Chapter 225

Chapter 225

Move quickly!

The moment the black cat saw the white figure, it immediately recalled the third and fifth rules.

"3. The city has cleaners who wear red clothes to tidy up the streets. There are no cleaners in white.

5. If you see someone in white, distance yourself promptly and find a safe location. It's best to seek protection from the blue-uniformed patrol officers."

The black cat and its companions had long noticed that there were no people wearing white clothes in this town. Most of the residents wore gray or brown linen clothing, indicating that the industrial development here was slow, akin to Earth's medieval times. However, the figure in the white uniform seemed to be wearing an ensemble that appeared seamless, without any signs of fabric stitching. It was peculiar.

No, I need to find those blue-uniformed patrol officers right away!

The black cat struggled to turn its body but found itself rooted to the spot, as if under a Druid's spell.

"Willpower Check: Failed"

...Damn it! Why did I fail here of all places?

The black cat felt as if its paws were sinking deep into quicksand, powerless to prevent the approaching white figure from drawing ever closer.

Just then, the Druid standing before it suddenly let out a mighty roar. He swiftly turned, grabbed the black cat, and dashed back the way they had come. The cat stumbled but, breaking free from its immobilized state, managed to clumsily synchronize its movements with the Druid's strength.

Oddly enough, no matter how they ran, the alley seemed to have transformed into a labyrinth of twists and turns. They couldn't find an exit in any direction, only the unhurried footsteps behind them closing in steadily.

"Morque! Morse! Where are you?"

Cornelia's voice echoed from outside. Morse and Morque were the new names the Druid had given the cat and himself. The Druid's eyes lit up, and without hesitation, he raced toward the sound of her voice.

And this time, they managed to dash out of the alley successfully.

"Oh, there you are! You scared me when you suddenly disappeared earlier... Why do you all look so pale?" Cornelia had enlisted the aid of the patrol officers in blue uniforms to search for the black cat and company after she couldn't find them. Upon closely observing their ashen faces, a realization dawned on her, and her expression turned grim. "Did you encounter the figures in white?"

The Druid hurriedly nodded, glancing at his health and sanity bars.

Rationality dropped by 15 points, and one-third of my health was depleted. Quite a feat.

The black cat was in a similar state, with its paws akimbo as it caught its breath. It turned its head towards the alley entrance, only to find that the figure in white had already vanished: "Fortunately, you arrived just in time, otherwise we would have been in deep trouble."

"However... What time is it now?" the black cat looked up at the sky in surprise, noticing the darkening light.

"Three hours have passed since your disappearance. If we don't find you soon, I'm considering mobilizing the entire town to search for you," Cornelia's expression turned serious. "If we delay any further and night falls, everyone will have to go home to sleep, and it will be too late."

"Well, at least they're unharmed," the Blue Patrol officer said. "I'll check elsewhere then. You know, I have to prevent any more unfortunate souls from crossing paths with the White Clad. Escaping their grasp isn't exactly a likely scenario."

"Do you know what they are?" the black cat probed.

"Who knows?" the patroller said. "I've never seen them. As long as I'm in this blue uniform, the Whiteclothes won't bother me. Heh, in that sense, it's not a bad job."

Once the stranger had left, the black cat inquired of Cornelia, "If the White-Clothed Men are so perilous, why not have everyone wear blue uniforms?"

Cornelia replied, "It wouldn't work. The number of patrollers is fixed. We've tried before to have everyone don blue uniforms, but all who encountered the White-Clothed Men ended up dead. Nobody could stop them. The protective effect of the blue uniforms vanished, and afterward..."

"What happened afterward?" the black cat probed. But Cornelia's eyes flickered, and she didn't continue. Instead, she changed the subject. "You should return. Your companion was back earlier and has been searching for you since she learned you were missing. You need to find her before nightfall."

The druid opened the team channel and discovered that Matcha Latte had sent numerous messages which they hadn't seen due to their urgency to escape.

Team Channel:

Matcha Milk Green: I've gathered quite some information about the Dream World. I'll share it with you all later.

Matcha Milk Green: Where have you all gone?

Matcha Milk Green: Respond! You're not disconnected, are you?! The live stream is buffering too!

Matcha Milk Green: ???

The Druid hastily reassured everyone while checking the live stream, noticing the viewers' complaints as well.

"What just happened? It was stuck like a dog, and now it's fine again."

"It lagged for three hours. I reported it to customer service, but they didn't bother."

"Druid! Quickly check the live stream! What's going on with you guys? I could only vaguely see someone running!"

"I can't handle it anymore, it's too shaky and blurry. I'm out, I'll come back when it's fixed."

The Druid hurriedly typed:

"Druid (Streamer): Bros, was it really three hours just now?"

"Streamer's back, hey, the stream's back on track."

"No kidding, I waited for a solid three hours."

"Druid (Streamer): Sorry, Black Cat and I encountered someone in a white uniform, and we had to run. But in our perception, it couldn't have been more than ten minutes!"

"Sigh, I knew it was another official prank, just like when looking at Lane's face caused a blackout before (grumbling)."

As evening had fallen and night was approaching, adhering to the first rule, no one should be out at night. Therefore, Druid, Black Cat, and Cornelia hastily bid farewell, planning to return home and share their day's findings with Matcha Latte.

When they arrived at their assigned house, Matcha Latte was already there, having brought a large pile of grass leaves for lighting. Upon seeing them, she exclaimed, "You won't believe how much intel I gathered! Oh, by the way, the priest gave me these. He grows them behind his church."

"You won't believe what we encountered either," Druid said with a wry smile, showing his remaining health and sanity points.

Matcha Latte: "???? What the hell? What did you guys run into?"

"The Rule, the fifth one, the figure in white," Black Cat's expression was grim. "The moment we saw him, we couldn't move. If not for Druid, I'd probably be done for."

"Well, at that initial encounter, I didn't have the resolve to pass either, so I had no choice but to take a risky gamble. But strangely, the chase that followed seemed to last much longer from an outsider's perspective," the Druid scratched his head. "Could you check if you can heal us? Though, we don't seem to have any external injuries."

Matcha Latte examined them and confirmed, "No external injuries. From your pallor, it could be due to excessive blood loss or simply violating the rules, causing the blood drain. Sorry, there's no way to recover from this situation... unless we try using magic."

"Absolutely not," the Druid hurriedly waved off the suggestion. "Cornelia told us that using magic here would lead to dire consequences."

Matcha Latte asked, "Can we confirm that she was telling the truth?"

"Most likely," the black cat pointed at the chat. "Players from other towns seem to have tried it as well, and the result was sudden death. Plus, Cornelia saved us today, so she should be trustworthy. Otherwise, she could've just let us die back then."

Matcha Latte nodded and began sharing the information they gathered from the priest. "I've uploaded the intel we gained today, and our quest progress has jumped significantly. Let me give you a brief rundown. The Dream World is the domain of both the Evil God and the Old Gods, who are at odds with each other, as we previously understood..."

Matcha Latte recounted the war between the Old Gods and the Evil God, as well as the harmonious relationship between the Perfect Humans and the Old Gods before the conflict. The priest's wistful expression when discussing this was particularly memorable.

"...However, for some reason, one day the Old Gods suddenly ceased their battles. They established barriers in their respective territories and haven't appeared before the Perfect Humans since. That's when the rules gradually emerged, leading to our current predicament."

The black cat found it odd too. "Why did the Old Gods stop protecting humans and engaging the Evil God in combat? What are they doing now? Logically, the barriers represent their power, so they should still be within this town, right?"

"Who knows? All I know is that's what the priest's records indicated."

The druid inquired abruptly, "Was that the priest with the shoulder-length brown hair we saw earlier today? Was he with you the entire time?"

"Hmm? Yes, something like that. But he did leave for a while to fetch the records. Are you suspecting him?"

The druid and the black cat exchanged glances before relaying their day's findings to Matcha Latte. She pondered, "If such a connection exists between them, perhaps we could glean more information from other residents."

"Well, so tomorrow we plan to inquire about..."

"Druid! Something major has happened! The neighbor's live streamer has uncovered something incredible!"

Midway through their conversation, the live stream's chat flooded with messages, urgently alerting the Druid, even suggesting the use of red special font to ensure he wouldn't miss it!

"You would never guess what it is; their live stream channel is absolutely booming right now."

The Druid said no more and quickly switched to the Troublemaker Squad's live broadcast room through the forum. In the camera frame, Baba was in a place similar to a library, holding a somewhat worn-out notebook in her hand.

The notes themselves held no significance, but a name inscribed upon them stirred a profound reaction.

- Randolph Carter