Chapter 673: The Person You're Describing Sounds Like My Father

Ad Ric?

Ordinary? He was far from ordinary. Other people went to the shanties to indulge their desires. He went to the shanties to actually steal money.

How could a miner living below the poverty line get someone a ticket to the surface?

With stolen money?

Cheng Shi was speechless. He felt like every single person in Falling Gate existed to sandpaper his IQ. At least Ad Ric was already in the players' custody — one face-to-face meeting and they'd know exactly what story this newcomer was selling.

So Cheng Shi shook his head with a wry smile, hauled Ger Si to his feet, and walked toward the room where Ad Ric was being held.

"Let's go. Before we deal with A Rad, let's find out what other little secrets this stowaway friend has up his sleeve."

Li Wufang, naturally, was indifferent. He gave an amused snort and dutifully fell in behind Cheng Shi — again refusing to walk beside him. Watching this pattern repeat, Cheng Shi increasingly felt the Investigator was deliberately giving way — almost as if he were trying to follow Cheng Shi's lead. Where was this deference coming from?

Cheng Shi furrowed his brow, said nothing, but raised his internal guard another notch.

Ad Ric clearly didn't recognize this stowaway!

But if he didn't know Ger Si, how had Ger Si fooled the Master of Deception?

Cheng Shi's vigilance spiked. He let a scalpel slide into his grip and leveled a grim stare at Ger Si: "You'd better give me an explanation."

Ger Si had been dragged the whole way and was gritting his teeth against the friction burns. When he heard Cheng Shi address him, he quickly raised his head and looked around. But the instant he spotted Ad Ric, he froze too — eyes wide with frightened confusion:

"Explain what? I don't know this person..."

"Don't know him? What a coincidence. This is Ad Ric. Didn't you just say Ad Ric helped you? Why don't you know him now?"

"He's Ad Ric?" Ger Si rubbed his eyes in disbelief, then studied the man by lamplight once more before denying it with alarm: "He does look... somewhat similar. But I'm not confused. I know Ad Ric — and this is absolutely not him!"

The stowaway shook his head vigorously. But mid-shake, something clicked. His eyes widened with sudden realization:

"I get it — he's a fake! He stole Ad Ric's identity!

He must be just like me — another stowaway — using a Proxy Hand identity to get out of here!

He's definitely a fake! Where's Ad Ric? What did you do with Ad Ric?!

You bastard — you didn't kill him, did you? He was my last hope! You destroyed my last hope! You bastard — give me back my Gasmira citizenship!"

The utterly overwrought Ger Si lunged at Ad Ric with his fists.

Ad Ric was genuinely dumbfounded. He had absolutely no idea who this lunatic was. But he was a miner, after all — even shackled in chains, his raw strength was far beyond what a scrawny stowaway could match. He straightened one leg and — WHAM — kicked Ger Si square in the chest, sending the furious, despairing man flying toward the doorway.

Had Li Wufang not caught him from behind, Ger Si might well have been kicked straight out the door.

Watching this absurd spectacle, Cheng Shi — for the very first time — didn't laugh.

He genuinely couldn't. Because the Master of Deception told him neither side was lying!

Which meant either this stowaway possessed an ability that could defeat the Master of Deception, or... a new "discrepancy" had surfaced, and the stowaway's cognition had most likely experienced a temporal displacement.

Ad Ric's identity was beyond question. Not only had Cheng Shi investigated him — so had Qin Xin with the Master of Deception Card, and the meticulous Truth follower Wang Mou. A regular NPC, no matter how well-hidden his secrets, couldn't possibly fool three peak players simultaneously.

So the issue almost certainly lay with this stowaway who'd shown up at the mine. And judging by his state — panicked, yes, but mentally lucid, with coherent speech and logical behavior — he clearly knew exactly what he wanted and what he'd lost. He seemed perfectly normal.

Which meant the only abnormality had to be in his cognition.

"Now this is interesting. Today's trial is straight-up bizarre — why does good fortune keep throwing itself at our feet?" Cheng Shi muttered. Then he looked at the groaning Ger Si by the door and asked once more: "Enough with the wailing. You're certain the Ad Ric you know isn't this man?"

"I'm certain! He definitely stole Ad Ric's identity!" Ger Si's eyes were bloodshot, his expression suggesting he wished he could swallow this hope-extinguishing imposter alive.

"Then what does the Ad Ric you know look like? What are his distinguishing features? Be specific — maybe I can still help you find him."

Hearing this, Ad Ric panicked.

"Sir! I'm the real one! I didn't steal anyone's identity!

I grew up right here in the mining district! I'm not a stowaway! All the old-timers in the Proxy Hand know me! The women in the Shanty Area know me too! I can prove it, I—"

CLANG—

A gleaming scalpel planted itself between Ad Ric's legs. The miner clenched every muscle from the waist down and immediately fell silent. But the sudden terror once again stimulated his bladder, and he... wet himself again.

"Nobody asked you. Keep your mouth shut. I'm talking to him.

Ger Si — last chance. I hope you use it wisely."

"I'll talk, I'll tell you everything!

Ad Ric is very burly — a bit burlier than this guy, but about the same height. He has a mole on his jaw. He's also missing half an ear — a shanty woman bit it off. And on his left arm, he has a blood tattoo of the first woman he ever slept with. He also—"

"???"

Before Ger Si could finish, Ad Ric snapped out of his terror and lapsed into total stupor. He instinctively scooted backward, then stared at Ger Si with utter disbelief and confusion:

"Wait... the person you're describing... sounds like my father."

"?"

Both players were shocked. Cheng Shi blinked: "Your father was also called Ad Ric?"

"Yes, sir. When I was little, everyone called me Little Ad Ric. My father was the real Ad Ric. After he died, I inherited his name and became the true Ad Ric."

"..."

'A lowly miner's name — what's there to inherit?'