Chapter 18: Celebrating Before the Final Whistle

Shortly after, the production team issued an online clarification, claiming that a staff member with a personal vendetta against Shen Li had threatened Jiang Fuya into orchestrating the entire incident. This staff member had now been dismissed.

Jiang Fuya’s fans flooded the comments section, berating the production team for failing to protect their idol and demanding an apology, while collectively warning the staff to ensure Jiang Fuya’s safety moving forward. Although many still questioned the truthfulness of this explanation, the majority chose to cling to the persona Jiang Fuya had built over the years and decided to give her another chance. With the controversy settled, the live broadcast resumed.

Impacted by the scandal, the morale of the "Top Tier" team plummeted. Meanwhile, led by Shen Li and Ji Beishu, the "Blacklist" team quickly completed their tasks at three stations, having now captured five out of six locations, with only one left to go.

The entire Blacklist team gathered before the sixth station. Drawing on her memories from her past life and her understanding of the game rules, Shen Li quickly formulated a plan: "This is a team-based task; we need to coordinate with each other." They picked up the walkie-talkies provided by the production team.

This station was located on the only cliff on the entire island. Their mission was to rescue a "hostage" trapped in a metal cage suspended over the abyss.

"First, we have to pull him back in," Shen Li said, organizing the strategy for the others. "Once he is safely on shore, do you see that lock? If I’m not mistaken, it’s a puzzle lock."

Puzzle pieces were scattered all over the island; they needed to find all of them to fit into the lock, which would then release the hostage.

The difficulty of this task was on par with the deep-sea fishing challenge, but with one key difference: it was a direct competition between the two teams. For the Top Tier team, this was their final chance to secure a victory. If they lost, the entire second round would end with them trailing by a significant margin. Pei Wenxuan would certainly not let this opportunity slip by, and Shen Li was ready for it.

She glanced at the Top Tier team as they discussed their tactics. It was interesting to note that the leader had shifted from Jiang Fuya to Lu Ziwei.

Based on her past life, while Lu Ziwei appeared to be Jiang Fuya’s subservient lackey, he was actually far more ruthless. Compared to Jiang Fuya’s childish schemes, Lu Ziwei was truly insidious.

Shen Li withdrew her gaze and held out her hand. "We are going to win this! Let's go!" Her three teammates stacked their hands on top of hers and shouted in unison, "Let's go!" The sound echoed across the valley, full of spirit.

Jiang Fuya lifted her delicate eyelids, a flash of resentment crossing her eyes before she hid it perfectly. No one noticed, but Lu Ziwei, thinking she was still shaken, comforted her: "Don't worry, Yaya, I will definitely win this victory back for us!"

"Mm-hmm," Jiang Fuya whimpered, her eyes turning red. This broke Lu Ziwei’s heart and intensified his burning hatred for Shen Li. If not for her, his beloved Yaya would never have suffered such unwarranted misfortune—that vicious woman, Shen Li!

He would not let Shen Li get away with this!

Lan Ting, already accustomed to Lu Ziwei’s sycophantic behavior, decided to head out to find puzzle pieces and grabbed Jiang Nian. "Let’s go together."

"No need." Jiang Nian pulled his arm away abruptly and stepped back two meters. "We’ll go separately." Before the words had even faded, he had already disappeared, leaving Lan Ting standing there in a daze.

She fell into self-doubt: "Am I that scary?" Lu Ziwei helped the inconsolable Jiang Fuya to her feet, while she leaned into his chest and sobbed.

He glanced dismissively at Jiang Nian’s retreating figure. "Don't mind him, he's a freak." With that, he wrapped his arm around Jiang Fuya and left.

Shen Li witnessed the entire scene. She gave a faint smile; things were getting interesting.

"Jiang Nian," she muttered softly.

It seemed Jiang Nian wasn't very close to the other three. They likely didn't know he was one of Pei Wenxuan’s people—perhaps Pei Wenxuan didn't want too many people to know, lest his identity be exposed. Too bad for him, she had seen right through it.

Suddenly, Lu Ziwei circled back and taunted them: "Aren't you going to start searching? We can't guarantee that we won't cause some trouble for whatever you find, you know." He stuck his tongue out provocatively and ran off again.

Qiao Le said worriedly, "He's right, we should hurry!" She was about to rush out when Shen Li pulled her back. "No rush. Rescue the hostage first."

In her past life, they had panicked when provoked and rushed to find the puzzle pieces. As a result, with the help of the production team, the other team had stayed far ahead. The puzzle pieces for the Top Tier team were hidden in obvious spots, while theirs were impossible to find; every time they were close to locating one, the production team would secretly intervene, causing them to lose their lead.

She would not make the same mistake twice. She smiled calmly. "If they dare to hide our pieces or cheat, they are breaking the rules. The game rules state that you cannot hide or take the other team's pieces, or you will be penalized by losing one of your own found pieces."

She stared directly at the camera. "I hope the production team adheres to the rules they set themselves." She curled her lip into a smile, walked with her three teammates to the thick hemp rope holding the hostage, and gave the order: "3, 2, 1, pull!"

As she called out the rhythm, the four of them moved in perfect synchronization, and the metal cage began to move toward the shore at a steady pace.

Behind the monitor, the director broke into a cold sweat. "How does this woman know what we're planning?" He had been about to give the Top Tier team an advantage, but now, not knowing what to do, he looked toward Pei Wenxuan for orders.

Pei Wenxuan’s face turned grim. He clenched his fists so tightly he wanted to smash the machine. "Tell Lu Ziwei to play it by ear. As long as we win, the method doesn't matter."

The director replied, "Yes, I will notify him immediately!"

...

After exhausting all their strength, the four of them finally pulled the heavy metal cage and its hostage to shore. They collapsed onto the ground, panting. Qiao Le rubbed her arms. "That was so heavy. We still have to find puzzle pieces now—this is brutal."

Beside them, Bai Qiuya was already spent, her face deathly pale. Shen Li noticed this and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Rest for a moment before you head out. Don't push yourself; the three of us can handle it."

Ji Beishu chimed in, "That's right, I can find a few extra pieces, don't worry."

"Exactly! I'm burning a year's worth of calories today—our team will win!" Qiao Le stood up with a jerk, dusted off the dirt, and was about to run off when Shen Li pulled her back. "Wait, let's divide the zones."

With her memories of the past life, Shen Li knew exactly where their team’s puzzle pieces were hidden, so she assigned specific zones to each of the four. Bai Qiuya took the nearest area, and the four of them set off immediately.

Guided by Shen Li’s leadership, the Blacklist team quickly caught up to the progress of the Top Tier team. Both sides returned to the cliffside almost at the same time, but the Blacklist team had already rescued their hostage.

As soon as they placed the correct puzzle pieces into the square frame on the metal cage, the door would unlock, and the Blacklist team would win.

"What do we do? Let's hurry!" Lan Ting frantically pulled on the ropes, dragging her teammates along, while Lu Ziwei stood by, unhurried, even watching the show.

The Blacklist team had already placed three pieces; only the one from Bai Qiuya remained. Qiao Le was already cheering, "We won!"

However, after Bai Qiuya placed her piece, the cage didn't react at all. Qiao Le’s expression changed instantly. "What’s going on?"

Shen Li picked up the puzzle piece to inspect it, her brow suddenly furrowing...