48 Hours a Day

“Wrong answer, you have two more chances.”

Rabbit was relieved when she saw the Sphinx’s reaction, concerned that it might have discovered their plan to eliminate it tonight and that it would definitely make a run. But now, it seemed that the Sphinx followed some behavioral pattern, just like an artificial intelligence being—it would not do anything to Rabbit before she answered the riddle correctly or until the time ran out.

“Roger that. Who is the closest to Rabbit?” Shen Xixi’s asked through the walkie-talkie. Shen Xixi’s steady hand in carrying out the operation gave Rabbit peace of mind.

“Me! I will be there soon.” said the woman wearing a choker. Zhang Heng finally knew her code name-Black Swan. “I’ll be there soon, too, don’t be afraid!” answered Li Bai with a hint of anxiety.

“Idiot! I’m not afraid of it at all.” Rabbit blushed and defended herself when she heard Li Bai’s reply.

But it was then that the Sphinx’s emotionless voice could be heard again. “Wrong answer. You have one more chance.”

Rabbit instantly shut her mouth and stopped talking. About forty seconds later, Black Swan rushed to Rabbit’s side, raised the anesthesia gun in her hand, aimed at the Sphinx, and asked, “How long do you have?”

Rabbit rolled her eyes, gesturing to Black Swan with her fingers that she had sixteen seconds left, before quickly drawing a fifteen. According to the third victim’s description, the Sphinx would start to retaliate if the player took the initiative to attack it. If they were going to battle the Sphinx, they had to be damn sure that they outnumbered it. Since there were still fifteen seconds left, Black Swan did not mind waiting a little longer to see if anyone else could come to them.

The two were very nervous at that moment, especially Black Swan. She was now pointing her tranquilizer gun at the Sphinx, not knowing if it would feel threatened, attack her in advance, or run away.

The fifteen-second wait seemed like fifteen hours.

Fortunately, Sphinx’s mind seemed to be focused on the riddle, and it turned a blind eye to the tranquilizer gun. It was still squatting quietly on the vending machine, not even looking at Black Swan.

About three seconds later, Li Bai finally arrived on the other side of the street, running like a cheetah while gritting his teeth. Blue veins bulged on his forehead. It seemed like he was not the second closest person to Rabbit, but he still ran faster than the others. His red hair gave him the look of a superhero inbound to rescue Rabbit.

Considering the calculation error, Rabbit did not dare wait any longer. Immediately, she gave an OK gesture to Black Swan, and the latter pulled the trigger! The tranquilizer dart flew out of the muzzle and landed on the Sphinx accurately.

The dart’s drug was powerful enough to stun an elephant—but not the Sphinx, who showed no response. It took a quick look at Black Swan, then charged towards Rabbit without warning. Nevertheless, she was prepared for such a scenario, swiftly ducking and rolling on the ground and successfully avoiding the Sphinx’s pounce. And at the same time, she drew out a saber to defend herself. Unfortunately, she only managed to block a single hit from the Sphinx, and was sent flying away.

Fortunately, Li Bai had rushed to where they were. He then shouted to Rabbit, telling her what he was about to do. Swiftly, she rolled away from the Sphinx. In the blink of an eye, a fishing net was tossed, subsequently landing on top of the Sphinx.

Seeing the creature trapped in the fishnet, Li Bai was delighted. “Let’s hold it down together!” However, before he could finish, the Sphinx exerted a burst of great strength, dragged the fishnet with it, and continued its advance at Rabbit.

Caught unaware by the monster’s brute might, Li Bai staggered and fell on one knee. However, he did not let go of the net, tightly holding on to it for dear life. As a result, he was dragged three meters away, and the friction almost tore his pants.

“What the hell is this thing? Why is this yellow doggo so powerful?!”

“That’s not a yellow dog. It’s a Sphinx! It will help if you read more. Don’t embarrass yourself,” smirked Black Swan, taking the opportunity to fire another shot. Just like the previous shot, the second tranquilizer did little effect to slow the Sphinx. Black Swan threw away the tranquilizer gun in her hand as she exclaimed into the walkie-talkie. “Be advised! The Sphinx is highly resistant to tranquilizer darts. We need more support!” After that, she helped Li Bai grab the fishing net. Although the two were not strong enough to stop the Sphinx from moving forward, they somewhat managed to slow it down.

In the third victim’s case, there was actually a question nobody had figured out the answer to. When the victim took the initiative to start the fight, did the Sphinx target the person who created the fight or failed to solve the riddle? For the third victim, he was the one that started the fight, then was unable to solve the riddle. Naturally, the Sphinx would attack him instantly.

Although Black Swan attacked the Sphinx first, it ignored her and continued to go after Rabbit, seemingly intent on going after her.

Rabbit was so scared that she quickly shouted the right answer, “Mandarin orange! The answer is mandarin orange.”

Unfortunately, one minute had passed since the Sphinx asked her the riddle. Hence, it did not stop its chase. Fortunately, 1810 was finally here. The flat-headed man snorted coldly and tossed the scalpel in his hand. He was aiming for the Sphinx’s head.

The outcome surprised everyone.

1810’s stainless steel medical scalpel landed on the Sphinx’s head and bounced off.

“Why is the Sphinx’s head so hard?!” 1810 was taken aback.

“Is it immune to physical attacks? I’m afraid our situation has just gotten more complicated now,” Black Swan frowned.

Fortunately, the Sphinx was now completely entangled by the fishing net. With the addition of 1810, the three of them finally managed to surpass the Sphinx in strength, temporarily restricting the creature’s movements and getting Rabbit out of danger. However, it did not last long. Black Swan noticed that the Sphinx’s claws were out, ready to attack them.

The Sphinx appeared to have finally realized that things weren’t too looking good for it. Giving up on the rabbit hunt, for now, it began getting rid of its restraints. It managed to claw a small hole on the net and squeezed out half of its body after a while.

“What should I do? I don’t want to be scratched!” When Rabbit saw that the Sphinx had almost regained its freedom, she almost cried out loud.

“Change of plan. Let’s help Rabbit get out of danger first.” Shen Xixi’s voice came from the walkie-talkie. She’d been unable to get to them because she was too far away. The two allies with crossbows that arrived afterward failed to cause any damage to the Sphinx as well.