The Midnight Owl

From the content, to the strategy, from the important items to the extra reminders, Wu Sheng purified and simplified all the 3/23 information given by Mao Qiping, and then entered it into the mobile phone memo, still densely occupying a screen.

Xu Wang listened carefully the whole process, and finally took Wu Sheng's mobile phone to consolidate his memory from beginning to end. He really felt that the price of 400 yuan was simply the conscience of the industry.

After finishing the third level, we will come to the most important thing right now, the endless sea.

"The four lighthouses represent the destinations of the four routes. There are treasure chests in the lighthouses on East and West Treasure Beach, where you can get money or stationery. There are flying ships in the lighthouses on the North-South Flying Island, and you can fly to any coordinates by boat..."

Just as Mao Qiping made a start, a five-in-one "ding—" sounded from above and below the boat at the same time.

<Cheat Sheet>: North Flying Island (1/3), the first ship sails into the clouds.

Looking at the four people who rolled the message on their arms, they were all taken aback. Someone has already arrived at the destination and even successfully entered the lighthouse?What does the (1/3) in the brackets mean?

Seems to be used to such questions, before the boat could speak, Mao Qiping who got off the boat answered directly: "A team or a person has already arrived at North Flying Island and breached the lighthouse. There are still two places left there."

"Where?" Xu Wang heard the clue.

"Each of the four destinations has three quotas for climbing the tower, first come, first served." Mao Qiping said, "Once the quota is full, the lighthouse will be closed immediately, and it is useless to go to the island."

"This speed is too fast..." Qian Ai glanced at the phone. It has only been an hour since they came in. It feels like an exam. You are still doing the previous multiple-choice questions, and they have already handed in the paper.

Mao Qiping is no stranger to it: "The teams that can choose Flying Island are basically well prepared and rush to the coordinates of the next level. Of course, the speed is fast. But the endless sea is good, even if the competition fails, there will be no one." Punishment, it's just a busy night."

"Can individuals climb the tower too?" Wu Sheng was very concerned about what Mao Qiping just said about "a team or a single person".

"Yes, Endless Sea is different from checkpoints. Groups or teams are treated equally. Individuals are also considered as a team. After climbing the tower, they also occupy a place." After Mao Qiping affirmed, he changed the subject, "But it is difficult for individuals to compete with the team. Firstly, the speed of the floating ball is far less than that of the sailboat, and secondly, if you meet other teams on the island, when competing to climb the tower, one-on-four has little chance of winning."

"Understood." Wu Sheng nodded, eyes closed.

The remaining three partners looked at each other, well, this is the start of updating the rule book again.

"Speaking of the lighthouse," Mao Qiping returned to the subject, "the functions of the two flying islands are the same, and Treasure Beach is the same, the difference is only in the direction of the route, so do you want to open the treasure chest now, or go to the next coordinate point?"

Xu Wang understood that Mao Qiping had to provide two routes and lighthouse strategies based on their choices. After all, they only paid for one route, and they couldn't let people talk about all four.

Regarding the choice of the route, the four of them had actually discussed it before. Xu Wang confirmed it with his partners again in a very short time, bowed his head and answered Mao Qiping: "Bao Zang Tan, let's open the treasure chest!"

Previously, I just guessed from the literal meaning of "Bao Treasure Beach" that it was possible to get a baby, but now it is 100% sure that I will win the prize, and the rest is just a question of the specific prize, so Captain Xu's voice unabashedly reveals "Money! Money, here we come!" The excitement, and the determination of "We must make up for the money we bought for the strategy!"

"East or West?" Mao Qiping asked again.

"Which side is less populated?"

"Let's go to the west, because many teams think that the purple air coming from the east is more auspicious than the west."

"Then let's go west!"

"..." Mao Qiping scratched his chin, thought left and right, and finally came to his senses.I, it seems, was tricked into another free message!

This business was done with blood and tears.

"Xibaozang Beach" route guide: ①After selecting the route, the ship will automatically drive, but the direction is steered by the crew on board; ②Go to the true north first, and then sail straight to the lighthouse after seeing the first water monster, that is to say, The optimal channel should follow a broken line instead of a straight line, otherwise the probability of encountering a water monster will be greatly increased; ③Try to avoid getting too close to other ships to prevent being attacked, after all, there are only three places.

"West Treasure Beach" lighthouse guide: ① There will be a tower guard in the lighthouse, you must defeat him before you can reach the treasure house at the top of the lighthouse; What kind of posture will the tower guards take to defend, but it is known that they stand at the door to guard with force, hide in the tower for sneak attack and assassination, hide in the commanding heights, throw black powder, and shoot indiscriminately with machine guns, etc., with different distances and different lethalities. ③ There is no absolutely necessary connection between breaking through the tower guard and opening the treasure chest, and other competing teams can take advantage of it, so you must not take it lightly before you reach the treasure vault.

Regarding the route and attacking the tower, Mao Qiping said a lot in detail, but in summary, it is the above few points.

The fog began to spread to the surroundings, and it was still hazy when I raised my eyes, but the visibility nearby was better.

"The role of the strategy is not to fight unprepared battles. Whether you can finally attack the tower and grab the one-third of the quota depends on you." Mao Qiping said too many words in one breath, and his throat was already smoking. , After finishing this concluding sentence, he unscrewed the thermos cup he carried with him and drank it.

Xu Wang also wanted the other party to rest, but time was running out, so he hurriedly said: "Well, the precautions and experience of daily clearance..."

"I know, I know," Mao Qiping didn't mind, quickly put down the thermos, and looked up, "It's a commonplace thing to pay attention to, the first thing is to go with the same team, at any time, don't take the team you meet lightly, no matter how kind they are. , you don’t hurt anyone, and people hurt your heart; the second is not to take it for granted, even if you pass this level twenty times, No. 20 may be new once; the third is not to abuse stationery, save one, the key Time can save your life..."

"As for experience, hey, it's actually not much experience. I've met too many people in this endless sea. Let's count it as a personal experience." A little sincerity between friends, "No matter which level you reach, if you are not ready, you would rather stay in the last level or in the endless sea for a while, and don't rush forward. This will be an extremely long battle. On the journey, if you want to go to the end, you must fight steadily and step by step."

"Understood." Xu Wang lowered his head and looked at him seriously. "As long as you meet other teams, you will return to the original point if you lose the competition. It is better to prepare for a few days, and don't be impulsive. The gain outweighs the loss."

"Origin?" Mao Qiping was puzzled, "Who sold you such fake news."

"No?" Not only Xu Wang, but Wu Qianqian and his three partners were also surprised. Although they didn't spend any money, they didn't need to be tall, handsome, and skinny when they were in the cabin at the time. lie to them?

"It's not the original point," Mao Qiping told Zhun Xin'er directly, "It's just going back three levels. For example, if you fail to hand in the paper on 7/23, you will have to start over from 4/23 next time."

Wu Sheng asked: "If you don't go back, what about staying at the original coordinates of 7/23?"

"It will still be sucked in at midnight, but there will be no 7/23 checkpoint," Mao Qiping looked at him, "it will be the endless sea of ​​that province."

Wu Sheng: "The division of the Endless Sea is based on provinces. What about checkpoints, within what range can you enter the checkpoints with the coordinates as the center?"

Mao Qiping: "The checkpoint is based on the city. As long as you enter the city where the coordinates of the current checkpoint are located, it will no longer be an endless sea."

Wu Sheng: "Is the opening of the level unique?"

Mao Qiping: "No, only three, the last level that was successfully handed in, and the new level that can be broken at present, both are open, and then the first level is open forever, and the rest of the levels, even if you reach the coordinate point, are also endless seas in your province. .”

Wu Sheng: "Then if I happen to be standing at the junction of two provinces..."

"Wait a minute," Mao Qiping raised his hand, signaling Wu Sheng not to speak yet, bowed his head and meditated for a moment, and finally realized that he was about to reveal the basic rules.

The problem is that these people didn't buy rules other than injury and death at all!

Although the smiling captain haggled fiercely, it's your love anyway. I'm willing to give the hammer a deal. This handsome boy is just a white wolf with nothing!What's more terrible is that at the moment when the question was asked, I was completely brought into the rhythm of the other party, and I didn't think about money at all. I focused all my energy on understanding the other party's "extremely academic problem description", and used Proud to penetrate.

This man, no, this team is toxic TAT

"Hurry up and choose the route," Mao Qiping wanted to watch the customers leave now, "otherwise the seats will be full soon."

Wu Sheng sighed inaudibly, it was rare to meet someone who communicated so smoothly, and he was a little bit reluctant to end the topic suddenly.

"Xiao Mao..." Xu Wang suddenly stretched out half of his body, and lowered as much as possible, closing the distance between them.

Mao Qiping swallowed unconsciously, looked at him warily: "Huh?"

Xu Wang smiled brightly: "After the meal in the restaurant, there will be a fruit plate or something..."

Mao Qiping squinted his eyes, considering whether to use a telescopic pole to lift these guys into the sea one by one.

"It's okay to give me an orange, we don't choose!"

"..."

After drifting at sea for a year, Mao Qiping has seen all kinds of teams, buddhist ones, irritable ones, undisciplined ones, elite ones, broken pots and battered ones, and indomitable ones, but he has never seen this kind of team before him.

Say okay, you want them to sink the ship every minute, or worse, you can't get angry at them, and you even feel a little envious unconsciously, thinking "if only I could do this too".

Mao Qiping really wanted to find a particularly lofty word to describe this group of guys, but after searching, there were only three words.

Normal mind.

In this ghost place, despair and excitement are easy, but the most difficult thing is to still be yourself and be normal.

"It's all a loss, not short of an orange," Mao Qiping sighed heavily, to show his sadness that "buying and selling is not easy", but what he said was dry, "If you can take the green train, don't take the high-speed train." High-speed rail, if you can take high-speed trains, don’t take the plane. Firstly, it saves money, and secondly, objectively, the cycle between the two checkpoints has been lengthened. Originally, you handed in the old checkpoint yesterday, and you can enter the new checkpoint today. But if you take a sleeper berth, you may have an extra night of rest, sleep on the train, and then sleep on the endless sea, to ensure that you will be refreshed when you reach the next level, and you will save a night of hotel accommodation.”

Xu Wang smiled: "So the key point is to save money."

Mao Qiping was also happy, half joking and half teasing: "If you are not short of money, just pretend I didn't tell you, but you can't tell me, otherwise I will take your 800 yuan and throw it into the sea with hatred."

"We are short of money, we are very bad!" Xu Wang quickly assured.

Mao Qiping nodded in satisfaction: "Well, I feel comfortable."

When both money and goods are settled, we must set off.

The four of them chose the "Xibaozang Beach" on their arms together, and soon, the unmanned rudder turned freely.

The three partners watched Wu Sheng together.

Junshi Wu went nowhere, and while comforting himself with "greater ability comes greater responsibility", he rushed to the cockpit, held the rudder, and accurately adjusted the bow of the ship to the true north.

The sailboat and the floating ball slowly separated.

Xu Wang, Qian Ai, and Kuang Jinxin stood by the railing, bowed their heads and waved goodbye to Mao Qiping.

Although it was a business, this person was the first genuinely friendly person they met in "Owl". Now that they were about to part, there was a bit of reluctance to say goodbye in their hearts.

Qian Ai was not used to such a delicate atmosphere, so he simply waved his hand and said goodbye jokingly: "You are in this business, it feels like we are in a different place, we are Thorn Island, you are the Chinese dream."

"It was all forced out," Mao Qiping, who was waving his hand, said angrily when he heard the words, "Otherwise, what should I do, I can't break through, and I can't walk away."

Qian Ai said: "It's good for you to make money, so let's make it a second job."

Mao Qiping put down his hands and looked at him quietly.

The distance between the boat and the floating ball was one meter, and the salty sea breeze still sent every word of Mao Qiping to the ears of the three of them.

"My daughter-in-law wakes up every night without knowing where her husband has gone, and my child wakes up every night without finding his father."

In his eyes, there is real, suppressed suffering.

Qian Ai's smile faded away, and she fell silent.He can make gags and jokes, but he doesn't know what to say to Mao Qiping like this.

Xu Wang suppressed the bad feeling in his heart, and tried to persuade: "When you go out at five o'clock, they will forget what happened at night."

"But the torment during those five hours was real," Mao Qiping smiled and shook his head, "My son howled heart-piercingly once every night, and cried and convulsed several times."

His voice is very soft, but the softer it is, the more heart trembling it is.

Babies cry and convulse, it can be big or small, serious and even have sequelae.

The distance between the boat and the floating ball became farther and farther, and Mao Qiping's voice became more and more indistinct.

"They forgot, but I still remember it, night after night, endlessly..."

These were the last words they heard, Mao Qiping.

Afterwards, that floating ball, that person, and that vague sigh were all lost in the vast sea mist.