Chapter 81: Decibel Town

Standing before an old gas station, Xu Huo closed the game screen and turned to stare coldly at the two men kneeling on the ground.

Nian Hong'an hadn't yet regained his composure when he suddenly saw Xu Huo's murderous expression and opened his mouth to shout. Xu Huo swiftly covered his mouth and said in a low voice, "If you want to live, don't make a sound!"

Nian Hong'an looked terrified and nodded frantically, while Wang Chaoqing beside him instinctively covered his own mouth.

Xu Huo withdrew his hand and scanned the surroundings.

The gas station stood at the end of the street block, with recently trampled marks on the ground. The dust patterns on the fuel nozzles showed both old and new traces, suggesting someone had just used them.

Both sides of the street featured British-style shops and buildings with bell-like objects hanging from doors and windows. The greenery in front, pedestrian areas, and the central railway track running through were all covered with plastic dolls of various sizes, looking as if a toy factory had been ransacked. However, these dolls were evenly distributed across every area - at least one within each step's distance - with only the railway track remaining relatively clean.

As Wang Chaoqing cautiously tried to stand up beside him, Xu Huo immediately stopped him: "Don't move!"

Wang Chaoqing froze, but anger showed on his face. "This damn place is a dungeon. Are we supposed to stand here waiting to die?"

Xu Huo didn't speak, instead making a shushing gesture before looking toward the front of the street.

A bus was slowly approaching from that direction, with shadowy figures moving inside. A young woman held up a sign from afar that read: "Don't speak, don't move, don't step on things on the ground. Board one by one."

As the bus drew near, Nian Hong'an and Wang Chaoqing scrambled to their feet and rushed forward. The young woman with the sign and others in the bus suddenly looked alarmed, but when they saw Xu Huo remaining still, they gradually relaxed back into their seats.

After the two men boarded the bus, the young woman nodded to Xu Huo.

Xu Huo quickly followed, grabbing the door and stepping into the cabin.

The young woman immediately closed the door behind him.

"Why didn't you stop for us?" Seeing so many living people on the bus, Wang Chaoqing felt he had escaped danger and complained while sighing in relief.

"Are you blind?" a woman wearing sunglasses in the back said weakly. "The game said no three people can act together. Do you realize you almost got us all killed just now?"

"I didn't know!" Wang Chaoqing slightly raised his voice, making everyone in the bus frown. The man driving pointed at the decibel meter on the window. "Keep your voice down. The last person who came in shouting was wiped out without leaving a trace."

"But don't worry," the young woman with the sign pressed Wang Chaoqing's shoulder, pushing him into a seat. "We'll kill you before you attract any Mutants. Starting now, no talking."

Wang Chaoqing shrank back and sat still, while Nian Hong'an obediently found a seat.

"Decibel Town has Mutants?" Xu Huo frowned momentarily, then asked, "The security guards hired by the town are Mutants?"

The other people in the bus looked at him with slight surprise. The young woman said, "You figured that out immediately? Correct, there's not a single person left in town - only several Mutants."

The sunglasses-wearing woman chuckled. "Your mind works pretty fast, unlike those two idiots."

Xu Huo scanned the six people in the bus: the sunglasses woman was the famous celebrity Gu Yu; the driver and the sign-holding woman were the couple he'd seen before; these three had all appeared near the Haunted House. The other three had undoubtedly entered the Haunted House as well.

Everyone in this vehicle had been dragged into the dungeon by Nian and Wang - it was hard to say who were the real fools.

"Lin Pei." A man near Xu Huo stood up and shook his hand. "Let me introduce the others. The driver is Shen Yi, and this is his sister Shen Xin."

"The scar-faced guy is Ke Liang. Don't let his fierce look fool you - he's actually very compassionate."

"The one in the front seat is Wu Qiuyi, and the one in the back you should recognize - the famous domestic movie star Gu Yu."

Shen Yi and Wu Qiuyi merely nodded at him, Shen Xin smiled slightly, Ke Liang glanced at him, while Gu Yu in the back didn't acknowledge him at all.

Xu Huo looked at each of them in turn. Brother and sister Shen Yi and Shen Xin were in slightly better condition, while Wu Qiuyi, Ke Liang, and Lin Pei looked pale. Gu Yu appeared even weaker than the first three.

"How long have you been here?" His expression turned serious as he realized another serious problem. "There's no food here?"

Lin Pei smiled bitterly. "This town has been abandoned for a long time and is isolated from the outside world. Even if there were food, it wouldn't be edible. We can only drink water."

"Ke Liang, Wu Qiuyi and I have been here five days. Gu Yu and the others came two days ago."

"Have you searched every place in the town?" Xu Huo asked. "This town isn't small, and with no more than three people allowed to act together, five days shouldn't be enough to search every room."

"Did you see those small dolls on the ground outside and the bells on the doors and walls? Every single one of them - whether touched or stepped on - will make noise exceeding 60 decibels. Forget about going door-to-door searching houses - just clearing this track took us tremendous effort."

Lin Pei explained, "You must have noticed something unusual about this vehicle too. Its engine runs very quietly, and people can move around inside without problems as long as they watch their volume."

"But it can't stop. If it stops, the vehicle's alarm system automatically activates, and the alarm sound exceeding 60 decibels will attract Mutants."

He paused for a moment. "When I first arrived, there were eight people on this bus. Four died in Mutants' mouths, and one starved to death."

"Someone actually starved to death! With Mutants and no food, aren't we just waiting to die!" Wang Chaoqing finally couldn't help interrupting.

Xu Huo turned to look at him. "Dying to Mutants is unavoidable, but certainly no one here will starve to death. If we really can't find food, we can use you two as sustenance."