Chapter 1926: Non-Repeating Identities and Tasks
Within a single day, if a murder case was directly archived and no longer pursued after more than thirty hours, ordinary people would find it difficult to catch the culprit unless they happened to be near the scene of the incident. Of course, this was not particularly difficult for players, but considering identity restrictions, they might later have to face investigation from the Supervision Department. This meant that even if they caught the person, it might not be counted as successfully solving the murder case. And once their identity was exposed, they could face pursuit from players in the East District, making it very difficult to complete their clearance tasks using their chosen identity.
Xu Huo searched for related instances in this district under the Dimension Below and discovered that different players faced different identity choices and tasks upon entering the instance location. In other words, the game randomly assigned identities based on where players got off the train. For example, there was the righteous inspector, the undercover East District operative, or the writer. The first two identities had certain tendencies, but the third seemed somewhat arbitrary. Although the prefix included "freedom of speech," this identity could actually be replaced by other roles with similar properties, such as "journalist," "screenwriter," or "director." These were all roles that could convey certain values and were easily accepted by the public.
Since players could have so many identities, it was only natural that their corresponding tasks would differ. With different directions for players to choose in clearing the instance, there were fewer points of reference available.
Additionally, District 035 had long been integrated into the game. Even if the West District residents didn't care much about players and instances due to survival issues, the East District residents couldn't just sit idly by. Therefore, the Supervision Department should be more sensitive to players. As a newcomer, Xu Huo would logically be a key subject of observation.
Of course, it was also possible that many members of the Supervision Department were just going through the motions. They didn't care about the struggle between the East District and the Rebel Army, nor did they care about players coming and going. But it couldn't be confirmed that none of the Supervision Department members were players from the East District or the Rebel Army, or other clearance players.
Xu Huo was now a new target, and there might even be new inspectors reporting for duty soon.
He looked over the locations where recently killed inspectors had appeared, then closed the Message Collection Terminal, leaned back in his chair, and dozed off.
However, the Supervision Department building was not soundproof. Outside, people wandering around all night would occasionally let out all kinds of shouts, or simply get drunk and cause trouble, smashing things, or suddenly let out a sharp scream... These sounds could be heard clearly inside the Supervision Department building. Not to mention players with exceptional hearing, even ordinary people couldn't possibly sleep.
After being disturbed several times, Xu Huo rubbed his face and headed downstairs.
The lighting inside the Supervision Department building wasn't as dim as the streets outside, but the overwhelming number of lights outside cast various colors of light inside, making the corridor colors chaotic and visually extremely uncomfortable.
Just as he reached the stairs on the third floor, he saw a dark figure flash past the corner. He immediately shouted, "Who's there!"
Hearing his voice, the shadow ran even faster. Xu Huo quickly jumped down the stairs, but as soon as he reached the second floor, the stairwell door was suddenly kicked open with great force. He crashed into the door panel, managing only to protect his head with his arms, but lost his balance and tumbled down the stairs, slamming into the corner of the stairwell.
The other party wasn't targeting him. Before he could get up, they leaped down to the first floor.
Xu Huo hurriedly chased down the stairs, shouting for Lin Guang downstairs.
At that moment, there was commotion on the first floor. Lin Guang and the bald man who had returned from eating supper had subdued someone. This person hadn't broken in from outside; he was one of the onlookers they had caught earlier.
The bald man used a detection device to find the lockpicks hidden on the person, then slapped him repeatedly on the head. "You're pretty capable, huh? Opened the door and didn't run, but still had time to steal things?"
As he hit, he kicked the items that had been taken out from the man, growing even angrier. "You're something, got good taste too, stealing the valuable stuff. Do you know that if you had taken this, we'd have to write how many reports to apply for new materials? My life is hard enough already!"
The thieving man just crouched on the ground with his head in his hands, taking the hits and kicks without resisting or begging for mercy.
"Are you okay?" Lin Guang looked at Xu Huo.
Xu Huo rubbed his shoulder. "Hit my back, but it's not a big deal."
The burly man smoking nearby grinned and said, "You're lucky today. Took two hits and didn't lose your life. In our West District, most people who get hit in the back end up dead."
Xu Huo's expression wasn't good. He looked down at the man who was already bleeding from the nose, frowned, and said nothing.
Seeing this, Lin Guang quickly said, "Brother Hao, stop hitting. If you kill him, we'll have to deal with the body. It's late, you and Brother Liao go rest first. Leave him to me. I definitely won't let him escape again."
The only ones who had returned from supper were the bald Brother Hao and the burly Brother Liao who had knocked Xu Huo down earlier. Brother Hao said displeasedly, "If Zhang Shun wasn't worried you two couldn't handle it, I wouldn't have come back. Keep a good eye on him, no more screw-ups. And, if someone comes to bail him out tomorrow, don't agree to anything less than thirty thousand. I said so!"
Lin Guang nodded repeatedly, saying he would bring them tea right away as he pushed the two into the next room.
Turning back, he also breathed a sigh of relief and said to the man lying on the ground, "Couldn't you just behave? Now look at you. Does anyone at home have money to bail you out?"
The beaten man grinned, showing a nonchalant smile. "They're all dead long ago. No one to bail me out. Sorry to ruin your chance to make money."
Lin Guang helplessly shoved him into the interrogation room and locked him up.
"What will happen if no one bails him out?" Xu Huo asked after the door was closed.
"Starve him for a few days and throw him out," Lin Guang said. "The Supervision Department doesn't have that much extra food to feed them."
"I wonder what he was thinking. Since he got out, why didn't he just leave directly?" Xu Huo murmured.
"Probably wanted to make some money," Lin Guang explained. "Many of the Supervision Department's instruments can fetch high prices on the black market. As you saw, we're short-handed here, and we probably won't investigate afterward."
"But if he went out and stole other people's things, that would be different. Everyone has their own way. Stealing something worthless might be okay, but if he gets caught with something valuable, the consequences would be terrible."
"When you go out on patrol, you need to be careful too. Don't meddle in other people's business."
Xu Huo thanked him and asked, "Are there many incidents like this during night shifts?"
"It's okay. It doesn't happen every time," Lin Guang thought for a moment. "Staying in the Supervision Department building is safe. Don't overthink it."
The two kept watch with half-open eyes until the next morning. Other inspectors came to work, including the captain of Lin Guang's team. When he heard that Xu Huo had stayed up all night and had no place to stay, he gave him a day off to find accommodation.
(Chapter End)