Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Chapter 58: "I Will Take Responsibility"The city’s leader, why is your city so quiet?" the clone asked.

"Ah, just call me Bai Xiong. It’s because the birth celebration of our city is approaching," the man in the white coat said with a smile. "It’s the day our White City was founded. On this day each year, residents of the Inner City must remain at home and are not allowed to go out."

"Such a ritual? I thought since it’s a celebration, there would be various activities," the clone said in surprise. "It’s so quiet. Then why are we allowed to walk on the streets?"

"Outsiders... are different," Bai Xiong’s lips curled up strangely for a moment before he quickly changed the subject. "Next, we’ll see a characteristic landscape of White City, the statue of the Goddess Mother..."

As Su Ming’an compared the routes on the map and saw this "statue of the Goddess Mother," he noticed that the stone sculpture in the square looked very much like that mechanical woman outside the city—only her arms were normal, not metamorphosed into the forelimbs of a mantis.

"She was the original founder of this city, great and just, making our lives here incredibly beautiful. We admire and respect her... until her death," Bai Xiong said, looking utterly engrossed, as if seeing a long-lost lover.

Su Ming’an noticed that the man’s movements were a bit stiff when he turned his head.

None of them mentioned the city’s rules, sensing that mentioning it in front of Bai Xiong could bring about unexpected consequences.

Finally, after their journey came to an end, Bai Xiong brought the four of them to a place resembling a hotel.

"You can stay here; your names will be on your room doors... Please make sure not to enter the wrong room," the man said with a smile. "If you wish to spend some wonderful time with the lover of your dreams, please carefully plan the content of your date with them..." Sёarch* The Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Finally, he got to the point that was relevant to the mission.

"Is the ’Bride’ player also nearby?" Noel asked.

"Yes, please do not leave your rooms and wait for a surprise... Perhaps later, they will come to knock on your doors..." His tone stretched out long, with a suggestive curvature, and he looked satisfactorily at the players. He grabbed Siyi, who was resisting, turned around, and waved—

"I’ll be taking this girl who’s about to be transformed into a superior being. My fellow travelers, please wait for your lovers to knock on your doors... If you can win their hearts, rest assured, no one will stop you, I wish you a... happy, and perfect night—"

A streak of blood suddenly appeared in the middle of the white cloth and splattered up to the ceiling.

"Slash—!"

The man’s previously smiling face froze, and then his neck got slashed again, his head flung into the air and blood exploded everywhere like fireworks.

However, unlike the typical appearance of a dead person, several mechanical parts also fell out. His body collapsed to the ground, making a series of clanging metal sounds.

Noel and Qin Ze watched in shock as the black-clad NPC who suddenly pulled out a knife and took a life.

Su Ming’an put away his weapon and stepped forward to search the man’s body. He saw green fluid and numerous scattered mechanical parts—clearly, this was a being that combined machine with human flesh.

"Sorry, he was too disgusting, and I couldn’t tolerate the rules of this city," Su Ming’an said, rising and cleaning the fresh blood off his hands. He glanced at the others behind him, trying to hide their shocked expressions, and bowed his head, "But don’t worry, I will take responsibility for leading us through the game..."

The clone stepped forward and also kicked the body, but his kick was more playful, lacking any venting of anger. He slanted his eyes at Su Ming’an and then smiled at Noel:

"Dear Noel... remember, there can only be one Perfect Pass in a world. If you’re truly confident in your qualifications to become the Lighthouse, then show me what you’ve got next."

Noel walked up without a word, and then, his seemingly frail body shot up with a kick, heavily slamming into the man’s body with a clanging sound.

"You’re right," he said, drawing back his foot and gracefully patting the dust off his leg, those beautiful, ocean-like eyes staring at him, "We don’t have to follow the route he’s laid out for us. The fact proves there’s always more than one way to clear a round. I don’t understand the stuff about Lighthouses or whatever, but discovering the truth is what matters, right?"

"Quite astute..." Su Ming’an gestured towards the door of the adjoining room, "Then, let’s start by checking your own rooms."

The others entered their respective rooms first, and when Su Ming’an pushed open the door, he saw his Cloning and the little girl, Siyi, follow him in to start searching.

He made a round of his own room and found nothing special about it; ordinary furnishings, except that the cabinets and tables were made of metal, and a bunch of flamboyant flowers that looked like blood in their scarlet hue were upside-down on the nightstand, although they were fake.

Suddenly, he noticed something shiny amid the fake flowers. Picking it up, he saw it was a red, crystalline object, just like a gemstone.

These gems, in ten rooms, maybe every player’s room had one.

Guaranteed drop upon death, this was forcing the ten players to kill each other.

He stored the gemstone in his backpack and noticed that the commentary was still scrolling by his Cloning:

Yuanyuan’s situation indeed worried Su Ming’an, but thinking about it now was pointless.

When no clues were found, he prepared to check outside the door and start collecting gems from the rooms of those players who had already died.

However, as he was about to reach for the doorknob, his high spiritual power seemed to give him a premonition.

The next moment, the space around him flashed, and he instantly leaped to a corner inside the room.

The mechanical door silently opened by itself, and a person whose arm had metamorphosed into a blade edge appeared at the door. His form moved extremely fast, almost teleporting, and in the next instant, the arm blade swooshed by—

Su Ming’an instantly raised the Poppy Dagger to block, but he didn’t completely shield himself from the blade light; the dagger instantly damaged, and the light grazed his arm, spraying a streak of linear blood spray.

He instantly dodged to the side and released a Mentality Attack.

It was then that he finally saw the face of his attacker—it was Bai Xiong, the white lab coat man, the manager of the city, who had seemingly been finished off by him just moments ago. But this man was supposed to be dead!

Then Su Ming’an abruptly remembered the system notification from before.

"Bionic man?" he murmured to himself, suddenly feeling a chill of dread rising from behind.