Under the cover of night, two figures quietly sneaked into the flourishing manor.

They had climbed over the walls to get in.

The walls of the manor were not high, so they didn't need to fly, and they could easily climb over.

The closed gates of the mansion couldn't stop them either.

As hardcore players, Yan Shu and Li Jie were proficient in various practical life skills, including lock picking.

With a "click" sound, the door opened.

The two looked at each other, and Yan Shu opened the door and entered the villa first.

The next moment.

Snap!

"Hiss—"

Yan Shu's eyes widened, his face turned red, and he almost shouted out.

Looking down, he saw a wooden board with a steel ring embedded in it, firmly clamping his foot.

Yan Shu: Fuck!

Who the hell put a mousetrap at the door?!

And it wasn't just one, but a whole row of them.

Who the hell catches mice like this?

Yan Shu wanted to curse.

But Li Jie felt that something was not quite right.

The sense of smell of an experienced player was very keen.

The mousetrap was obviously not in a normal position. Could it be that someone deliberately set a trap for them?

Li Jie felt along the wall and turned on the lights directly. The luxurious crystal chandelier shone brightly, instantly illuminating the spacious living room. The strong light contrast made him squint, but he could still see the vigilance in his eyes.

Surprisingly, everything in the living room seemed normal.

Clean, tidy, luxurious, and the floor was waxed and polished, just like the appearance of a mansion in the imagination.

Could it be that he was overthinking?

Li Jie did not find any other traps.

Until he went up the stairs, slipped, and fell down like he was on a slide.

"Damn, lubricant!"

This slippery water was probably the one sold in the game mall.

So Li Jie's face also turned red.

Now it was certain that players had been to the flourishing manor before them.

It couldn't be NPCs, NPCs weren't that idle!

As expected, the two of them became very alert and cautious in searching the villa, but they found nothing and didn't discover any other traps. It was as if the other party knew they wouldn't fall for it again, making them compete with the air.

It was really messing with their minds.

Three hours later, the two of them, who had found nothing, each had a glass of strong liquor to celebrate and returned to the statue area.

This was a drunkard's paradise, with bars everywhere.

They went to their usual place and ordered a hangover meal.

Although it was called a hangover meal, there was no need to drink so much. The meal included a lot of alcohol, mainly for refills.

"I bet it's the three of them... hiccup!" Yan Shu said, burping, but it didn't affect the completeness of his speech. He didn't know the names of Gu Chi's three people, but the faces of the people with extraordinary looks and the cute girl left a very deep impression on him - they were what he wanted.

Most importantly, two of the three people performed the same as them when entering the instance, very calm and quick to react, immediately thinking of the Weird Rules in the Blood Mist Zone, and then leaving the team. This all indicated that the other party was a confident old player.

Unfortunately, so were they.

"It's okay, it's just a clue, let them have it." Li Jie snorted, his words full of alcohol, "Even if there really is a sword, they can't snatch it from us."

When entering the instance, thirty people were in the Blood Mist Zone, while Gu Chi's three people went to the Spirit Realm. They deliberately chose the opposite direction to go to the Weathered Zone, and it turned out that their choice was very correct.

On the first day, they killed the Shadow Strange Object and obtained a clue. They followed this clue and went to the police station to inquire about the news, and finally found a collector named "Allen."

The deceased was Allen's cousin, and Allen's house was full of valuable treasures, including a gem bought from a jewel dealer -

【Dusty Prayer: Can resonate with the Source of Distortion, obtain the protection of light, not afraid of any Weird Rules, but as the darkness grows, it obscures the sky, it can no longer feel the way to find the light】

This was a plot item that allowed players to ignore Weird Rules.

After obtaining the gem, Li Jie and Yan Shu immediately found the jewel dealer based on the information provided by Allen.

After a polite inquiry, the jewel dealer revealed the thief.

The thief was very cunning, with several regular haunts, and it took them a whole day to catch him, gaining information about Evelyn and the flourishing manor, as well as obtaining a clue to another plot item -

【Dim Dawn: Can resonate with the Source of Distortion, never stopping, never exhausting】

If they understood correctly, this was an unlimited mana item.

They spent half a day getting this necklace from a wealthy merchant.

The information about Evelyn in the intelligence also mentioned a sword, which should represent the highest attack, enough to instantly kill the notorious evil spirit that had been talked about for the past two days.

With this, they had a complete set of endurance, attack, and defense, which could directly make players the next Creepy Baron.

Li Jie personally admired Gu Chi's operation of killing the evil spirit through the Weird Rules, but the evil spirit was ultimately just an evil spirit, not the Weird Rules itself.

Li Jie was not sure what the ultimate goal of this instance was, but he could guess that it was definitely related to the Weird Rules.

And it was highly likely that there were only three plot items in total, and they had obtained two of them. What did this mean?

It meant an advantage!

A huge advantage!

Even if there were more than three plot items, they had already grasped half of the key to clearing the instance. In the end, cooperation was not necessarily about who had a higher score.

"Tomorrow, we'll go to the Withered Zone and the Spirit Realm to farm Shadow, unlock these two items early, and look for clues about the ultimate goal." Li Jie was a little tipsy, but not completely drunk. He still knew what to do next.

"If we encounter other players on the way, we'll show them our stuff, it's not bad to have a few newbies help out. As long as we find the ultimate goal, this instance is in the bag."

"Come on, cheers!"

...

The next day.

Many players started to move.Not only Gu Chi and Li Jie, but many others are also working hard to find clues.

The two players arrested by the police yesterday did it on purpose. If the police refused to pick them up, they would have gone on their own.

The test subjects of the shadows are all death row inmates. No matter which death row inmate left the object in the shadow, inevitable contact with the police is unavoidable as long as it is treated as a clue.

The only difference is who is faster.

There is only one city instance, and the game time is generally not too long. If you don't hurry, you won't even get a clue.

Of course, there are also players who do nothing.

The S version before the update couldn't be passed, and after the update, it was even more impossible to pass. They don't even know the tasks.

It's better to lie flat in the Spirit Realm, eat and drink every day, chat with two blonde girls about life and ideals, and wait for the big shots to perform.

That night.

Gu Chi and the others entered another manor.

There are really many big shots in the City of Intrigue. According to the information provided by the police, they brushed through, and seven of the ten shadows were in the private residences that were vacated, and the rest were distributed in various dark alleys, hotels, and restaurants, with very few public places.

Brushing shadows is a relatively boring process.

Dr. Chen, as the main output, has reached a terrifying 31 points of strength. Just by looking at his white coat and pink trousers, it is impossible to imagine what kind of man he is.

With Huang Ya's singing assistance, Dr. Chen almost killed a shadow strange object in less than half a second.

The monsters also spawn slowly. Many times, they can stand in the right position, and even the process of pulling the monsters can be saved.

Ling Mao is only responsible for protecting Gu Chi and Huang Ya.

Gu Chi is focused on violating the rules of the shadows.

Dr. Chen can still efficiently kill monsters alone, but he gets tired after a long time.

Perhaps after drinking, Gu Chi became more emotional and couldn't bear to see Tian Tian working hard alone, so he decided to try his gun fighting skills and practice cooperation with Dr. Chen.

After all, they may often team up in the future.

So Gu Chi held a bottle of Strange Object Whiskey in his left hand and took out the Grey Eagle pistol with his right hand.

Ling Mao sensibly held the gun barrel for Gu Chi, and Gu Chi pushed the gun forward.

"Click, click."

The gun was loaded.

At this moment, a strange object with a physical form happened to spawn. With a pale face and fangs, it looked like a vampire. Gu Chi immediately pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

Dr. Chen's reaction was so fast.

After spending so much time with Gu Chi, they had already developed a tacit understanding like childhood sweethearts. They didn't need to say much to cooperate.

Moreover, he always kept a little attention on Gu Chi. The moment the monster spawned, Dr. Chen knew that Gu Chi would definitely shoot.

The monster was in a straight line with him and Gu Chi, so Dr. Chen didn't even think about it and dodged to the side - he believed in Gu Chi's marksmanship!

Unexpectedly!

The bullet shot by Gu Chi took a strange arc.

He dodged right into the path of the bullet.

In the intoxicating night, a wolf-like scream rang out.

Dr. Chen: "Ah—!"

Gu Chi: "……"

Ling Mao: "……"

Huang Ya: "……"

Why did he run into the barrel of the gun?

Seeing Dr. Chen bleeding, the vampire's eyes burst with excitement, and it quickly floated towards Dr. Chen.

Ling Mao quickly cast a healing spell on Dr. Chen.

Dr. Chen's pain eased, and he swung his knife to send the vampire to meet God, then covered his still bleeding shoulder and said in distress, "How could you shoot so inaccurately when you're so close??"

Gu Chi also said in distress, "You don't trust me!"

A quick look at "pawread dot com" will leave you more fulfilled.

Dr. Chen: "???"

Shouldn't I dodge when you shoot at me?

Dr. Chen did not see the trajectory of the bullet.

Normal people couldn't see it either.

Qiang Hui's bullets are "ordinary objects" and have no special effects.

Gu Chi explained, "My bullets can curve."

Huang Ya: "?"

Ling Mao: "?"

Is that true?

Does this kind of marksmanship exist?

The knowledgeable Dr. Chen quickly reacted, "Gun fighting skills?"

Gu Chi nodded and added, "Level 5."

"You underestimated me, let's try again in a different place!"

"No, wait for me to get another bullet."

Healing spells can heal injuries, alleviate pain, and to some extent accelerate wound healing, but they cannot dissolve bullets.

Dr. Chen is also a tough guy. He took a big gulp of wine, picked up a scalpel, and stabbed it directly into his shoulder.

Gu Chi and the others all frowned. It looked so painful!

But Dr. Chen just gritted his teeth, and with a slight movement of his wrist, he loosened the bullet hole, then put down the knife and used a small pair of forceps to accurately extract the bloody bullet.

It was so skillful that it was heartbreaking.

Gu Chi felt like he was watching a war movie, and Dr. Chen was the hero who fought the Japanese invaders barehanded.

"Don't just watch, give me some more healing spells!" Dr. Chen's strength returned, and he was sweating profusely.

"Oh, oh!" Ling Mao quickly cast two more healing spells on Dr. Chen.

Gu Chi couldn't help but ask, "How many times have you been shot before?"

Dr. Chen stood up with the bottle of wine, took another sip, and smiled crookedly, "If I quit the instance, my body won't recover. My scars will cover my whole body. This is the glorious life of a retired special forces soldier!"

At this moment, Ling Mao and Huang Ya seemed to see two words on his face - the return of the king!

Gu Chi felt fortunate for Dr. Chen, "It's good that you're okay, darling."

Dr. Chen: "……"

Actually.

I've been through a lot.

It's just a sad story, better left untold.

Gu Chi found a 500-yaguo bill on the vampire.

It seems that not only players lick their wounds, but strange objects do too.

[Bloody Pocket Money: A poor child wants to buy a cup of coffee at the Fina Cafe, but unfortunately couldn't buy it]

Drowsiness is a kind of "non-sober state". Items like coffee that can refresh but are difficult to make people overly excited are rare in the Stone Statue Area, let alone a coffee shop that sells coffee.

There used to be one a long time ago, and it closed a long time ago.The nearest coffee shop from here is the Fina Coffee Shop in the Withered Zone, which happens to be where Daisy works.

This was the first clue unrelated to the death row inmates that Gu Chi and his team found tonight, yet it still pointed towards Cui Sili.

"Seems like this instance isn't as difficult as we imagined?" Gu Chi tilted his head to look at Ling Mao. "Has Cui Sili figured out how to deal with the Weird Rules?"

A tipsy Ling Mao, with flushed cheeks and rolling eyes, said, "I think it has something to do with the number of people."

The content of Cui Sili's flyer was a painting—a woman standing in a square, putting her hand to her mouth, shouting towards the sky. The fountain statue in the square was depicted with high fidelity, and to let people know the location, Cui Sili specifically marked "Blood Mist Zone" on it. Below the painting was a line of text: "Please be as brave as her at sunset."

Cui Sili had her friends violate the Weird Rules, and distributing flyers was to get more people to violate the Weird Rules together. Does that mean Cui Sili believes that if there are enough people, they can overthrow the Weird Rules just like overthrowing a tyrant's rule?

"Pretty much."

The intangible Weird Rules need an intangible force to counteract.

This is the same principle as the "power of faith" or the "wishes of all beings."

Gu Chi sighed, "Born at the wrong time."

Players, though they are players, are also living people participating in this world.

Evelyn found a way to make herself stronger.

Cui Sili found a way that might truly eliminate the Weird Rules.

But they just happened to not be born in the same era.

Evelyn had power, had strength, but she didn't think of this.

Cui Sili thought of it, but she didn't have the same appeal as Evelyn.

They each lacked a bit of luck.

Or rather, it was the people of the City of Intrigue who were a bit unlucky.

"Let's go, to the next shadow point."

Gu Chi placed the blood-stained banknote under a tree, secured it with a stone, and left the manor with the others.

The final goal and the method to clear the instance were confirmed; the instance was about to end.

...

Extra update, here we go!