Shiller temporarily put aside his plan to return to the High Tower to find trouble with someone and said, "I think speed might really be important."
Bruce turned to look at him. Shiller said, "This isn't a confrontational instance, so I lean more towards multiple collaborations. However, from the previous puzzle designs, the way of cooperation might not be as simple as working together with all one's heart."
"You mean fast might not necessarily be a good thing?"
Shiller nodded and said, "Perhaps the sequence in which one reaches certain checkpoints is important. The person walking ahead needs to pave the way for those behind, possibly making more sacrifices."
"So what?" Bruce seemed somewhat indifferent, "Since this isn't a confrontational instance, there won't be a zero-sum game. So in cooperation, who contributes more or less isn't that important."
"I'm just worried that it won't be a matter of physical or mental exertion," Shiller emphasized, "Starting off with one side being fixed in place, while the other is soaked in water, is a form of intimidation. The behind-the-scenes manipulator who trapped us here—if there is such a person in the storyline—is telling us, it's impossible to leave this instance without shedding blood. Physical harm is inevitable."
"Since everyone's going to bleed, staying behind won't let you escape, right?" Bruce said, looking at Shiller.
Shiller shook his head, not saying anything further. Bruce observed a certain unease in Shiller's eyes but couldn't quite understand what he was worried about. The mood turned heavy.
Bruce wasn't used to such an atmosphere, so he tried to lighten it, "We might not necessarily be the fastest. If that guy in Metal Armor is around, he's definitely the lead. I've never beaten him in Battleworld."
"Besides, since it's cooperation, we could all think of ways together. It's not necessarily going to be that extreme."
Shiller said nothing, simply walking towards the open door. Bruce had no choice but to follow him. Behind the door was a long corridor, approximately tens of meters in length. The corridor was very narrow, requiring even a single person to slightly turn sideways while passing.
Fortunately, the instance's designer seemingly didn't intend to set up a dead-end trap. This long passageway didn't have any mechanisms; otherwise, it would truly be a case of crying for help in vain.
At the end of the passageway, there was a door. When he reached it, Shiller could just see through a fist-sized window in the door and observe the situation inside. More accurately, it was the opposite wall. There was a torch lit on each side of the wall, illuminating a line of words written on the wall—"Those who enter this door shall not bleed."
Shiller took a light breath and began to think quickly.
"Those who enter this door shall not bleed" provided two key pieces of information: one, behind the door is safe, and those who enter need not be harmed. The other implied meaning is that those who do not enter are likely to suffer.
If this sentence is entirely false, it would be too simplistic, less preferable than simply shooting a crossbow arrow in the passageway, piercing the two of them. So Shiller leans towards believing this sentence is true, that behind the door is not dangerous, the first layer of meaning is certainly correct.
But whether the implied meaning is correct is worth considering. This is a typical psychological trap. "Inside the door is safe" naturally brings to mind "outside the door is unsafe." "Those who enter can remain unharmed" makes one think "those who do not enter must get hurt."
The human brain will automatically extend "enter the door to achieve safety" into "only by entering the door can one achieve safety, not entering the door means certain danger." This creates a sense of crisis.
This door is clearly specially designed. Only the first person walking forward can see through the small window the words on the wall. The second person walking forward would have their view obstructed by the person ahead, unable to see the window. This information is only known to the first person.
Usually, in the face of unknown dangerous environments, the more powerful individual goes ahead, shouldering the risks of exploring. Such individuals often have a stronger protective instinct.
When both crisis and protective instincts play a role simultaneously, the person at the front upon seeing this information will be inclined to let the person behind go in. Because the previous puzzle has already indicated that a certain spirit of self-sacrifice is necessary to pass the test. The inertia of thought will lead one to believe this time is the same.
But the problem lies in the fact that the passage is too narrow. Swapping front and back positions is extremely difficult. In a normal standing position, one must turn sideways to move forward. Even when turning fully sideways, the remaining space is not enough for another person to pass through.
So the method to swap positions is to exchange up and down. One person climbs up, letting another pass below, or the person behind climbs over from above.
Shiller looked up above. There's about half a meter of space overhead. If one must, the person below can crouch, and the person above can climb over which is possible. It seems to be the best solution at present.
But since there's an awareness that this sentence could easily be a psychological hint trap, exploiting the protective instinct and crisis sense of the person walking ahead to create a potentially dangerous situation, then this action of position exchange is certainly wrong.
But where is the error? Is there a mechanism above or below? Would pressing against the wall cause it to collapse?
"Time... Stay close to me." Shiller glanced back at Bruce.
Shiller suddenly pushed open the door in front and walked in. This door is another revolving door. Moreover, after the door panel turns 180 degrees, it automatically closes. Bruce tightly followed Shiller, squeezing into the room during the brief rotation gap.
Swoosh——
A rushing sound of water followed closely. With a bang, the door shook as water sprayed through the seams, pushing both men back.
Bruce put down his arm, turned to look at the illuminated wall. "Those who enter this door shall not bleed?"
He glanced back at the door again, and water continued to pour in. This proved that the space outside had been completely submerged. The passage was probably filled with water entirely. He walked over and pushed the door with force, but couldn't open it at all. Bruce understood the logic of this puzzle almost immediately.
If they had chosen to switch positions earlier, it would have wasted a lot of time. At this point, water would surge in. Both of them might end up soaked.
And trying to push the door again now, the water would slow down a person's movement. The door would automatically close after rotating 180 degrees, and the closing time was roughly just over a second. Basically, only the person pushing the door would be swept in by the water, while the person following them would have a hard time getting in, and would end up soaked.
"There must be a mechanism in the room to open the door, otherwise there's no need to use water, just like the first puzzle. If initially failed to see through it, there is still an opportunity to salvage. The water is intended to extend the life of the person outside the door. Otherwise, using a crossbow arrow would be better," Bruce said. He looked around, the room was empty, without any furniture, only the torches and words on the wall. So he started to rub the part of the wall where the words were.
"No blood for entrants... is it a word puzzle?"
"Wait, Clark." Batman stopped in the middle of the passageway. He glanced back at the path they came from and called out to Superman who was walking ahead, "Something's wrong."
Superman shivered: "What's the matter?"
"The passageway is excessively long," Batman said, "We have already walked over ten meters. Judging by the bright spot ahead of us, there are probably dozens more meters ahead. Why make such a long passageway?"
"Uh, is there a problem?" Superman asked.
"From the style of the previous two rooms, it can be seen that the designer of the puzzles favors simplicity. There was nothing in the water prison. In the room I was in, every piece of furniture was useful. He wouldn't create such a long passageway for no reason, without serving any purpose."
"Could there be some sort of mechanism?" Superman moved his body a bit, then said, "It's so narrow here, if there's a trap, neither of us would be able to avoid it."
"No, Clark. The focus is on the length. If you want to place an unavoidable trap in the passage, there's no need to make it several dozens of meters long. Two meters would be completely sufficient."
"Then it's a chase scene, like in the movies?"
"That should be even longer," Batman said, "A chase scene is to exhaust physical strength. With a distance of several dozens of meters, it wouldn't be enough to drain anyone's physical strength. Moreover, if it's a chase scene, the passageway should be designed to be more winding and looped, rather than a straight path. That way, it'd be possible to make someone stumble when turning corners."
"Oh, come on, Batman, just give the answer already." Superman rubbed his arms, "You're making me feel cold with all this talk."
"Time," Batman said, "You can think of this passage as a delay device. There's definitely something that needs to come through such a long passage to harm us."
"I don't understand," Superman said with some confusion, "If it's meant to harm us, why delay it? Just launch it directly."
"This is a puzzle, Clark," Batman emphasized, "Just like before, he's not trying to kill us, but to test us. The time extended by the passage is time given to us to solve the puzzle."
Superman suddenly realized, but then he asked again: "What could both harm us and use the passage to extend time?"
"Water," Batman replied, "Let's head back."
Then he turned around to go back. Superman didn't react immediately, but obediently followed behind him. They went back through the door that was divided into two spaces.
Superman couldn't help glancing back at the steel nails driven deeply into the wall on the other side of the door. At that time, he almost went through, but luckily Batman called him back.
Batman quickly walked to the drain in the room he was originally in and shouted, "Clark! Come help!"
Superman rushed over. Batman directly dismantled the grille on the drain, took a crowbar and jabbed downward forcefully, only to hear a clang, and the area below the drain was blocked.
Batman flipped the crowbar around, inserted the bent end downward, seemingly hooking onto the edge of something. He braced his foot on the other side of the drain and forcefully pried that thing upward.
After a few tries, it was Superman's turn to pry. After Superman pried a few times, it was Batman's turn again. They kept prying forcefully like this, and after ten or so attempts, they heard a cracking sound, and something broke. Batman jabbed the crowbar downward forcefully again, and the cracking sound continuously echoed. The thing blocking the drain seemed to have been completely smashed. Then he walked to the room with the water prison and closed the door, leaving only one door in the room with the drain.
"Hold your nose, Clark." Batman pulled Superman to the wall, and the two of them leaned against the wall and said, "Try to hold your breath. If my calculation is correct, we probably..."
Boom!!! Whoosh——!!!!!!
Before he finished speaking, the ceiling of the water prison completely collapsed. The flood poured down like a waterfall, directly breaking down the wall between the two rooms, rushing rapidly towards the passageway, quickly submerging the two rooms and the passage.
Feeling the water flow gradually stopping, Batman swam towards the door, felt the door handle in the murky water, and forcefully closed the door, completely isolating the two rooms from the hallway and passage. The water in the room started to drain through the outlet. Before long, a gap appeared between the water surface and the ceiling, allowing them to breathe. They swam upward, exposing their noses and mouths, and took large gulps of air.