Chapter 104
Chapter 104
He Xu asked in confusion, “How did you get that ring?”
Huang Xinze put the ring away. “In the second guest room on the right side of the fourth floor. It was covered in dust, like no one had lived there for a decade or more. I found a suitcase. Aside from old men’s and women’s clothes, there was a box inside, and this Diamond Ring was in it.”
He had brought the thing along thinking it might be a clue. He hadn’t expected it to actually be an Anomalous Artifact.
“You’re very lucky. But this Anomalous Artifact has already been used once, so it only has two chances left. Use it carefully,” He Xu reminded him.
Lin Xiaoxue suddenly looked at Wei Sen. “Sister Sen, is that axe of yours an Anomalous Artifact too?”
Wei Sen glanced at the Ghost Axe set beside her. “Mm.”
Guo Lan scanned Wei Sen’s Ghost Axe.
[Anomalous Artifact: Ghost Axe
Rank: S-Rank
Usage Instructions: Can be used to slay Eerie Entities. No usage limit. Active duration: 70:52:04/72:00:00]
He Xu’s jaw nearly dropped. The shock and envy in her eyes were impossible to hide. “You got this from the fourth floor too?!”
If she’d known, she and Brother Jie would have stayed behind to explore the fourth floor!
She had planned to let these cannon fodder go up there first and test the waters, but in the end, they had somehow helped them find two Anomalous Artifacts in one go!
Wei Sen said, “…I guess so.”
Guo Lan explained, “Anomalous Artifacts are ranked the same way Instances are, from the lowest C-Rank up to SSS-Rank. S-Rank Anomalous Artifacts are extremely rare. They possess tremendous power, and even simply taking one out can exert a certain deterrent effect on Eerie Entities.”
Lin Xiaoxue said, “Wow, that’s amazing! No wonder. I was clearly immobilized by Lili, but the moment Sister Sen arrived, the restraint on me disappeared!”
“That was the power of the Ghost Axe,” Guo Lan said, her gaze turning grave as she looked at Wei Sen. “You must be very careful when using it. The stronger the Eerie Entity you slay, the more Merit Points will be deducted. If you directly attack Eerie Entities like Lili or the Skeleton Monster, you might very well die here too.”
“Mm. Thanks for the reminder.”
Fortunately, she hadn’t gotten the chance to attack Lili earlier. Otherwise, with the Anomalous Artifact’s power being so overwhelming, it probably wouldn’t be something she could control just because she wanted to…
Also, judging from the current situation, beings like Lili and the Skeleton Monster should be boss-level characters in this Instance. Even if she had enough Merit Points, she couldn’t simply kill them outright.
Because they were bound to have clues on them. If they were eliminated before those clues were found, it might make the Instance impossible to clear forever.
Before long, Zhou Jie, Xia Susu, Xu You, and Chen Lin all received the message in the group chat and hurried back.
“Everyone’s here, so let’s share what we’ve learned,” He Xu said, looking first at Zhong Lingkun. “We don’t accept freeloaders, so we’ll start with you.”
A trace of speechlessness visibly flashed across Zhong Lingkun’s face.
He had thought Wei Sen had called him over so they could sit down and talk. He hadn’t expected it to mean sitting down to talk with an entire group of people.
It had been a long time since he’d shared clues with anyone in an Instance. Now that he’d been put on the spot, then… he might as well share a couple of things with them.
“The gift box the innkeeper received this morning contained the face skin of the man who wasted food yesterday.”
“Every day at three in the afternoon, the innkeeper goes to the cliff west of the forest. Her motive is unknown.”
After Zhong Lingkun finished speaking, everyone fell into thought.
Xu You clicked her tongue. “No wonder that box smelled so strongly of blood. So it was a fresh human face.”
Guo Lan said, “We found many corpses without facial skin in the cave, including that man’s. So the gift was sent by the Skeleton Monster!”
Huang Xinze rubbed his chin and said, “Two Eerie Entities… They wouldn’t happen to be dating, would they?”
Wei Sen suddenly thought of something. “Let me see the Diamond Ring we just got.”
Huang Xinze handed it over readily. Wei Sen opened the photo on her Watch and compared it carefully, only to discover something shocking.
No wonder the ring had looked familiar. It was the very one the female researcher was wearing on her ring finger in the photo.
“Check the group chat.” Wei Sen dropped the photo of the female researcher with the man whose face had been gouged out into the chat.
Zhong Lingkun was the first to spot the clue. “The ring belongs to this woman.”
Only then did the others notice that easily overlooked detail.
Xia Susu asked in confusion, “Who are these two?”
“I think I know who they are. Let me tell you what we learned from the village doctor. You should be able to guess too.”
As Xu You spoke, she shared with everyone the information she and Chen Lin had gotten after taking the Snow Lotus to the village doctor.
“Back when Ether Group came to the village and finished helping with its construction, three people stayed behind. That doesn’t match what the village chief told us about only one person staying. He deliberately hid the existence of the other two!
“Of the three people who stayed behind, one was Zhang Li, the project manager for Aurora Village. The other two were a married couple. The woman was Li Shuhan, and the man was Gao Lei. They were both doctors from Argonne National Laboratory, as well as scientific consultants for Ether Group.”
“Argonne National Laboratory?” Zhong Lingkun interrupted Xu You, his expression grave. “Are you sure that was the name?”
Xu You nodded. “I’m sure!”
Chen Lin also said, “That was the name. Why? Do you know it?”
“Nothing…” Zhong Lingkun said flatly, then fell silent again.
Argonne National Laboratory… Wei Sen froze.
She knew this laboratory…
But why would she know it?
Could this have something to do with her lost memories too?
Was that why the information had come to her so naturally?
“Argonne National Laboratory is located in the United States and has major influence in rare materials, advanced energy materials, nanomaterials, quantum materials, and other fields.” Wei Sen subconsciously recited what had surfaced in her mind.
At that, Zhong Lingkun lifted his eyes and looked at Wei Sen with a hint of surprise.
She even knew something like that?!
Wei Sen happened to look up at Zhong Lingkun at the same time, and their gazes met.
Wei Sen was also puzzled. Why had Zhong Lingkun specifically asked about the laboratory?
Did he know about it too?
But…
He had said he came from Civilization City.
If he really was from Civilization City and didn’t even know Dragon Nation, how could he know anything about the United States?
Their eyes met, each harboring their own suspicions.
Lin Xiaoxue rested her chin in her hand and said, “How strange. Weren’t they here to investigate why the Aurora appeared? What use would two doctors in materials science be?”
Xu You shook her head. “Who knows? Let me continue. Not long after those three stayed behind, something unbelievable happened!
“They say it was one evening. Someone saw Gao Lei push Li Shuhan off the cliff on the western side of the forest!
“That very night, Gao Lei disappeared from the village too. Some people guessed that he had jumped off the cliff as well. Others said he was afraid the murder of his wife would be exposed, so he fled the village overnight.
“And after that incident, strange things began happening in the village one after another…”