Chapter 57: The 1924 Train Murder Case (30)

"Is she not tired of smashing things yet?" Tang Mu was a little speechless.

"Shall we go out and take a look?" Tang Mu tugged at Eli's sleeve, signaling that Eli could open the door now.

Eli pondered for a while, but in the end, couldn't resist Tang Mu's insistence and unlocked the conductor's office.

Outside, Dale saw Tang Mu actually opening the door of her own accord and was stunned for a moment.

But she quickly regained her senses, immediately hurling the heavy suitcase in her hands at Tang Mu.

Thirty or forty pounds of weight flew straight at Tang Mu.

However, with Eli present, Dale's murderous intent toward Tang Mu was thwarted.

Eli blocked the suitcase.

"Give up. Other than through voting, you cannot kill me," Tang Mu looked down at Dale, "And because you’re infected with anthrax, you should be getting weaker now, shouldn’t you?"

Tang Mu pointed at Dale’s arm, where the skin was already red, swollen, and ulcerated.

"With this rate of spread, none of us will make it to 8:00 AM the day after tomorrow. But if you and I join forces and pool our votes, maybe there’s still a sliver of hope for everyone."

"Hope? Ha." Dale nearly spat at Tang Mu, her tone vicious and cold. "Between you and us, only one side survives. Tell me, what hope do I have?"

"Indeed. As things stand, either we all die together, or you die and I live. But there’s a voting scenario that creates a logical paradox."

Tang Mu actually told Dale how the NPCs would vote tomorrow, as if she had everything under control, confident and composed.

"Player James is already dead. Now, of the twelve eligible to vote, the remaining players will certainly cast all their votes for me. That gives me three votes. But Dale, have you considered how the NPCs will vote? They’ll split their votes evenly among you, Hert Arnold, and Adela. In the end, everyone dies together."

"Then let’s all die," Dale replied with an air of indifference, as if she no longer cared.

"But here’s where the logical paradox arises." Tang Mu gazed quietly into Dale’s eyes, already subtly manipulating Dale’s emotions.

It was that simple.

As long as Tang Mu could face her opponent directly, nothing about them could escape her notice.

At this moment, she seized upon Dale’s weakness—Dale was already under her control, unable to fight back.

"If I die, the players win. You get to live."

"But I, you, Hert Arnold, and Adela each have three votes. Everyone dies again."

"But if I die, the players still win. Everyone lives."

...

"Back and forth, endlessly." Tang Mu watched Dale calmly. "So do you understand now?"

Dale remained silent for a long time, then raised a doubt, "But how can you guarantee that the NPCs will each vote exactly three times per player?"

"And we have two chances to vote. If the NPCs realize they’ve been tricked this time, then next time..."

"So, until 8:00 AM tomorrow, we are still allies." Tang Mu extended her hand to Dale. "Eli will review everyone’s votes in advance, then decide how he and I vote."

"So our cooperation will surely be pleasant, Miss Dale. You players just need to vote all your ballots for me. The rest, Eli and I will handle."

Dale looked at Tang Mu’s outstretched hand but did not shake it. She snorted coldly, showing her extreme disdain for Tang Mu.

"Don’t think this will make me forgive you," she said icily. "As you said, our cooperation lasts only until 8:00 AM tomorrow. Once 8:00 AM passes, you can go die!"

"Let’s get through today first," Tang Mu replied, unruffled by Dale’s curses. Her face remained serene, but in her heart, she felt nothing but contempt for Dale.

Someone who could only be led by the nose held no value for Tang Mu, not even worthy of being her adversary. How could she possibly care about Dale?

And if she was right, in the distant corner, she could see the hem of writer Jill’s coat.

Jill’s bowler hat gave away his presence.

It wouldn’t be long before Jill informed his NPC friends about what he’d learned.

There would be a good show tomorrow.

Tang Mu suddenly found herself anticipating tomorrow’s vote.

She hoped it would be thrilling.

Don’t let her down.

**

The next day, 8:00 AM.

Because everyone was infected with anthrax, after a whole day, they could only languish weakly on the sofa seats.

Even Eli needed a cane to collect everyone’s ballots—the cane borrowed from an elderly passenger in another carriage. The other passengers, incapacitated by anthrax, had their belongings become freely available to Eli and the others.

"Now, all your ballots are in my hands. Let’s begin counting."

Eli looked quietly at everyone, then laboriously opened the ballot box, taking out the votes marked with the suspects’ names and reading them one by one.

"Tang Mu: 1 vote. Dale: 1 vote. Dale: 2 votes. Dale: 3 votes. Dale: 4 votes. Dale... 9 votes."

Eli flipped through the remaining ballots. "The rest are all for Tang Mu. So there’s no need to continue, Miss Dale. It’s time for you to depart."

"What? This is impossible!" Dale was furious. "Wasn’t it agreed that each NPC would vote three times for each player? Plus Tang Mu and Eli’s votes... As long as Eli checks everyone’s ballots in advance, he can easily control or even swap votes unless..."

Dale’s eyes widened.

She stared at Tang Mu in shock, her finger trembling as she pointed at Tang Mu’s right hand. "Unless you never intended for us all to survive. From the very beginning, you planned for us to die so you alone could live!"

Accused, Tang Mu remained smiling. She didn’t even lift her eyelids, maintaining an aloof, indifferent composure.

"Yes. You’ve finally realized it. Unfortunately, it’s too late."

Tang Mu decided that even in death, Dale deserved to understand.

"Once you’re eliminated, only two players remain who can vote me out. And only eleven people can cast effective votes. Eleven—no matter how the votes are split between players and NPCs, there’s no way to kill me. So, Miss Dale, today’s round of voting was indeed your only chance at survival. It’s a pity you didn’t plan for yourself, didn’t seize the opportunity, and even trusted someone you shouldn’t have..."

At this, Tang Mu wore a look of genuine regret for Dale.

"What can I say, Miss Dale?"

"Although things didn’t go as you expected, to be honest, dying at my hand isn’t exactly unfair."

Dale still tried to struggle, her anger now overwhelming. But as time slowly ticked by, her fury gradually turned to fear of death.

"But... But... today, aren’t we supposed to vote on the suspect who killed the victim with the cyanide injector? I’m not even among the suspects, so your votes are invalid! I propose a re-vote!"

"Who said today’s vote was for the cyanide killer?"

Tang Mu’s smile was the complete opposite of Dale’s terror.

"We’re voting for the murderer who killed with the dining knife. Miss Dale, you admitted yesterday that you were the one who committed the murder with the dining knife. So our votes are valid."

Everyone argued heatedly.

But no one had the strength to get up from their seats and strangle another by hand.

So even though Dale was furious, she couldn’t get up from her seat to harm Tang Mu in the slightest—

—a stark contrast from the previous day, when Dale shouted at the conductor’s office door.

"No, I refuse!" Dale struggled desperately. "Things can’t have gotten this bad... I don’t want to die, Mr. Eli, I beg you, don’t kill me! I don’t want to die, my mother is still waiting for me in the game hall... She’s gravely ill with cancer and needs a huge sum for treatment! I can’t die..."