"First of all, your choice to communicate in a semi-threatening manner proves that you have no better options to extricate yourself than forcibly taking a visitor’s card."
Li Cheng’s expression changed instantly, his tone returning to normal: "And you mentioned having an ace up your sleeve. From the perspective of personal strength, you’re not strong enough to overpower the other players, and becoming a doll is unlikely to suddenly make you capable of taking on many at once.
So the answer boils down to a few possibilities—you’ve discovered some secret related to the amusement park’s mechanics, or you can use the park’s mechanics to directly harm us."
He paused, staring at Elliot as if he could see through the pink rabbit costume to the face within, now unknown, "Is it her, right?"
The other players were all stunned. The translation system of the killing field was incredibly advanced, capable of accurately translating homophones based on the speaker’s intended meaning, such as translating ’he/she/it’ would be basic functionality, which could also translate homophones like "Nanjing’s Mayor’s Yangtze River Bridge" (Nanjing shizhang Changjiang daqiao).
Only when the speaker wanted to obscure their intent could they cause the translation system to temporarily go offline.
"Visitor’s Rule No. 6, upon seeing a princess image appear on a parade float, must stand still.
Security’s Rule No. 7, when a patrol float features a princess character, security may hold a princess doll to lead her to the Fantasy Castle."
Li Cheng said: "Did you notice? The Fantasy Castle is linked with the air-raid siren. The prerequisite for security to take a princess doll, to lead the princess into the castle, is the sounding of the air-raid siren.
Yet for visitors, during an air-raid siren they are meant to scramble for the limited phone booth ’spots’, while simultaneously, any visitor who sees the parade princess is required to stand still. This is inherently contradictory.
The only reasonable interpretation of these two contradictory rules is that visitors have already lost the necessity to be rescued the moment they see the parade princess."
The players had witnessed the strength of the parade princess; the red-haired Merida with her remote precision bow and arrow could rival missiles, her defense far stronger than reinforced concrete fortifications, facing cannonballs unscathed.
Even the players would have to keep their distance from such combat power, let alone ordinary people.
Li Cheng casually said: "To push further, why are visitors deemed beyond saving upon seeing the parade princess? Why can’t they run in panic with the other frenzied visitors seeking survival?"
Andre had pondered this question long ago and immediately said, "Perhaps the princess on the float will persistently track and pursue those who saw her. This rule deceives the visitors who see her into not running around, tricking them into standing still and waiting for death, to prevent the princess from causing greater destruction."
Li Cheng slightly smiled, "That explanation is both right and wrong. Since the Castle area overlaps with the Future World area, excluding the two phone booths from the latter, the remaining phone booths can accommodate at most six people—most of the visitors are forced to stay outside the phone booths.
Remember the three main scenarios I mentioned for visitors after entering the park? I only talked about two previously. The first scenario is to play normally and exit the park. The second is violating the rules, being forced to put on staff uniforms, and completing four attractions as staff.
Here’s the third scenario, during the air-raid siren, they neither die immediately nor are lucky enough to grab a spot in a phone booth. Such visitors end up... under the influence of some effect, transformed into the dolls with no eye holes that we see.
Existing in the same world as the Fantasy Castle, they appear with the air-raid siren and disappear when it stops.
The dolls with no eye holes lack the ability to distinguish, they don’t attack human staff in doll costumes. While the park’s security can take food items like rice balls and sandwiches from food stores to escape, pass through the army of dolls, lure the princess to the castle with souvenir shop dolls, turn off the air-raid siren, and end the crisis.
Security uniforms, or rather the role of security, have their uniqueness. They can take food from the food store without fear of the food turning to ashes, and can also temporarily resist the ’pollution’ that turns them into dolls, giving them more time to move outside."
"... All of this is your speculation, without evidence," Elliot said in a low, hoarse voice. "If ’pollution’ exists, what is its source? How can players and ordinary people, like Su Jie, stay active outdoors for so long? And where have those employees in doll costumes gone?"
"Three questions, essentially one."
Li Cheng grinned, "Visitor’s Rule No. 7, male visitors may occasionally find rings in their food at the food store fifteen miles away. Rule No. 8, souvenir shops do not sell princess dolls.
Staff’s Rule No. 5, each set of princess costumes must be locked up and properly stored. Rule No. 6, staff wearing princess costumes will occasionally see princess dolls suddenly appear and disappear.
Security’s Rule No. 7, security can hold dolls to lead the princess to the Fantasy Castle and shut down the air-raid siren there."
These entries all suggest that within the park, there’s an unknown entity related to the ’Princess’ concept; let’s call her ’She’.
She has always been under the surveillance and control of the amusement park.
Her understanding of the real world is severely fragmented; she sees the amusement park as her entire world and thus does not leave voluntarily.
She likes the concept of ’Princess’ and often appears in the form of a princess doll on souvenir shop shelves, observing humans. Or in the line of sight of employees dressed as princesses.
In fairy tales, princesses are often paired with handsome princes, and she also favors attractive adult males. That’s why park security is all-male, and male visitors occasionally find rings in their rice balls—it’s her doing, imitating the love between a prince and a princess.
The amusement park dares not let her have too much contact with humans, so security protocols require checking each visitor’s every package for princess dolls. And princess-dressed employees are supposed to remain calm throughout, ignoring the princess dolls that suddenly appear in their sight. Each princess costume must also be locked and registered.
Even so, she remains a being far superior to humans, whose power, whether intentionally or unintentionally emitted, is enough to distort the surroundings, making amusement rides dangerous, warping ordinary people’s cognition so they fail to notice their hairy relatives and friends nearby.
In her mind, everyone has a label, and each person’s actions must match that label. Thus, after sunset when the park closes, there shouldn’t be any visitors around. Employees are also strictly forbidden from taking off their mascot costumes during working hours.
Su Jie’s eyes lit up, "So, that’s why the visitor guidelines require rule-breakers to wear mascot costumes after sunset, changing their identities to deceive her."
"Exactly. However, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and the park’s fabricated deception was eventually discovered by her. After a bloody retaliation, the park fell, with most visitors, staff, and security being transformed into doll monsters. This is why the unnamed security guard wrote ’She discovered she had been deceived’ on the wall of the security department in blood.
As for why it took us so long to start growing hair, perhaps she consumed a lot of energy, reducing the ’pollution’ around her? Or maybe she actively restrained her power."
Li Cheng looked at Elliot and smiled, "The final question, your ace up the sleeve, is this, right?"
He spread his palm to reveal a broken diamond, "The unnamed security guard risked going to the food store to turn off the air raid alarm, taking a large amount of food to avoid the army of dolls. Among the food, there was a diamond ring that only a good-looking guy could find."
The oppressive atmosphere deepened as the setting sun continued to fall towards the horizon.
"The diamond ring is a symbol of love between a prince and princess. In this amusement park, having the diamond ring means having the Princess."
Elliot slowly raised his palm, with a diamond ring barely fitting on the ring finger of his left hand.
The players all tensed up instantly, but Li Cheng’s face still showed no trace of fear.
"Aren’t you afraid?" Elliot asked hoarsely.
"Afraid? Why should I be afraid." Li Cheng spread his hands, "Even if that unknown existence is powerful, she only has a semi-civilized mind. Besides, she thinks of herself as a young and beautiful princess.
I do have certain insights into chasing girls."
At this statement, Andre and Bai Lang glanced sideways. That’s not just a bro; it’s something that could easily slaughter thousands, perhaps even some indescribable Evil God. Are you sure you can describe it with the term ’girl’?
"Don’t worry, despite how I look now, I was quite the player when I was young. If not three thousand, I’ve had at least eight hundred online romances. And they’re spread across the Five Continents and over a hundred countries."
Li Cheng gave a wicked smile, "I’ve memorized the lines. There are stars in your eyes,
You are the most beautiful Caucasian/African/Asian/Caucasian/Indian/Negro/Melanesian/Micronesian/Polynesian girl I have ever seen, Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on NoveI[F]ire.net
I can teach you Mandarin, apply for a Green Card for you, and perhaps we can explore some wonderful things together.
A child is my gift to you,
I have to go back to my country, wait for me."