Chapter 503: Chapter 503: Furnace (Eight) _1 Chapter 503: Chapter 503: Furnace (Eight) _1 “`
Having descended from the barbed wire net, Fu Qian did not rush to open the door but first approached the only wooden table in the room.
He had noticed something earlier.
Fu Qian talked to himself, looking down at the table surface.
The table was very low, set snugly in a corner of the room, and on its surface lay a silver-white mini recorder, no larger than half a palm.
Fu Qian picked it up and held it in his hand, noting that it already had a cassette tape inside.
In fact, calling it a recorder was not too precise; it was more like one of those old-style interview recorders.
While small and compact, it was also very robust and durable.
And being placed in such a conspicuous position, it was unquestionably a message left for him.
Without rushing to play it, Fu Qian continued to inspect the table, as it seemed to be the only thing in the room that was worth exploring.
Of course, there were a few light tubes overhead for illumination, but if Fu Qian had a way to span over eight meters in height to search for clues up there, why not just return the same way he came?
Unfortunately, the table was clearly in that minimalist style, essentially just a few wooden boards joined at right angles, with no other places on it to hold anything aside from the surface.
The legs of the table were firmly fixed to the floor, making it very difficult to flip it over without using a tool.
Fu Qian bent down and squatted to observe the underside of the table from a very limited angle.
He quickly spotted an abnormal protrusion and reached out to feel it.
It was something hard, wrapped in a bag and stuck to the bottom of the table.
With a little force, Fu Qian tore off his find.
It was a crudely made model, resembling a superhero figure.
This thing did not seem like it would help him get out of there.
Fu Qian vaguely remembered there were other marks next to that spot, so he tried to press his body even lower.
Sure enough, by the dim light, he found a line of text there.
[Congratulations, your superhuman intelligence has led you to a collectible.]
Fu Qian quickly made out the contents of the writing and grasped the thick sarcasm within.
And from the exaggerated smiley face at the end of that line, it was clear that this was probably meant only for mockery.
Yet inside, Fu Qian felt no stirrings; after briefly playing with the model, he tucked it into his jacket pocket.
Without further delay, he stood up, pushed open the only door in the room, and at the same time pressed the play button.
…
Surprisingly, what lay beyond the door could not even qualify as a room.
Upon opening the door, a completely sealed passageway was revealed, about two meters in height and made entirely of metal, looking very sturdy.
And at the end of the roughly five-meter-long corridor was another door.
Compared to the previous one, this door looked much more imposing.
It was clearly made of the same material as the surrounding walls, perfectly fitted, and firmly blocking the way forward.
On one side of the door, a prominent lock hole was visible.
Must the first challenge be to get through this door?
“Very well, it seems that even Superman is willing to put in an effort to save his life.”
“I hope such a game will bring enough surprises, for both you and me.”
At that moment, the hoarse voice also emanated from the recorder.
“You always pride yourself on being cool-headed because you have long seen through the essence of life.”
“Thus, even when faced with the violent threats of peers, you are never angry, nor do you shrink away.”
“`
“Heartbeats to you are nothing more than a necessity to sustain thinking; they have no other significance,”
“It is a sort of lavish coldness, at least it appears so.”
“Now a door stands in your way, and undoubtedly, it is locked.”
“Believe me, the right key can definitely open it, I can even tell you the location of the key. See that hole on the door?”
How could it not be seen!
Fu Qian thought to himself as he listened to the question in the recording.
He had noticed it from the beginning, on the surface of the smooth and even metal door, there was a small hole, polished to a high shine all around.
“The key is on the other side of this door. You just need to stretch your whole arm through that opening, reach behind the door with your palm facing right, and you can feel the key that unlocks this door.”
“Of course, there’s a little mechanism inside the door.”
At this point in the recording, Fu Qian heard a slight metallic ‘ding’ from within the door.
“The mechanism is very simple: there is a set of razor-sharp blades that will start spinning after each ding and continue for fifty-five seconds, then stop for five seconds.”
“And undoubtedly, the hole is within the range of the blades. If the blades are spinning when they touch your arm, they will easily cut it off.”
“What you believe to be an opportunity is the five seconds before the dinging sound to stretch your hand through the hole, find the key, and pull it back.”
“In fact, if you are nimble enough, three seconds should be sufficient to complete this process.”
“The only question is, how do you confirm the start of these three seconds.”
“Also, a special reminder: the blades are sharp yet fragile. Any touch will cause them to lose balance and stop spinning, and due to a special connection, the key behind the door will also fall to the ground, and you will never be able to retrieve it.”
“Now begin, let me see that heart of cold indifference!”
This is forcing oneself to succeed on the first try!
That’s not quite accurate; it should be called zero margin for error.
Fu Qian listened carefully to the recording until the end, thinking to himself.
The next moment, he stepped forward twice, pressing his ear against the metal door.
Regrettably, it must have been specially processed because, even in such silence, he still couldn’t hear any mechanism sounds from inside.
Removing his ear from the door, Fu Qian found the hole again, his finger tracing around the edge of the opening.
The recording was very detailed. To get through this door, all he needed to do was grab the key from behind the hole.
Fu Qian peered into the hole.
Indeed, the hole was not straight but curved, and within the range of sight, there were no traces of the blades.
Clearly, the door was thick. He would have to extend his entire arm to reach the key.
And the limb-severing mechanism was on the part he couldn’t see.
Sure enough, there was no such obvious flaw.
If the hole were straight, one could simply watch the blades and reach in as soon as they stopped since the pattern of the mechanism was already made known.
Now, he could only try to find that safe three seconds.
As he pondered, Fu Qian heard another ‘ding’, signifying another minute had passed.
If only there were a watch at this moment, the puzzle could be solved in minutes.
Fu Qian sighed looking up at the sky.
Unfortunately, he had already confirmed that he had neither a watch nor even a phone on him.
This was clearly within Brother Vertical Saw’s calculations.
Of course, Fu Qian was also capable of timing without external tools, such as using heartbeats and pulse.
In fact, that’s precisely what Brother Vertical Saw wanted him to use.