Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

Chapter 86: Chapter 86: Count’s Manor

Wu Chang hurriedly followed the hamster to the police station, where they saw Sword Star in handcuffs, locked in the temporary holding cell.

Outside the holding cell, a mature camera was placed.

Sword Star was surprised to see Wu Chang arrive. He glanced at the guard and whispered to the hamster, ”Why did you bring him?”

Wu Chang shrugged and said, ”Of course, I’m here to bail you out.”

Sword Star was puzzled, ”You?”

Wu Chang coughed lightly, took off his Town Councilor Badge from the chest of his uniform, blew off the dust, and then hung it back on.

He winked at Sword Star and joked, ”Remember to call me Councilor Sean in public.”

”Huh?”

Sword Star’s profession was a reporter, which gave him an innate advantage in gathering information about the town. He clearly understood what a Town Councilor represented and was striving for it.

During the two days in the game instance, he inquired through various channels about how to become a Town Councilor but only got a rough idea.

First, one must wait for the previous councilor to retire. Next, get joint recommendation letters from three current councilors. Finally, gain the support of over half the town’s residents.

Though he got the conditions, Sword Star was still exploring what actions to take.

Who would have thought, while he was still finding his footing, Wu Chang had already risen to power.

Wu Chang gestured for the hamster to stay by Sword Star’s side. He pushed open the police chief’s office door, sat naturally on Morena’s desk, and asked:

”What’s the situation outside?”

Only a few hours had passed since the last time the two met, but Morena, who had eaten the Golden Flying Fish, transformed from her tired daytime self back into the capable, dashing police chief she was at their first meeting.

The unpleasant fishy smell disappeared, replaced by a rose perfume mixed with a woody scent.

Simply put, it was maturity.

Ripe to the core.

Morena got up to close the office door, turned around, leaned against it with her back, and crossed her arms over her chest, saying:

”We’re organizing manpower to capture the runaway Matty. While searching in the mountainous area, we happened to see him sneaking towards Count’s Manor, preparing to take secret photos, so we caught him.”

Wu Chang raised his eyebrows, ”So he hasn’t done anything bad yet.”

Morena understood Wu Chang’s implication and said, ”This is Briff Island. Jermaine is the Count, the lord of this island. Approaching the Lord’s manor unauthorized is a severe crime.”

”He came to the island with you; I guess you might know him, so I let you take a look first.”

Damn, she’s worthy of being a police chief, feeling sharp. But her words sounded like Morena was hinting at something.

Wu Chang pretended not to understand, saying, ”We did have some acquaintance before coming to the island; he helped me a lot. The Count is gone, and Count’s Manor has been abandoned; I think we don’t need to be overly nervous.”

Morena gave Wu Chang a meaningful look, leaned down to whisper in his ear:

”Some things are better left unexplored. It’s not good for either him or you.”

”You mean there’s something in Count’s Manor we shouldn’t know about?”

”What I mean is...”

As Morena was about to say something, the office door suddenly knocked.

A police officer shouted from outside, ”Chief, someone noticed that the Count’s statue at the dock is shattered!”

Morena’s expression changed urgently, seemingly having recalled something bad. She immediately grabbed her coat and prepared to leave. Before opening the door, she told Wu Chang:

”I have to go; we’ll talk about the rest later. You can take the person outside, but remember my words: if he’s caught again, he won’t be so lucky.”

”Thanks.”

When Morena left, she took all the officers, including the hamster, leaving the keys to the jail cell tossed in the police station lobby for Wu Chang to release Sword Star himself.

Wu Chang opened the iron gate of the detention room and then threw the keys to Sword Star, ”We can go.”

Sword Star unlocked his handcuffs and looked in the direction Morena and the others left, asking, ”What happened?”

Wu Chang: ”I’m not sure. It seems like there was an earthquake by the sea that caused a statue to collapse.”

Sword Star exited the holding cell. He stared at Wu Chang’s councilor badge, puzzled, ”How did you become a Town Councilor?”

”Probably just luck.” Wu Chang laughed brightly and cheerfully, emphasizing innocence and straightforwardness.

”Because the previous postman committed suicide, the post office was left with many accumulated mails. I delivered all the mails, and the mayor approached me, insisting I become a Town Councilor.”

No doubt, it’s the truth.

Sword Star seemed to have the ability to discern lies, easily believing Wu Chang. He paused for a moment, then suddenly revealed a relieved smile.

As they say, ’Life’s fortune pales to a dog’s luck.’

”You sure are lucky.”

If Wu Chang could mingle as a Town Councilor in Briff Island, then without accident, completing the first main mission and leaving the instance alive wouldn’t be a problem.

Wu Chang naturally asked, ”How did you get caught by the police?”

With Sword Star’s power, hiding his identity shouldn’t be difficult, even if he doesn’t want conflict with the police, which could lower his Good and Evil Value. He could always cover his face and escape in time.

Speaking of being caught, Sword Star’s face showed a fearful expression.

”Count’s Manor is usually guarded, making careful observation difficult. Today is Divine Grace Day; I took advantage of the townsfolk participating in the festivities and tried to sneak in to investigate.”

”But upon approaching, I discovered Count’s Manor was shrouded by an unknown force, inaccessible from the outside world. I tried many ways, even attacked the main gate, but couldn’t break through that force barrier.”

”Even you couldn’t enter?!” Wu Chang’s face showed disbelief, but inwardly he thought it was correct, entrance shouldn’t be easy.

If entry were so simple, the veteran players from Deep Water Society wouldn’t risk switching on the lighthouse, causing chaos in the Inner World, nor would the former reporter have died in the burning town within the Inner World.

Sword Star continued, ”When I circled to a certain region of the manor, the camera suddenly started taking photos. This photo was different from before; it directly increased my Inspiration Value limit by 10 points.”

”I just glanced at the photo and felt a sharp pain in my head, fainting on the spot. When I awoke, I had been taken to the police station.”

No wonder Sword Star was caught; it seems his Inspiration Value surged from seeing something incredible in the photo, failing the will test, and fainting directly.

Interesting, let me see what’s going on.

Wu Chang asked, ”Can I look at the photo?”

Sword Star took the photo from his personal space and said, ”The content in the photo seems only visible with high enough Inspiration Value. If you feel dizzy or mentally uncomfortable, don’t push yourself.”

The image in the photo was the side door of Count’s Manor. Although less grand than the main entrance, it was closer to the manor’s main house.

Sword Star pointed at the two statues in front of the side door, saying, ”Relax and try to release the constraint of Will on Inspiration. Don’t merely use your eyes to observe the details of the photo; sense the presence within the photo.”

”Try to see if you can spot the two Stone Ghost statues. Although it might sound unbelievable when I say it, they indeed exist, and I suspect it’s these two statues blocking the path into Count’s Manor.”

Wu Chang frowned. He did see the two Stone Ghost statues, but he was sure they weren’t what blocked entry into Count’s Manor.

Because the Stone Ghost statues were mere decorations, the real information was located at the stone base beneath the two Stone Ghosts.

Those bases were clearly two players compressed into cubes.

This scene reminded Wu Chang of a dish, pressed pork.

Cook pig’s head until tender, peel and separate the meat, wrap it, then compress with a giant stone. After a night or several nights, it becomes a dense meat loaf like a compressed biscuit.

The two players’ state was very similar to pressed pork.

Wu Chang couldn’t bother looking at the lament on the players, tentatively asking, ”Is there anything else in the photo?”

Sword Star shook his head, ”That’s all.”

Wu Chang took a deep breath, held back the impulse within.

He wanted to point at the absolutely central mansion in the photo and loudly ask Sword Star, Can you really not see the huge faceless Great Saint Mother sprawling on the unnecessary mansion?