For them, being swatted to death by someone was no loss, but it was their lives they were losing!
So it was essential they come to an agreement in these twenty minutes, before the Old Cat could enter.
The bald man asked, "Then why not go now? Why wait until the last two minutes?"
Gao Xin glared with wide eyes, "How did you survive the Redemption Game?"
The bald man's face darkened, obviously he had been lucky and had been carried by others.
Immediately he replied in a muffled voice, "You don't need to know that. I have my own skills. Just explain why we have to wait until the last moment to talk."
Gao Xin pointed at the clock and said, "First, I definitely need to familiarize myself with the terrain, understand all the passageways, and prepare for escape... You've already wasted a lot of my time."
"Furthermore... if you talk too early, how do you know the cat you're talking to is the one that will come in last?"
When they heard the latter part of his explanation, everyone had a sudden realization.
They instinctively felt that the Old Cat was definitely the Silver Hand Youth.
But actually... it wasn't necessarily so.
The four of them were still outside fighting life and death. As death loomed closer, those without collars would fight more desperately, increasing the uncertainty and the probability of a turnabout.
The bald man pondered, "Since any of the dogs will definitely attack the cat, what if the Old Cat dies midway through the game and someone else takes over? Don't we still need to restart the negotiation? Isn't that too dangerous?"
Gao Xin said impatiently, "As long as I don't hand over those two collars, there's only one dog... "
"That Silver Hand Youth probably had the game figured out from the start, at least understanding that the three dogs were designed to kill the cat, so right from the beginning, he used the point kill rule to try to eliminate the dogs."
"If he only has to deal with one dog and doesn't have to be distracted by searching for mice, he's very likely to survive."
"Don't ask if the cat might disagree; he has to agree, otherwise, I can immediately throw out the dog collars and let three dogs in!"
"He's not confident enough to take on three dogs, otherwise, he should have thrown all three collars in at the start, not just two."
"That guy deliberately kept one for self-protection, to incite the three dogs to fight amongst themselves first and wear each other down."
"That's why I said, to talk with the dog, it must be in the ten minutes when the cat can enter but the dogs cannot, because we must first understand the cat's attitude!"
The bald man pressed, "How do you observe the attitude? It can't just be about what he says, right?"
Gao Xin replied, "Of course, we can't trust what the Old Cat says. He might be saying it for the sake of his opponents. The key is to watch his actions after he comes in."
"The cooperation plan is to forbid him from entering the mansion, he can only move around in the courtyard. Since he doesn't need to kill the mice, he doesn't have to enter the mansion."
"And we mice will agree to give him the reward after the game ends and not give dog collars to the people outside, which means there will be two less dogs. The Old Cat only needs to stay in the courtyard, focusing on dealing with the remaining dog."
"Once the time is up, he will be able to get 2100 redemption tickets, it's a win-win situation, he has no reason to come into the building."
"So after the cat enters the courtyard, we can watch him from upstairs. His actions will reveal his attitude."
The bald man nodded, "I see, you're really smart, on par with Brother Qiao."
This was the second time he mentioned Brother Qiao, likely a formidable figure in the so-called Redemption Group.
Gao Xin took note and then said with a bitter smile, "I don't think I'm very smart; I'm just used to thinking about problems as comprehensively as possible, daring not to have the slightest oversight."
The bald man asked again, "What if that guy is extremely ruthless and insists on killing us? What do we do then?"
Gao Xin glanced at the clock, annoyed, "Alright, what perfect solution is there? Mice are just trying to survive in the cracks. If the cat doesn't agree, what can we do about it?"
"We're all ordinary people, and in this world, there are too many things that, no matter how hard you struggle, you still fail in the end. Maybe with just one thought, one sentence from someone, all your efforts can be destroyed. What can you do about it?"
"If you're so worried, just go hide. Originally, I didn't want you all involved anyway, wasting your goddamn breath!"
He was so infuriated that he pointed directly at the other's nose and cursed.
The bald man, upon hearing this, was momentarily stunned, as were the others, who felt sorrowful.
But then, the bald man got angry in embarrassment, glaring at Gao Xin, "Don't get cocky, kid. If the Old Cat goes back on his word, I'll just take the collar and negotiate with the dog, and let in three dogs to restrain the cat."
"The dog collar is an important bargaining chip, give it to me!"
Gao Xin's face darkened, but he remained still.
"Brother Guang, I'll search!" Cao Yang volunteered and immediately started patting Gao Xin down.
Soon he found the two collars strapped to his thigh. The group swarmed over, and they directly started to strip them off.
"Hang in there, Brother!" Su Lei shouted in alarm, wanting to reach out.
Gao Xin quickly raised his hand to stop him, "Fine, if you want them, take them. I'd be relieved from having to negotiate personally."
"But don't think the collar is that important. As long as the cat just pretends a little before the dogs die, once the person playing the dog is dead, the collar becomes useless."
"So don't think about using the collar to threaten the cat; it's better to make the cat feel sincerity."
Everyone understood the possibility, but they felt it was the least likely.
Because it was based on the premise that the Old Cat was determined to kill the mice, and only then would he be so devious to wait for the dog to die before reneging.
Why bother? They're just a bunch of mice, after all.
What Gao Xin proposed was a true win-win situation, and it was the kind where the Old Cat wins big!
Just dealing with one dog in the yard to win all the redemption tickets, what more could he want?
Was he really going to drive the mice to desperation, forcing them to deeply hide and seek them out one by one? Keep in mind that even if two dogs die, there is still one dog that would definitely be after him. If he shows any signs of backing out under the restraint of the last dog, everyone still has time to hide.
The bald man said coldly, "Alright, I know all this. As you said, there are no surefire plans. Maybe even after a desperate struggle, we still fail in the end."
"But this chip must be in my hands, I'll go talk."
Cao Yang quickly stripped the two dog collars off and handed them to the bald man.
...