Chapter 138 The Black Castle

Five o'clock in the afternoon, black clouds covered the sky, and thunder rumbled restlessly.

The local municipal government had issued a red alert for thunderstorms, canceled all outdoor Halloween celebrations, and advised citizens not to go out on foot.

At this very moment, the three members of Saber… arrived in front of the old house on Dark Creek Road.

The three of them naturally had no idea that one member of Hell's Frontline had also been killed. From their perspective, their side was now at a disadvantage, three against four. Therefore, Greed Wolf's chosen strategy was—to temporarily avoid direct conflict and develop the plot as much as possible, using the benefits in the script to offset their disadvantage.

"Looks like someone beat us to it…" Seeing the ambulance parked in front of the old house, Long Ge muttered.

"I have a feeling… this vehicle might be a trap…" Qisha reminded him.

"We'll find out if we try." As he spoke, Greed Wolf walked forward. "I'll search the front. You guys check the back, and be careful while you're checking…"

At this time, the suited man they had captured to guide them had already driven back. Before turning around to leave, the guy even rolled down the car window and cursed at the three players. But Long Ge and the others didn't care… Considering that this suited man had been threatened by three "children," lost a lot of newly bought food, and had been kicked and punched a few times… it was fine to let him vent with a few curses.

"I didn't find anything here." Two minutes later, Greed Wolf finished checking the driver's seat, then jumped out of the car and said to his teammates behind him, "How's the back?"

Long Ge happened to jump out of the back of the ambulance at this moment, holding something in his hand. "There's a body bag in here, with blood and fur all over the inside…" He showed the bag to his teammates and added, "As you can see… the 'person' who was originally lying in it is gone."

"Hmm…" Greed Wolf leaned closer to take a look, thought for two seconds, and then said, "Could it be… this bag contained a werewolf?"

"Huh? What makes you think of that?" Long Ge scratched his head, puzzled.

"It's not hard to guess…" Greed Wolf replied, "Generally speaking, body bags are only used to hold human corpses, but the thing in this bag has animal fur, and…" He pointed to a few tear marks on the bag, "...sharp claws."

Long Aomin raised the body bag in his hand, tilting his head to take a look. "Oh… so it is…"

"Look at the tears…" Greed Wolf continued, "If it was torn by an animal, then this animal has five fingers on its forelimbs, with sharp claws, and the spacing between the fingers is similar to that of a human… In addition, it's covered in fur, and its size is just right to fit in a body bag…" He paused for a second, "Instead of thinking about it in terms of animals, it's better to combine it with the setting of this script and consider monsters."

"Understood." Long Aomin understood when he heard this. "When it was put in the body bag, the werewolf shouldn't have transformed yet, and it was seriously injured… But when it came out, it already had fur and claws."

"Yes, that's right." Greed Wolf nodded in agreement.

"Then… how do you explain this?" As they were talking, Qisha stuck his head out of the ambulance and waved at them.

Long Ge and Greed Wolf exchanged glances and then followed him together.

"Look… here, and on the seats over there…" After his teammates followed him in, Qisha guided their attention with his hand, "See that? There are two pools of wet, sticky stuff…"

Greed Wolf observed for a moment and said, "Considering our train of thought… could this be from some kind of monster that can secrete liquid from its body?"

"That's probably it." Long Ge spread out his hands and said, "Judging from the opening CG, there are definitely more than just vampires among the demons and monsters in this script. Since werewolves have already appeared, it wouldn't be surprising if some kind of water monster came out, right?"

"So, the conclusion is…" Qisha continued, "Someone… or rather, some monster, stole an ambulance… carrying a car full of demons and monsters, and came to this house?"

"Sounds plausible to me." Greed Wolf interjected, then took out a piece of parchment from his bag. "This just confirms my previous reasoning…"

The parchment in his hand at this moment was the mission reward that he and Po Jun had spent nearly an hour shoveling leaves to obtain. According to their "dad" in the script, these were his two sons' "treasure maps drawn when they explored the old house on Dark Creek Road in the first grade."

Of course, calling it a treasure map was just childish graffiti… However, Greed Wolf had still deduced some relatively accurate information through this "graffiti."

"Monsters gathering here further proves…" Greed Wolf continued from his previous words, "...the Holy Amulet is in this old house."

…

At the same moment, underground in the old house, the auditorium.

"More guests have arrived…" Dracula, who had been standing with his eyes closed, suddenly spoke.

"Oh?" At this moment, Feng Bujue was sitting on a stone step, flipping through an ancient book he had gotten from somewhere. Hearing this, he asked without raising his head, "How many people? What kind of people?"

"Three in total…" Dracula stood two meters in front of him, speaking neither obsequiously nor haughtily, "Two are little boys, and one is… uh… a very tall little boy."

"Heh… I already know who it is." Feng Bujue laughed. "Since they've come to our doorstep, let's… start the 'ritual' early."

…

On the other hand, east of Dark Creek Road, on a certain highway.

"Damn it…" Hill, who had come to his senses, unbuckled his seat belt, opened the door, got out of the car, and angrily ran towards a Volvo a dozen meters behind.

A minute ago, his car had met the Volvo on the road. Because this highway was located in a remote area and had been in disrepair for many years, the shoulders on both sides of the road were damaged to some extent. Coincidentally… the damage was particularly evident on the section of the road where the two cars met, which meant that the two cars needed to pass through the middle section of the road one after the other.

Seeing this situation, Hill honked his horn first to warn the other car, meaning to tell the oncoming car to slow down a little and yield.

However, the guy driving towards him… was the suited man who had been hijacked by Saber.

Hill was in a hurry, and he had honked first, so he wouldn't yield; and the suited man… was a person who was used to taking advantage of petty gains, cutting in line, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, and occupying parking spaces for the disabled. A person like him… obviously wouldn't yield either.

So, the two cars had a "rubbing encounter," and then one tire on each side slid off the road, and they came to a shaky stop.

Fortunately, both drivers had turned the steering wheel and released the accelerator before the collision, or else they might have both overturned…

"Hey! Asshole!" Hill roared as he walked towards the other car, "Are you blind or deaf?"

The suited man also got out of the car at this time, turned to look at the other party, and said, "I was going to ask you, how are you going to compensate me?" He gestured at the scratched car body. "Do you know how much it will cost to repair this scratch?"

"I don't know the price, but I think its injury will heal faster than yours." Hill replied.

The suited man didn't seem to understand what the other party meant for a moment, and he even asked, "What do you mean its injury will…"

Bang—

Hill's fist interrupted the suited man's words, and the latter was knocked to the ground.

"Oh! Ah—" The suited man covered his face and screamed after falling to the ground, "You… you bastard! I'm going to sue you for intentional injury… no! Attempted murder!"

"Sounds like you know a little bit about the law, huh?" Hill asked as he kicked the suited man's arm twice.

"Ah! Ah!" The suited man screamed and threatened, "I warn you! My aunt's husband is a lawyer!"

"Is that so?" Hill said, leaning over, grabbing the other party's hair, bringing his face closer, and saying, "Then I'll teach you on behalf of your aunt's husband… If I really murder you, the district attorney will prosecute me! I don't need a dead man to sue!"

After saying that, Hill grabbed the car door with his other hand, propped up the suited man's head, and slammed it against the car door three times in a row.

After hitting him, the suited man passed out on the spot…

Hill spat on the other party with great satisfaction, turned around, and prepared to return to his car.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, a change occurred!

In the distant sky, a black pillar of light suddenly appeared.

An invisible energy that even Hill could feel spread from that direction, sweeping across the entire earth…

…

Five ten in the afternoon, on the edge of the city, outside a power plant.

Ruo Yu and Xiao Ling had just completed all the follow-up tasks of an entire side quest and were coming out of the power plant with the quest rewards when… they felt the impact of that energy.

Although they had both been turned into little lolis physically, the two of them were still not easily knocked over by the impact. They only staggered slightly before steadying themselves.

"I have a feeling…" Ruo Yu gazed at the black pillar of light in the sky and pondered, "...what happened over there must be related to Bujue."

"Anyway, we've finished the quest chain…" Xiao Ling continued, "...let's go take a look."

"Ah… let's use that then." Ruo Yu nodded in agreement.

The "that" she was talking about was the reward they had just received - [Magic Broom *2]

[Name: Magic Broom]

[Type: Other]

[Quality: Excellent]

[Effect: Sweep dust or act as a vehicle]

[Can it be brought out of this script: No]

[Note: Generally speaking, regardless of whether you are wearing a skirt or pants, we do not recommend that ladies ride this vehicle in a straddling manner, as that is very unladylike behavior.]

These two brooms were the final reward for the "Tea Party" quest line.

Ruo Yu and Xiao Ling had run around from morning till night, during which they had also encountered a battle with the two members of Saber. Finally… in the ninth hour after the script started, they had completed this super-long quest line.

And these two reward items they received would undoubtedly give them a great advantage in the next script…

…

Five twelve in the afternoon, Dark Creek Road, the original location of the "Old House."

At this moment, the "Old House" no longer existed. Instead… there was a black castle in a completely gothic style.

"What… what's going on…" Qisha muttered blankly, looking at the scene in front of him with a ashen face.

"Yeah, Greed Wolf, what's going on?" Long Ge, standing in the middle, threw the question to Greed Wolf on the other side like a megaphone.

"Although I really want to reply to you with 'you're asking me, who am I supposed to ask'…" Greed Wolf's expression was similar to the other two, "But considering that I'm at least the team's strategist and current commander, I'll give you a clear answer…" He paused, "...this is all special effects."

Half a minute ago, the three of them were still cautiously advancing through the corridor in front of the old house's front door.

Suddenly, a black turbulent flow came from nowhere, obscuring their vision. Then, they felt an earthquake-like shaking and the noise of neighbors renovating next door.

Half a minute later, when their vision returned, they found themselves standing inside the gate of a castle. Behind them was a drawbridge gate half-hanging by chains, and below the gate was actually a moat…

And in front of them was an arched, tall double wooden door, which was the inner gate of the castle.

"You might as well say it's an illusion." Long Ge replied.

"I'd even believe you if you said I was caught in a Flower in the Mirror, Moon in the Water." Qisha also complained.

"You're the ones who asked, and you're the ones who are complaining…" Greed Wolf squinted his eyes and said, "Keyboard warriors, huh? Write a report and switch careers to become a fifty-cent party tomorrow."

"Strategist, please be low-key…" Long Ge replied, "This is live streaming, don't talk like it's easy for us to switch careers to become fifty-cent parties, you'll make people jealous…"

"Enough nonsense, lead the way." Greed Wolf used the body of a ten-year-old child to act like a division-level cadre, issuing an order to Long Aomin.

"Okay, okay…" Long Ge, this "big guy" of 1.7 meters, could only comply, who told the other party to actually have a higher rank in the unit.

In short, under Long Aomin's lead, the three pushed open the heavy wooden door and entered the first room inside the castle.

Standing at the door and looking in, it was a vast space eight meters high, over ten meters wide, and over a hundred meters long. The four sides of this space were entirely made of gray-blue stone bricks, the walls on both sides were broken and mottled, and light from an unknown source always shone through the walls.

Also… for some reason, when these three members of Saber stepped through the door, they all heard a system prompt at the same time: [Desolate City Corridor].

This prompt came out of nowhere, and when Long Ge and the others opened the game menu to check, they didn't find any task updates, and there were no changes in the status bar or item bar.

It seemed… the system was simply reporting the name of the place.

They had never encountered this kind of phenomenon in any previous script. Today… could be considered the first time.