Chapter 242: Don’t Harbor Any Fluke Mentality in Front of Zhang Yangqing!
Night fell, and the mist in the prison town seemed to grow thicker and thicker.
In this place, the location of the inspectors’ station wasn’t hard to find out.
Much like what the rules said, when Zhang Yangqing was inquiring about the inspectors’ station, the hotel staff, while telling him, also gave some special warnings.
That was, don’t go near the prison area without reason, especially the largest cell block among them.
When Zhang Yangqing asked what was in that largest cell block, the hotel staff shook their head, saying they didn’t know.
Whether they didn’t want to say or truly didn’t know wasn’t clear, but that was the rule here.
Besides this, you could also learn many things from the staff here.
Among the most important pieces of intelligence was what the staff mentioned:
[People with a skull mark on the back of their hand are prisoners.]
The prisoners lived in the western part of the town, which was cordoned off by a wire fence.
The eastern part of the town was where the residents and tourists lived.
If you encountered someone with a skull mark on their arm on the east side, you could report them to the inspectors immediately, and they would send people to deal with it.
In this place, harboring a prisoner was also a grave offense, and you would be branded with the mark.
The staff also specially reminded him not to trust what prisoners said; they were very dangerous.
Zhang Yangqing noted this point as well.
Hearing this, other Chosen Ones didn’t see any problem; they just memorized it mechanically, since it didn’t differ much from what the rules said.
It was useful information.
But Zhang Yangqing understood something more, and even began to speculate on how to proceed next.
As everyone knew, the prison town was surrounded by towering walls that no one could climb over.
It was precisely because of these walls that they could also avoid invasion by external enemies.
Prisoners wanted to get out more than anyone. Even if they were hiding on the east side, they were seeking opportunities to escape.
Here, reporting a prisoner brought no benefit to the Chosen Ones.
On the contrary, the rules could be used to infer backwards.
[Rule 6: When someone asks you to take them out of the town, you must refuse.]
The ‘someone’ mentioned in the rule definitely referred to prisoners.
Zhang Yangqing certainly wouldn’t take a prisoner out, but he would use the condition of ‘taking you out’ as bait to make the prisoners do things for him, or perhaps obtain intelligence from them.
For example, what was in the special cell, where the crows appeared, how to catch them, and so on.
But before that, Zhang Yangqing first needed to get his hands on an inspector’s uniform.
This brings up Zhang Yangqing’s speechless moment just now.
When he was coming here, he had indeed encountered some patrols. At that time, he didn’t want to see inspectors because he was worried about his identity being exposed.
If he was found to be a patient, being expelled would be a minor issue; being locked up would be trouble.
Now, he actually wanted to encounter a patrol, but after searching for a while on the road, he couldn’t find any.
Truly, when you want to find something, you can’t; when you don’t want to, they’re everywhere.
So he simply decided to go directly to the inspectors’ station to find a way to kill one.
The one-eyed kid followed behind Zhang Yangqing, basically never asking where they were going.
He just maintained a presence around Zhang Yangqing, giving off the feeling of being available at any time.
Following the information given by the hotel staff, Zhang Yangqing arrived at a five or six-story building.
The area around this building was brightly lit, and next to it stood a tall watchtower.
On the watchtower, an extremely bright lamp was shining directly on the western cell block of the prison town, probably keeping an eye on the prisoners.
The defenses looked extremely strict, making it very difficult to sneak in.
Zhang Yangqing considered for a moment on the spot. He didn’t know exactly how many inspectors were inside, and just charging in might easily trigger an alarm.
He had initially wanted to find some patrolling individuals and lure them out, but it seemed he couldn’t find any.
However, there were plenty of methods, and these methods could be well inferred from the intelligence and rules.
Zhang Yangqing told the one-eyed kid to go into the inspectors’ quarters and report that a prisoner had escaped.
Knowing this, the inspectors would definitely send a team over.
Since he only mentioned one prisoner, the number of inspectors in the team probably wouldn’t be very large.
Zhang Yangqing would then ambush them at a designated spot and take them all out in one go.
Saying this, the two began searching the area for a suitable ambush spot.
Soon they found an abandoned warehouse. This location had a small window through which they could see the outside situation.
If too many inspectors came, he could retreat first.
After agreeing on the location and precautions, Zhang Yangqing waited on the second floor of the warehouse.
The one-eyed kid left the warehouse.
Zhang Yangqing wasn’t worried about him messing up. Although the kid didn’t talk much, he was extremely smart.
From the fact that up until now, he hadn’t aroused Zhang Yangqing’s suspicion or done anything to incur his hostility, it was clear that he was watertight in his actions.
Moreover, he looked weak and small, so if he went to report, people would believe him.
Zhang Yangqing himself was tall and burly; inspectors would also be on guard against him.
Not long after, Zhang Yangqing spotted some movement from the window. The one-eyed kid was leading four inspectors over.
Seeing that the four were a team, the difficulty was still considerable.
These people held flashlights and split into two teams, surrounding the warehouse from front and back.
Zhang Yangqing was himself on the second floor near the front door. When the two inspectors walked in, Zhang Yangqing dropped down from behind.
Just before landing, he used the strength of his waist to violently swing the sharp weapon in his hand. The long sword flashed with a cold gleam across the backs of the two inspectors’ necks.
Pfft!
Two heads were severed, tumbling in the air before crashing to the ground.
Their bodies, losing control, also fell with a thud.
The two inspectors who had entered from the back door seemed to hear something and immediately ran over.
“What happened!”
One inspector seemed to want a response from his companions, to confirm if they were okay.
But what answered them wasn’t their companions’ voices, but a long sword that had just severed their companions’ heads.
In this pitch-black place, they needed their flashlights to find their target.
And a dark phantom silently approached.
Zhang Yangqing’s long sword had already pierced through the face of one of the inspectors.
The crisp sound of the blade piercing bone rang out, sending a chill down one’s spine.
The other panicked, taking a step back to dodge.
Who would have thought he’d bump into a shelf behind him, causing many goods to tumble down.
This not only prevented him from discerning the direction the enemy was coming from, but also made it impossible to hear the enemy’s footsteps.
Clang!
The sword’s gleam slashed forth, splitting the falling goods in front, his neck, and the shelf behind him, all in two.
Zhang Yangqing confidently sheathed his sword, not even bothering to check if he was dead.
“Got to say, this ‘Night Vision’ skill is really handy.”
Zhang Yangqing murmured to himself. Skills, indeed, the more the merrier.
On this pitch-black night, both the humanoid aberrations and the humanoid natives definitely didn’t have as good a field of vision as he did.
Actually, looking at the skills given to Chosen Ones by the paranormal world, they were all meant for survival.
Who would have thought some Chosen Ones could use them to kill enemies?
And at this moment, the smell of blood in the warehouse grew strong.
As the heads of these men hit the ground, blood began to spurt.
From start to finish, the one-eyed kid didn’t intervene. He just watched quietly.
While marveling at his teammate’s formidable strength, he was also recording some information.
There was one thing, however, that the one-eyed kid was very sure of.
Forget about any chance of victory in a fight against Zhang Yangqing; he didn’t even dare to simulate a battle with Zhang Yangqing in his mind, because there was simply no chance of winning.
The one-eyed kid could actually tell from these few times Zhang Youdao had acted that once his partner decided to kill, he showed no mercy.
In front of Zhang Yangqing, don’t harbor any fluke mentality. Once you show your fangs, the result is death.
This was the sense of oppressive pressure Zhang Yangqing brought to his teammates.
Enemies, in front of him, at most felt fear for a moment before dying.
Teammates were afraid the whole time, until Zhang Yangqing left.
“Your turn to work. Hurry up.”
After retrieving his sword, he leaned to the side.
Following Zhang Yangqing’s instructions, the one-eyed kid also picked up a flashlight and placed it on a shelf.
Under the light, he quickly stripped two relatively clean inspector uniforms, and then the two of them changed into them.
They also took the four inspectors’ access cards, which were the credentials for entering the west side.
As for their original caregiver uniforms, they threw them into the car; they might still be useful later.
There was still a lot of preparation to do before entering the special cell.
Because if things went wrong inside the special cell, or if they got trapped inside and couldn’t get supplies, it would be very troublesome.
So before that, Zhang Yangqing decided to secure supplies first.
According to the thinking of ordinary Chosen Ones, supplies were a necessity.
Hidden missions were just the icing on the cake, optional.
But even so, he was still the fastest to obtain the uniform in this paranormal world.
And at this time, the venerable Cardinal Gregori was still there, drinking socially.
He didn’t dare drink a drop. Taking advantage of the other person not paying attention, he basically poured it all onto his clothes.
The smell of alcohol in the bar was strong, and the inspectors didn’t notice anything.
After chatting for a while, one of the inspectors seemed to hit it off well with him.
After Gregori repeatedly toasted him, the guy started to get a bit dizzy.
When the other inspectors were busy drinking, Gregori took the opportunity to bring out the poisoned wine he had hidden.
At this moment, the inspector he had a good relationship with didn’t have much guard against him. He casually took a glass and drank it.
After drinking, his body began to have some reactions. Gregori pretended to be helpful and said, “If you can’t handle your liquor, don’t drink so much. Looks like you’re going to be sick. Let me help you to the restroom.”
Whether he agreed or not, Gregori forcefully helped him out.
After all, it was normal for a drunk person to want to vomit, so the others didn’t suspect anything.
By the time they reached the restroom, the inspector was actually already dead from poisoning.
But to be safe, Gregori still finished him off with a weapon.
He also successfully obtained the inspector’s uniform.
As for the other first-timer Chosen Ones, they were still carefully fumbling along.
Inspectors were formidable natives on the level of fierce aberrations; any slight mistake could be fatal.
Wanting to attempt a hidden mission wasn’t that simple.
The night was still long, and they still had plenty of time.
Zhang Yangqing just wanted to finish up quickly and then go back to sleep.
Arriving at the hotel, to avoid arousing suspicion, he had the one-eyed kid keep watch outside. If a patrol came, the kid would come in and tell him.
After all, the two of them had been here once before, and this kid, being somewhat short, was more easily remembered.
When Zhang Yangqing walked in, due to the authority of this uniform, he was able to get the room numbers of occupied guests from the hotel front desk.
Then, he went door to door, knocking and inspecting.
When someone opened the door, Zhang Yangqing would first ask if they were from out of town, how many days they had stayed here, and whether they had purchased any supplies locally.
Although these travelers were woken up, seeing the inspector’s uniform, they didn’t dare get angry and honestly answered.
In this place, they also deeply understood that they couldn’t offend the inspectors.
The first traveler was indeed an outsider, but he had stayed here for half a month and his body was starting to feel off. Zhang Yangqing couldn’t be bothered to kill him.
The second had arrived just today and hadn’t purchased any supplies here yet. Zhang Yangqing said he needed to enter and check for contraband.
The guy smiled and explained, how could he possibly have any contraband?
As a result, the moment Zhang Yangqing entered, he turned around and killed him with one swift strike.
After closing the door, he searched the room for his car keys.
It was the same for the others. Zhang Yangqing found three keys using the same method and also took their access passes.
Feeling it was about enough, he left the place.
He called out to the one-eyed kid, who was lurking furtively in the dark by the entrance, and the two headed towards the parking lot.
Actually, here, the one-eyed kid was hiding behind an iron box, very concealed.
And when Zhang Yangqing went in, he didn’t know where he was.
But when he came out, he accurately called out towards the direction the kid was hiding, which surprised the kid – how had he been discovered?
Regardless, he grew more and more fearful of this partner.
Arriving at the parking lot, Zhang Yangqing sat in the passenger seat of his SUV to rest, handing the keys to the one-eyed kid, telling him to choose the supplies he needed and move them.
Among the four cars, only two had supplies. The quantity of supplies was large, but the quality was uneven. Still, it counted as a resupply.
It was enough for the two of them to eat for about fourteen days, and over twenty days if they were frugal.
The SUV’s trunk was stuffed full, mostly with well-packaged dry rations.
Here, it was evident that the one-eyed kid was a very meticulous person; when packing things, he stacked them neatly, rather than just stuffing them in forcefully.
At this stage, Zhang Yangqing was actually considering whether to increase the number of teammates.
Because he felt he couldn’t stay in this paranormal world for too long. One more helper would mean fewer troubles later on.
And he still had four spare access passes on him.
These things were at least valuable in the eyes of prisoners and could also be useful tools.
He let the one-eyed kid rest in the car for a few minutes. Zhang Yangqing checked the time; it was 11:47.
“Let’s go. There are still some necessary things we need to get tonight.”
After Zhang Yangqing said this, he opened the door and got out of the passenger seat.
“Mm.”
Still that simple reply, the one-eyed kid also jumped out of the car.
Around the same time, the second wave of Chosen Ones had arrived at the infinite parking lot.
After memorizing the rules, they also began their exploration journey.
114 Chosen Ones started dying in ways the audience never expected.
At least thirty-plus Chosen Ones didn’t survive that one hour of flickering lights.
When they fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up within about an hour – that is, after the lights stopped flickering – their bodies would be mercilessly devoured by the aberrant vehicles.
These were relatively ‘good’ deaths. Over ten Chosen Ones were caught by mutated aberrant insects, their flesh eaten piece by piece – a truly miserable end.
Among them, some Chosen Ones came out with teammates, forming small groups.
When they realized supplies were scarce, that’s when they started killing each other.
Remember, this was only the very beginning of the second stage.
It could be said that this stage was also fraught with problems. The casualty rate began to rise continuously. Those who could endure gained experience; those who couldn’t could only die in the infinite parking lot.
Initially, the audience felt that the first-wave Chosen Ones were too cautious, always observing everywhere, making it seem difficult.
Now, seeing the mortality rate of the second wave, they understood just how hard the parking lot paranormal event was.
Only two of the first-wave Chosen Ones died at this stage, which showed just how valuable the first wave was.
And the top-tier standout of the first wave was already preparing to attempt a hidden mission that other Chosen Ones couldn’t even dream of.
Just as Zhang Yangqing and the one-eyed kid got out of the car, a scenario in the prison town was triggered.
Listening carefully here, you could actually hear some slight noises nearby. It didn’t sound like an owner opening a car door, but rather someone trying to pry one open.
Zhang Yangqing nodded. Sure enough, what was meant to come had come.
But that’s good too. I was just about to look for you, and you deliver yourself to my door.
This was actually easy to judge. Zhang Yangqing figured that the person trying to pry open the car door here was most likely a prisoner who had escaped from the western district prison.
To find a way to sneak out, prisoners needed to find a vehicle they could drive, or find a way to get into a trunk.
But the car structures in the paranormal world were also very sturdy; this guy was taking a long time to open it.
There was a pitfall here. If a prisoner managed to sneak into a Chosen One’s trunk, the Chosen One needed to check in time.
Otherwise, when they drove out, that judgmental strange bird would appear.
It would eliminate the prisoner, the car, and the Chosen One together.
If you didn’t want to deal with him, you just needed to check your vehicle before departure, or check at the exit.
To get information about the west side, you had to find the person trying to pry open the car.
Zhang Yangqing was naturally the one aiming for the hidden mission. He led the one-eyed kid towards the direction of the sound.
Suddenly, a flashlight clicked on, revealing a suspicious person moving around a vehicle right in front of them.
This person was momentarily blinded by the strong light from two flashlights shining into his eyes.
By the time he came to his senses, two people in inspector uniforms standing before him made his face turn ashen, ready to give up and be captured.
“Don’t misunderstand. We just got these inspector uniforms by chance. But what are you doing here?”
Zhang Yangqing spoke, knowingly asking the question to seize the initiative.
Hearing that their tone wasn’t like real inspectors, the prisoner was overjoyed.
So he got up and communicated with Zhang Yangqing for a while. It could be said that both were testing each other, not revealing all their information, but both gained some useful intelligence.
Zhang Yangqing now understood where the pitfall in this level lay.
He might be fine, but other Chosen Ones might run into trouble.
