Chapter 48: Immigrant Life Code of Conduct

Whoosh!

A gust of wind blew by, carrying a plastic trash bag that tumbled along the desolate sidewalk; the friction against the ground produced a slightly grating "rustle"—it seemed to be the only sound on this vast street.

After rolling for several meters, suddenly,

the trash bag collided with a transparent floor-to-ceiling window by the street.

Inside the window, several figures were revealed.

Ding Mo, Yan Yu, and the others were staring at the photographs and papers in their hands, their brows furrowed tightly.

The person in the photograph was the target of their current Task—it was a cute little girl!

She was holding a doll that looked like it was carved from pink jade, wearing a chrysanthemum-yellow outfit, looking just like a little one who had run out of kindergarten.

But the problem was, how could the Processing Bureau make such a big fuss over a little girl?

And for this city that seemed to have appeared out of thin air, how did the Processing Bureau confirm she was hiding inside?

Questions emerged one after another in Ding Mo's mind, and the others felt the same.

Furthermore, there was that paper.

The paper itself was nothing, but the content on it was hair-raising!

Inside the milk tea shop, milk tea was still sitting on some tables, as if people had evaporated into thin air before they could finish drinking.

Ding Mo and the others could not help but carefully read the content on this paper again:

"■■ City New Immigrant Code of Conduct"

——Welcome to your "new home"!

Basic Rules:

-) This city was built in 199█, covering an area of ■■ square kilometers; you do not need to ask for its specific location.

-) All streets marked on maps and road signs truly exist, but "Seaside Avenue" does not exist. If you see this road sign, please ignore it and do not go there.

-) If you see this road sign repeatedly, please swallow a "Salt Grain" and head to the Clock Tower in the center of the city.

-) The plaza Clock Tower is the only reliable source of time.

-) The permanent population of this city is █; if you encounter an "old resident" who tries to strike up a conversation, you may nod and smile before leaving. Please do not accept food or water from "old residents."

-) This city has severe light Pollution, and there are no stars at night. If you see a starry sky, please immediately swallow a "Salt Grain" and dial 119, then wait where you are; do not walk around!

-) If you need to stay in this city, please choose any Residential Complex to move into; the security guard assigned to it carries all keys to residences that have not yet been moved into.

-) Do not go out after 0:00 midnight. This city has no Night Market, no people walking the streets at night, and likewise, no one who stays out all night.

-) Others: Please consciously observe public life order; do not destroy or violate it. Otherwise, bear the consequences yourself!

Residential Complex Rules:

-) Upon moving in, if you discover that there is not a single window in the residence, please immediately evacuate through the fire exit to a 24-hour convenience store. Report this to the Residential Complex security guard the next morning.

-) However, if during your stay you discover that a hole leading to an unknown space, or a door or staircase that does not conform to architectural standards, has appeared in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom, please seal it as quickly as possible. Do not pay attention to any movements coming from inside.

-) Note: If you find a key in the Residential Complex, please hand it over to the security office immediately. Emphasis: The key is a brass object approximately 5.8 centimeters long, with a round, holed handle, four sets of asymmetrical grooves, and a serial number engraved at the base of the neck.

If the shape of the key you see does not match the above, please immediately recite at least the first 20 digits of Pi (3.14159 26535 89793 23846...), until the key pattern you perceive is the same as the description above.

-) If you cannot recognize characters such as 1, 2, or 3, please immediately swallow a "Salt Grain" and head to the Clock Tower.

Special Reminder:

-) If you are on the street and suddenly encounter your "little sister" who has been missing for many years, please call City Hall as soon as possible, and we will send someone to help you celebrate as soon as possible! The City Hall phone number is...

"..."

Another bizarre set of rules; for Ding Mo, this was already the third time he had encountered this kind of thing.

This city definitely had a problem!

It wasn't just him; everyone looked grave after reading it.

In the "Typewriter" Task, this type of situation was not rare, but every time it appeared, it meant absolute danger!

And this danger could not be avoided simply by strictly following the "rules," or to put it another way, the "rules" were merely a warning, a hint to avoid danger.

"Hey..." At this moment, the male of the couple nearby, Tang Chen, suddenly pointed to an empty corner of the milk tea shop and said:

"I seem to remember that when we came in, there was no milk tea placed there, right?"

As he spoke, his tone was trembling!

Everyone looked over, and all their expressions froze.

Because, on a table in that position, there was actually a cup of milk tea that was still "sweating"!

The cold, large-sized cup wall collided with the hot air, and beads of condensation were constantly forming and sliding down.

It was clearly freshly made!

But... Ding Mo stood up and scanned the milk tea shop.

Although all the conditions for making milk tea were here, there was absolutely no one!

Looking at the lonely milk tea on that table, Zhang Yunfan could not help but stand up:

"We had better leave quickly; I don't think we can stay in this place."

"That is true," Gu Zixu lifted her face from under her hat brim and affirmed.

The group left at high speed and returned to the street.

However, unlike before, the weather had become somewhat gloomy at some point.

On the darkening road, the group continued to walk forward along the street—the black cloth bag opened earlier had actually provided a rough map of this city.

Ding Mo could only say that the Processing Bureau had finally done something human.

More than 2 hours later.

"Huff, huff, huff!" Everyone was panting, their footsteps becoming somewhat heavy. Ahead of them was still endless steel and cement, as if they would never reach the end.

On the contrary, Ding Mo had a hint of excitement in his eyes!

Because on the road just now, he had already conducted a detailed test of the "Curtain" ability without anyone noticing.

As follows:

1. The limit of a single Time Stop is actually 3 minutes, and the range of movement during this period cannot exceed the transparent barrier around his body (an area of about 1 square meter).

2. Within the range of movement, he can do anything, including throwing things. But anything thrown will be time-stopped once it leaves the transparent barrier.

3. Lowering the "Curtain" is not unlimited. Within one hour, Ding Mo can only lower the "Curtain" for a cumulative duration of at most 9 minutes.

That is to say, no matter how many times Ding Mo lowers the "Curtain," as long as the time spent using the "Curtain"—that is, the Time Stop—exceeds 9 minutes within 1 hour, the ability will become completely ineffective.

Although there are many limitations, being able to stop time at a critical moment can save a life if used well!

It can be said that he has gained an additional powerful trump card!

For example, regarding the puzzle-solving of the Black Suitcase last time, if he had been able to use Time Stop for 9 minutes back then, he wouldn't have had to worry about the puzzle-solving failing at all.