’Maybe that monster wasn’t the main culprit. It might have just been a tool, a... summoned creature?’

Zhou Chen’s thoughts were racing. When he collected himself, he made a wish in his mind: ’I wish to find Allen.’

The wish didn’t take effect.

He fell silent for a moment, then wished again: "I wish to know if Allen is alive or dead."

Thirty star-like motes transformed into a large, scarlet character for "Dead," appearing in his mind.

’Allen’s dead... And I can’t use a wish to find him. Don’t tell me his body is completely gone?’ Zhou Chen pondered for a moment before making another wish: "I wish to find the monster."

There was no response.

"I wish to find the main culprit behind Akita Town’s destruction."

Still nothing.

Zhou Chen looked at the [Insufficient Wish Value] notification that popped up on his Prayer System Panel and sighed in resignation. This godforsaken place was being interfered with by the Restricted Area’s power, multiplying the cost of his wishes several times over. Even though he had just harvested a huge wave of Wish Value from his audience, he couldn’t afford to wish for the solution to the mystery. He would have to find the answers step by step.

By now, it was getting late. He hurried out of the forest to regroup with his teammates.

On the outskirts of Akita Town, in an abandoned warehouse.

Zhou Chen knocked on the large warehouse door with a secret code—two long knocks and one short. A few seconds later, the door opened. His teammates were already sitting inside. He was the last one to arrive.

"The Old Era is pretty fun." Renie raised her eyebrows at Zhou Chen, a smile of excitement on her face. "I took a look around an internet cafe and a physical game store and found a ton of games I’ve never played. The graphics are a bit old and you can’t use a neural interface, but they seem really interesting."

"..." Zhou Chen was stunned for a second. "You can play online games in this godforsaken place?" he asked, baffled.

"Of course not. They’re all single-player," Renie said, rolling her eyes at him. "This is a Restricted Area, completely cut off from the world. How could you play online games? But do you know what the most interesting part is?"

Zhou Chen played along. "What is it?"

"The people in the internet cafe playing online games... as soon as I interrupt them, their computer screens go black. When they turn them back on, they can’t find a match no matter how long they wait."

"Oh? And why is that?"

Renie smiled. "This place is an instance. In gaming terms, the town is a pre-set map and the townspeople are pre-set NPCs. When no one disturbs them, the town replicates everything that once happened here. For example, people playing online games. Since that’s something that already happened, it can be perfectly re-enacted."

"But our arrival is an anomaly. Once we cause the townspeople to deviate from their predetermined paths, the ’replication’ becomes chaotic, especially when it comes to connections with the outside world, like the internet."

"They’ll find that they can’t get into online matches, that forums and other sites won’t load any new posts or videos. They might even discover they can’t travel too far out of town, or that the world outside has turned into a barren, Arctic wasteland."

At this, Renie’s expression grew serious. "So, our time is limited, and we absolutely cannot cause too much of a disturbance. Once the townspeople discover the ’truth,’ God knows what they’ll do."

"Not long ago, there was an Old Era hospital instance where the first-clear team messed up. They caused everyone in the hospital to realize they were already dead. They instantly turned into vengeful spirits and went on a rampage. That first-clear team suffered devastating losses. It took over a month before another team managed to clear the instance."

Han Danqing nodded, saying lazily, "That’s how it is."

Yao Hu, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, let out a cold sneer. "A bunch of idiots."

He had clearly heard about that incident.

"Alright then—" Renie clapped her hands. "What clues has everyone found? Let’s share what we’ve got."

"I got a map of Akita Town. This place is huge."

Chengzi pulled a folded map from her pocket, spread it out on the old wooden table, and started pointing. "Amusement park, shopping mall, park, church, theater, broadcasting company... there are even three universities. The total population of Akita Town is about seventy thousand."

Yano sucked in a sharp breath. "An instance with seventy thousand people..."

This was a heavyweight instance.

And if what Renie described were to happen, they wouldn’t be able to cut down seventy thousand vengeful spirits even if their hands went numb from the effort.

"I’m not good at investigating, so I just wandered the streets," said "Black Crocodile" Yan Wu.

He was a big, burly man, and the side effects from Forbidden Object C-018, Harrison’s Forging Hammer, made him irritable and boorish. He was known for his explosive temper and would often get into fights after exchanging just a few words. Sending him to investigate would be like throwing a bomb into a crowd.

Some of the people present were aware of his temper and had privately filled in those who weren’t. So, no one had any objections. In fact, they hoped Yan Wu would avoid talking to the townspeople altogether, lest he cause a riot.

"I checked out the church in Akita Town," Yano said, recounting his experience. "The Priest there was giving a sermon. He claimed the recent disappearances in Akita Town are the work of a Demon, and that an evil power is secretly preying on the town."

Zhou Chen’s eyes lit up. ’Could that Priest be onto something? Has he obtained some Extraordinary Power and sensed the dark undercurrents in Akita Town?’

’If so, they could consider cooperating with the Priest.’

But Yano’s next words left him speechless.

"—He claimed that only by purchasing his blessed Holy Water and Crosses could people resist the Dark Power’s influence. One tiny bottle of Holy Water and a palm-sized aluminum Cross cost one thousand US Dollars."

Yano clicked his tongue and shook his head. "And a fair number of people were buying it. Some even started fighting right then and there."

"After the sermon ended, I snuck inside the church looking for clues. But then I saw the Priest take two women into a room to receive a so-called ’baptism,’ to ’infuse them with mysterious Spirituality’ and ’enlighten them’... well, you get the picture."

Zhou Chen was at a loss for words. ’Unbelievable. Just a common criminal and a con man.’

"I only found some basic information, which Chengzi has already covered," Han Danqing said, lounging lazily in his chair.

Zhou Chen glanced at him, seriously suspecting he hadn’t done any work at all and had just found a place to slack off.

"I only know that there have been a series of disappearances in Akita Town recently," Yao Hu said flatly, adding nothing more.

"I found some clues about the disappearances." Zhou Chen took a newspaper from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pointed to an article. "There’s been a large number of missing persons in Akita Town over the past month. I happened to run into some kids..."

He told them everything he had experienced, hoping the group could brainstorm some ideas. As for the part about wishing to find the footprints, he simply stated it was a confidential technique. This didn’t raise any eyebrows; every Ascender had their own secret methods, and no one would press the issue.

"To find so many clues in such a short time..." After hearing his story, Renie couldn’t help but be impressed. After all, they were all shut-ins who spent their days cooped up in their workshops, not some famous detectives or Investigators.

"Speaking of which, the organizers must have explored Akita Town before, right? Not giving us a single clue is such a rip-off, don’t you think?" Renie looked around pointedly, hoping to get a hint from the organizers, but they didn’t respond.

After a moment of thought, Yano said, "I have a feeling those kids might be an important clue. We should pay more attention to them... For our next step, we should probably make contact with the police. It would make our investigation much more convenient."

"The police department? I have an in."

Liu Ling, who hadn’t spoken until now, suddenly chuckled. "I met a very attractive lady who works at the police station. Her husband went missing last month, and it was later discovered he’d been secretly fooling around with her best friend. The poor woman is currently sad, anxious, and at a loss. I comforted her a bit, we really hit it off, and she invited me over to her place tonight."

The others stared at him, stunned.

Zhou Chen’s mouth fell open, his face a mask of astonishment. "Her husband disappeared last month... you mean she’s a widow?"