Chapter 241: If You Can Just Rob Them, Why Waste Time!
In this paranormal investigation, aside from Gregori, the person most familiar with the prison was undoubtedly Zhang Yangqing.
After all, this wasn’t his first time in a place like this.
Compared to Gregori’s painful experience last time, Zhang Yangqing had even managed to thrive in such an environment.
After seeing the rules of the prison town, Zhang Yangqing could even guess that the rules over in the plague town probably stated that people carrying the plague virus couldn’t leave the town; otherwise, that strange bird would appear.
Actually, after seeing the rules, Chosen Ones who had gone the wrong way could still have a slim chance of survival if they turned back immediately. If they went in, they’d be in grave danger.
But turning back probably meant more trouble than good. They’d have to travel two more segments to reach the prison town.
Moreover, most of the Chosen Ones’ vehicles didn’t have headlights, making night travel very troublesome. At best, they could tie flashlights to their cars to serve as headlights.
They would also have to face attacks from those eerie creatures in the dead of night.
As for the Chosen Ones who arrived at the prison town, they naturally prepared to analyze the rules and then start gathering information.
Even the supernaturals who entered for the first time were beginning to familiarize themselves with the gameplay of this paranormal world.
The locations mentioned in the local rules were, more or less, related to how one could leave this place.
Just like in the previous level, if you didn’t investigate the source of the sound or interact with the moving, glowing vehicles, you couldn’t get out.
Thinking this far showed that these Chosen Ones were starting to adapt to the survival rules of this world.
They simply found a spacious area with a parking sign, parked, and began to carefully consider the rules.
After all, it was getting late, and they were afraid that if they stayed outside too long, the prison might close.
After entering, they sensed a strange atmosphere spreading around them.
This place was huge, and the spacing between the surrounding buildings was also very wide.
In this kind of atmosphere, no Chosen One would easily get out of their vehicle.
Basically, they all stayed hidden in their cars, observing carefully. Only after gathering some intelligence would they look for a place to settle down.
It seemed this car was their haven, their only safe spot, because of the smell of disinfectant inside.
Back at the rehabilitation center, they had hated the smell of disinfectant, finding it very unpleasant.
Now, whether they were used to it or not, without the smell of disinfectant, they actually felt insecure.
Some individuals even observed while driving.
The time was probably around 9:30. The sun had long set, and the night had grown dim.
Outside the car window, on the wide street, a thin layer of mist began to form. The mist wasn’t very thick, and with the moonlight filtering down, there was a certain degree of visibility.
But it was precisely this kind of mist that gave things an elusive quality.
Shadows could always be seen within the mist, and one couldn’t be sure if they were just seeing things.
Many Chosen Ones felt that since they entered, it seemed like pairs of eyes were watching them.
When there was no mist, these shadows wouldn’t appear; once the mist came, the shadows started to draw closer.
Just then, the moon was obscured by dark clouds, plunging the prison town into darkness, making it seem exceptionally eerie and terrifying.
Also because of the dim light, lights began to turn on inside the surrounding buildings. Through these faint glimmers, figures could be seen wandering the streets.
Some of these pedestrians wore crow-beak masks, while others did not.
Every pedestrian moved very strangely, their walking postures all seemed off, as if they weren’t very familiar with their own bodies.
You could see that the faces of those without masks were blank and dull, as if controlled by some force.
Their eyes held no emotion, only emptiness and indifference.
These people gave Gregori a strange sense of déjà vu.
“Huh, aren’t these the strange patients from the rehabilitation center?”
There were three types of people in the rehabilitation center, and one type walked like bizarre creatures.
They looked roughly the same as these people.
Could those people be the residents of the prison town?
This was the intelligence Gregori gathered from inside the car.
Here, Gregori began to reason backward: if these people were sick, then he must avoid contact with them at all costs.
Otherwise, according to what the caregivers said, if they cross-infected, the virus would become even more severe.
Even if none of these people were sick, most Chosen Ones wouldn’t approach them anyway, given how strange they looked.
After observing for a while, Gregori noticed that the only normal-looking people among the pedestrians were those wearing inspector uniforms.
The people here seemed very afraid of them, actively getting out of their way whenever they approached.
Having observed enough, just as Gregori and other Chosen Ones were hesitating about whether to get out of the car, Zhang Yangqing was already walking down the main street.
Other Chosen Ones simply felt safer inside their cars, holding onto the fluke mentality, thinking maybe if they just behaved and stayed in the car overnight, they could get out?
Zhang Yangqing knew this idea was definitely wrong.
Perhaps some Chosen Ones might muddle through this level, but they would surely die in the next.
Based on his experience, Zhang Yangqing judged that this level had so-called ‘necessities’.
He figured the rules weren’t that complicated; he knew what keywords meant.
Among these eight rules, three mentioned keywords related to ‘objects’.
They were [Crow], [Special Cell], and [Food].
Since the rules mentioned them, you definitely had to find a way to interact with them.
Otherwise, why would the rules bother telling you all this?
In this world ravaged by plague, food was undoubtedly essential, and this place could be seen as a temporary supply station.
As for how to get food, that needed to be observed within the prison town. What exactly constituted ‘outside food’?
Regarding the special cell mentioned in the rules, it stated that if you approached without reason, you would be arrested and locked up.
The word ‘without reason’ was quite intriguing.
Did it mean that as long as you had a reason, you could enter the special cell?
As for what was in the special cell, Zhang Yangqing couldn’t guess, but he had to go check it out. Maybe it was a hidden mission?
The next item was crucial.
This item was none other than the [Crow].
Birds have a certain suppressive power over insects. Moreover, crows in this paranormal world are extremely formidable, almost on par with creatures like black cats.
[Rule 1: There are many crows in the town, but they only appear at night.]
[Rule 3: If you are attacked by insects, you can seek help from the crows.]
Was Rule 1 telling the Chosen Ones how to avoid crows?
In Zhang Yangqing’s view, obviously not. Combined with Rule 3, it could be understood that the rule was telling Chosen Ones that crows can deal with insects.
Therefore, for this level, they needed to ‘obtain’ the crow as a tool.
So the goal was also clear: find a way to acquire a crow.
Did they need to get some kind of food that crows liked, or find a cage to hold a crow? All this information needed to be explored.
After all, the Chosen Ones were wearing caregiver uniforms, so they wouldn’t be attacked by crows.
This fulfilled the prerequisite for capturing crows.
It could be said that from the very beginning, the paranormal world was laying things out step by step. Lacking even a little information or item would make things difficult.
If some Chosen One was foolish enough to discard their uniform midway, they’d either have to go back for it or just wait to die.
The prison town was large, and there was still plenty of time. The key was to get a crow to follow you, so you could successfully pass the next level.
Zhang Yangqing deduced it was the next level because there were so many crows here, yet no signs of insect infestation.
That meant the upcoming level would definitely require the use of crows.
Having a crow didn’t guarantee 100% success, but not having one made it 100% difficult.
Once the goals provided by the three rules were clear, and the precautions in the rules were understood, then figuring out how to tackle this level became much easier.
For inexperienced Chosen Ones, just getting out of the car within ten minutes was already good.
As long as they thought it through clearly, no Chosen One would continue staying in the car.
There were still many vehicles near the parking lot. The prison town didn’t seem like a place lacking resources, so after locking their cars, the Chosen Ones left the area to check out the lit-up buildings nearby.
The Chosen Ones’ cars all had electronic locks. As long as they pressed the key fob, it would make a sound, so they weren’t afraid of not finding their vehicles.
The rule in the parking lot only stated that the cars inside were unlocked, not that there were no locks at all.
This was also why, back in the big city, those people had to smash car windows.
Gregori, the Red Cardinal from Ramen Nation, wore a crow mask and a black robe as he walked down the street.
He wasn’t carrying food or a backpack. In his left and right pockets, he had a pack of compressed biscuits and a bottle of water respectively. He tried his best to avoid the bizarre pedestrians coming and going.
If he encountered a patrol, he would actively cooperate with the inspection.
Anyway, his medicine was hidden in the car; he wasn’t afraid even if they searched him.
As the sky darkened, the weather grew colder. Walking on such a dark, misty street, you could see terrifyingly dark alleys and corners.
From these places, sounds that didn’t seem human would occasionally emanate.
This made the Chosen Ones unconsciously quicken their pace to leave these areas.
Seeing this, the audience also felt that the Chosen Ones had strong mental fortitude. If it were them up there, they’d probably be too scared to leave their cars.
Even if they knew they needed to gather information, their bodies would disobey and refuse to move.
Even if they forced themselves to go out, they would still panic when encountering danger.
In this paranormal investigation, the Chosen Ones, regardless of whether they were smart or not, were actually quite brave.
If they weren’t brave, they wouldn’t have actively entered this world.
They were a bit scared in an unfamiliar environment, but not to the point of panic.
Of course, except for that one man who treated the paranormal world like his own home.
That guy wasn’t just unafraid; you could even say he was strolling around after a meal, as if it were his own backyard.
The Chosen Ones chose different parking spots and different streets to walk on, so they ended up in different places.
Gregori arrived at the entrance of a supermarket.
He pushed aside the plastic curtain, went in, and looked around.
He found that the food here was abundant, ranging from instant foods to meats.
He picked up a few packs of biscuits to look at but didn’t find any ingredient lists or production locations.
So, he went to the checkout counter and asked the cashier, who looked relatively normal, if there was any food purchased from outside here.
The supermarket cashier smiled and said, “Don’t worry, sir. All the food here is produced in the town itself. None of those outside junk foods. It’s very safe.”
She mistakenly thought Gregori was asking if the food was safe.
The people in the town didn’t eat outside food, which was why they hadn’t been eroded by the plague.
Gregori also took the opportunity to ask the cashier about the special cell and crows, but the cashier said she didn’t know.
So, Gregori could infer that this kind of information needed to be obtained from key NPCs.
But it was late at night; where was he supposed to find an NPC?
To avoid suspicion, Gregori nodded, used the coins he found in the underground parking lot to buy two packs of food he didn’t like, paid, and left the supermarket without saying anything else.
Here, you could also buy some useful items, like watches, flashlights, alarm clocks, etc.
If you found them in the underground parking lot, there was no need to buy them. If you couldn’t find them, you could use the found money to buy them.
If you couldn’t find supplies or money, you’d better get out quickly before the cashier hit you.
After all, this place didn’t support Chosen Ones in shoplifting.
At this moment, Gregori seemed to understand the first part of Rule 8, because Rule 8 stated that there was nothing edible within the town, but food brought from outside the town could be eaten.
“Does that mean if I eat that food, I’ll turn into those strangely walking people on the street?”
This was Gregori’s guess, and also a form of intelligence gathering.
Although he hadn’t found food, he had still gained something.
As for the second part, where was he supposed to find food from outside the town?
This left him scratching his head, and it was also a puzzle for many Chosen Ones.
When it came to the progress of exploration, the Celestial Master from Dragon Country was undoubtedly the best.
Expert groups from various countries on Blue Star were all observing Zhang Yangqing’s judgment.
It was truly admirable, because Zhang Yangqing also headed straight for a hotel after leaving the supermarket.
At the time Zhang Yangqing went to the hotel, most expert groups didn’t know why. Was he going in to rest?
But after Zhang Yangqing went in and started chatting with people, they understood why.
Here, you could say the rules didn’t hint or imply anything.
But you could also say the rules hinted clearly, and the information was very straightforward.
Because this information was the Chosen Ones themselves.
When Zhang Yangqing considered information, he certainly had to include himself.
Wasn’t he himself an outsider?
Didn’t he drive in?
From this, he could infer that besides himself, there must be others who also drove in.
These people were the so-called outsiders.
Then, the food these outsiders had was exactly the edible food mentioned in the rules, so he could take it.
How to find these outsiders?
Zhang Yangqing considered where outsiders would usually go.
Because the journey was long, most people who drove here would definitely want to rest comfortably. Staying in a hotel was naturally a good choice.
There were two methods here. The first was relatively simple: go to the hotel, pretend to be a staff member or something, trick the travelers into opening their doors, and then find a way to get their car keys – whether by stealing, robbing, or poisoning.
This depended on the Chosen Ones’ own skills.
With a bit of luck, they might even succeed through trickery.
The second method was more dangerous: find a way to kill an inspector, use the inspector’s special authority to make the hotel guests open their doors for inspection, and then simply rob them.
This method was actually mentioned in the rules.
It just depended on how the Chosen One interpreted it, or whether they dared to do it.
Zhang Yangqing was someone who could understand this and also dared to do it.
After all, since you’ve finally managed to come to the paranormal world, you can’t go back empty-handed, right?
If you wanted to get a hidden mission, you had to get close to the special cell, and inspectors probably had the authority to do so.
By killing an inspector, you could kill two birds with one stone. Zhang Yangqing thought this was doable.
But before that, Zhang Yangqing still needed to go to the hotel first to check if there were any travelers.
Entering the hotel and going to the front desk, Zhang Yangqing started asking the hotel receptionist about which rooms were available, whether he could choose a room, etc., to indirectly find out how many travelers were there.
After receiving a positive reply from the receptionist, he used some money to book a random room, got his room card, and then walked out first to find and hunt an inspector.
At this stage, the gap between the Chosen Ones became apparent.
Whether they dared to kill an inspector, whether they dared to approach the special cell – that was the fundamental difference.
Because they all knew from outside that only by completing the hidden mission could they get an SSSS rating.
That is, only by completing the hidden mission could they farm resources, and only that rating would yield cultivation resources.
Even if you completed all other tasks, the maximum you could get was SSS.
This was supported by data.
The top 15 Chosen Ones in the first tier were all there to farm resources.
Now, 8 Chosen Ones were preparing to attempt the hidden mission.
Whether the others hadn’t thought of it or didn’t dare to try was still hard to say.
After all, sometimes trying to farm resources but ending up losing yourself in the process wasn’t good either.
Everyone realized how dangerous it was here only after entering.
If they were at full strength, they might give it a try.
But with their strength reduced to a tenth, it made many people hesitate.
An old hand like Gregori, who had passed the last round, naturally knew there must be a way to deal with inspectors non-violently.
Remember, the antidote he had was poison for healthy people.
So for this level, Gregori had a relatively perfect approach.
That was to go to a bar and wait for his target to appear. As soon as an inspector showed up, he would go over and propose a toast.
Using the method of urging drinks, he would get the inspector to drink the poisoned alcohol.
Then he would pretend to help him back, thus obtaining the uniform.
Switching identities was very important in this paranormal world.
Having thought of a plan, he first went back to his car to get two pills, then found a bar.
Most of the people inside had strange, uncoordinated postures, but everyone here was used to it.
Actually, there were still some normal people, so Gregori’s appearance wasn’t too out of place.
He ordered two glasses of good wine, sat in a corner to observe, and poisoned them.
Gregori’s performance here was perfect. Anyway, he poisoned both glasses; taking one more pill wouldn’t kill him, and if anyone suspected the drinks were tampered with, he would be exposed.
After waiting for half an hour, he noticed four inspectors coming in.
This gave him a headache.
“It seems this hidden mission is really tough, but with a challenge, the reward must be better.”
Saying this, Gregori first went over to strike up a conversation.
At this stage, most Chosen Ones’ performances weren’t as perfect as Gregori’s.
As for whether there was anyone more perfect, the audience didn’t know.
But the audience knew there was someone even more aggressive.
That Celestial Master from Dragon Country, after inquiring about the inspectors’ station, walked over with his sword in hand.
In Zhang Yangqing’s view, if you can just rob them, why waste time?
