As Jian Qingrong murmured this question, the number one suspect had already appeared in his mind: a ferocious octopus with no intelligence.
After his brain returned to his body, his physical strength increased to a certain extent. The place where his eyes were gouged out stopped bleeding as usual, and the empty eye sockets seemed to be covered with a layer of light mist.
The eyeballs that originally resided inside were forcibly removed to other places, and the connection between the two sides was temporarily blocked by the game. Jian Qingrong could not use the little octopus to obtain information from other areas.
"It looks like it's doing well."
Every word was filled with a chilling chill.
For the Lord of Terror, the brain, heart, and eyes, three important organs, can carry its own consciousness. When it returns, its will is unified, but when it is wandering outside, it will show some individual differences.
The will that the eyes can carry is far less than that of the brain and heart, so the IQ is low and the brain is indifferent. They are the type who will hide in the dark and never show up in their entire lives. In order to deceive the game, the original heart was placed in the clone as a sacrifice.
In a nutshell, these separate organs are invincible when combined, but are each incompetent when separated.
Jian Qingrong, expressionless, took the phone and went to feed the patients midnight snacks, preparing to find a way to control these patients as soon as possible so that he could rely on them to pass through the first two areas and meet up with Wen Shi.
…
On the other side, the third floor stairwell.
The long phone call ended with the little octopus acting cute and coquettish.
Each call on the phone would not last too long. Of course, Jian Qingrong didn't know this. He was not the type to just sit and wait, and was used to taking time to do other things.
After waiting for a while, almost half an hour had passed. Just as Wen Shi was seriously considering whether the Seven Commandments leader had overturned, Ji Yuanzhi suddenly made a gesture to silence himself. Only a very faint sound came from the corridor on the third floor.
The footsteps were deliberately made quiet under extreme control, but because there were so many people, there was still some noise.
As the sound gradually grew louder, Wen Shi finally saw the person he was waiting for.
The figure of the Seven Commandments Guild President appeared in the field of vision, and some players walked out one after another. Wen Shi counted the number of people and found that two players were missing.
A small piece of skin was torn off the neck of the Seven Commandments leader, and he was taking potions to restore his health.
"I might go explore the dangerous area later. If you're interested, you can come over."
He spoke bluntly, knowing full well that having just been through a fight, not many would follow. Even if one completed a 3s instance by following the rules and only completing the game's assigned tasks, the rewards were still substantial.
In the end, only two players came over, a man and a woman. The black market player was a natural slacker, but he seemed to have other things to do tonight, so he hurried downstairs.
"Information exchange?" President Qijie easily guessed the reason why Wen Shi was looking for him.
The later it gets, the less safe it becomes. Not wanting to waste time, Wen Shi got straight to the point: "When you caught the escaped patient, did you get a clue about where he was going?"
The Seven Commandments leader's eyes flickered as he considered how much information to give.
The guild leaders all had a general understanding of each other. Yu Xingzhou glanced at him and sneered, "Don't try your useless tricks. You know the place, and we have the key."
The fourth floor is more dangerous and the rewards are more valuable. The key is truly irreplaceable.
Upon hearing this, the Seven Commandments leader's expression remained unchanged. He naturally put aside his previous calculations and turned to the clue: "Between the third and fourth floors."
Wen Shi and others were stunned. Isn't that where they are now?
I just walked back and forth and didn't feel anything special... Wen Shi turned his head and looked. There were no obstacles or other objects in the corridor except for a vague darkness. According to the structural design, there could be no secret door.
The president of the Seven Commandments would not lie about such a thing, so there was only one possibility left: there was a hidden map between the two layers, and it needed to be triggered in some way.
Li Nan took the lead and everyone went up the stairs again.
After turning the corner and standing at the stairs to the fourth floor, Wen Shi raised an eyebrow: "One step missing?"
The corridor was very dark. Everyone's attention was focused on the mission and preventing sneak attacks in the dark, so no one would bother to count the steps.
The staircase they were currently walking up had only eighteen steps, but from the third floor to the corner there were nineteen.
Everyone retreated to the corner, staring at the extra and inconspicuous steps, trying to find a way to trigger the hidden map.
A female player in the team took out a lighting tool and bent down to look at the middle of the stairs: "This small area is darker in color."
"We have it here too, and it's quite large."
Following the light all the way up, you will find that each step has some contrasting colors.
"It's a musical note." Wen Shi took a few steps back and moved forward as a whole: "When you put them together, they look like a musical note."
In the space of the cross, the True Spirit mentioned that Ao was a pianist in the past, and musical notes were a representative element of himself.
The Seven Commandments leader squinted his eyes and looked at it. "This note is drawn with a curved line. You can try to walk along this path, starting from this extra step."
Everyone's opinion is pretty much the same.
The seven people stood in a vertical row, making sure that every step was taken within the range. Wen Shi was in the third position. When there was only a small distance left, he watched the figures of Li Nan and Yu Xingzhou in front of him suddenly disappear quietly like smoke.
The scene was too bizarre, but there was no way he could turn back halfway. Wen Shi gathered his concentration and quickly completed the remaining two steps. Almost instantly, he heard the sound of whistling wind, and his body was violently pulled downward by an invisible force.
The altitude was quite high, and with the intense feeling of weightlessness, Wen Shi seriously suspected he would land headfirst. Given the difficulty of this dungeon, he had to be wary of the possibility of the game playing tricks on him.
Just as Wen Shi was about to activate his transformation skill, several sticky silk threads passed through the beam and wrapped around the young man's waist. Wen Shi was hung steadily in the air, and his body, as tense as a fish, bounced twice.
Yu Xingzhou controlled the props from below and slowly lowered him down.
Because of this delay, Ji Yuanzhi, who was behind Wen Shi, arrived first. The experienced players had special props to deal with this situation and had made preparations in advance. There were very few people who fell headfirst like Wen Shi.
"Thank you." After Wen Shi stood firm, he still felt a little dizzy.
The Seven Commandments leader and the remaining two players also made it down smoothly at this time.
In this enclosed place with no light on all sides, the air is filled with a suffocating feeling.
Because the space was small, with only a few walls and a door, it was easy to tell what was inside. After confirming that there were no monsters, the female player continued to scan the surroundings with a flashlight.
Using her light, the others were also taking in the surroundings they were in. The walls, even the beams, were covered in musical notes of varying sizes, suggesting that Ao was still somewhat hesitant about giving up the piano.
Directly in front of him was a black door with the three words "Dean's Office" written directly in blood on the door panel, the handwriting was sloppy and hideous.
Li Nan took out the key obtained from the previous side quest and inserted it into the keyhole. Strangely, the key got stuck after only half of being inserted. He tried it again and confirmed that it did not match.
In the photo, there was a faintly visible small door next to the bookshelf. Wen Shi said, "There's another room inside. We can try to break it open with violence."
When it comes to violence, the quieter the better.
"I'll do it." The president of the Seven Commandments took out a paper clip, adjusted the bending arc, and opened the door smoothly.
People must come here frequently. Apart from the unpleasant air in the closed environment, there is no smell of dust.
Wen Shi deliberately compared it with the photo. The interior layout was almost exactly the same, even the books on the bookshelf were no different.
The player behind him took down a few books and flipped through them briefly, but there wasn't much useful information.
Finding nothing, everyone's eyes fell on the small door next to the bookcase. The red warning sign on it looked very abrupt: Do not trespass.
There's no need to post this in a private office, which means it's likely a death rule for players.
It only asked not to trespass, not to enter without permission. Li Nan walked to the door without hesitation, and this time the key in his hand finally worked.
With a click, the small door opened smoothly.
The entrance was littered with white bones. Some were fresh, with remnants of flesh and blood on the sticks, and flies laying eggs on them. Most were dry, grayish-white bones, piled in every corner. The inner room was surprisingly twice as large as the outside. Against the left wall stood a lab table, its polished surface covered with surgical tools and materials. At first glance, it looked like a secret laboratory.
Wen Shi walked a few steps inside with a frown, always feeling that something was wrong.
"zoo."
After hearing Li Nan's words, Wen Shi went back to look and inexplicably felt that they were very similar. Ignoring the lab table, there was basically nothing else after entering except these skeletons, as if something had been kept here before, and someone came to feed it regularly.
He looked around: "But I always feel like something is missing."
While everyone was observing carefully, a male player who was supposed to be in the safe area and had not even stepped into the room suddenly felt his feet go weak. He didn't take it seriously at first and glanced down casually.
The moment his indifferent gaze swept across the two empty trouser legs, the male player's face changed drastically.
"ah--"
The exclamation was short and sharp. The player's strength below the knees quickly vanished. Without the support of his legs, he fell halfway backward. The female player next to him was about to catch him when the Seven Commandments leader suddenly took a few steps back into the inner room. The air erupted in a crackling sound as he used his [Almighty Blast] skill.
The female player quickly took a few steps back.
A rapid current appeared in the air, as if something was being forced back. The sleeve of the Seven Commandments leader was dissolved, and a small piece of flesh at his elbow was dissolved. If it had been slower, the arm would have been lost.
"What the hell?"
It came and went without a trace, as if it was being attacked by the air.
With a bang!
First, the outer door slammed shut. Because the male player was at the back of the group and was attacked outside the door, everyone reflexively took two steps back after he was attacked.
Less than a second later, there was another loud bang, and the door behind the player closed.
Without any extra time to think, Yu Xingzhou was soon attacked. Relying on his almost beast-like instinct, he used props to avoid being swallowed, and his trouser legs were slightly damaged.
The invisible monster disappears temporarily after touching the prop.
"Go get the information." There were only a few things in the room, and the only ones of some value were the documents on the table. The moment Yu Xingzhou spoke to Ji Yuanzhi, he used [Time Pause].
"Five seconds." This spatial dimension has other rules that restrict the use of his skills, and the time limit for using his skills is limited to within five seconds.
When Yu Xingzhou opened his mouth, everything was paused in an instant. Even a tiny speck of dust stopped in mid-air and no longer floated.
The player was trapped outside of Yu Xingzhou's skills.
With only a few meters to go, Ji Yuanzhi still used the speed-boosting tool and rushed to the test bench at the fastest speed.
The injured male player was obviously beyond saving. He was locked outside the door and everything below his abdomen was devoured. His broken intestines and blood were scattered all over the floor and flowed in through the crack in the door.
"Damn it." The president of the Seven Commandments frowned fiercely, picked up a piece of broken intestine, and found teeth marks on it.
This means that the monster that just disappeared ran outside the door to eat again.
"Do you want to break the door?" asked the female player.
The Seven Commandments Guild Leader shook his head. "The game notification sound hasn't appeared yet. Even if I run out, I may not be able to leave this space."
Wen Shi, standing against the wall, shared the same view. Rather than fleeing, he was more puzzled by the order in which the monsters attacked. Just now, the male player was in front of the Seven Commandments Guild President and the female player, but after attacking them both, the monster skipped over the female player and headed straight for Yu Xingzhou, who was further ahead.
Why go far away when it's near?
Wen Shi discovered that Li Nan and Yu Xingzhou were also staring at the female player.
A person's subconscious reaction cannot be faked. There was a hint of relief in the female player's eyes that she was not attacked, and she did not look like she was possessed and controlled by a monster.
When his eyes fell on the other person's slightly trembling hands, Wen Shi suddenly realized that something was missing in the room.
lamp!
It is definitely not normal to deliberately not install lights in a place where there is a laboratory bench.
"Turn off the flashlight."
Acting faster than she thought, the female player immediately put away her props, and the entire room was instantly plunged into a terrifying darkness. She realized belatedly that the monster was avoiding her because she needed her props to provide lighting, and light might be one of the conditions for the monster to attack.
The only sound in the room was heavy breathing.
This limitation is a bit disgusting. There is not even a trace of light around. Even if you transform at night, your night vision ability will not play a big role. In the dark environment, players must use lighting props to see the interior environment after entering the space.
It is only a matter of time before you get infected.
Ji Yuanzhi had already obtained the information. When his fingers touched the edge of the paper document, the system prompt sound appeared in everyone's mind at the same time.
[You have successfully obtained feeding log*1]
[You have successfully discovered that light can become an accomplice of monsters]
Special Mission: Dean's Pet
Mission content: Collect six important clues related to the dean's pet. Current mission completion progress is 26
Note: You can leave the Dean's Office after collecting three items.
For this kind of escape mission under given conditions, even Li Nan's money would be useless. It is even more impossible for Ji Yuanzhi to directly interpret the information. He cannot afford the backlash of forced cracking.
Mentioning light almost immediately brings to mind shadows. Wen Shi was nearly attacked by a similar monster in the archives room. However, the second alarm sounded at that time, and the monster suddenly ran away for unknown reasons, and the matter was ultimately left unresolved.
The president of the Seven Commandments also thought of this, but what they were facing now was obviously much more powerful than the monster in the archives room. The monster in the archives room lay dormant for several minutes before launching an attack.
The five-second pause had passed, and the sound of a corpse being devoured reappeared at the door.
Ji Yuanzhi lowered his voice very softly: "The feeding log is mosaiced, and the system reminds you to leave here to unlock it. Currently, it seems that this monster likes to hide in the shadows and devour from the bottom up."
Before he could finish his words, he felt his shoulders sink. The breath was very familiar. He probably guessed what it was, so he didn't shake it off immediately.
Wen Shi, who had turned into a black cat, squatted silently on Ji Yuanzhi's shoulder, with one foot almost stepping on the other.
Of all the people present, Wen Shi was definitely in the most danger. Even if he used his sword skills, he first had to know where his target was. This monster seemed extremely skilled at concealing its presence.
Wen Shi had a clear understanding of himself. Facing these elusive monsters, his reaction ability and item holdings were far inferior to other players. Many rare items could only be obtained in dungeons and could not be purchased with points alone.
Light was only one of the conditions for a monster to attack, and it didn't mean it wouldn't attack in the dark if it continued to attack. If the monster continued to attack later, Wen Shi knew he would be the first to be attacked.
Choose the softest persimmons.
This is the instinctive choice of all living things.
He is the softest.
The black cat asked seriously, "Do you think it would be safer for me to be in someone's pocket, or to stand on the shoulders of a giant like I am now?"
Ji Yuanzhi: "…"
Bang.
A sudden voice interrupted the conversation. Wen Shi was stunned. It seemed that the outermost door was opened by someone.
Heavy, undisguised footsteps echoed through the room. Hearing the sound of the monster eating, the person stopped at the door, his sinister eyes scanning the room before finally stopping at the small room.
Inside the room, everyone's breathing almost stopped, and they all thought of the same possibility: Ao was back.