The question ended, and a sixty-second countdown began. The old lizardman, Ding Ding, stood to the side holding a pocket watch, evidently keeping time.

Lu Luo narrowed his eyes slightly. Gu Fangyi and Zhou Kai stood by his side, subconsciously turning their gaze towards him.

"Just tell me the answer you're thinking of."

"My answer is 'Yes'!" Gu Fangyi said, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Mine too, 'Yes'," Zhou Kai chimed in.

After contemplating for a moment, Lu Luo said, "You two choose 'No'; I'll choose 'Yes'."

"Huh? Why choose different things?" Zhou Kai didn't quite understand.

Gu Fangyi, however, seemed to have a glimmer of understanding, though the specifics remained unclear to him.

The old lizardman, Ding Ding, walked to the head table with a smile.

Soon, the results were announced.

"One person asked, sixty-one people answered. Of these, forty-four chose 'Yes', and seventeen chose 'No'. The seventeen who chose 'No' have won.

Let us first congratulate these seventeen bridegroom candidates who chose 'No'. You've won this round and will be served by attendants, who will bring your rewards.

The reward is delectable food prepared for you by the Nightmare Demon. All of it is imbued with powerful energy, and you will enjoy it.

As for the other forty-four bridegroom candidates who chose 'Yes', it's unfortunate. Even though it is midnight mealtime, you won't have attendants to serve you.

You can only choose your own food. And in this kingdom of Exotic Species, the very source of disasters, be very careful not to choose wrongly!

HEHEHEHE..."

Gu Fangyi and Zhou Kai advanced safely, but Lu Luo had to enter the losers' group and face the punishment.

"Brother Luo!"

"I'm fine. Stay calm and enjoy your midnight snacks. This is one of the few chances you'll get to access high-level, purified food from Exotic Species."

Lu Luo remained calm, but Zhou Kai still couldn't grasp why Lu Luo had chosen incorrectly.

"Brother Luo, what's going on? If you knew the answer, why did you choose to lose?"

Gu Fangyi pushed Zhou Kai aside and lightly knocked him on the head.

"Brother Kane, you're so dense. Brother Luo was testing the options for us."

"Huh? Testing the options?"

Gu Fangyi had guessed part of it, but he didn't fully grasp Lu Luo's entire thought process.

The question seemed simple but was actually quite complex.

"It's not that simple. Besides testing the options, I was also gauging human nature.

If only seventeen people chose 'No' this time, then I have a certain degree of confidence about the next question."

Zhou Kai grew even more perplexed.

"Er, Brother Luo, you should clarify what you're saying. You always talk like this, and it makes me seem very slow."

Has this guy only realized today that he's slow?

Lu Luo briefly wrote down the current situation and its reasons on a piece of paper.

"You two originally intended to choose 'Yes'. If you had stuck with that, then the number of people choosing 'No' would have been fifteen, not seventeen.

Among these fifteen, there would certainly be some who never intended to join the wedding ceremony in the first place.

Assuming the number of people who don't wish to participate is N, then the true number of people who realized the problem with the question is fifteen minus N.

If few people caught on, it means there are few thinkers; and with few thinkers, the predictability of the second question becomes much stronger."

Zhou Kai took out a slip of paper and wrote down the rules Ding Ding had mentioned earlier.

After studying the rules thoroughly, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Brother Luo, I still feel like this multiple-choice question is purely based on luck!"

Lu Luo shook his head and gave them a simple analysis of the question.

"This question isn't purely a matter of luck. What the respondent needs to do is answer 'Yes' or 'No.'

The key is that you need to provide an answer, not necessarily the correct one. That is to say, you can give a wrong answer."

"A wrong answer?"

Lu Luo nodded.

"Yes. For example, the questioner could ask, 'Are you a woman?'

For such a question, you only need to answer 'Yes' or 'No'; you don't have to be correct.

That is to say, you could answer, 'I am a woman.'"

Gu Fangyi and Zhou Kai weren't fools and immediately grasped the crucial point of this problem.

"You can do that?"

"Yes, the difficulty of this question lies right there. The first question gives everyone very little time, only sixty seconds to think.

In those sixty seconds, few people can react in time, so the first choice is called a subconscious choice.

With the experience from the first question, the situation will change for the second.

Their most likely choice will become their initial reaction, or what they think should be the case."

"What they think should be, or their initial reaction?"

Seeing that Gu Fangyi and Zhou Kai understood, Lu Luo nodded.

"Mm, this question is indeed troublesome. In a non-combat challenge like this, one cannot leverage their strength.

And because of the peculiar nature of the question, intelligence isn't easily highlighted either, making it very tough.

This question truly tests one's grasp of human nature.

Or what is known as herd psychology.

But human nature is extremely complicated; even I can't claim to control it.

Those who can truly control people's hearts are incredibly fearsome monsters!"

Lu Luo spoke the truth; he could, at best, predict the responses to the first two questions.

Since the first two questions target subconscious choices and initial reactions, these mentalities are relatively easy to anticipate.

But after two rounds of questioning, the complex changes in the human heart become difficult to control.

Unless one possesses a Sequence like mind-reading.

Otherwise, there's no way to be sure of everyone's answers in what follows.

However, if one can manage to win twice in a row, then on the third question, there's a surefire way to eliminate someone.

"Everyone, shall we start eating? Don't keep me waiting too long, and don't keep my master waiting either," Ding Ding said with a smile.

The losers looked at each other, all waiting for someone else to take the first bite, because Lu Luo and another candidate had each finished a plate of food earlier.

However, one of them had turned into an Exotic Species, so now these forty-four losers were extremely anxious.

Of course, the only person who wasn't worried at all was Lu Luo.

As he walked, he casually touched the food in the bowls, using Observer to check for issues on behalf of Gu Fangyi and Zhou Kai.

Bone of Cattle Plague: extremely high in Dark Energy, fatal if consumed. Well, you are quite strong and hardy, so maybe you won't die if you eat it.

Sky Taller: consumption will increase your height, but your penis will shrink by five centimeters. What a miraculous thing.

Lu Luo was somewhat speechless and made a mental note about the Sky Taller.

Spores of Lock Mushroom: a naturally poisonous plant species, but its spores have strong detoxifying effects, enhancing poison resistance.

Lu Luo didn't check too many or hesitate for long.

He knew that if he paced back and forth here, it would inevitably attract attention.

He checked a total of fifteen kinds of food: ten were harmful, and five were beneficial—a two-to-one ratio.

The Nightmare Demon certainly made these dishes deadly; it's as if it's eager for people to die!

Although Lu Luo could resist those problematic foods, why wouldn't he choose more beneficial ones at this moment?

So he chose "Bride's Tears" and "Lock Mushroom Spores."

Bride's Tears: drinking this grants an abundance of Dark Energy; safe.

Dark Energy offered a very tangible enhancement, and the additional poison resistance was also something Lu Luo needed, allowing him to advance further on the path of toxin immunity.

After Lu Luo ate the food on his plate, others began to eat as well, while some remained standing, continuing to wait.

The atmosphere in the dining hall grew oppressive. Those who had eaten felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement.

ROAR! A candidate who had consumed food suddenly mutated, not far from Lu Luo—at most ten meters away.

His body rapidly swelled, with numerous faces formed from muscle tissue and prosthetic limbs sprouting from his back, waist, and thighs.

Then... he was instantly killed by Lu Luo!

"What the hell are you all staring at? Strike while he's weak, take his life! What are you looking at? Waiting for him to blossom into a flower?"

Although Lu Luo's words were crude, they served as a reminder to everyone there.

More candidates who hadn't mutated began to be wary of those around them, especially those who had already eaten the food from the tables.

The second person to mutate appeared!

Just as Lu Luo had done, this time, the mutator was surrounded and killed by a group of candidates before he could even finish transforming.

Then came the third, then the fourth, and more and more followed...

The few who had not yet eaten the remaining food started to panic; they were encircled by the candidates who were safe.

Lu Luo noted that the Nightmare Demon's rules didn't explicitly forbid attacking other candidates, nor did they explicitly permit it.

This added a great deal of uncertainty to the game.

The few who were surrounded had no intention of resisting the dozens of other candidates and obediently ate the food on their plates.

Out of four people, three mutated. The one who survived heaved a huge sigh of relief.

Zhou Kai and Gu Fangyi watched Lu Luo, who quietly told them about the three safe food items he had found.

"The third one in the first row, the second in the second row, and the first in the third row—these three portions of food are safe.

There's a high probability that there won't be any mishaps in the second round, but even if there are, you two should be fine.

If something unexpected happens, just choose to give up. Don't be stubborn, got it?"

"Understood."

Ding Ding, looking at his watch, slowly stepped forward.

"Well now, bridegroom candidates, out of the forty-four who ate the food, it's regrettable that twenty-four of them directly mutated and died.

Fortunately, the remaining twenty people who ate the food were unaffected. Twelve gave up, but they did not choose to leave.

Moreover, there are eight brave souls who consumed two portions of food, and they have all chosen to continue the game!"

Listening to Ding Ding's words, Lu Luo looked towards the others who had eaten two portions of food and were unharmed. One of them had just shown a Sequence Fluctuation.

Sequence particle detection in progress. Sensing Sequence D-143: Food Sense. Effect: can roughly sense whether food is beneficial or harmful.

A Grade D Sequence has played a decisive role here. Meanwhile, those who possessed combat Sequences have all mutated and died—fate truly is unpredictable!

Ding Ding, at the main table, tapped it once more. The remaining twenty-five people began to vie for the head seat in the second round.

This time, Qi Gefei, leading the charge, directly activated his Evil Holy Seal form. Powerful purple-black Holy Radiance pushed everyone around him away.

In the scuffle, one person was sent flying by Qi Gefei, shattering a plate of food.

Although Qi Gefei secured the head seat, he also looked somewhat shocked, unsure if he would be punished and what that punishment might be.

Ding Ding slowly approached the man on the ground, saying with a smile, "I told you all to be careful not to break anything on the dining table. The master has a very bad temper! So..."

CRACK!

His head suddenly elongated, and his fangs pierced through the skull of the candidate on the ground, killing him instantly.

This action by Ding Ding made one thing clear to the candidates: the attacker would not be punished. Instead, the last person to touch the broken item would face the consequences. This was a very subtle rule.

"Alright, Mr. Qi Gefei has now earned the right to speak. So, what is your question?"

Qi Gefei glanced at Ding Ding, then at the others present. He slowly closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them.

"Do you... wish to obtain the power of the Nightmare Demon?"

The sixty-second countdown began. Ding Ding, at his side, had already taken out his pocket watch.

Upon hearing Qi Gefei's question, Lu Luo was initially taken aback, then immediately plunged into deep thought.

It wasn't just him; the others were similarly lost in contemplation.

This question completely disrupted Lu Luo's plan.

Because this question, unlike the previous one, required them to think.

Once a question required thinking, the influence of human nature would be significantly reduced.

Was their purpose in coming here to obtain the power of the Nightmare Demon?

The answer in Lu Luo's heart was no. He was very satisfied with his own power: four Grade S Sequences and one Grade A Sequence, Unbeliever, which was even more potent than a Grade S Sequence.

One could say that he only needed to grow steadily and safely, without needing to consider the Nightmare Demon's power at all.

His purpose here was straightforward: to take Qi Xinzhu away.

Well, now there were two additional objectives: to get Gu Fangyi and Zhou Kai out safely.

Lu Luo didn't want his brothers to run into trouble, so he had to make sufficiently correct decisions here.

Previously, following the established pattern of thinking, simply choosing 'No' meant Gu Fangyi and Zhou Kai still had a high probability of winning.

But this new question forced him to change his strategy.

Lu Luo was certain that the majority of people here wanted to obtain the Nightmare Demon's power.

This was understandable, as the power of an Eighth Order Exotic Species was immensely strong and offered significant advantages.

Often, the Nightmare Demon's power was even more attractive than that of the Dawn Disc, as the Dawn Disc was controlled by the Church and seemed too intangible.

But the Nightmare Demon was different; it was right in front of them, much like the amusement park in the Southern Ring, where many had also obtained Noah's power.

Now, the Nightmare Demon represented the same kind of opportunity!

Therefore, Lu Luo was certain that, in their hearts, many people's answers were affirmative.

Their actual choice, 'Yes' or 'No', would then depend on whether their self-assessment was correct.

If they think too much, it's impossible to analyze based on human nature anymore.

"This round, Brother Gu, you choose 'Yes'. Brother Kane and I will choose 'No'."

Gu Fangyi immediately understood Lu Luo's intention: one side would always win. For those Lu Luo was guiding, winning or losing individually didn't matter as much.

If one of them lost, the safe food options Lu Luo had identified through his earlier 'trial and error' would suffice.

Still, this situation wasn't great.

"Brother Luo, are we unable to be certain now?"

"I can't be sure now either. If Brother Kane and I lose, that would be the best outcome.

But if you lose, eat two plates of safe food and choose to leave immediately, understand?"

"I got it!" Gu Fangyi nodded. This was not the time to cause trouble for Lu Luo.

They clutched their candidate tokens tightly and quietly awaited the final result.

Ding Ding's smile deepened. He looked towards Lu Luo, as if speaking specifically to him.

"One person asked, twenty-four people answered. A total of nineteen responded 'Yes', and a total of five responded 'No'. 'No' wins!"

Lu Luo was momentarily stunned upon hearing this result; the disparity in numbers was beyond his expectation.

Because the question involved actual thought, he had estimated that the 'Yes' and 'No' votes would be roughly even.

But why had so many people chosen 'Yes'?

That's not right... What exactly went wrong?

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