Chapter 87 Death Certificate

Chapter 87: Chapter 87 Death CertificateThe two returned to the mayor’s office and stayed there overnight until the bus returned to town the next morning.

"What happened last night?" Shen Yi asked, noticing signs of a street fight.

Lin Pei briefly mentioned the incident of the doll attracting the aliens and added, "The risk is too great."

"If that’s the case, then I’d rather be hungry than face those creatures," Shen Xin said, shaking his head.

"Being hungry is no solution. Sooner or later we’ll have to deal with the aliens. The sooner we do it, the better," Xu Huo said.

"Do we really have to try every puzzle?" Shen Yi asked, looking around.

"I think he makes sense," Gu Yu said. "The longer we wait, the weaker we get, and the higher the risk becomes."

"Do you guys have any good ideas?" Wu Qiuyi asked.

"One person answers the question while the others lie in ambush nearby. If an alien appears, we kill it," Gu Yu was the first to suggest.

"But the fight will inevitably make more noise," Shen Yi said. "What if it attracts other aliens?"

"Aliens might be distributed throughout the town," Lin Pei said after thinking about it. "The game says the town hired only a few security guards, let’s assume we’re nine. If we could just find where they’re hiding, that would be ideal."

"There’s just one rule in the game: no three people can appear in any public place at the same time. It’s hard to distinguish ’any,’ but to lure the aliens out and then track them to their lairs, we’re limited in numbers and mobility."

"Another problem is how to seal the entrances and exits," Wu Qiuyi added.

"It needs to be strong enough to block the aliens and silent at the same time. Is that possible?" Shen Yi asked, frowning.

"Alternatively, let’s start searching the whole town today," Wu Qiuyi suggested. "Take turns getting off the bus in pairs."

"How many days will it take to search such a big town?" Gu Yu objected. "If we can’t find anything in the end, won’t it be a waste of time? My method is better: first draw the aliens out, lure them to a place where noise won’t be an issue to kill them. The forest outside the town looks good for that."

"Your method won’t work," Lin Pei said. "You might not make more noise, but the aliens are uncontrollable. Crossing the town could very well draw out others. If there’s more than one of the type that appeared at the east gate, it won’t matter how many people we have."

Gu Yu fell silent and after a few seconds asked, "So what do you suggest?"

"First, we need to find something to block their dens," Xu Huo spoke. "The town might still have some of the metal used to build the walls, and perhaps all the town’s infrastructure used it as well. Leave two to drive and others to search separately."

As he spoke, he took out the album of drawings and crayons from the mayor’s office and sketched a rough layout of the town.

"Seven people, seven directions."

"Any store, gas station, mayor’s office, clinic, and streets—these are all public places. But if the game’s definition of public places overlaps, it means all of us could enter different stores at the same time."

"There are signs of people everywhere in town, every store has them. If we regard a block as a public place, there aren’t enough aliens for so many people. I tend to think the streets are also divided into areas, just without clear landmarks."

"The best way to avoid these risks is to operate in shifts."

"Limit the time, limit the area of activity, avoid three people appearing in places that could be public spaces at the same time."

Looking at the scattered residences spread out in the town, Wu Qiuyi said, "We can go by the bus schedule."

"Residences are not public areas; this plan could work," Lin Pei said. "Whether it’s feasible or not, let’s search first."

They set the destinations, times to get off, and the time limits for moving around in public areas.

"The bus needs to refuel once a day, and at least two people must stay on it," Wu Qiuyi said, looking at Nian Hong’an and Wang Chaoqing, not feeling secure whether they were left on the bus or sent out.

"Nian Hong’an, stay on the bus," Xu Huo decided, his gaze sweeping over the two.

Nian Hong’an immediately breathed a sigh of relief, while Wang Chaoqing offered with a smile, "Brother, how about I stay on the bus too? You see, my special abilities are utterly useless. What if I cause trouble for you all?"

"If trouble arises, you’ll be the first to die," Xu Huo said indifferently. "For the sake of your own life, better be diligent."

Fifteen minutes later, Wang Chaoqing was the first to get off the bus with a sorrowful face.

Next were Wu Qiuyi and Gu Yu, followed by the Shen siblings, and finally Lin Pei and Xu Huo.

Most of the residences in the town were single small buildings with only a few households side by side, so the time allotted for each residence was twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, starting with the first person who got off the bus, every two people had five minutes to enter a public area, searching residences first, then shops.

After searching the first building, Xu Huo waited fifteen minutes before moving on to the next one.

After several more residences, he felt increasingly strange.

Although these places all showed signs of habitation, it seemed the occupants had left in a hurry; clothes, bedding, and most household items were left behind. Yet, they all shared one common feature: a lack of lived-in atmosphere.

Simple kitchens, plain bathrooms—with no books, no junk rooms, hardly anything else beyond the essentials, let alone any sign of children.

Every house was exceptionally clean.

Not understanding the reason, but the clearly uninhabitable homes offered nothing useful, he was about to move on when he caught sight of a shining point atop a small building through the window. On closer inspection, it was a clock, with a reflective crystal on its second hand, similar to the one at the mayor’s office.

He was intrigued and headed straight to that building.

As he crossed the street and pushed open the heavy doors, the first thing he saw was a wall full of clocks. However, these clocks were broken, their hands stopped at different times.

In the center of the wall was a photograph featuring an elderly man and a thoroughly bundled-up little girl. The old man held the half-squinting child with a serious expression, their gazes not directed towards the camera but rather to the side—as if neither was quite present in the moment.

The old man in the photo was the same one he had seen in a picture at the clock shop the day before.

Walking on the thick carpet, Xu Huo made his way to the second floor almost soundlessly and pushed open the first room. It appeared to be Master Niese’s bedroom. Most items were gone, except some pictures and child’s scribbles on the walls.

Unlike the downstairs photo, the people in these images were beaming with joy. Besides Niese and the little girl, there was also a young couple, with the man bearing a strong resemblance to Niese.

"Death Certificate: After identification by the Stellar Authoritative Five Star Medical Research Group, it is confirmed that Logan Niese and Molly Ye died in a car accident. This certifies the same."