Quick Travel to the Clouds

Chapter 752 Challenge Dungeon 8

Xia Yaowanqi's physical pain, mental exhaustion, and the blow of mission failure caused him to completely collapse.

All that remained was boundless resentment towards the "sack attacker" and the female investigator before him, burning silently deep within his heart.

The silver fox looked at its prey, now helpless, with little joy on its face.

She glanced at Xia Wanqi's disheveled appearance, and frowned slightly as she recalled the strange mental charm she had just experienced.

This player has rather complicated skills, and seems to have... really bad luck? They got beaten up like this right after entering the dungeon?

She shook her head, stopped thinking about it, and lifted Xia Wanqi off the ground like a tattered sack, preparing to take him back to the command post.

Xia Wanqi's first dungeon adventure ended in disgrace, amidst a farce filled with blunders, failed seduction attempts, and a humiliating arrest.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the city, Yun Chu, who had already returned to the convenience store to prepare for her night shift, listened to the news from Huo Tie Fei Yi about Xia Wanqi's arrest by the investigators while tidying up the shelves. A very faint, cold smile appeared on her lips.

The first time went very smoothly.

Five more times.

As night deepens, the neon lights of the streets illuminate one after another, giving the "Starry Night" instance a dreamlike and bustling atmosphere.

The glass door of the convenience store reflected the shimmering lights. Yun Chu stood behind the checkout counter, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the countertop.

There are still five days left in this role-playing dungeon.

Hiding? Concealing? That would be too passive.

Since the system's mission is to "live to old age" and to deliver six blows to the male protagonist, in this first instance, instead of cautiously guarding against the five investigators, why not... proactively give them something to do?

Wouldn't it be better to muddy the waters and keep them busy so they have no time to think about anything else?

A cold, almost unruly glint flashed across Yun Chu's eyes.

She needs tools, she needs to create enough bizarre "anomalies" to make the investigators suspicious and waste their precious investigative resources and attention on useless clues.

Control talismans, these low-level talismans can briefly influence the behavior of those with weak minds. The effect is short-lived, and the effect is limited to the execution of simple commands. They are ineffective against those with strong will or those who possess powerful energy.

But it's perfect for manipulating ordinary NPCs and creating harmless yet attention-grabbing "little accidents".

The third night!

Yun Chu used the excuse of restocking to go to the back alley of the convenience store.

The place was dimly lit, with piles of empty cardboard boxes and trash cans, and stray cats occasionally darted by. She chose an elderly homeless man who often scavenged for trash in the neighborhood and seemed somewhat dazed.

He picked up a pale yellow talisman between his fingertips, released a little spiritual energy, and the talisman silently ignited, turning into a wisp of almost invisible blue smoke that drifted toward the figure huddled in the pile of cardboard.

Yun Chu focused her mind and gave a simple instruction: [Stand up, face the wall, and use the most vibrant color you can find to draw a continuously repeating circle on the wall for ten minutes, while chanting "The light... is gone... the light..."]

The old homeless man trembled, a look of confusion flashing in his cloudy eyes, before he shakily stood up.

He staggered to the mottled wall, and sure enough, pulled a tattered red plastic bag from the pile of garbage. He then began to use his dirty fingers, dipped in some unknown stain, to draw crooked, yet persistently repeated circles on the wall.

His chapped lips moved, uttering incoherent murmurs: "The light... is gone... the light... is gone..."

The repetitive movements, the eerie red circles, and the neurotic whispers created a chilling atmosphere in the dark alley.

Yun Chu quietly retreated, leaving a fire iron flying ant nearby to keep watch.

Not long after, a drunkard returning home late took a shortcut through the back alley. He was so frightened by the scene that he sobered up considerably and ran away as fast as he could.

The next day, strange rumors about the "old man in red drawing circles in the back alley of Xingguang Convenience Store" began to circulate quietly among the nearby low-income residents and store employees.

Search officers' command center.

On the intelligence board in front of "Night Owl," a new report from a grassroots informant has been added: "In the back alley of Starlight Convenience Store, a person suspected of having mental abnormality is performing repetitive ritualistic behavior, which may be related to 'abnormal events.' Witnesses say they feel 'uncomfortable.'"

Such vague, seemingly basic clues usually don't immediately attract the attention of top investigators.

However, "Night Owl" retrieved the blurry surveillance footage from the back alley, and the old man's repeated circling motions and lip movements in the footage did indeed carry an unnatural sense of obsession.

In dungeons, anything "unnatural" should be viewed with caution, even if it might be a deliberate deception by the player.

"Send out the outer patrol team (low-level NPC investigators) to check the scene, record the situation, and question nearby people. Priority: low." Night Owl made a cautious but not particularly serious arrangement. However, this successfully diverted a very small portion of the grassroots surveillance force.

On the fourth night, Yun Chu expanded the scope, creating even more bizarre events.

The intelligence board at the search officers' command center began to be updated frequently with these scattered "reports of unusual behavior".

"Interesting." This time, it was Investigator "Hawk" who noticed these reports. He was cautious and good at connecting details.

"The locations all revolve around the core areas of Starlight Park and Neon Street, and the behavioral patterns are all sudden, brief, targeted or ritualistic anomalies, followed by either amnesia or inexplicable loss of memory."

"This doesn't seem like a naturally occurring copy event; it's more like... someone deliberately creating a smokescreen."

"What's your assessment?" Night Owl asked.

"It's highly likely that this was done by a player. Their aim was to distract us and waste our investigation time. However, we can't rule out the possibility that it's a precursor to some mechanism within the instance itself, which needs to be verified."

Falcon suggested, "I request access to the complete surveillance footage of the surrounding area when these incidents occurred, to conduct behavioral analysis and trajectory tracing, to see if we can find any clues about the manipulator."

"At the same time, we will conduct a second in-depth interrogation of these 'abnormal individuals' to see if they have any residual mind control skills."

"Approved. But note that access to full daily monitoring is limited; use with caution." Night Owl nodded.

Yun Chu successfully entangled an investigator in the task of identifying a "smoke bomb".

After four consecutive nights of being bogged down by various bizarre "abnormal" events, the five investigators—Night Owl, Falcon, Silver Fox, Arc Light, and Cipher Machine—while outwardly calm, have reached the peak of their inner turmoil and vigilance.

On the fifth night, they decided that Night Owl would personally lead a team to conduct a high-intensity, secret search of the "Starlight Convenience Store" and the surrounding area, in an attempt to find the player who was stirring up trouble in the shadows.

As night deepened, the five men changed into casual clothes for ease of movement, donned communication and reconnaissance equipment, and, like hunters blending into the darkness, quietly surrounded the block where the Starlight Convenience Store was located from different directions.

Their operation was swift and professional, with each person maintaining contact via encrypted channels, and they blocked all major entrances and exits and high points.