"Replace the imperfect parts."
What a simple answer that sounds like, but thinking about the puppet outside that was torn apart on the car…
Gu Zhan and the others instinctively felt that this wasn’t a good thing.
But this clown cat, at least, gave them time to rest.
After announcing this, the clown cat disappeared.
The door behind them quietly opened.
The clown cat’s voice echoed: “There are many employee dormitories here, you can choose any unoccupied one and move in.”
"..."
After it completely left, the three exchanged glances.
Yu Ye Zhou tentatively asked, "Shall we go out and have a look?"
"Of course." Xu Yu turned around first and walked out.
Outside, the factory kept running continuously. The car that transported the puppets had already left, and the puppeteers were nearing the end of their task of moving the puppets.
As the three stepped out the door, no one paid attention to them. All the puppeteers were busy with their own work.
Ahead was a row of what appeared to be factory buildings, while the neatly arranged buildings beside them were the employee dormitories.
They were exhausted from their journey and already extremely tired.
Yu Ye Zhou said, "Let’s rest. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it when we wake up."
"Alright."
They headed to the nearby employee dormitory, which had many rooms.
Each room had its door open, with either two or three beds inside. The bedding was brand new, with no signs of anyone having slept there before.
Standing by the bed, Yu Ye Zhou said, "Those puppeteers don't need to sleep at all, do they?"
Xu Yu agreed, "They stick their heads out at night, so they definitely don't need to sleep... This place is very strange, let's not overthink it and rest."
Yu Ye Zhou asked, "Should we arrange someone to keep watch?"
This place seemed safe on the surface but was completely controlled by someone else.
If that weird cat changed its mind at night and caused trouble...
Gu Zhan thought it was unnecessary. If they wanted to do something to them, they would have done it already and wouldn’t pretend to give them time to rest.
He asked, "What do you think?"
This was a hint for Yu Ye Zhou to use his attack talent.
After a moment of silence, Yu Ye Zhou also shook his head, "I don't think it's necessary."
Gu Zhan said, "Then let's sleep."
Xu Yu had no objections.
The three chose a room with three beds, freshened up, and went to bed.
Yu Ye Zhou slept in the middle, Xu Yu near the door, and Gu Zhan by the window.
However, after getting into bed, Gu Zhan didn't sleep. He simply sat quietly on the bed, looking out the window.
Yu Ye Zhou had already lain down, and when he turned his head and saw Gu Zhan like that, he couldn’t help but say, "We probably don’t have much time to rest. Yang Lin’s situation is still unknown… better get some rest early."
They hadn’t slept well at the transit station for days.
After several exhausting days, now in a quiet and comfortable environment, their eyelids were heavy.
Xu Yu's snoring could already be heard, but Gu Zhan remained as calm as ever.
His features were sharp, and the faint sunlight cast a soft glow on his face, making his eyes glimmer slightly. However… the sense of distance became more pronounced. Even though he was right next to him, it felt like he could disappear at any moment.
"You…" Seeing that Gu Zhan wasn’t responding, Yu Ye Zhou wanted to persuade him further.
But Gu Zhan simply said softly, "Just go to sleep."
"...Alright," Yu Ye Zhou replied.
Closing his eyes, Yu Ye Zhou soon fell into a deep sleep, likely from sheer exhaustion.
The room was filled with the sounds of two people snoring intermittently.
Gu Zhan frowned slightly, lying in bed, but not sleeping.
[Haha, I see it now, he's too annoyed to sleep.]
[What kind of leisure is this, still being picky about the sleeping environment in a dungeon.]
[He didn’t say anything though, where's the pickiness?]
In truth, Gu Zhan wasn’t unable to sleep just because others were there. It was more that an odd feeling had settled over him ever since seeing the clown cat.
In the two previous dungeons, he had directly faced the dungeon bosses.
Whether it was the director of Changhe Mental Hospital or the evil god of Haizu Village, both had an inherent "evil" to them, seeking to destroy all who entered their domains.
But this cat... It appeared ordinary, like just a guiding NPC, yet it gave him a feeling similar to those bosses.
It, too, had that "evil."
Could it be that this little creature was the boss of this dungeon?
Gu Zhan rubbed his temples and decided not to dwell on it.
Closing his eyes, he soon drifted into a hazy sleep.
Everyone slept deeply.
By the time they woke up, it was already daylight.
As if being monitored at all times, there was soon a knock at the door.
Xu Yu went to open it, and a puppeteer pushed a cart into the room.
On the cart was a hearty breakfast.
At that moment, the clown cat's voice rang out in the room: "Today, you will begin your exam. Whether or not you can become my distinguished guests depends on it... Before the exam, make sure to replenish your energy. Otherwise, you’ll say I bullied you."
[Main Quest Updated: <A Heart Full of Love>]
[Quest Description: Pass the carefully designed tests by the clown cat and prove to it that you are perfect people full of love.]
[Happy Town only accepts perfect people. As long as you are perfect enough, you can enjoy a perfect life here.]
This time, the main quest was a bit special—it was publicly announced.
Gu Zhan turned and saw that the other two had expressions similar to his own.
It seemed that everyone had heard it.
The system had spoken, so Yu Yezhou didn’t hesitate and said directly, "Let's eat first."
They sat down and ate in silence.
When the last person set down their chopsticks, the voice of the clown cat rang out again, "It seems you all have finished eating."
"Then… the test begins!"
Suddenly, the sounds around them shifted, and the intense beat of drums filled the air. In the next moment, the ground beneath their feet turned transparent, accompanied by the mechanical hum of machinery.
Beneath them was a massive, moving mechanical gear system.
Countless gears of different sizes overlapped and interlocked with one another.
The end wasn't visible, nor was the bottom.
Yu Yezhou keenly noticed that when these gears appeared, a glint of light flashed in Gu Zhan’s usually calm eyes.
He was puzzled.
No way, does this guy like these kinds of things?!
It looked like they could fall at any moment, and the gears were merciless, mechanical devices wouldn’t stop for flesh and blood.
They’d be crushed into a pulp!
As the ground below them turned transparent and vanished, so did the feeling of solid footing. They began to fall... Fortunately, they didn’t fall into the gaps between the gears, and soon they landed on a new surface—a long iron plank appeared beneath their feet.
The plank was narrow, only about half a meter wide, stretched out over the gears, and it trembled slightly as the gears turned.
The planks radiated outward like spokes of a wheel, each person standing on a different plank… the center was a massive gear core.
Soon, they realized that these planks were unstable! The ends kept rising and falling, forcing those standing on them to constantly adjust their position to maintain balance!
The gears were turning, and so were the planks! There was some hidden relationship between them, and only by moving together could the three people maintain balance!
"Be careful!" Before they could fully figure it out, the plank under Xu Yu suddenly flipped, almost throwing him off.
Yu Yezhou took a step sideways, causing the plank under Xu Yu to flatten out, but the plank under Yu Yezhou then tilted… the egg he had kept in his pocket rolled out, dropped into the gears, and in the blink of an eye, was ground to bits.
Yu Yezhou exclaimed, "Ah! My egg!"
Even Xu Yu couldn’t understand him, "Why did you bring an egg with you?"
Yu Yezhou replied, "I thought I might get hungry halfway through..."
Halfway through speaking, his voice trailed off, and then, in a more serious tone, he said, "It looks like we need to be more careful."
This time, it was just an egg that fell; next time, it could be them.
At that moment, a voice suddenly came from above, "Ding ding! My dear guests, you've arrived!"
Everyone looked up to find that the clown cat had somehow appeared in mid-air.
Its face was twisted in a grin, but the exaggerated curve of its mouth made it look mischievous, as if it was up to no good.
"What do you mean by this?"
Yu Yezhou looked up at the grinning cat.
"Weren’t we supposed to take a love test? What do these gears have to do with love?"
The clown cat chuckled, "Love is only counted when it bursts forth in times of crisis."
It scratched the plank with its chubby paw and said, "This is the crisis you'll be facing! Look!"
As soon as it finished speaking, a cardboard box appeared at the end of one of the planks, and inside the box were several black kittens poking their heads out.
They seemed just a few weeks old, completely unaware of what was happening. When they realized they were in such a strange place, they meowed loudly in fear.
Then they hid in the box, too scared to come out.
The clown cat said again, "Look again."
On another plank, a very familiar person appeared out of thin air.
She was unconscious, her head hanging low. Her clothes were tattered, stained with blood… and her arm, now replaced with metal, glinted coldly.
It was Yang Lin.
Yu Yezhou exclaimed, "Yang Lin!"
But there was no response from her.
The clown cat seemed pleased by the scene and grinned even wider, "You're kind-hearted people, surely you won’t want to see innocent little kittens fall into those terrible gears… As for the imperfect person on the other side, well, since she's imperfect, there's no need to worry too much. If you save the kittens within the time limit, you'll pass this test."
"…"
【That’s ruthless, making them choose between their teammate and the kittens】
【The gears are all interconnected. Whether saving the kittens or the person, they first need to figure out the pattern!】
Xu Yu immediately decided to save the person.
But Gu Zhan shouted, "Wait! Don’t move!"
Xu Yu frowned at Gu Zhan, as if asking him with his eyes—does he plan to abandon their teammate?
Yu Yezhou quickly said, "Don’t move yet. The planks are connected. If you move, our planks will shift too!"
"…" Xu Yu had no choice but to stay in place.
Yu Yezhou looked up at Yang Lin, who was still unconscious and lying motionless on the plank. As long as the plank stayed balanced, she wouldn’t fall.
The kittens on the other side were in the same situation. They were hiding in the box, and as long as they didn’t climb out, there was still a chance to save them.
He didn’t want his teammate to die, but he also wanted to pass the test.
Seeing Yang Lin, he understood what the punishment for failure would be… they would have the "imperfect" parts of their bodies removed and replaced with "perfect" mechanical parts.
This process was irreversible.
When all their organs were replaced with mechanical parts, what difference would they have from the puppets outside?
Gu Zhan made a slight movement, and the iron plate beneath him immediately followed, causing Yu Yezhou to go down for a moment and then up again.
"Stop!"
Before the three of them lost their balance, Yu Yezhou quickly called out.
"Move a bit to the right," Yu Yezhou gave a more precise command.
Gu Zhan followed his instructions, and the iron plate beneath Yu Yezhou and Xu Yu slowly rose. The three of them finally managed to maintain their balance.
"Good, just like that..." Yu Yezhou carefully observed the gears beneath his feet, noticing a specific pattern connecting them together.
When he moved, the side where Yang Lin stood tilted, and when Gu Zhan and Xu Yu moved, the plate under him shook. It wasn't working; he needed to figure out the pattern.
He was certain there had to be another way to rescue both the cat and the people.
As they worked, the clown cat watched them from the side. Its grin widened, as if eagerly anticipating what was to come.
Yu Yezhou instructed Xu Yu to find a suitable spot, then asked Gu Zhan to move closer to the kitten step by step, hoping to save it first. Gu Zhan smoothly reached the box, just as he was about to stretch his hand to grab it, Xu Yu suddenly said, "Wait!"
He turned around to see the iron plate where Yang Lin stood quickly reversing, sending her sliding uncontrollably toward the edge.
How did this happen?!
The plate was stable just moments ago!
Neither Xu Yu nor Yu Yezhou had moved, and Gu Zhan had barely shifted.
"Something's wrong."
Yu Yezhou had barely finished his sentence when the clown cat excitedly shouted, "Too late! Too late! Your time is up!"
"When time is up, anything imperfect will be destroyed!"
"Impossible!" Yu Yezhou immediately replied. "There’s no way it's been ten minutes!"
He had already estimated the time; barely five minutes had passed! It couldn't be wrong.
The clown cat seemed pleased by his panic, its voice rising gleefully. "Haha, this is the Dream Factory! Time here works differently from outside! I control everything here!"
They had expected the rescue plan wouldn’t be simple.
But they hadn’t anticipated the cat would lie in such a blatant manner.
As it spoke, the iron plate holding the kitten began to tilt as well.
There was no time left.
If they hesitated any longer, they wouldn’t be able to save either the cat or the people.
The clown cat sighed regretfully, "If only you'd gone straight to save the kitten from the start, huh? Ah, as expected, you aren’t such kind-hearted people after all. It seems you're far from perfect."
As its voice trailed off, all the iron plates started tilting faster, and the gears below began spinning at a higher speed.
"There's no time left."
Gu Zhan abandoned the safer approach, taking a big step forward to grab the edge of the box.
The startled kittens inside let out piercing cries, with some even trying to escape from the box.
No, he couldn’t let them get out.
Gu Zhan freed one hand to press down on the box lid, preventing the kittens from escaping.
But this meant he could only use one hand to maintain his balance.
Just as he picked up the box, the iron plate beneath him abruptly reversed, sending him headfirst into a dive!
"Gu Zhan!"
The two people above shouted. In that split second, Gu Zhan stretched out his hand, gripping the edge of the iron plate. Below him were the rapidly spinning gears. If he loosened his grip even slightly, he would fall into the abyss.
At this point, maintaining balance was no longer an option. Xu Yu quickly rushed over and pulled Gu Zhan back up.
But doing so caused the iron plate to lose its balance completely, and on the far side, Yang Lin began to slide down the plate.
Yu Yezhou had no choice but to abandon his own balance to grab Yang Lin.
Fortunately, they were all agile. He managed to grab Yang Lin, and the two of them ended up on the same iron plate.
The balance had been completely disrupted, so they could only try to find another pattern.
Fortunately, they had already sensed the iron plate's pattern earlier, and soon they managed to regain balance.
However, just then, the clown cat suddenly said, "So, you really don’t care about the adorable little kitten facing destruction? You truly are heartless!"
At that moment, the iron plate beneath Yu Yezhou suddenly wobbled and disappeared into thin air!
Clutching Yang Lin, he fell into the depths of the gears.
But instead of being torn apart by the gears as they expected, the gears retreated layer by layer. Once they had fallen, the gears closed up again.
The iron plate beneath them had vanished, just like before... the ground slowly returned.
The clown cat and the box containing the kittens were nowhere to be seen.
Looking up, Gu Zhan and Xu Yu found themselves back in the dormitory where they had slept the night before.
But Yu Yezhou… was gone as well.
Xu Yu abruptly got up and checked the walls and door, looking for clues.
But the room was just a room, and the walls were ordinary walls. There was no trace of the gears.
"How could this be…"
"Calm down," Gu Zhan stopped Xu Yu from continuing his search. "There are no clues here."
"…"
Xu Yu fell silent for a moment, then sat back down on the bed in defeat.
"We're about to face another test soon." After a while, Xu Yu quietly said, "I have a bad feeling."
Gu Zhan felt the same.
He didn’t like this instance at all. Ever since they entered, everything had followed the “script” and “setting” of the instance, as if they had become puppets, losing their freedom and being manipulated.
Even when they reached the factory, they had to follow the prescribed process… going through one “test” after another.
But as long as they stayed within the rules, they could only get the results within those rules.
If the other side was intent on killing them, following the instance’s instructions meant there was no way they could clear it.
"We need to do something outside the rules."
"Outside the rules?" Xu Yu looked somewhat confused by Gu Zhan's statement.
Gu Zhan didn’t explain; he currently had no idea and couldn’t clarify.
The two could only suppress their anxiety and wait for the second test to arrive.
The interval before the second exam was not long; it began in the afternoon.
In the meantime, the factory provided a sumptuous lunch for Gu Zhan and the others and specifically set aside nap time.
However, neither of them felt like eating.
After lunch, a puppet brought them a delicate letter.
The letter read: "My lovely players, hello! The afternoon test will be held in the factory courtyard. Please go to the square before two o'clock, and don’t be late!"
They took the letter and went straight to the courtyard.
The clown cat had been waiting for a long time.
It had changed into a decorated outfit and held a small cane.
"Bang bang."
Seeing the two of them come out, it tapped its cane on the ground twice.
"Very good, you are punctual. I believe, like me, you are very much looking forward to this trial of courage."
"Wait a minute."
Before the clown cat could continue, Xu Yu interrupted, "Where have you taken our friend?"
"Friend?" The clown cat displayed a puzzled expression. "What friend? There are many perfect beings here that can be your friends."
"You!" Xu Yu's face showed signs of anger.
Gu Zhan pulled him back from behind.
Xu Yu understood that they couldn’t communicate with these monsters.
The anger in his eyes gradually subsided and eventually returned to calm.
"It seems you have finally accepted reality," the clown cat waved its cane. "Now, the test of courage officially begins."
As it finished speaking, the place they were in changed again.
The factory vanished, replaced by a vast expanse of white.
The ground beneath them rapidly transformed, revealing a flat road. But the land beside the road collapsed quickly, leaving only a bottomless abyss... Looking down, thick fog obscured everything.
At the end of the road were two pure white thrones.
Sitting on them were two people.
One was Yang Lin, and the other was Yu Yezhou.
Then the clown cat spoke, "I heard that in your world, having courage means being able to confront and defeat what you fear. From your hearts, I detect that your greatest fear is losing these two imperfect beings. Though I don’t understand why you care so much about these two imperfect existences... However, since that’s the case, I’ll give you the chance to conquer your fear."
"This platform will collapse in twenty minutes. As long as you can resist the urge to save these two imperfect beings, it means you have confronted your fear. Therefore, you will be brave, and this test will be passed."
"…"
Xu Yu realized that he had been angry too soon.
The clown cat probably knew they would be angry after hearing that. As soon as it finished speaking, it vanished with a "bang."
After disappearing, its voice echoed: "Remember, twenty minutes! As long as you safely pass these twenty minutes, the test will be successful."
【So cunning, how can anyone choose?】
【… Don’t gloat; I don’t believe you’ve never chosen before.】
【Who’s gloating?】
【You can't say that; I really haven't chosen before.】
【If you haven't chosen, how did you pass??】
【?? How did you pass if you chose??】
The comments began to diverge, with those who had "chosen" arguing with those who hadn’t, seemingly unable to understand each other's reasoning.
At that moment, although Gu Zhan couldn't see the comments, he too was caught in the dilemma of "choosing" or "not choosing."
After a while, Xu Yu said, "You stay here, and I'll go over."
"What?" Gu Zhan didn't immediately understand.
Xu Yu continued, "In the previous test, we both saved the cat and passed. Yu Yezhou saved Yang Lin alone and failed... So we should split up. I'll go rescue them, and you stay here to ensure your own passage."
Gu Zhan took a moment to comprehend what he meant.
This wasn’t just "splitting up"; it was clearly a proposal for self-sacrifice.
He frowned; Xu Yu's suggestion made him very uncomfortable.
Xu Yu, however, was anxious. "There’s no time left."
He could see the cracks gradually appearing on the road; according to the clown cat, there were only twenty minutes... Perhaps, in less than twenty minutes, Yu Yezhou and the others would fall.
But Gu Zhan grabbed him, frowning deeply, "Are you sure you can save them this way? What if you fall with them?"
Xu Yu replied, "I will definitely fall with them; that’s the cat’s intention…"
"You know that and are still going?" Gu Zhan found it hard to believe.
Xu Yu said, "It’s a trap, but if we don’t go, someone among them will definitely disappear."
He couldn’t abandon his teammates.
Gu Zhan understood that the clown cat’s goal was probably here.
It was a trap.
Even knowing it was a trap, they had to act.
However, if they continued to follow the opponent’s rules, they would only be driven further into a corner.
Even if the last person could leave, what difference would it make? Gu Zhan didn’t like that kind of ending.
Furrowing his brow, he attempted to find a solution amid the dead end.
It would be easy to kill them; why set such complex rules?
What else in this scenario had they overlooked?
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