Shiller handed the key through the hole. After Bruce got the key, he unlocked the lock, but only a small part of that entire wall had loose bricks, while other places couldn't be broken through. So, they could only move between the two rooms.
Shiller observed the structure of the room opposite through the hole. It was quite simple, actually. The other side was a water prison. The whole room was relatively sealed, with only a sluice where water could be released. On his side, there was a drainage pipe at the opposite corner of the room, so the water released flowed directly away.
The entire puzzle-solving process wasn't actually difficult, but it required both parties to fully trust each other and to have a certain spirit of self-sacrifice.
The normal procedure on Shiller's side should be: feel for the key behind the only reachable bed leg, use the key to pry the bricks, after prying open the bricks, the opposite party passes the crowbar through, then use the crowbar to break the bed leg, once the bed falls, pull down the lever, water is released, and the person next door is rescued.
On Bruce's side, he starts completely submerged in water, otherwise, he wouldn't be unable to speak, and there is an outlet constantly pouring water. At the very least, you need to first progress to prying open the bricks and releasing some water. If you are slow, you will drown, and once you drown, you can't pass the crowbar over, making it difficult to break the bed leg, and the game can basically be declared a failure.
An experienced diver can hold their breath for a few minutes, but an average adult's drowning time is at most two minutes, and they start choking when nearing two minutes.
In tense situations, this time is shortened. Most people begin to choke at one minute, and once choking starts, they completely lose the ability to act, making it impossible to pass anything.
This is why the puzzle requires both sides to have a certain spirit of self-sacrifice.
Shiller was pierced through the collarbone here; nerves near the collarbone are dense, and the muscle groups connected are extensive. Even if the Battleworld diminishes pain, it still makes one's head buzz with pain. It's hard to think meticulously in this situation, and action-stalling due to pain is likely. At this time, you must ignore the pain and continue acting to possibly complete the task.
It's even more so on Bruce's side. Imagine waking up to find yourself completely underwater, soon to be drowned, while also locked, unable to surface. At this moment, you're holding a crowbar, and a normal person would certainly try to use the crowbar to unlock. Whether smashing or prying, it all expends physical strength, which further shortens the breath-holding time, possibly not even sustaining 30 seconds.
Even with the fastest reasoning and execution, this procedure is hard to complete within 30 seconds, ensuring you will choke. Once choking starts, all subsequent steps cannot be completed.
So this requires extreme tacit cooperation from both parties, and most importantly, complete trust in the teammate. Solving puzzles while ignoring pain without communication, trusting your teammate to save you, is indeed very difficult.
No wonder there would be a prompt before entering this scenario, "Duo Queue Dungeon" requires tacit cooperation. Going in is immediately a life-and-death test of entrusting your life, proving its status as a high-difficulty dungeon.
Thor spat out a mouthful of water, lying on the ground for a long time, hoarsely saying, "Are you alright, Loki?"
"Of course, I'm fine." At this moment, Loki was struggling with a crowbar and iron pin against the wall, yet couldn't pry anything off. Thor leaned his face toward the hole.
"What are you sitting there for?" he asked curiously.
Loki couldn't help but roll his eyes, "Do you think I'm someone who enjoys sitting on a sandy, dirty place without standing up in such a dirty, damp environment, Thor?"
"Of course not, you're extremely neat, that's why I'm asking what you're sitting there for!"
"Of course, it's because I can't get up!!" Loki shouted, turning his head towards him, "If you can't help, turn your face away. You're disrupting my thought process!"
But Thor had no intention of backing down; he forcefully pushed away several bricks from around the wall, trying to stick his head through. Loki was shocked, "What are you doing! Go back now!"
"I want to see how you are," said Thor, "are you locked up? Do I need to find a key on this side?"
"Then hurry up and find it!" Loki said.
Thor finally pulled his head back. Loki sighed in relief and continued prying. After a while, he finally realized that it was entirely impossible to pry it open. Sitting in place, he sighed.
"I really didn't find anything," Thor's voice sounded puzzled, "the only odd thing is that outlet, but I can't see what's inside."
Loki blinked, slid the crowbar through the wall hole, and then said, "Try poking it with the crowbar."
Thor took the crowbar and walked over.
"Oh, come on, I can't manage to..." Superman withdrew his hand holding the crowbar, leaned against the wall, and took a breath, "The angle of this thing is too tricky; I simply can't reach it."
He raised his head and looked at the outlet on the ceiling, stood on tiptoe again, and poked it with the crowbar. But in this posture, it was difficult to control the angle of the crowbar well, and he couldn't reach the thing hanging on the side of the outlet.
After trying for a long time, Superman was exhausted, even suspecting if he was seeing things; there might be nothing above the outlet.
"This is the only solution, Clark," said Batman calmly, "When there's nothing else I can do but sit, you might as well try trusting my reasoning."
"I completely trust your reasoning, Batman, I'm just doubting whether an ordinary person's arm strength is really that weak?" Superman was very frustrated, "I'm just holding a crowbar up for a minute and my hand is shaking like a chicken pecking rice. Is that right?"
"Do you want to try throwing it?" suggested Batman.
"I feel like all I can do is throw it up," Pamela said, "I can't reach that thing, even if I jump."
With that, she took the crowbar in hand, aimed at the side of the outlet, and flung it upward forcefully.
But her way of exerting force wasn't quite right; the crowbar slanted before sticking into the outlet, unable to be thrown into that small hole.
"No, no, no, Pamela," Harley called out, "Do you know this is a juggling move? It's called vertical throw. To throw it straight up, you need to first hold the crowbar vertically against your chest, grasp the middle lower part, and when throwing, press down first, then use skillful force to throw it up. This way, you ensure it goes straight up and down..."
"Where did you learn this?" Pamela asked.
"Did you forget? In another cosmos, Harley Quinn performed acrobatics, and I learned a thing or two from them," Harley said. "This is called having multiple skills. Look, wasn't it useful?"
"I'll give it a try." Pamela followed her instructions, holding the crowbar vertically at her chest and tossed it upward. It hit dead on, and with a clanking sound, the crowbar and another object fell together.
"Oh, another key," Pamela said. "This one looks bigger. Maybe it opens the door on my side?"
She picked up the key, walked to the door, and tried it, finding it indeed unlocked. However, the corridor between the two rooms was closed off, requiring another door to be opened. But now Pamela could go to Harley's room, as the door on her side wasn't locked at all.
Pamela pushed the door open, and Harley, seeing her like she was a Savior, pointed to the iron rod beside her and said, "Quick, quick, pry this thing off; it's killing me."
Pamela was shocked to see the nail driven into her collarbone, and then noticed the broken bed leg. She went over, cupped Harley's face, kissed her cheek, and said, "My God, how did you manage? How painful must it be?"
"Don't mention it. Thankfully, I'm flexible," Harley demonstrated her movements. "I kicked the bed leg off this way. Although it doesn't seem like the right solution, who cares, physical strength is part of the skill too."
Pamela affectionately rubbed her head and then picked up the crowbar to start prying the iron rod. It was much easier with someone else doing it. Pamela hooked the crowbar onto the front end of the rod, moving it up and down continually, and soon with a click, the rod dropped.
Harley grabbed hold of the iron rod with one hand, climbed up from the ground, stretched her limbs a bit, and looked around, saying, "We need to find where the last key is."
Erik, sitting against the wall, watched Charles pick up the fallen iron rod with the crowbar in hand. Charles looked somewhat grim, and Erik forced a smile, saying, "Wouldn't it be nice if we still had our abilities?"
Just as Charles was about to speak, Erik interrupted, "You know this means nothing to me."
Charles turned his head aside, shoved the iron rod into Erik's arms, and turned to search for clues. Erik caught up with him. Charles suddenly turned, pushed Erik who was following him, and stared into Erik's eyes with his blue ones, saying, "You know, I felt awful stuck in the water too. Besides not being able to breathe, the water was cold—that's the difference between you and me. You can't call all this 'nothing,' especially in front of me. You're right. If I still had my abilities, I would broadcast every moment you screamed in pain!"
"God!" Superman yelled at the sight of the iron rod, "Batman! Does it really not hurt?!"
He then seemed on the verge of dying from guilt. "My God, how could I say you were too slow with that? I really didn't know you..."
"A bit painful, but bearable," Batman said. "Alright, Clark. Instead of discussing my feelings for half an hour, let's solve the puzzle quickly. Maybe we can find medical supplies in the next level to thoroughly remove this thing from me. What do you think?"
"Oh, right, you're right. We can't let this thing stay on you too long; it could get infected. Where's the key?"
Bruce knocked on the door for show, then poked his head inside. "May I come in, Professor?"
Shiller was still carefully examining the bed frame, and upon hearing that, turned back in utter bewilderment, "You suddenly decided to knock???"
"Professor, every time I come to your office, I knock," Bruce said helplessly. "You're just too stressed out to hear it. I've said it many times."
"And where do you think my stress comes from?"
"Now's not the time to discuss this," Bruce wanted to join in checking the bed frame, turned his head, and saw the nail and chain on Shiller's collarbone.
He was somewhat shocked, stared for a while, then turned to look at the hole in the wall, and then back at Shiller.
"Professor, don't tell me, you pulled that thing... from the wall..."
Bruce stammered and finally could only gesture with his hands: "...out?!"
"That's why I said we skipped levels," Shiller waved the iron rod in his hand, "Normally, you should be coming over here to pry it open with a crowbar."
"Yeah, that's what I'm asking. How did you pull it out without a crowbar?!"
"My abilities weren't completely restricted," Shiller said.
Bruce didn't immediately catch on but then remembered Shiller's special gift and his whole face wrinkled.
"You can't do this," Bruce said, frowning.
"I've already heard enough of 'skipping plot equals skipping life,'" Shiller looked at Bruce and said, "You're not going to say it again, are you?"
"What I'm saying is you can't use pain..."
"Think about wording it better, Bruce," Shiller raised the iron rod in his hand, something as long as an adult's forearm and sharp at the end; it looked more menacing than a weapon.
"Uh..." Bruce immediately changed his tone, putting his hands up, "I'm just suggesting you don't use this method of self-harm to skip levels; we can clear the game through normal procedures, can't we?"
Shiller put away the iron rod. "Then we'd better let you play Batman once more. Now, let's find the key."