Chapter 1945: Ghost Skull Mystery 6

Seeing it was his turn, Lin An calmly glanced over Qing Kai, noticing the eye emblem on the opponent's chest.

He had seen this emblem on the Creator Squad before; if nothing unexpected, the person was a member of the Creator Alliance, the armor fused with his body, highly recognizable.

Moreover, Lin An noticed that when Qing Kai stepped forward to let everyone introduce themselves, he himself said nothing, yet everyone seemed to tacitly know who he was.

(It seems the Creator Alliance is indeed the overlord of this region...)

War Star Level.

Just call me 77.

After a slight pause, Lin An simply reported the number of the big eyeball as his name.

It wasn't that he feared anything; rather, if he spoke the truth, he would inevitably attract some attention. Although they wouldn't act against him, to be safe, Lin An decided it was better to do less than more.

Especially...

He really couldn't be bothered to explain why, as a Fourth Stage, he had come here.

In such a Special Event, any abnormality would be infinitely magnified. It's possible they'd take Lin An for a Ghost Skull.

"77? You won't even say what civilization you're from behind you?"

"Forget it; since you're War Star Level, just follow my arrangements and don't act on your own! If something happens, I won't take responsibility for you!"

As expected, Qing Kai frowned, somewhat displeased, and glanced at Lin An. But given the urgency, he merely assumed Lin An was the weakest, and the forces behind him were insignificant.

Not wasting time on Lin An, Qing Kai quickly scanned the surroundings and immediately issued orders:

"Since that's the case, let's not waste time. Taking advantage of the protected period, I and the Divine Archer will search upstairs, Golden Bull you and Hai Yao go downstairs!"

"Ten seconds before the countdown ends, we'll regroup and return here! If any abnormality is found, be sure to inform others; don't venture alone!"

"As for 77 and the troll, you two just need to search this floor. Our room is the focus."

With the division of labor clear, Qing Kai finished speaking, without hesitation, gestured for the Divine Archer to follow him.

Seeing this, Golden Bull and Hai Yao readily agreed, and as they passed Lin An, they gave a friendly smile:

"This place is left to you; we'll go to the dangerous spots."

A few seconds later, seeing the two teams disappear around the stairwell corner, the troll leaning against the wall finally let out a cold snort:

"What's with the fake kindness? You old fools, treating me like a Fourth Stage idiot?"

While speaking, the troll let out a quiet sigh, then turned his gaze to Lin An:

"Alright, kid. It looks like we've both been abandoned by that jerk. This bunch of Creator Alliance folks are really sinister. Don't think that bull is easy to talk to; his mother's got a belly full of bad water."

"The room is the focus? It's just a shabby room you can see at a glance! They're just bullying us!"

Feeling resentful, the troll finished speaking, shook his head, and slowly walked toward the window while leaning on the wall.

In his view, the information outside the window outweighs that of this floor.

Although this mission has no competition, whoever obtains the most 'cognition' first has the best chance of survival. In theory, everyone sharing would be optimal, but who to share with...

That too is a choice.

Accustomed to intrigue, the troll naturally saw through Qing Kai's plan.

Without saying more, Lin An glanced at the lame troll, then simply ran toward the window on the right; he could understand the troll's implication.

In this mission, there will inevitably be danger later requiring someone to scout ahead. Qing Kai intentionally prevents them from getting the first batch of clues, planning to abandon them at any moment.

After all, if he and the troll also found information, as long as they didn't speak, Qing Kai and the others wouldn't dare easily sell them out.

"It seems the difficulty of this mission isn't just about how much cognition we gather; we may also need to beware... of someone spreading false information..."

"Thinking about it this way..."

Running to the window, Lin An strained to push open the rusted window; accompanied by a harsh metallic screech, a cityscape like a graveyard instantly came into view.

Looking up and down, his position was the middle of the apartment building, a total of seven floors.

Outside the window was a lightless city; the hazy sky made distant scenery indistinct.

No electricity, no people. After Lin An quickly scanned the entire cityscape, he further noticed that the abandoned cars on the streets were almost all intact. The whole city seemed to have died suddenly sometime ago, everything still preserved as it was at the moment of death.

"Aside from being able to tell it's a modern setting, there's no useful information at all..."

"Ghost Skull... no one... no disaster... everyone vanished instantly... cognition..."

"What will the danger be? Where will it appear?"

Frowning tightly, Lin An tried to memorize as much of the visible city terrain as possible. If nothing unexpected, before they confirm they can complete the mission, they will stay in this city.

But for some reason, he always felt the city before him was somewhat familiar, yet he was certain he had never seen it.

According to the map marker, the escape exit lies not far behind them in the thick fog.

The proximity is so close that Lin An even feels that jumping down would let him walk out.

"The entry point is this close to the exit... is it random, or did the system intentionally arrange it? Perhaps danger will soon appear, forcing us to flee in the opposite direction."

"We can't be sure; either logic is possible."

Without superior thinking, Lin An could only piece together clues bit by bit, trying to find some useful information.

Although the information was pitifully scarce, he still came up with some guesses, especially regarding the squad division.

"With up to a hundred people entering, I was assigned to the Star-Destroying Level team. This means the teams are split up. Given the city's vast size, it's hard for us to contact the others."

"According to normal logic, we need to find each other and share the information we've gathered. The faster we rendezvous, the sooner we can theoretically escape."

"It's like a jigsaw puzzle, piecing together the secret of the Ghost Skull."

"But the problem is..."

"If someone obtained crucial cognition but died on the way, does that mean waiting here for others to find us is infeasible? Wanting to rely on the exit would just lead into a trap."

"It's possible...!"

Lin An's eyes flickered, but thinking about how his earlier interrupted thoughts were interconnected, he always felt something uncanny that couldn't be put into words.

"If one gets out alive, everyone can live."

"But... they're all dead... they all died..."

Time flew by.

Twenty seconds before the system countdown ends.

「Dong! 」

As a heavy object hit the floor with a sound, the next second a low, suppressed, somewhat excited voice echoed from the stairway, interrupting Lin An's thoughts.

「77! Hey! Kid! 」

「I found it! I found a message! Come quickly! 」

Lin An turned his head sharply at the sound, only to see at the far edge of the room's doorway, a troll lying on the ground with a face full of shock, forcibly suppressing his voice as he called for Lin An to come over.

Only saw his clumsy right hand desperately pointing upward, as if there was something on the ceiling.