LWGP - Chapter 146
Chapter 146: The Crematorium
Having gotten her answer, Wang Jiu contacted Qi Shuanghan again to ask about Bian Moshu.
Bian Moshu wasn't a Luoyang native; he didn't have the local accent.
Likewise, neither did Jason, nor this Diao Guang.
Yet the three of them shared the same accent.
She was very perceptive. The accent was a minor issue; the real problem was that the small, inconspicuous territory was completely full.
It reminded her of the behind-the-scenes power that supported Bian Moshu's development in Luoyang and could deploy a ruthless person like Jason for long-range support.
"Bian Moshu is a constructive talent, Jason is an assassination-type, but they can also cultivate people like Diao Guang, letting them attract elites and develop independently, then trade the Reputation they earn for resources. That's how Diao Guang was able to assemble a full gold set so quickly, but at the cost of his Reputation."
It wasn't really a loss. By handing over his Reputation, he strengthened his backer, but he gained personal power in return. It wasn't a case of misplaced priorities.
However, the person behind the scenes must possess an item or ability that allowed them to easily plunder Reputation.
"If they're using this method, then the mastermind's speed of accumulating Reputation must far exceed that of people who just run dungeons. But they don't want to attract attention, so they must have split into many small territories in the early stages, all hoarding Reputation."
Wang Jiu scanned the territory system but couldn't tell which major territory was their main base, though she had a few suspects.
She ended her investigation because the loot distribution over there was finished. Yan Guanqi had randomly distributed the remaining basic resources, and everyone received materials based on their remaining Participation, confirming their personal and total ratings.
The total rating was 10 stars.
Many were ecstatic, their gazes turning to Wang Jiu, wondering what her personal rating was.
Wang Jiu had a personal rating of 11 stars. She didn't use the Lucky Wheel, instead entering a medium recovery array that Lin Guiwan had opened. As expected of a medium array, the recovery speed was extremely fast.
While recovering, Wang Jiu pulled Xie Lu and Qiao Xuejing into a small group chat and asked two things.
She asked Xie Lu, "Does constructing something like a research institute count as using government land? Does it require going through the police department's internal information management?"
Xie Lu replied, "It doesn't, unless the government system has collapsed and the police have taken over local administrative management. Did you see this information inside the police station? That would be normal. I saw the government building in the town; it's already in ruins."
Wang Jiu: "Probably."
Qiao Xuejing: "If the police took over local administrative and construction management, then it's not surprising that you found records of the institute's construction projects from the past ten years inside the police station. However, you said the number of building materials procured doesn't match the size of this underground research institute; the quantity of materials is far greater than what was used. Are you suspecting that these projects led by the institute had another construction purpose?"
Xie Lu: "Another?"
Qiao Xuejing: "The architectural space doesn't add up. I had my puppet spread out to investigate, but the system prompted that it had exceeded the range of the dangerous dungeon. After the explosion, I sent the puppet down to explore again and found that one of the walls on the left side was completely untouched by the blast wave."
The two fell silent for a moment, but Wang Jiu was thinking: those project files were concentrated only within the last three years, and the police certainly didn't take over this town ten years ago. This meant that the government building should also have similar project files.
In that case, how many construction projects were recorded there?
What exactly did the institute use them for?
Wang Jiu dispatched another puppet.
Half an hour later, everyone had absorbed their resources. Some were terrified by the difficulty of the dangerous-grade dungeon and ultimately decided to forgo the nightmare and leave directly. Others decided to continue the adventure.
At that moment, Wang Jiu's puppet had just returned to the town. She paid it no mind, stood up, patted her pants, and left the temporary team with Qiao Xuejing and the others, directly following the tire tracks on the ground.
These tracks were left by the people from the institute when they drove away.
They returned to the fork in the road where their car was, got in, and followed the ruts, soon reaching the main road.
At dusk, inside the car, Wang Jiu, sitting in the passenger seat, heard Bai Bai on her lap say, "Grandma, I got the pet egg."
"Mm."
"I ate it."
"?"
Just as Wang Jiu was stunned, the others in the car were also shocked. They had all made gains, and after absorbing the resources, the group's overall power had increased significantly. Xie Lu's base attributes had jumped to 3200, and the others had also surged, especially Wang Shu and Liao Luo.
During the competition for the silver growth accessories, Luo Sheng and the others who already had some didn't participate. The rest used dice rolls in their social circle's team channel to determine ownership. To get that set of silver accessories, Liao Luo went so far as to hug Wang Shu.
He succeeded in the end, which drew the attention of many. Compared to the group as a whole, Liao Luo wasn't very conspicuous; only Luo Sheng remembered that this person had commanded Xie Lu and the others to kill those four assassins.
He had a lot of Strengthening Stones, and after a frenzy of upgrades, his average attributes shot up, directly surpassing Qi Shuanghan and the others. He was now second only to Xie Lu, Lin Guiwan, and Mei Qingshu, on par with Qiao Xuejing at 2000.
Meanwhile, Lin Guiwan's average attributes were 3000, and Mei Qingshu's were 2800.
Bai Bai hadn't wanted any of the miscellaneous items; it had its eyes set on the pet egg. Logically, Xia Laoci and Yan Guanqi wouldn't have let it go, but their Participation wasn't high enough to claim the horn, the arcane sprite, the pet egg, and all the powerful class skill books they wanted. They had to make a choice, and in doing so, did Wang Jiu's group a favor.
"Pet eggs hatch into low-level pets. When summoned, they function similarly to puppets, serving as external combat power. The only difference is that pets can be revived if they die, whereas puppets are gone for good once used. They probably considered the long-term benefits and ultimately gave it up."
It was definitely a good item; they had just made a painful choice after weighing the pros and cons.
That's what everyone thought. But to Bai Bai, all other resources were far less valuable than the pet egg.
"You ate it. And then?" Wang Jiu asked, resting her cheek on her hand.
"I'm about to enter the evolution stage. I'll fall unconscious."
"So what?"
"Don't you miss me, oh~"
Wang Jiu's expression was flat, devoid of emotion. "State your purpose."
Bai Bai looked sheepish, clasped its paws together, and pleaded in a delicate voice, "Grandma, protect me! Don't let me get eaten!"
Was that a cutesy Taiwanese accent?
Then, without waiting for Wang Jiu's reaction, its eyes rolled back, its body slumped to the side, and its four limbs twitched.
Wang Shu was dumbfounded, utterly impressed. "So this is a BOSS's evolution. I thought it was the immediate reaction someone would have after eating a terrible meal."
Everyone: "…"
That was some seriously melodramatic acting.
Wang Jiu glanced at the scorching hot furball clinging to her leg, pinched the scruff of its neck between two fingers, and casually tossed it to Wang Shu.
Wang Shu: "Master, you want me to watch Bai Bai? Okay, okay, thank you for your trust, Master. To be trusted by you among so many people, I…"
He flashed a triumphant smile at the others, about to launch into a stream of flattery.
Wang Jiu said, "Its scent will be detected. If there are other BOSSes, they'll follow its smell to you."
Wang Shu: "???"
He hugged the warm Bai Bai, trying to pass it off, but no one would meet his gaze.
Wang Shu: /(ćoć)/
Such fake friends! Ptooey!
Fortunately, Wang Jiu traded him the Tribal Chief's cage. Sticking it inside would block the scent.
Only then did Wang Shu resume his flattery, while continuing to look down on the others.
The car sped along the highway. Dusk was falling, but something felt strange.
"The plants here are so dense."
"But there isn't a single mutated monster. No living creatures at all. It's so creepy."
"There are so few houses, too. No one lives here. Are we about to leave Mist Town?"
Wang Jiu was still flipping through the experiment logbook from the laboratory. Without looking up, she replied, "The crematorium is up ahead. Of course, no one wants to live nearby."
The atmosphere in the car instantly fell silent.
Xie Lu, gripping the steering wheel, asked her, "How do you know?"
"There's a sign ahead."
Her vision was strong, so she had seen it early. Xie Lu and the others only spotted it a while later. From this, they could roughly gauge the gap in Agility between themselves and her.
The crematorium was in a desolate area. A small mountain was already visible ahead, covered with graves in a public cemetery, clearly sheltered by the green mountain forest.
"It really is a crematorium," Wang Shu muttered. Since dusk had passed and night was falling, the sudden sight of a crematorium made everyone's heart pound.
The car followed the sign's directions, turning onto another side road. After a while, they saw a rather impressive-looking crematorium.
Just then, eerie background music began to play on everyone's system interface, reminiscent of the score from an old horror movie.
Goosebumps rose on everyone's skin. Wang Jiu's eyelids lifted slightly. She put away the logbook and snapped at the System, "Ate too much?"
The System pouted and said to the group, "Just adding some music to set the mood. The nightmare scene has arrived. Get ready to tremble, my little cubs."
It had just finished speaking.
A car suddenly rushed out from a dark road to the side. It was moving extremely fast. Because of the suddenness, the driver lost control of the steering wheel and crashed straight toward their car.
Xie Lu's expression sharpened. He steadily controlled the car, swerving to avoid the vehicle and letting it rush past their front to crash into a parked car on the side.
Bang!!
The car flew into the air, tumbled twice, and before the people inside could climb out, BOOM!
The car exploded.
The fiery blast sent a heatwave sweeping toward them.
Xie Lu parked the car in a safe spot, avoiding the shrapnel, but the approaching heatwave still caused the hair of Wang Jiu in the passenger seat to flutter slightly.
Wang Jiu suddenly said, "Get out."
She immediately darted out of the car. The others, accustomed to obeying her, instantly followed suit, not even having time to close the doors.
A massive explosion erupted behind them.
Their car had blown up!
The blast wave from a single car was no weaker than a grenade. Just as Wang Shu was about to be knocked to the ground by the shockwave, Lin Guiwan steadied him. He felt a searing heat on his back, and before he could even process it, he scrambled away again without daring to look back.
Because the other cars behind them were also exploding.
Many people escaped, but many didn't make it in time and were either killed instantly or left half-dead and wounded.
"Don't use Holy Light. Just finish me off, I'll revive on the spot."
Some people were ruthless and decisive. Firstly, the pain from such an explosion was immense, and secondly, even a level-three Holy Light would struggle to fully heal them. It was better to sacrifice a drop of HP and some experience.
This place was too dangerous.
After killing some of their companions, the others revived on the spot.
Wang Jiu's group had no casualties. Lin Guiwan didn't even need to use Holy Light. She confirmed everyone's condition and prepared a Holy Light just in case, but as she looked at the exploding cars, she suddenly realized—these explosions weren't normal.
It was sabotage!
Someone was nearby!
Lin Guiwan's first instinct was to cast a defensive aura on herself. She also prepared to use her purple-gold badge's ability to nullify an attack—if the enemy's attack was too strong for her defense to handle.
Just as her defensive aura surrounded her, the flames from the dozen or so burning cars seemed to be manipulated. Searing tongues of fire shot up, coalescing into several ferocious fire pythons that lunged toward Lin Guiwan and the other priests.
The tongues of fire were scorching hot and incomparably fierce.
When two armies clash, kill the healers first!
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