Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The same words, if spoken by Druid, Lan, or Black Cat, wouldn’t have had the same effect as coming from Alchi.

Alchi himself was a psychological consultant for the police department, with intricate connections to the chief of the detective squad.

Hearing his words, the ‘director’ visibly paled but remained adamant in his denial.

“Mr. Director, I advise you to reconsider,” Lan said with a smile, “After all, the files in the archives could be destroyed by the fake director at any moment. Right now, we're the only ones you can rely on.”

The ‘director’, his face dark, finally spoke, “What do you want? To help me regain my position, you must have your own agenda.”

Their objective was simply to overthrow Soren's position...

But merely stating that wouldn’t convince the ‘director’, who didn’t believe in anything related to the mystical.

Alchi responded expressionlessly, “That depends on what you can offer us.”

The ‘director’ wasn’t fooled, “If you want to negotiate, at least show me the files. You have nothing, just fishing for information from me. I’m not that foolish.”

“There’s no need to be so tense. If things go well, we are not enemies,” Lan said. “We just need a little help from you… Think about it, would you rather stay here as a perceived lunatic, or take a chance with us?”

The ‘director’ was silent for a long time, his expression changing constantly, before finally making up his mind: “Alright... okay.”

Black Cat and Druid couldn’t help but high-five in celebration.

[Lol, what’s this? Is the game giving us a break?]

[Feels like when my persuasion fails and the GM reluctantly lets an NPC help out.]

[Hilarious, wasn’t Lan not supposed to intervene? Isn’t this going easy on them??]

Druid didn’t care how the live stream audience saw it, joyfully moving forward to untie the ‘director’.

Tap tap tap tap tap—

Just then, a series of rapid footsteps approached from outside the door, and the sound of a door opening and closing from the next room suggested someone had come in to check.

“Damn, it seems like the nurses are checking the rooms,” Druid’s expression changed.

Lan frowned, wondering why they were checking rooms at this time. He remembered that according to the rules of the nocturnal hospital, doctors and nurses shouldn’t enter rooms at night without an invitation.

At that moment, he glanced at the room’s door lock, his face changing color.

The doors to the rooms in the psychiatric treatment area were unlocked.

With footsteps hastening right outside the door, Lan and the others had to quickly hide. The room was small, offering limited hiding spots: under the bed, behind the curtains, and inside cabinets. They quickly split up and hid.

The door to the ward opened from the outside, and a nurse strode in, her gaze sweeping across the interior sharply.

“What’s happening?” the ‘director’ pretended to have just woken up, opening his eyes in feigned confusion.

“Recently, outsiders have entered the hospital,” the nurse said casually, her gaze still scanning the room, “Have you seen any outsiders?”

“No, not at all.”

The nurse nodded, about to leave after a cursory glance around, when suddenly her eyes focused on the wastebasket beside the ‘director’s’ bed.

Lan, hiding behind the curtains, peered through a small hole and saw her actions, his heart skipping a beat.

In their rush to hide, Black Cat had accidentally kicked the wastebasket and hadn't had time to set it right.

There was a wastebasket beside each bed, but with the ‘director’ bound to his bed unable to move, how could he have knocked over the wastebasket?

Cold sweat broke out on Lan’s forehead as he watched the nurse stand up and start inspecting the room. The nurse had no face, but Lan felt as if he was being scrutinized.

Finally, the nurse stopped in front of a cabinet.

Trouble – that was where Alchi was hiding.

Just as the nurse was about to open the cabinet, Old Luke on the bed suddenly erupted, rolling off and clutching his head, screaming in agony.

As if afraid the nurse wouldn’t pay enough attention, he banged his head against the floor, quickly bleeding.

The nurse was naturally startled, rushing to help Old Luke, but he refused to get up, continuing to thrash on the ground, bloodied and battered.

The nurse cursed under her breath and went to call for assistance. A group of orderlies came in with a stretcher, strapping Old Luke to it and carrying him out.

With the door wide open and the footsteps of the nurses fading, Black Cat and Druid rolled out from under the bed, hearts still pounding.

“Damn, that was terrifying. What just happened?”

Alchi, too, emerged drenched in sweat. He had been moments away from bursting out of the closet.

But what just happened? Why did the old man do that?

Alchi instinctively looked at Lan, only to find Lan was also staring at him thoughtfully.

“Wait, did they all get distracted and leave?” Druid spotted an opportunity, “Shall we take our chance now?”

They immediately left the ward and cautiously made their way outside, with Alchi temporarily setting aside his questions.

……

In the real world.

Edmond was on a mission with his team. Lately, their team's task frequency had been increasing, encountering more and more unusual traces on their outings, clearly left by anomalies.

It seemed to herald some ominous sign. Edmond also noticed that their team leader, Gavrel, had been increasingly irritable lately. However, he managed to conceal it well in front of them. If Edmond wasn’t adept at reading people, he probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Once, Edmond quietly approached Gavrel to inquire about the source of his agitation.

“What? You’re overthinking it. I’m fine,” Gavrel replied, maintaining his composure, but he scratched his head when meeting Edmond’s calm and certain gaze.

Considering Edmond's combat abilities and his perceptive and sensitive nature, Gavrel sighed deeply, “Alright, I have been a bit restless lately... You haven’t told the others, have you?”

“No.”

“That’s good. Given the nature of our work, I didn’t want to unsettle you all,” Gavrel said, “Actually… this mission is a bit unusual.”

“Our task is to investigate the recent increase in sightings of anomalies in Arkham City. It’s a D-level mission, which usually doesn’t involve significant danger. If the team leader assesses that the mission exceeds this level and our team’s capabilities, we can seek assistance from the Inspectorate Headquarters or request mission cancellation.”

“In recent days, although we haven’t encountered any high-level anomalies, to be honest, the progress of this mission has been slow. I reported to the Inspectorate Headquarters quite some time ago and requested a change of mission, but there has been no response.”

After speaking, Gavrel sighed again, “It’s strange. Usually, the Headquarters processes requests quite quickly. And in my experience, there must be a conspiracy behind this city. I even applied through the fast track.”

Edmond remained silent, his eyes downcast, thinking of something Lan had once said to him.

The Inspectorate... might not be trustworthy.

“Anyway, there’s no major problem for now. If it really comes to it, I’ll activate my contacts and protest to the higher-ups. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you all,” Gavrel patted Edmond’s shoulder.

Edmond didn’t say anything, but from that day on, he unconsciously accelerated his exploration of the Dream Rift every night.

He realized that the day when his combat skills would be needed might soon come.

This patrol mission seemed ordinary, except this time they were acting on a tip-off.

“There’s a group of people, inexplicably drawing unusual patterns in a central square. Then quickly another group of oddly dressed thugs comes and destroys it. They often fight. It’s really bizarre.”

This was a report from a civilian. The Inspectorate team members had seen the remnants of the ritual circle, confirming it was genuine. So their next mission became primarily to investigate these occurrences.

The previous few times they had arrived too late, and it was hard to catch anyone with surveillance, but today their luck seemed better.

When Edmond and his team arrived, they witnessed a scene where players were about to fight with construction workers over a pattern the workers were drawing on the ground as per their boss’s orders, but the players were destroying it.

Oh, no, not about to fight.

They were actually fighting.

The members of the Inspectorate team exchanged glances and observed from a corner. A woman with short hair asked, “Captain, aren’t we going to intervene?”

"No rush... let's see how things play out first." Greville frowned, mainly because he was also unclear about the situation and hesitating about which side to support.

Based on his investigator's intuition, those people randomly drawing circles everywhere must be up to no good. He had sent the remnants of the circles' photos and information back to headquarters but hadn't received a response yet, possibly still under investigation.

But to help the players...

To be honest, Greville was reluctant. They had already encountered these strange characters several times, and each time it ended with unpleasant conflicts, like when they were executing a mission smoothly, and these people suddenly emerged, turning everything into chaos.

Edmund, perhaps, was the one who knew the most.

He was aware that the Exiles were adversaries of Lord Lann and that the players were dispatched by him. He also knew the Exiles' conspiracy.

But he couldn't reveal any of this to the inspection squad.

Now, he had only one thing to do. Edmund lowered his gaze pensively, considering how he could assist Lord Lann.

"Captain, they are coming." Aisha said, gripping her gun tightly.

Greville snapped back to reality, realizing that the battlefield was indeed moving towards them, forcing him to make a decision – either help one side or retreat from here.

Greville leaned towards retreating, letting them fight amongst themselves. Just as he was about to signal a retreat, a cold shot from behind hit a construction worker in overalls.

The worker angrily turned around and yelled, "It's an ambush, they're all together!"

"Damn it, let's go in!"

Gefel, who was at the front, hurriedly looked back but couldn't see who fired the shot. By then, the crowd in front had already pounced, and Gefel had no choice but to draw his gun and fight with his team.

Right from the start of the fight, Gefel sensed something was off. The group's strength, combat power, and fighting skills showed clear signs of training—they were not ordinary people!

Gefel's expression instantly turned serious, and he intensified his attacks more than twofold.

The players were initially confused as they hadn't heard of any backup arriving, but this didn't stop them from eagerly joining the fray to beat the already faltering attackers.

The players and the audit team, joining forces, quickly turned the tide against the decorators, who were initially at an advantage. The leader's eyes flashed with ruthlessness as he picked up a steel rod and charged towards Edmund's side.

Perhaps he thought Edmund's side was less defended, or maybe he saw Edmund as an easy target. At that moment, Edmund was distracted, fighting others, leaving his back unprotected and seemingly an easy hit.

Bang!

Aisha's leg whip sent the leading decorator flying back: "Be careful! Newcomer."

Edmund turned his head slightly, a look of surprise in his eyes. He smoothly withdrew the small knife he was about to pull out.

"Thanks," he said.

Aisha glanced at Edmund with a complex look, shaking her head: "Let's call it even now. Sorry, I didn't know you were in a 'special state' before."

She paused: "I really dislike weak people in the team, because such people often don't survive long."

"It's okay," Edmund said, understanding that this was her way of explaining. Gefel had privately told him that Aisha was tough on the outside but soft on the inside. She had witnessed the deaths of two teammates and preferred to have the more timid newcomers leave rather than see them die.

"That settles it then." Aisha nonchalantly patted Edmund’s shoulder and rejoined the fray.

Within two minutes, the team of specially trained decorators was suppressed by the joint efforts of the players and the audit squad.

The players were led by Aron, who glanced at Edmund in their group and pretended not to recognize him. He said to Gefel, "Thanks for your help."

"No problem," Gefel shook his hand, eyeing Aron's expression, "But I have a question, if you don’t mind. Who are these people, and why were you fighting them?"

Aron seemed taken aback by the question: "You don’t know?"

"Know what?" A sudden sense of foreboding hit Gefel.

"Their conspiracy," Aron pointed to the unconscious decorators on the ground, "They are all members of a foreign organization, aiming to open the gates to the Dream World in Arkham. These rituals were probably preparations for their plot... I thought everyone knew."

Seeing Gefel’s shocked expression, Aron was surprised: "You really didn't know anything?"

His fellow players whispered among themselves in the channel.

Player A: Do they really not know, or are they pretending?

Player B: Their expressions don’t seem feigned, but considering what we saw in Archie's father's notes, the audit bureau could be corrupt. Could it be that they know but are keeping silent?

Player C: I don't understand, but we should be cautious.

As if sensing the surprise and disbelief in Aron and the others, Gefel felt his face burn with embarrassment. It had always been the investigators dealing with an ignorant public, but this was the first time the roles were reversed.

The key issue was that Gefel couldn't refute them, as it seemed they truly knew nothing about the situation.

Moreover, they mentioned the term 'Dream World,' which is not commonly known information. Just this fact alone made their words more credible.

Strangely, the usually responsive headquarters of the audit bureau had also been silent this time.

Gefel pressed his lips together: "If you know something, could you share it with us?"

The players looked at each other before Aron finally spoke: "Alright, but we're just following orders. We only know there's an organization called 'Foreigners' in Arkham City planning to do something bad. Our goal is to stop them. That's all."

"Following orders? Whose orders are you obeying?"

"Well, that's something we can't disclose."

Gefel wanted to ask more, but he noticed something odd about the surroundings.

While they were fighting, there had been some bystanders on the streets, but now, ordinary pedestrians had vanished without notice.

Instead, suspicious figures appeared around them, each wearing a mask and dressed in black, tight-fitting outfits that facilitated movement, clearly up to no good.

The players instantly went on high alert, and Aron, without much thought, started shooting.

The next second, everyone's faces changed.

The bullets, suspended in mid-air.

Among this group, there was at least one wizard!

Gefel instinctively thought of retreating. The first rule of the audit bureau’s training was clear: when facing enemies with extraordinary powers, especially wizards, it’s best to flee unless there’s an overwhelming numerical advantage. This was a lesson learned through the blood and tears of his predecessors.

However, the players knew nothing of retreating. Realizing there was a wizard among the enemy, they grew even more excited, charging forward with loud cries.

“Captain, should we retreat?” the others hesitated to ask.

Gefel gritted his teeth: “We fight too!”

They were investigators, after all; they couldn’t lose to amateurs!

……

Albert casually dropped a body he was holding.

Similar bodies lay around him, many of them. Members of the foreigner organization hadn’t even realized what had hit them before they fell in pools of blood, their bodies marked with burn scars.

Albert too had burn wounds on his hands, but they were healing quickly. Licking the wound on his palm, he murmured, “One more node to go.”

Ignoring the overwhelming fatigue and a profound weakness that seemed to emanate from his soul, he determined the direction and headed towards another node.

Albert wasn’t sure if the information about the two nodes given by Amos was accurate, but he had no time to ponder over it.

He only knew that if the foreigners' plan succeeded this time, all their past efforts would be in vain.

He couldn’t bear the mental torment brought on by another incident like ‘that one’.

When Albert reached the next node, ready to confront the mysterious Amos, he was surprised to find no sign of him. Instead, two groups were engaged in a fierce battle.

He easily recognized the foreign organization's members by the masks they wore. That meant the others were…

Noticing their weaponry and equipment, Albert's pupils dilated, and without a second thought, he joined the fray.

Gefel struggled to resist the assault of this mysterious group. Two of his team members had already fallen. Normally, he would have ordered a retreat, but now...

On the other side, more players were falling, yet they seemed fearless, each fighting fiercely. Under such circumstances, Gefel couldn't bear to be the first to order his team to retreat.

He could only hope for Edmund now...

Gefel couldn’t find Edmund’s figure, knowing he hadn’t fled but was hiding, searching for the mysterious wizard. Most of their casualties were due to that wizard.

As another team member fell, Gefel couldn’t hold on any longer. Just as he was about to shout 'retreat,' Aisha, covering him, suddenly yelled, “Captain!”

She desperately tried to push Gefel away, but the wind blade spell’s area of effect was too large. Both of them were hit on the left shoulder and side, blood spurting a meter high.

Hidden, Edmund finally caught the wizard’s tail. After two flashes of silver, a head was sent flying.

The remaining foreign members, lacking magical protection, became easy prey. Edmund, like a lion among sheep, wreaked havoc. After downing two, he felt something was off. Why was the resistance so weak?

Looking up, he realized someone else was targeting these people, killing much faster than him.

When they ceased their attack, almost no one could stand. Edmund warily looked at Albert: “I think I saw you at the police station?”

Albert didn’t answer, instead saying, “Aren’t you going to check their wounds?”

After confirming Albert had no intention of attacking, Edmund knelt to check the injuries of his captain and others.

Fortunately, no one was dead yet. Edmund sighed in relief and made simple bandages for Gefel and Aisha. The players were trickier; they had ignored their injuries in the fight, and several were already dead, now watching the scene with interest in death-delay mode.

Unaware of the players’ death-delay mode, Edmund sighed after checking several breaths, then stood up to face Albert, especially noting his black robe similar to the foreigners’.

“Who are you, exactly?”

“Has the headquarters contacted you?” Albert took out a badge and tossed it to Edmund, casually asking, “I sent a lot of information back. They should have mentioned sending someone, right?”

Edmund cautiously didn’t catch it, letting the badge fall to the ground. After a few seconds, he picked it up. On it was a series of numbers, an internal code of the audit bureau.

Albert… an undercover agent for the audit bureau?

Edmund pondered, cautiously replying, “I haven’t heard about that.”

Suddenly, he shivered, feeling the hairs on his arms stand up.

A dense aura of murderous intent and a sense of destruction emanated from Albert. Edmund, unsure what triggered him, quickly added, “I’m just an intern investigator, so I might not have access to all information. Plus, I had an issue recently and only just rejoined the team... Maybe our captain knows!”

The murderous intent slowly subsided, and Albert pressed his lips together: “I hope so.”

He then walked towards the small square, about to disrupt the inscribed ritual circle.

“Oh dear, looks like I’m a bit late.”

Hearing this voice, Albert slowly turned, his expression grave, facing the newcomer.

A man with medium-length hair, gentle and friendly eyes, always surrounded by the scent of flowers, someone who wouldn’t arouse suspicion wherever he appeared.

Only a few knew how extraordinary he was.

“Amos,” Albert narrowed his eyes, “You did this on purpose.”

“What are you talking about?” Amos replied innocently, as if he had just noticed the situation around him, exclaiming in surprise, “Why are so many people dead? Wow, these seem like…”

His gaze shifted from the audit team members lying on the ground, uncertain of life or death, to Albert, smiling, “Seems like they're your comrades. Have you connected with the main force?”

“You knew all along.”

“Well, it’s not surprising that I know. What you really want to ask is whether the Leader knows your identity, right?” Amos smirked, “Sadly, the answer is—yes! He knows who you are, and the node task he assigned us is probably just a smokescreen. That man trusts no one, especially at this crucial juncture. He will go to the final destination alone.”

Amos tilted his head, seemingly anticipating Albert's reaction, but the blonde man remained expressionless.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

Albert didn’t respond. Compared to this man full of lies, anyone with a clear mind would trust themselves more.

Amos sighed, “Should I say it’s pitiful or tragic? You don’t really think the audit bureau actually sent a rescue team, do you?”

“Look at them, just look. A bunch of ordinary people without awakened origins and a lucky intern,” Amos glanced at Edmund, “Do you think this scale reflects the bureau’s regard for the information you provided?”

Albert trembled.

“Ask him, what exactly is your team captain’s mission in Arkham City?”

Edmund, who had been observing the two since Amos appeared, hadn’t spoken until now. But as the topic shifted to him, he instinctively looked at Albert, meeting his bloodshot eyes.

That look was all too familiar to him; it was a mix of despair, panic, and numbness.

Like a prisoner in court waiting for the final verdict.