argument over who should carry whom.

"Why should I carry you! You're twenty pounds heavier than me!"

"Bullshit! This is muscle! You're just full of fat!"

"Say that again, you prick!"

"I said you—"

Before the words could finish, *BANG!*

A crisp gunshot rang out. A bullet struck the back of the two men's heads with precision, kicking up a mist of blood. Their lives, along with their argument, ceased instantly.

Immediately after, the two men in pink suits who had fired the shots turned their guns toward their own throats without a hint of emotion.

*BANG! BANG!*

Two more shots. Four corpses lay in a pool of blood.

This scene cast a heavy, suffocating shadow over every survivor. Ten minutes. This agonizingly long ten minutes had only just begun.