Chapter 87: The Count's Manor (Seeking first subscription, second update)

Wu Chang followed Hamster in a rush to the police station; when they arrived, they saw Jianxing in handcuffs, locked in the station's temporary holding cell.

Outside the holding cell sat that sophisticated camera.

Jianxing was very surprised to see Wu Chang arrive; he glanced at the guard and whispered to Hamster, "Why did you bring him here?"

Wu Chang shrugged and said, "To bail you out, of course."

Jianxing didn't react immediately, asking in confusion, "You?"

Wu Chang gave a light cough, unpinned the Town Councilor badge from his uniform chest, blew the dust off it, and then pinned it back on.

He winked at Jianxing and joked, "Remember to call me Councilor Xiao En in public."

"Huh?"

Jianxing’s profession was that of a reporter; his innate professional advantage made it easier for him to gather intelligence in town, and he certainly understood what a Town Councilor represented and was working toward that goal himself.

In the two days since entering the instance, he had inquired about how to become a Town Councilor through various channels, but only managed to get a rough idea.

First, one had to wait for the previous councilor to retire; second, one had to obtain a joint letter of recommendation from three incumbent councilors; and finally, one had to gain the support of more than half the townspeople.

The conditions were clear, but he was still in the exploration stage regarding how to actually act on them.

Who would have thought that while he hadn't even gotten a foot in the door, Wu Chang had already ascended to the position.

Wu Chang signaled for Hamster to stay with Jianxing, then pushed open the door to the Sheriff’s office, sat down on Mo Leina’s desk quite naturally, and asked, "What’s the situation outside?"

Only a few short hours had passed since they last met, but having eaten the Golden Flying Fish, Mo Leina had shed her haggard daytime appearance and returned to the capable, dashing female sheriff she was when they first met.

The unpleasant fishy smell on her had vanished, replaced by the scent of rose perfume mixed with woody notes.

To put it simply: mature.

The fully ripened kind.

Mo Leina stood up and closed the office door. She turned around, leaning her back against the door with her arms crossed over her chest, and said, "We are organizing men to capture the escaped Ma Di. While searching the mountainous area, we happened to see him sneaking near the Count’s Manor, preparing to take secret photos, so we arrested him."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, "Meaning, he hasn't done anything bad yet."

Mo Leina knew what Wu Chang meant and said, "This is Brifer Island. Count Jermaine is the lord of the island; approaching the lord’s manor without permission is a serious crime."

"He arrived on the island in the same batch as you. I guessed you might know each other, so I let you see him first."

Tsk, as expected of a sheriff, her intuition is sharp. However, this sentence sounded like Mo Leina was testing him.

Wu Chang pretended not to understand and said, "We did have some friendship before coming to the island; he helped me a great deal. The Count is gone now, and the Count’s Manor is already abandoned. I don't think we need to be too nervous."

Mo Leina looked at Wu Chang with deep meaning, leaned down close to his ear, and whispered:

"Some things, if they shouldn't be explored, are best stayed far away from. Whether it’s him or you, it will do neither of you any good."

"You mean to say that there is something in the Count’s Manor we shouldn't know about?"

"I mean..."

Just as Mo Leina was about to say something, the door to the Sheriff’s office was suddenly knocked upon.

A police officer shouted from outside, "Sheriff, someone discovered that the bronze statue of the Count at the pier is shattered!"

Mo Leina’s expression changed drastically, as if she had thought of something terrible. She immediately grabbed her coat to leave. Before opening the door, she said to Wu Chang:

"I have matters to attend to here; we will discuss the rest later. You can take the person outside, but remember my words: if he is caught again, he won't be this lucky."

"Many thanks."

When Mo Leina left, she took all the officers with her, including Hamster. The keys to the holding cell were left on the police station lobby floor for Wu Chang to release the prisoner himself.

Wu Chang opened the iron gate of the holding cell and tossed the keys to Jianxing, "We can go now."

Jianxing unlocked his handcuffs, looked in the direction Mo Leina and the others had left, and asked, "What happened?"

Wu Chang: "I’m not sure either. It seems there was an earthquake by the sea that collapsed a bronze statue." Jianxing stepped out of the holding cell, stared at Wu Chang’s councilor badge, and asked in confusion: "How did you become a Town Councilor?"

"Probably just good luck." Wu Chang smiled brightly and sunnily, emphasizing a straightforward, guileless nature.

"Because the previous postman committed suicide, the post office had a backlog of mail. I delivered all the accumulated mail, and the Mayor took the initiative to find me and insisted I become a Town Councilor."

Without a doubt, this was the truth.

Jianxing seemed to have the ability to distinguish lies; he believed Wu Chang quite easily. He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly revealed a look of relief.

How did that saying go? Human life isn't as good as dog luck.

"You really do have good luck."

Being able to land a Town Councilor position in Brifer—if nothing goes wrong, completing the first main quest and leaving the instance alive shouldn't be a problem.

Wu Chang followed up by asking, "Then how did you get caught by the police?"

With Jianxing’s strength, hiding his identity wouldn't be difficult. Even if he didn't want to clash with the police and lower his morality points, covering his face and running away would have been enough.

Speaking of being caught by the police, a look of lingering fear appeared on Jianxing’s face.

"The Count’s Manor is usually guarded, making it hard to observe closely. Today is the Day of Divine Grace, so I took advantage of the townspeople going to the carnival to try and sneak in for an investigation."

"But after getting close, I discovered the Count’s Manor was shrouded in an unknown force, making it impossible to enter from the outside. I tried many methods, even launching attacks at the main gate, but I couldn't break through that layer of power."

"Even you couldn't get in?!" Wu Chang’s face was full of disbelief, though he thought to himself, it’s right that you couldn't get in.

If it were that simple to enter, that group of veteran players from the Deep Water Society wouldn't have risked turning on the switch in the lighthouse, causing the inner world to fall into chaos, and the previous reporter wouldn't have died in the burning inner world of the town.

Jianxing continued: "When I circled to a certain area of the manor, that camera suddenly started taking pictures. That time, the photography was different from before; one photo directly increased my inspiration cap by 10 points."

"I only took one look at that photo before I felt a stabbing pain in my brain and fainted on the spot. When I woke up, I had already been brought back to the police station."

No wonder Jianxing was caught by the police. It seems that because his inspiration value skyrocketed, he saw something incredible in the photo, failed the willpower check, and fainted directly.

Interesting, let me see what’s going on.

Wu Chang asked, "Can I see that photo?"

Jianxing took the photo from his personal space and said, "The content in the photo seems to require a high enough inspiration value to see. If you feel dizzy or experience mental discomfort, don't force it."

The image in the photo was the side door of the Count’s Manor; although not as grand as the main gate, it was closer to the manor’s main house.

Jianxing pointed to the two statues in front of the side door and said, "Relax, try to release your willpower’s restraint on your inspiration. Don't just observe the details of the photo with your eyes; try to perceive the existence within the photo."

"Try to see if you can spot the two gargoyle statues? You might not believe me when I say it, but they really exist, and I suspect it is these two statues that are blocking the path into the Count’s Manor."

Wu Chang frowned. He did indeed see two gargoyle statues, but he could be certain that they were absolutely not what was blocking the way into the Count’s Manor.

Because the gargoyle statues were merely decorations; the real information lay in the stone pedestals the two gargoyles were standing on.

Those two pedestals were clearly two players compressed into cubes.

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

Stew the pig head meat until soft, debone and dismantle it, wrap it up, and press it with a heavy stone. After one or several nights, it would become a solid block of meat like a compressed biscuit.

The state of the two players was extremely similar to pressed pork.

Wu Chang couldn't spare the time to look at the resentment on the two players and tentatively asked, "Is there anything else in the photo?"

Jianxing shook his head, "No."

Wu Chang took a deep breath, suppressing the urge within his heart.

He really wanted to point at the main house occupying the absolute center of the photo and loudly ask Jianxing, "With such a massive Faceless Great Mother sprawled over the main house, can you really not see it?"

There will be at least two more updates today, but the next two will be later, in the afternoon or evening; I will post them whenever I finish writing them.

(End of chapter)