# Chapter 85: The Riddle at Midnight
It wasn't until late at night that the bus finally returned to the town.
The town mayor's office building was located on the west side of the town, a two-story small building. The second floor housed the mayor's office, while the first floor was an exhibition hall containing a sand table model of the town and some exhibits.
This time, Lin Pei accompanied Xu Huo. He fumbled around and turned on the main switch for the office building, and the two-story structure immediately lit up.
"There's still electricity here?" Xu Huo paused in his motion to pull out his lighter.
"Throughout the entire town, aside from those irregularly sounding riddle mechanisms, only this office building still has power. These areas must be on separate wiring." Lin Pei explained as he walked over to the sand table. "We've looked at this sand table many times already."
The model on it was completely identical to the town's appearance, scaled down proportionally. Just by looking at this sand table, one could roughly outline the town's structure.
"All the places with little flags have riddle mechanisms?" Xu Huo took note. There were far too many riddle mechanisms in this town—almost half the buildings had them.
"Exactly." Lin Pei nodded. "The clock master Nichel from the game's backstory was the mayor of this town. In his later years, he became obsessed with puzzle games, so riddle notes can be seen everywhere in the town."
"But honestly, those riddles can hardly be called riddles. They're just simple common knowledge questions that should be easy for the NPCs in the game—like how many clocks Nichel made in his lifetime, or Nichel's favorite flower or color."
"And some are even stranger—whether Nichel wore reading glasses or nearsighted glasses, how many potted plants are in the mayor's office, what time Nichel went to sleep yesterday, how many pies he ate for breakfast."
Xu Huo was mentally matching the model with the buildings he'd seen in the town today when he suddenly looked up. "These aren't riddles."
"Of course they aren't." Lin Pei chuckled. "Probably just the childlike whimsy of a master-level figure."
"These questions target children." Xu Huo thought for a moment. "They're not real puzzles—they're just meant to amuse children."
Lin Pei opened his mouth, then realization dawned. "So that's it. No wonder answering wrong gives chocolate candy as a reward."
He had once speculated that Nichel was an excessively narcissistic person, or that all the town's residents were Nichel's fanatical fans, paying attention to even trivial matters like eating and sleeping.
"These riddle mechanisms are fixed, but the content is about life details. Nichel probably didn't come to settle in this town alone—at the very least, he brought a child with him." Xu Huo asked, "Have you seen Master Nichel's residence? It's not on the sand table."
Lin Pei shook his head. "There is a residential area in the town center, but we haven't searched through it thoroughly."
"Should we go look for it now?"
The bus had already driven far away, and moving around at night was inconvenient. When they got off, they had already planned to spend the night in the office building.
"Let's go tomorrow." Xu Huo said. "Let's see if Nichel's residence has any clues about opening the gate. Since people in the town need to come and go, there must be a way to open it."
From the office building's window, they could see the gate on the west wall. Lin Pei shook his head. "Can't speak loudly, can't go out in groups, and to put it bluntly, even a newborn baby can't cry. The gate is sealed shut too. This doesn't seem like spending one's later years in peace—it's more like being in prison."
Xu Huo's gaze shifted slightly. He returned to the sand table and carefully examined the photos marked on the model. Aside from basic necessities, the other shops catered to a generally young audience—children's clothing stores, doll shops, craft stores, picture galleries, crayon shops. Combined with the riddles visible everywhere in this town, it seemed this town was built for children.
And just looking at this, the town should have been full of childlike charm. But with the walls added outside and such strange rules inside, along with hiring security guards at high prices... if you equated xenomorphs with security guards, this wasn't about maintaining order in the town at all—it was about slaughtering those who didn't follow the rules.
Master Nichel and the town's residents were not on good terms.
The town was built for children, but a group of people had moved in whose lives Master Nichel didn't care about at all. With such strict rules, even carelessness could cost you your life, yet people still chose to live here.
This town was full of contradictions.
But the more contradictory a place was, the more likely it held the key to solving the problem.
Xu Huo casually tore off a riddle note stuck to the stair railing, glanced at it, and stuffed it into his pocket. He lightened his footsteps and walked up to the second floor.
Pushing aside the toys scattered all over the floor, he entered the mayor's office.
Like the clock shop, the walls here were covered with all kinds of clocks. The potted plants in the corner had withered and died. On the bookshelves were randomly placed some books about clocks, along with some picture books and fairy tales.
On the desk was an unfinished clock, with some work tools scattered on the desk and floor. All the drawers had been pulled open and were completely empty. Aside from the bookshelves, there were no other paper items in this office—not even a single blank piece of paper could be found. It looked like it had been ransacked.
"After all, he was a clock master. The manuscripts he left behind during his lifetime must have been very valuable. It's normal for the town residents to steal some things before moving away." Lin Pei said.
Xu Huo nodded slightly. He walked to the windowsill behind the desk and looked out, taking in the west gate at a glance.
By the faint moonlight, he saw a faint gleam reflecting off the wall. The light spot was moving continuously.
"It's the reflection from the second hand of the big clock on the roof." Lin Pei noticed his gaze. "The tip of the second hand on the rooftop clock is a reflective shiny surface."
When the second hand completed a full rotation and reached the twelve o'clock position, the doll hanging behind the office door suddenly started playing music. "Twelve o'clock! Twelve o'clock! The pleasant night has arrived. This is the time Master Clockmaker Nichel loves most."
"Today's question: In the lifetime of the clock-obsessed Master Nichel, how many watches did he make?"
Xu Huo picked up a picture book from the bookshelf and found the largest number inside. "20,001."
"Ding-ding! Correct answer!"
"The puzzle solver has given the correct answer. Master Nichel has decided to reward you with a hand-folded little star."
Xu Huo reached out and caught it. It was a thumb-sized paper-folded five-pointed star—the kind children like.
"It seems this is also for amusing children." Lin Pei couldn't help feeling disappointed.
But the doll didn't announce the end of the quiz. Instead, it continued asking: "Clever puzzle solver, the second question is: What flavor of pie does Master Nichel like best?"
"Strawberry flavor." Xu Huo glanced at the strawberry doodle next to the picture book.
"Ding-ding! Correct answer!"
"The puzzle solver has given the correct answer. Master Nichel has decided to reward you with a strawberry-shaped little mirror."
When he took the mirror, it was a half-palm-sized strawberry-shaped cosmetic mirror with a strawberry pattern.
Then came the third question: "What is Master Nichel's favorite game?"
"Puzzles."
"Dee-dee! Wrong answer!"