Hua Ru was unusually aggressive today, a complete departure from her usual timid self.

This put everyone on tenterhooks, including her fellow Killer teammates. Neither Yelena nor Xu Kesi could keep up with this abrupt shift in tempo. They were used to playing defense, reacting to their opponents’ moves rather than forcing the action. This new all-out offensive style left them deeply unsettled. As much as they enjoyed having the upper hand, they also feared letting their guard down and getting blindsided.

Hua Ru’s calm and composed demeanor did little to reassure her teammates. In fact, it only ratcheted up their anxiety.

Xu Kesi found it hard to believe anyone could be this impossibly capable. Her Oscar-worthy acting, sharp intellect, flawless defense, relentless and precise attacks - not to mention her near-perfect appearance - it was almost too much to accept.

Maybe he was exaggerating a little, but there was no denying it: this woman was in a league of her own. She didn’t seem like a real person. Aside from her poor stamina in close-quarters fights, she didn’t seem to have any obvious weaknesses.

And that’s exactly what worried Xu Kesi most. If they could identify her shortcomings early, the team could cover for her and prevent major mistakes. For instance, since close combat was her weak point, something clear and tangible, both he and Ragna could step in to protect her. But if there was a vulnerability in the battle of wits, they might not realize it until it was too late. And if the consequences were serious, there might be no chance to recover.

Xu Kesi’s leg twitched uncontrollably. He was terrified that Hua Ru would overplay her hand.

According to the plan, they were only supposed to pressure No. 13 and No. 16, not actually target them, just intimidate them a little.

No. 13 was a young man of unremarkable appearance. He was neither ugly nor handsome, just average in every way.

When singled out by Xu Kesi, he didn’t seem particularly flustered. He rose calmly, his tone even and detached.

“I don’t think there’s much to say. There are several Killers watching our every move. The more I talk, the shorter my life expectancy.” Even under direct pressure, he refused to elaborate, clearly determined to stay under the radar.

Next up was Yelena. Her temperament made her easy to manipulate… though even under their control, she probably couldn’t do much beyond swaying the vote. Still, she was useful for saying things Hua Ru couldn’t openly voice herself.

"Actually… yesterday I saw someone near the password lock, but I didn’t get a clear look at who it was." After saying this, she sat back down. Her voice lacked the confidence she’d shown earlier; now she seemed weighed down with worry, her usual liveliness gone.

Her acting skills weren’t very convincing, but her appearance right now wasn’t acting. She was still drowning in guilt over Ragna’s death.

Of course, what she’d just said had been fed to her by Hua Ru. It was a simple probe, not based on anything she’d actually witnessed. It was a bluff, designed to test the group’s reactions.

And the results were telling.

The middle-aged man across the room had been holding a cigarette, about to bring it to his lips… but the moment Yelena began speaking, his hand froze mid-air for nearly a full second.

Beside Liu Qingzhu, No. 11, Xuanyuan Najiang, also reacted. His fingers had been absently tapping the table, but they stilled the instant he heard her words.

Then No. 16 stood up. He was short and, like most of the participants, quite young.

“I’ll go with the majority. Whoever you vote for, I’ll vote for too.” His words were as brief as ever.

After everyone had spoken, silence fell over the room again.

About a minute passed before Hua Ru broke it: “No one’s going to own up? Who was it that tampered with the password lock? Didn’t we all agree from the beginning not to touch it?”

“Who’s been secretly messing with that lock behind our backs? Don’t they know it can only be used three times?” Zhou Yulong chimed in a little too eagerly, perhaps overdoing it.

No one picked up the thread. It was too risky a topic to engage with.

Liu Qingzhu kept quiet because he wasn’t sure if the question was a trap. Just like No. 3 Qian Min earlier - what had seemed like a simple inquiry into No. 4 Wang Yang’s inspection of the crime scene had actually been a clever move to exonerate No. 8 Huang Waikai, while subtly positioning herself as a leader and steering everyone to follow her words.

Until he understood the girl’s real intentions, Liu Qingzhu decided to hold his position and stay quiet, letting her make all the moves.

There was another reason, too… he was simply exhausted. His mind kept drifting, unable to focus or think clearly.

Hua Ru found herself grudgingly impressed by the older man’s restraint. He’d only spoken once earlier when he was being targeted, and had stayed silent ever since. That took serious discipline.

She had indeed set a trap here in advance. If the situation allowed, she could even pretend to be Police. After all, the Killers hadn’t used the password lock yet, meaning it should still have all three uses left. Since Civilians and Police might have already tried it, she could exploit the lock’ faction restrictions to pose as Police.

It was a risky move, and honestly unnecessary at this point. But it was a kind of preemptive strategy, a “vaccination,” so to speak. She was counting on Liu Qingzhu’s side not taking the bait, which gave her free rein to bring up the password lock without pushback.

From their reactions, it was clear they had indeed used the lock. That put them at a disadvantage. Even if they denied it, it would be easy to pin the blame on them. That’s why they didn’t dare challenge her openly about the password lock, leaving Hua Ru in control of the conversation.

“It seems there really are some suspicious people hiding among us,” she said after a pause, then smoothly shifted gears. “What does everyone think about this password lock?”

Huang Waikai recalled, “Wasn’t the password made up of letters?”

Xuanyuan Najiang grew restless and chimed in: “I remember checking it on the first day. It was letters. There are 26 letters in total! There’s no way to randomly guess the sequence.”

Hua Ru suppressed a smile. No. 11 was truly something. He was practically shouting “I’m guilty!” without even realizing it.

In his eagerness to deflect suspicion, he unnecessarily added “on the first day.” But that only implied there was a second or even third time… making his clarification not just redundant, but downright incriminating.

Luckily for him, no one else seemed to pick up on it.

“There’s got to be some kind of clue,” No. 5 Zhou Yulong complained. “It can’t just expect us to guess randomly! With 26 letters, the number of combinations is insane. Even if it were all numbers, the odds would be impossible! It’s like playing the lottery!”

“Exactly,” Hua Ru agreed. “There must be a hint. Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?”

She actually knew where the clue was, but she wasn’t in a hurry to use the password lock just yet.

“Maybe it’s based on the order people died? Like 15, 2, 1?”

“But the password uses letters, not numbers!”

“Maybe it’s the initials of the dead? That would be letters.”

“Possibly. Maybe the initials of the first person killed by the Police or the Killers?”

The group buzzed with theories. Some were far-fetched, but others sounded surprisingly plausible… so much so that Hua Ru almost found herself believing a few.

She had already spoken far more today than ever before, completely overturning her usual quiet image. Her own side wouldn’t attack her for the sudden personality change, but she couldn’t say the same about the opposition.

A person’s energy is limited. By choosing to go on the offensive, she’d tilted the balance toward attack, and in doing so, weakened her defense.

She knew Liu Qingzhu was preparing a counterattack. And because she’d decided to fight fire with fire, she’d willingly sacrificed some of her defensive footing.

Tonight’s vote was bound to be a desperate contest.