The sudden turn of events made Song Qingxiao’s scalp tingle with alarm. Before she could react, a series of loud impacts echoed. 

After two or three strikes, the large tank finally toppled under this forceful assault. 

As the tank tilted, the heavy lid slid down, and the water inside gushed out. Inertia sent Song Qingxiao, who was hiding inside the tank, tumbling out. She clutched her head with both hands as her shoulders slammed into the adjacent tank. 

However, in this perilous moment, to prevent herself from being seized and killed the moment she fell out, Song Qingxiao endured the pain and didn’t stand up. Instead, she rolled on the ground twice. She felt the source of danger, which had been closer due to her initial collision with the large tank, move farther away. Only then, using the hand holding the computer mouse as support, she pushed herself up from the ground. 

“So, you were indeed hiding inside.” 

The doctor, who had previously said he was leaving, had not actually gone far. Both of them pretended to leave, likely to relax Song Qingxiao’s guard, but in reality, they planned to force her out when she let her guard down. 

The moment Song Qingxiao rolled out of the tank, the doctor and the professional woman should have moved in to subdue her. However, because she rolled on the ground, creating some distance, they missed the opportunity, and neither of them approached. 

Missing the chance to kill Song Qingxiao immediately, the doctor’s eyes showed a hint of regret. 

He scrutinized Song Qingxiao. From her appearance, Number Nine was still in a miserable state. Her police uniform was soaked in blood and filth, sticking tightly to her body. Her hair was disheveled, her face pale, her lips tightly pursed, her nostrils flaring rapidly due to heavy breathing, and her eyes were shockingly bright, exuding alertness, vigilance, and an endless desire to survive. 

When this woman entered the space, she was the most easily overlooked by everyone. She didn’t stand out in appearance or temperament, except for when she had just arrived, covered in blood and filth. She was probably the kind of person whose name no one would remember with just one glance among the nine. 

However, it was precisely this woman who had eliminated a man and a woman from her group in this elimination-style trial, surviving until now, becoming a problem for the doctor. 

“I underestimated you.” 

The doctor’s hands remained in his pockets, and his gaze shifted to the hand with which Song Qingxiao was propping herself up on the tank. The back of that hand was extremely thin, with several scraped skin areas. She seemed to feel no pain and was gripping a computer mouse with a force strong enough to leave marks of her palm on it. 

The mouse’s cord dangled, missing a corner, and there were traces of blood on it. 

While the doctor examined Song Qingxiao, she was also observing these two individuals. 

It was evident that killing Number Seven, the muscular man, had not been an easy task for them. Both of them bore bruises and injuries on their faces and bodies. 

The doctor’s uniform was torn and tattered, and the professional woman’s appearance had seen better days. Both of them were covered in blood. 

Being in a situation where it was one against two, Song Qingxiao’s heart sank further. 

However, the more critical the situation, the more composed she needed to be. If she panicked, she might easily be killed by these two. 

The three of them stood facing each other, but Song Qingxiao noticed that the doctor and the professional woman did not stand too close to each other. They each left some space. 

She discreetly adjusted her breathing, forcing herself to remain calm. Her arm that had been hit earlier felt sore and somewhat weak, to the point where she could barely hold her phone. It trembled in her hand. 

“Number Two.” Song Qingxiao stiffly lifted the corners of her mouth, raised her head, and continued, “I’m genuinely surprised. How did you manage to survive?” 

The doctor hadn’t expected Song Qingxiao, once discovered, to say such words. 

“Among the nine who entered the trial space and formed four teams, in the end, except for you two, each team has only one survivor.” 

She stuck out her tongue and licked her dry, cracked lips due to nervousness. However, after a long period without drinking water, combined with the sweating caused by repeated bouts of tension, she was already severely dehydrated. When her tongue touched the chapped lip, it caused a stinging pain. 

“To leave this space, killing each other may be the last resort. Why didn’t the doctor kill you? How did you survive?”

She stared vigilantly at the two people in front of her, not missing any subtle expressions on the face of the professional woman Number Two, while also paying attention to the doctor. 

Upon hearing her words, the doctor’s upper eyelids drooped slightly, revealing a somewhat cold expression. In the next moment, he regained his composure and smiled, saying: 

“Do you receive any hints about the need to kill each other to leave the space?” 

With one hand in his pocket, he casually moved his foot up a bit. While he was moving, he noticed that Song Qingxiao reacted quickly and followed suit, trying to maintain a distance from them. 

The doctor’s gaze fell on the hand that Song Qingxiao had dropped, holding onto her phone. He noticed that after Song Qingxiao rolled out of the tank, her hand had been hanging by her side without any movement. 

Was it because she had been injured during the process of killing the first and sixth individuals, causing her to lose some mobility, or was it due to the impact of falling out of the tank earlier? 

After entering the space, Number Nine had not spoken much except for self-introduction. Now, she unexpectedly spoke, was it to sow discord between herself and the second individual, or was she injured and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to rest while talking? 

As he contemplated this, he continued to slowly move towards Song Qingxiao. At the same time, the professional woman Number Two noticed his actions and mirrored him, forming a flanking position, closing in on Song Qingxiao. 

“When Number One and Number Six died,” Song Qingxiao noticed their movements and felt extremely anxious, but she dared not show any trace of fear or anxiety on her face. In this situation, if she were to reveal any fear or anxiety, the two people in front of her would pounce on her like wolves and tear her apart. 

She clenched her teeth and endured the intense pain in her shoulder, using all her strength to lift the hand that had been struck on the left side. 

The pain caused her cheek muscles to twitch slightly, and cold sweat trickled down her back. She tried her best to suppress the trembling of her hand and pointed to her own head, saying, “You should have received the hint.” 

The doctor’s expression froze upon seeing her gesture, and his previously moving footsteps came to a halt. 

The professional woman also stopped her steps vigilantly, looking at the doctor with some doubt in her eyes. 

“There is currently no evidence to prove that in order to leave this place, one must kill others.” 

The doctor spread his hands outside his pockets and said, “I have identity and status, there is no need for me to actively kill and cause trouble.” 

“But Number Seven died.” 

Song Qingxiao asked further, and it was evident that the doctor had already prepared this answer. Without hesitation, he said: 

“That’s because if he wanted to kill us, we were only defending ourselves.” 

Whether everyone believed this statement or not, the professional woman seemed to believe it on the surface. Song Qingxiao tugged at the corner of her mouth, a subtle movement that caused her cracked lips to split open again, and tiny droplets of blood moistened her lips. 

“You’re lying. You left the Number Two behind because you know that in a place like this, once there is only one person left alive, you cannot defeat Number Seven.” 

In other words, the reason the doctor didn’t kill the second individual and left her behind was purely to use her as a bargaining chip for survival.