However, Roselle might not have entered the Ghost Empire with his true body. The difficulty of this "world" might not actually have reached the point where even the Emperor of Knowledge was unable to solve it.
Just as Ebner was deep in thought, his phone rang once again.
The caller was, without question, "Girlfriend 3" among his contacts—that is, Madam Philina.
Because this lady bore Source-level contamination, she always recovered herself shortly after Ebner did, so it was not surprising that she would be the one calling.
Ebner pressed the "answer" button, and a panting, extremely anxious voice immediately came through the speaker:
"Detective Brain, please come save me… I've encountered a monster against which all attacks are ineffective…"
Before she could finish speaking, a beep beep sounded from the phone—the call had already been disconnected.
Ebner immediately called back, but all he received was a prompt saying "unable to connect."
It seems Philina also encountered the 'inner world' not long after entering this world! Ebner did not dare to delay. He quickly asked Xio and Edwina:
"Did the role information you obtained contain any intelligence about Philina?"
Xio nodded and said:
"It seems the female police officer responsible for investigating 'our' parents' disappearance case is called Philina…
"The police attitude toward this disappearance case was very strange. They seemed to take it seriously, yet also hastily closed the case and sealed it away… Over the years, only that Officer Philina continued investigating privately.
"She previously came to ask 'us' about some details of the case… 'I,' in this role, didn't pay her much attention, but you, Ebner, were very enthusiastic toward her…"
So she's a policewoman… Ebner nodded thoughtfully, then quickly analyzed Philina's current situation:
"The disappearance of my family and Xio's family is obviously not an ordinary case. There's a high probability it was an 'inner world' intrusion incident, which is why the higher-ups at the police bureau had such an ambiguous attitude toward it…
"Philina's role probably discovered some clues on her own but didn't understand the truth, which is why she kept pursuing the case.
"Such characters, in horror movies and horror games, are usually the 'suicidal investigator' type…
"But now that she's a companion, we can't not save her."
Thinking of this, Ebner asked Xio again:
"Where did this role's parents disappear?"
"At the amusement park in the western part of the city… But that place has already been completely demolished and turned into a signal base station," Xio answered after a brief recollection.
An amusement park? Very good—both families left their children at home and went to the amusement park themselves… Getting disappeared like that isn't unjust at all!
As Ebner silently complained, Xio had already jumped off the bed and said seriously:
"I'll lead the way. We'll go there immediately."
As for her injured ankle? For a level-19 knight, it was not a problem at all.
Edwina followed up:
"I'll drive."
The "Spirit World" of this world had already been transformed into the "inner world" under the power of Order, so abilities like "teleportation" were greatly restricted.
Moreover, in an unfamiliar city, Ebner could not accurately locate a specific target, and "flying" might be detected by various high-tech methods, causing unnecessary trouble.
Thus, a car was indeed the most reliable means of travel at the moment.
And Ebner was quite confident in Edwina's driving skills—after all, she had practiced back on the first floor of the Dream Labyrinth Tower.
The three of them went all the way down to the underground parking garage. Only after getting into Edwina's sedan did Xio sigh with emotion:
"The civilization of this 'world' is actually more advanced than reality… Even though it was also influenced by Emperor Roselle, why is there such a huge gap?"
Because there are no gods in this world… This is actually the development speed that should exist after the industrial revolution…
In fact, it's probably because the population here is smaller—it's much slower than some of the leapfrog-developing countries in my previous life!
Ebner sighed inwardly, but he did not voice such blasphemous thoughts.
Since it was not rush hour, traffic was fairly smooth. In just over ten minutes, Ebner and the others arrived at the signal base station in the western part of the city.
Speaking of which, the area of this "world" was much larger than that of the initial "Hero" world, roughly comparable to the entire Backlund metropolitan area, but its population was three times that of Backlund, making every inch of land extremely valuable.
Even places that had experienced "inner world" intrusions were not left idle. Instead, the amusement park had merely been converted into a signal base station—a facility that did not require many people to "guard."
After all, as long as the limited staff here were trained and made to follow the summarized "urban legend rules," they could largely avoid falling into the true "inner world."
And even if one or two people went missing, it could easily be covered up.
However, while the staff followed the "rules," Officer Philina, who came here to investigate the case, would not… and might even try the taboos listed in the "rules."
Most likely, before Madam Philina 'awakened,' her role had already triggered the 'inner world' marker and fallen into the intersection of the two 'worlds,' which is why she called me for help after encountering a monster.
She's really unlucky… Still, with her strength and 'luck,' holding out for a while shouldn't be a problem…
After "backtracking" around the base station area, Ebner thought as much.
Of course, this was also because Philina did not have much personal connection with him. If it were Xio or Fors trapped here, he would collapse this entire "world" if necessary just to rescue them first.
At this moment, Edwina noticed a small table next to the unattended gate of the base station area. On the table lay a stack of printed "notices."
She picked one up and glanced over it, seeing the following written on it:
"1. If you hear laughter within the base station area, do not hesitate. Immediately enter the base station's main control room and inform the staff on duty.
"2. The staff on duty will be a man in his sixties wearing a black work uniform. If the person you encounter is not him, do not speak to them. Silently exit the control room and enter again.
"3. Under no circumstances are you to go to the roller coaster area.
"4. If you fail to enter the control room in time and the surrounding environment changes, buy a carousel ticket as quickly as possible and ride the carousel continuously until the laughter stops.
"5. Except for the control room, do not enter any building that has a 'door.'
"6. Absolutely do not attempt to climb over the amusement park's fence."
After reading it, Edwina pondered for a while, then casually picked up two more copies and handed them to Ebner and Xio before carefully saying:
"This 'urban legend rulebook' itself also contains a certain degree of power. Its purpose seems to be to create specific 'loopholes' in the 'inner world' through 'taboos.'"
"This should be an application of authority from the Knowledge pathway… though it may not necessarily be an 'exchange.' Rather, the rules of those 'inner worlds' themselves already contain certain 'loopholes,' and these 'words' are merely the keys that 'activate' them."
As an Insight-type Beyonder, Ebner immediately understood whose handiwork this was.
"Emperor Roselle!" Xio spoke the name for him. "Although the Emperor failed to solve the root of this world's disaster back then, he still imposed restrictions on it and delayed the arrival of the 'catastrophe.'"
"The rulers of this world must also possess items left behind by Roselle, which is why they can print such 'rules' imbued with power to resist the invasion of the 'inner world,'" Edwina added from the side.
Ebner nodded slightly, acknowledging their deductions. However, now was not the time to discuss these matters. The most urgent task was to rescue Philina first.
After opening the Pure White Eye and observing carefully for several seconds, Ebner led Xio and Edwina to a warehouse beside the main base station building and lightly drew a line through the air with his hand.
Immediately afterward, a crack appeared out of nowhere, from within which bursts of cheerful "laughter" could be heard.
Ebner and the other two did not hesitate and stepped into the crack together.
In the next instant, they appeared in front of the roller coaster ticket booth.
(End of the chapter)