Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 229: Our Minds Are United

Labor reform block, laundry room.

Two prisoners stood on either side of the assembly line, holding needles and threads to nd bed sheets.

One by one, the bed sheets moved along the conveyor belt and were grabbed roughly by another group of prisoners, who loaded them into the washing machines.

The machines rumbled loudly as the wet sheets beca heavy and twisted. The prisoners transported them back and forth, placing the sheets into dryers.

Once the dryers opened, another group of prisoners took out the wrinkled sheets with irons in hand and began pressing them.

The assembly line operation proceeded orderly and smoothly until the final step.

Puff.

Qiezi folded the neatly pressed sheets and placed them into a nearby small cart.

Not a sheet more or less, the cart was exactly full.

Squeak, squeak—

Qiezi silently fastened the cart’s cover and pushed it toward the prison block’s gate.

“Inspection!”

The guard responsible for checks stood up from his seat and gestured for Qiezi to stop.

Qiezi pursed his lips, loosened his grip on the cart’s handle, and took a couple of steps back.

Snap!

The baton lifted the cart’s cover.

The guard casually picked up the top stack of sheets.

Whoosh!

The sheet unfolded, pure white and flawless, still warm to the touch.

“Just ironed,” Qiezi’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. “How is it?”

“Hm—”

The guard nodded, tossed the sheets back into the cart, and waved his hand:

“Go ahead.”

With that, the cover was closed again, and the guard took the cart, pushing it toward the storage room.

Rattle, rattle—

Click.

As the storage room door shut and locked.

Monts later, a rustling sound ca from inside the cart.

Then, a light “plop” sound.

Donggua poked his head out from the pile of sheets, lowering his voice: “Qiezi, I’ve arrived at the storage room...”

Perfect!

Though Qiezi appeared obediently working in the laundry room and delivering clean sheets,

in truth, he was using the sheets as cover to sneak Donggua into the storage room outside the prison block!

A covert operation!

Because the maintenance shaft was extrely deep, they needed ropes or similar tools to reach the bottom.

But this was a prison, and they were inmates—dangerous items like ropes were impossible to get.

However, just when they were at a loss, a narrow ventilation duct caught their attention.

After careful observation, they confird this vent connected directly to the laundry storage room.

Thus, today, under the guise of working in the laundry, they planned to secretly smuggle the sheets through the vent, preparing for the upcoming breakout!

Buzz—!

As Donggua just revealed his head!

The livestream chat instantly erupted!

“So cool, holy crap!”

“My scalp’s tingling! When the guard inspected the sheets, my palms were sweating!”

“Hahaha Qiezi’s heart rate just hit 130, even more tense than a 1v5 clutch!”

“Damn, this ga is seriously nerve-wracking.”

“Gotta breathe, seriously.”

“Feels like watching a spy thriller.”

“Friendly reminder, you can breathe now.”

“Thank you, breathing hero...”

Phew—

With the audience’s tension temporarily eased, Qiezi also breathed out and communicated with Donggua in the team voice chat:

“How’s it going? Found the vent?”

“Let see...”

anwhile, Donggua tiptoed out of the cart.

The storage room wasn’t large; various bed sheets, covers, and pillowcases were stacked neatly.

After looking around, Donggua spotted the narrow vent near the ceiling at the very back of the storage room.

“Found it!”

He took quick steps over to the vent.

But!

The vent was too high and narrow; alone, he couldn’t stuff the sheets through it:

“I can’t reach, damn it!”

“Isn’t there a shelf in the storage room?”

Qiezi clicked his tongue and frowned:

“Try moving the shelf for a boost?”

“No,” Donggua pulled at the storage rack:

“The shelves are welded to the ground, can’t move them. You’ll have to co in and support .”

“What the hell, how am I supposed to get in?”

Qiezi was shocked:

“I can’t just find another cart, who the hell’s gonna push ?”

“Hey, no need. Turn around, I already see you...”

Without waiting, Donggua tiptoed to the storage room door and peered through the narrow glass window at Qiezi in the prison block.

Turns out, they were separated by just a single door:

“I’ll unlock it from inside.”

As he spoke, Donggua reached for the lock.

At the sa ti, Qiezi turned to look.

Not far off, inside the bright orange storage room iron door, Donggua sneakily showed half his head, locking eyes with him through the door.

However!

At this mont, besides Donggua, another gaze was also fixed on Qiezi—

A guard sat right at the storage room door, back resting against it.

Completely in Donggua’s blind spot!

Shit!

“Don’t open it! Damn it! Don’t open it!!!”

Qiezi’s heart rate instantly exploded!

The guard and Donggua were separated by only one door!

If the lock made even the slightest sound, the guard would imdiately notice!

In a panic, Qiezi shouted loudly over voice chat.

But at that mont, Donggua had already twisted the door handle!

Creak—

In a flash of lightning!

Qiezi had a sudden idea, swiftly stepped back, and slapped a fellow inmate working nearby right across the face!

Smack!!!

“What the hell are you doing?!”

The slapped inmate instantly beca furious and punched Qiezi back!

Seeing the fight about to break out, the guard at the door imdiately snapped to attention, brandishing his baton as he rushed forward!

“Stop! Stop! Get down!!!”

anwhile!

Donggua was tightly crouched under the vent, breathing heavily, heart nearly bursting out of his chest!

“Damn it... damn it... damn it...”

Everything happened too fast!

In that terrifying mont, as he watched the guard rise from his blind spot!

Heart and lungs stopped!!!

Keep in mind!

Though from the audience’s perspective, both players’ views were shown simultaneously,

in the gaplay, each player only saw the space they occupied!

And this was one of the major challenges of two-player mode!

They only shared CG and so cara movents!

For all other gaplay, when spaces were split, they had to rely on voice communication, staying alert and adapting to sudden ergencies!

Just like now!

If not for Qiezi’s quick thinking to cause a commotion and attract the guard’s attention, warning Donggua,

the mont Donggua opened the door, their sentence would have been doubled instantly, ga over on the spot!

“Ohhhhhhhhhh—!!!”

The livestream exploded!

“That slap was so fast!”

“Qiezi’s reaction ti is insane, damn it!!!”

“That move was top-tier, damn!!!”

“I’m stunned!”

“I thought they were definitely caught, but Qiezi’s slap revived the dead end.”

“This view-blocking bug is so evil, no wonder it’s Old Thief’s ga.”

“MVP! Qiezi is the ultimate MVP!”

“I’m calling it: 17-year-old reflexes!”

“This scene was insanely thrilling!”

“Amazing, damn! This ga is freaking incredible!”

“Simply god-tier, damn!”

“...”

The most exquisite coordination!

The tightest tacit understanding!

We danced on the edge of ruin by a hair’s breadth,

we survived in a fortress-like iron prison under heavy guard.

To escape, our minds must be one!

Though the process was extrely perilous!

Fortunately, Qiezi’s quick thinking saved their sentence.

The small commotion didn’t land Qiezi in solitary confinent; the guard’s tily arrival separated them.

After calming down, and following Donggua’s suggestion, Qiezi secretly broke the washing machine to lure the guard away.

What followed happened naturally—

Donggua was smuggled into the storage room, and together they ford a human ladder, pushing sheets through the vent one by one.

Then, they waited for nightfall and lights-out to attempt another escape.

They passed through the ventilation room, slid down the sheet ropes, waded through the sewer entrance, worked together to open cold iron doors, and moved obstacles aside.

Finally, they reached the bottom of a maintenance shaft!

Though unsure where climbing up from here would lead, there was no doubt—they were out of the prison block.

However—

How would they climb up such a narrow, deep shaft?

...

“Are you sure we can climb up this way?”

“I think so.”

“Think so? What does that even an? Isn’t this your ga design?”

“It is, but I never specified how players must climb...”

Standing at the shaft bottom!

Faced with Shen Miaomiao’s incredulous question, Gu Sheng shrugged and answered.

Yes, since this ga runs in the motion-sensing pod,

he adjusted so small ga details accordingly.

Leveraging Lao Lu’s ever-improving AI architecture, NPC behavior logic improved, allowing Qiezi to attract attention in the blink of an eye.

Thanks to upgrades in their motion assist system, in this shaft segnt, players could even choose to parkour by bouncing up the shaft wall.

However!

Gu Sheng decided to use the safest thod, cooperating with Little Nezha to ascend the shaft’s upper layers.

At this mont, they stood back-to-back, arms locked around each other’s elbows as if carrying backpacks.

Gu Sheng placed his legs against the left wall, while Shen Miaomiao pressed hers against the right wall.

In this way, they supported each other, suspended halfway in the air.

Absurd!

This unbelievable thod left Shen Miaomiao both curious and nervous!

“Don’t look down,”

Gu Sheng said,

“Think about that spicy beef dish. When I count one, two, three, we step up one square together.”

“Okay...” Shen Miaomiao swallowed hard and nodded.

“Ready,” Gu Sheng took a deep breath, “One, two, three, go!”

Whoosh—!

They both pushed up one notch.

“One, two, three, go!”

Whoosh—!

“One, two, three, go!”

Whoosh—!

“One, two, three...”

Swoosh—

“Ah!!!”

Suddenly!

A short scream echoed inside the shaft!

Shen Miaomiao slipped!

Their force balance shattered instantly!

Dust and dirt cascaded down the shaft walls!

Shen Miaomiao clung to the wall with one leg, breathing rapidly in shock!

Almost fell to her death!

“Phew—phew—phew—”

Staring into the now bottomless shaft, Shen Miaomiao’s breath trembled:

“Sorry, sorry, I was too nervous...”

Cold sweat stread down her back!

The motion-sensing pod’s imrsion was incredibly intense!

The tension of the breakout combined with the extre danger of walking a tightrope made her shiver uncontrollably!

Fortunately, Gu Sheng’s voice sounded, warm and encouraging:

“It’s okay, don’t look down. Look up, look up. When I say one, two, three, you step up.”

Since their positions shifted, Shen Miaomiao needed to move up one step to restore balance.

“Get ready, prepare—”

Gu Sheng tightened his grip on Little Nezha’s arm:

“One, two, three, go!”

Whoosh—!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Liu Liu and YJJ leaned on each other and slowly stepped upward:

“Slowly, slowly, no rush, we’re almost there...”

“OK OK, almost there, look up, Liu Liu, look up...”

Piāo Teacher and Ma Teacher supported each other, inching upward:

“Yaer, this is truly nerve-wracking, damn, I’m sweating...”

“Hey— as long as we’re slow, just walk, trust , just walk...”

Quinn and Wei Tian linked arms, advancing together:

“Tian-ge—I’m about to give out, Tian-ge—”

“Xiao Qin—hang in there, we’re almost there, Xiao Qin—”

Ayin and Tree-ge cooperated, climbing steadily:

“Tree-ge! Hold on! Persistence is victory!”

“For freedom! For victory! For Freedom!”

Groups of players encouraged and supported each other, climbing the narrow shaft wall.

At this mont, countless livestream viewers were deeply moved by this imaginative stage—

“Damn... only best friends can have this kind of tacit understanding...”

“Already moved, this is life-or-death friendship.”

“So aweso, this ga’s interaction is phenonal.”

“No wonder AI can’t replace teammates, this kind of bond is irreplaceable.”

“This ga really feels so magical.”

“Ahhh why don’t I have a good friend, I want to play with friends so badly...”

“This is the best multiplayer co-op ga I’ve ever seen.”

“Truly top-notch.”

“Good thing it’s a happy ending, everyone’s joyful, otherwise we’d all be broken again.”

“Cherish Old Thief’s rare rcy, an.”

“...”

Phew—

Sitting atop the shaft platform, Leo and Vincent both exhaled!

“Finally made it up...”

Leo leaned back cautiously.

“Are you afraid of heights?”

Vincent asked.

“Kind of,”

Leo shrugged, then looked at the tightly fastened iron screws on the shaft cover:

“...Are you kidding ?”

Vincent touched the screws slowly:

“No problem, we can take them off with a wrench.”

“Then we have to go to the workshop.” Leo said.

“Mm-hmm.” Vincent exchanged a glance with Leo and nodded.

The screen gradually faded to black, Leo’s voice ca through, tinged with reluctance:

“Are we going to have to go down the sa way again...?”

Vincent chuckled lightly:

“Looks like it.”

“...Damn it!”