Chapter 208 Difficult to Complete the Task

Chapter 208 Difficult to Complete the Task

A great white shark, over 15 feet long, circled above the cage, its wide-open mouth revealing blood-stained teeth.

The water rippled with tension, the fish below frantically feeding, darting in and out of the cage, stirring up bubbles and waves that muddied the sea.

A baby orca, seemingly unaware of the impending danger, slowly emerged from the whale carcass, approaching the edge of the cage and sticking its head out.

Unfortunately, the baby orca was too big to fit through the bars. Suddenly, a swift shadow leaped from the top of the cage, diving straight for the baby orca with deadly intent!

The baby orca quickly retracted its head, retreating back into the whale carcass. The great white shark slammed into the cage, thrashing its tail violently. It circled the whale carcass, refusing to leave. It gulped down the small fish freely swimming in and out of the cage until it was full, then reluctantly swam away.

Alberta understood, "The great white shark is drawn to the whale carcass but can only circle outside, getting more and more agitated. The baby orca is protected by the cage but also trapped by it. The task must be to open the cage."

"That's nuts!" Kurt shook his head repeatedly, and the other players started to argue:

"Who would believe it? We're supposed to save an orca! Even a three-year-old one could fling me away with a flick of its tail!"

"Save it? Save me first!"

"Whalers are crazy. The Ninth District caught it, so they should release it! Why make us players do it?"

The young male player shared the sentiment. If the task weren't so impossible, he wouldn't have revealed this secret observation room. At least he earned a potion, so he didn't lose out.

Alberta frowned, studying the screen, spotting the lock at the cage's connection point. It was just a large, somewhat complex latch, and no key was needed.

But did she really have to dive in?

Alberta asked Lawrence, "Should we go back? Maybe Kirstie has good news."

"Wait." Lawrence's gaze fell on the table in front of the screen. He swept the items aside, revealing a gray PVC desk mat. It looked ordinary, but when flipped over, it had the Ninth District's building plans printed on it.

The plans were complex, with many annotations in the margins. Lawrence studied them carefully, committing them to memory with his impressive recall.

Alberta initially focused on the plans, too, but her gaze drifted to Lawrence's handsome face. He was expressionless but intensely focused, his dark eyes deep and captivating. Alberta stared at him, thinking of the saying, "A man is most attractive when he's serious," but "attractive" seemed too vague for Lawrence.

Lawrence's different expressions had different charms, a taste only those who experienced it could understand.

As Lawrence memorized the plans, Alberta suddenly leaned in and kissed his lips.

"Hmm?" He made a questioning sound.

"You tempt me," Alberta said, biting his lower lip before letting go.

"I tempt you?" Lawrence didn't understand her thoughts, but seeing the bright love in her beautiful eyes and exploring Alberta's thoughts seemed less important. He tossed the plans to Kurt, cupped Alberta's face, and kissed her soft lips.

Kurt, holding the plans, was speechless. Couldn't these two show some restraint?

But he didn't dare interrupt Lawrence and Alberta, so he turned away quietly.

The others were silent for a couple of seconds, then resumed their discussion as if nothing had happened.

Alberta and Lawrence didn't kiss for long. "Let's go up."

"Okay." Lawrence's voice had a subtle change. Alberta smiled slyly, tugging his collar, standing on tiptoe to peck his lips and cheeks, then cheerfully linked arms with him and walked out.

"Hey, the plans are still with me!" Kurt called, chasing after them, while the other players eyed the plans eagerly.

Alberta didn't look back, waving her hand. "Leave them for others to see."

Kurt realized he couldn't guard the plans alone, so he generously put them back on the table, warning, "No one hog them," before hurrying after the departing pair.

Alberta and Lawrence didn't find Kirstie at the temporary camp, nor Parker, Lucy, and the little one. David said they were at the gate to the Eighth District, so they headed there, meeting Kirstie and the others halfway.

"Back so soon? Didn't go well?" Alberta asked.

Kirstie nodded, "Yeah. I said all entrances to Paradise Island in defense mode need a new password, randomly generated by Yasmin. I can't analyze or intercept it, but I can make a gadget to stick on the electronic lock, inputting numbers until it cracks the code."

Alberta shook her head, "Brute force is too slow. No other way?"

Kirstie spread her hands, "Don't underestimate brute force. I tell you, we can't even use it. The password changes every hour, and after three wrong tries, the lock cools down for five minutes. Five wrong tries, ten minutes. Ten wrong tries, half an hour... Only ten tries per hour, not enough time to guess. Better to guess directly."

Alberta was silent.

"By the way, I saw a record of the gate to the Tenth District opening just before we entered the Ninth. I think it was Peregrine," Kirstie said.

"It was him," Alberta mused. "Does Peregrine know the password?"

Kirstie frowned, "But we can't catch him now."

The situation was at an impasse. Parker asked, "What did you find? Did you locate the Ocean Princess?"

Alberta noticed Parker and the others hadn't completed the "Explore the Ninth District" task, so she briefly explained the baby orca situation and sent them down to complete it.

When Parker and the others returned from seeing the cage, Alberta and Lawrence had decided to dive in and open it.

Lawrence remained calm, but Alberta was frustrated.

She had vowed never to dive, to abandon the task if it required diving, but now there was no other way but to complete it.

Her own words came back to bite her, and her face burned.

As Lawrence discussed with the team, Alberta glanced up, noticing Beatrice staring at her. Their eyes met, and Beatrice quickly looked away.

Alberta remembered the previous trouble and asked Parker, pointing at Beatrice and Dorian, "Do you know their relationship?"

Parker had inquired, "They're dating."

Alberta said, "Oh. The one who fell into the pool and died was their teammate?" She recalled Beatrice crying over that person's death.

"The deceased, Emrys, was Beatrice's ex-boyfriend," Parker paused with a complex expression.

Alberta raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Parker glanced at Dorian and Beatrice, "They have two other teammates. One is Beatrice's ex-ex-boyfriend, and the other is Dorian's ex-boyfriend."

Alberta's eyes widened slightly, and Kirstie smirked, "Oh? They seem to get along well."

Lucy, older and more experienced, was surprised for a moment but then calm, "Birds of a feather flock together."

Noticing Alberta's attention, Dorian approached, "I heard you're planning to open the cage. Do you have enough people? I can help for a fee, just four enhancement potions."