
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
27 people went to a mall to buy water to drink. There was a promotion in the mall where three empty bottles could be exchanged for one bottle of water. The question is: For 27 people, the minimum number of bottles of water that need to be purchased so that each person can have one bottle of water to drink is $\boxed{18}$ bottles.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
user