Almost the second Jiang Baimian turned on the flashlight on her phone, Shang Jianyao threw the bead that had lost its "All-Knowing" power into a trash can in the restroom.
Meanwhile, just as Long Yuehong concluded that "the whole place has lost power," he saw several nobles walking towards the men's restroom, and heard a slightly aged male voice coming from the walkie-talkie held by one of Marcus's bodyguards:
"Open the restroom door."
"It's already open, the other nobles' attendants opened it," Marcus's bodyguard replied briefly.
At this time, the restroom was not only occupied by Marcus and Shang Jianyao's groups, but also by other nobles and their attendants and bodyguards.
This was exactly the environment Jiang Baimian had hoped for: not too few people to interfere with their actions, but not too many, with other "suspects" present.
In an instant, Long Yuehong inexplicably felt that the surrounding world had changed.
Of course, he wasn't sure if this was just his psychological effect or a genuine experience, after all, after hearing that conversation, he guessed that the "virtual world" was about to engulf this area again.
Thinking something might lead to feeling something.
What had just happened convinced him that even if he didn't open the door, the enclosed, dark environment wouldn't last long—the master of the "virtual world" could not only instruct Marcus's bodyguard through the walkie-talkie, but also use the mouths of others to drive other nobles and their attendants, one inside and one outside, to ensure success.
Therefore, the key to this operation was to buy time, to make good use of the "Doom Bead"... Long Yuehong nodded almost imperceptibly, seemingly affirming his judgment about the power outage.
"Really, how long has it been since the coliseum's circuits were inspected?" Jiang Baimian complained.
She had also read the book Shang Jianyao traded for – "An Actor Prepares".
"Who knows?" another noble in the restroom replied to her, "I almost fell."
This wasn't an intentional attempt to strike up a conversation. In the dark, he couldn't see what Jiang Baimian looked like; it was just a spontaneous reaction.
Jiang Baimian then shone the flashlight on her phone at Shang Jianyao, and said softly:
"Let's go out, it's dark and scary."
Hearing Jiang Baimian speak in this tone, Long Yuehong's mind inexplicably flashed back to the scene of team leader hitting the Black Marsh Iron Serpent with "Thunder Spear."
That mutated creature was so huge, so terrifying.
Shang Jianyao laughed:
"This kind of environment is stimulating."
"Bah," Jiang Baimian spat, "You go yourself."
She broke free from his grasp and walked out of the restroom.
Shang Jianyao shrugged, not caring at all that the "virtual world" had returned, went into a stall, unzipped his fly, and really started using the toilet.
At times like these, whoever is small is embarrassed.
Jiang Baimian didn't go far, waiting for Shang Jianyao outside the men's restroom.
She pretended to observe the nobles passing by, not finding anyone who matched the voice characteristics on the walkie-talkie.
One of those nobles entered the restroom and exchanged a glance with Marcus, who had just washed his hands.
Marcus slowly shook his head.
His meaning was that nothing had happened.
He couldn't possibly say that he also seemed to be afraid of the enclosed dark environment, to the point of feeling a little dizzy, but this didn't really matter, and telling others would only invite ridicule, and besides, he had now returned to normal.
After Marcus and his four bodyguards left the restroom, Shang Jianyao also finished his personal business, and, with Long Yuehong, came out to meet Jiang Baimian.
They returned to the noble's box again, entering their own space.
After putting away the portable recorder, Shang Jianyao adjusted his posture, looked towards the coliseum, and waited for the match to begin.
Jiang Baimian's attention also seemed to be focused here.
But in reality, all sorts of thoughts were running through her mind without the slightest bit of calm:
"Although Marcus didn't have any problems, and everything seems normal, the master of that 'virtual world' will still have some doubts, after all, coincidences are always unsettling, and for experienced powerhouses, they can't be ignored...
"However, since everything looks fine on the surface, his response won't be so drastic...
"If I were him, I would instruct the coliseum's security personnel to stop the nobles who were in the same restroom as Marcus at the time, along with their attendants and bodyguards, in the name of assisting the investigation...
"Whoever leaves early is more suspicious...
"In addition, while waiting to leave, I would also have the 'First City' related departments cooperate to investigate two things:
"One, the origins and backgrounds of those who were in the restroom at the time; two, the real cause of the power outage...
"The former will take longer, requiring asking many people, after all, the channels through which we obtained the tickets are not so formal, having gone through the smuggler Lehman who is no longer in First City...
"The latter is not complicated, the First City power department can locate the fault point and find out the specific cause in no more than a quarter of an hour...
"In other words, we must evacuate the coliseum within a quarter of an hour, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable..."
Having already regressed through Marcus's memories, they may not be easily redeemed, and may even be silenced.
...
After confirming the power outage at the coliseum, Bai Chen waited several minutes as instructed before taking out another phone.
She immediately dialed Jiang Baimian's number.
...
Ring ring ring.
Jiang Baimian, who was watching the coliseum match, picked up her phone and said hello a few times.
Because the clapping and shouting on site were constant, and the environment was very noisy, she didn't seem to be able to hear what the other party was saying very clearly, or rather, she had to stand up and walk towards the exit passage of the nobles' box.
She finished the call at the edge of the passage, the content of which was that a friend had encountered an emergency and needed their help.
Jiang Baimian then raised her hand and beckoned to Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao walked over with Long Yuehong.
After briefly explaining the matter, Jiang Baimian said anxiously:
"Let's go."
"It's just started..." Shang Jianyao let that reluctant attitude show without reservation.
Long Yuehong's only feeling about this was:
It's a good thing I don't have any lines or scenes, otherwise, the acting would probably be the biggest flaw.
Jiang Baimian pleaded a few more times, and Shang Jianyao finally reluctantly agreed.
After Long Yuehong returned to the space to pick up his bag, the three of them walked through the passage towards the exit.
Just as the scenery outside the coliseum was in sight, two men dressed as security personnel suddenly came from the side and stopped them.
"Two, there's something we need your help with," one of the middle-aged men with dark green eyes said in a deep voice.
Clearly, in their eyes, Long Yuehong, as a bodyguard, was negligible, just an accessory.
"We have things to do," Jiang Baimian frowned.
"What things?" Shang Jianyao glanced at his watch. "I'll give you ten minutes."
The man with the dark green eyes said with a straight face:
"What are your names, who are you from, and where do you live?"
"My name is Sangri. Delasai," Shang Jianyao replied with a proud expression.
Delasai was one of the major giants who created "First City," and his name, like Ore, became a monetary unit.
He was the noble with the most descendants, and had turned his name into a family surname.
Anticipating that they might be interrogated, the Old Task Force had long combined the information provided by the company with information collected from other channels to create a noble identity for Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian.
This was definitely fake, but the point was that it sounded like it was real, and it was particularly difficult to find out if there really was such a person.
After Jiang Baimian also gave her name, Shang Jianyao said an address that did exist but did not belong to them and was relatively remote and difficult to find.
Just as they finished answering the other party's questions, the other "security personnel" smiled:
"Alright, you two can leave. If there is anything else we need to investigate later, we will pay you a visit."
His appearance was ordinary, and apart from his flaxen hair and eyes of the same color, he had almost no characteristics and was completely unremarkable.
"Huh?" Shang Jianyao appropriately expressed his surprise.
"Nobles like you are trustworthy," the "security personnel" replied with a smile.
Of course, Jiang Baimian could guess why.
The other party had just tested their lie, using some kind of Awakened ability.
But the Old Task Force had developed several sets of contingency plans, one of which was to deal with similar personnel:
They used "Reasoning Clown" to make themselves believe that they were the two nobles themselves.
However, whether or not they were nobles was completely consistent with whether or not they were from "Pangu Biology" or whether or not they had probed Marcus.
Jiang Baimian felt that the other party's mentality was:
People with a clear origin who are indeed nobles can't escape, and things can be done slowly later, without directly tearing off their face.
In the Old Task Force's contingency plans, what they were most afraid of encountering was an Awakened in the "Last Man" domain or the "Bodhi" domain, and the way to deal with it was to shout immediately upon detection:
"People from the 'Anti-Intellectualism Church'!
"The 'Anti-Intellectualism Church' is causing trouble again!"
Shang Jianyao quite appreciated the "security personnel's" answer, and nodded, saying:
"Not bad."
He didn't waste any time, taking Jiang Baimian and leading Long Yuehong through the exit.
Just as the daylight outside was perfect, and Long Yuehong wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, another person suddenly walked over.
That person had thick shoulders and a wide body, like a wall standing there, making a deep impression.
Jiang Baimian recognized him. He was a law enforcement officer from the Red Giants District, named Wall, and was also a descendant of a noble family.
She and Shang Jianyao had encountered this law enforcement officer when they were treating "Pangu Biology" informant "Garibaldi."
In other words, the three of them had met and spoken before.
Wall complained:
"Why is there a power outage here? Did something happen? I was thinking of finding a place to charge my car..."
As he spoke, his gaze turned to Shang Jianyao, Jiang Baimian, and Long Yuehong.