Chapter 2119: Clues Provided by Eternal Star
Looking at the various buildings throughout the city, most areas were newly constructed, but the urban facilities and green belts were more complete than before. It was evident that after the Box Carrier had come, production and daily life in Fairy Tale City had quickly returned to normal, even better than before.
There were no obvious signs of fighting here, only a few small items knocked over, like tables, chairs, and stools, or things scattered across the street.
After walking through half the city, Xu Huo found no one. He pulled a map from a small shop on the street and headed to the Government Hall.
Unlike the city, which was full of traces of daily life, the Government Hall was very clean. It was clear that some empty spaces originally held equipment, which had now been completely removed. The vast Government Hall left behind little of value, mostly low-tech auxiliary tools purchased in bulk from other districts—nothing with special markings or directional clues.
After inspecting the building inside and out, Xu Huo walked out with a dark expression.
The interior of the Government Hall wasn’t even messy; everything that could be taken had been calmly packed up, leaving no personal items behind. This was certainly not a hasty retreat under urgent circumstances.
He then went to the Eternal Star Club. Unlike the Government Hall, the club’s facilities hadn’t been removed, but the surveillance equipment at the entrances and public areas had disappeared—unlike the damaged monitors elsewhere in the city, the Eternal Star Club’s devices left no trace at all.
Xu Huo didn’t stay long and went to Old Lady Bai’s former residence.
The house was still surrounded by flowers and plants, with no signs of struggle. On the table sat a half-eaten baked flatbread and a half-glass of water. Among the several canes placed by the door, the middle one was missing, along with a pair of leather shoes. The slippers she usually wore were neatly set aside. Everything looked like an ordinary outing.
Standing inside for a moment, Xu Huo went outside to check the plants Old Lady Bai had raised that could devour objects, but found no clues there either.
Old Lady Bai was the boss of a fixed instance and wasn’t as weak as she appeared. Yet she had vanished along with the people of Fairy Tale City, and the city was so calm. If everyone hadn’t been sucked into a random instance, it was hard to imagine what else could have caused them to disappear without a trace.
Finding no clues in the city, Xu Huo accessed the complaint platform of the Eternal Star Hotel headquarters through the Bounty Platform. He left a message claiming that a friend’s child had gone missing at the Eternal Star Club, requesting the club provide surveillance footage of the entrances and exits.
Almost all the surveillance recording equipment in Fairy Tale City had been wiped clean, leaving no video evidence. There was no way to know the situation before the people vanished. Even Old Lady Bai’s place left no traces, as if she had left on her own. The only possible source of clues now was the Eternal Star Club.
The Eternal Star Club operated independently of the Fairy Tale City government, in cooperation with the Game Government. Since the Government Hall had managed to evacuate cleanly, the Eternal Star Club must have also withdrawn from this district calmly. The recovered surveillance equipment might contain records of everything before the change in Fairy Tale City.
Of course, this flimsy excuse might not yield what Xu Huo wanted. While waiting, he searched the nearby streets again, not even sparing books and drawing paper. Unexpectedly, near the city’s edge, he found a smashed camera and a developed photo.
The camera’s core was burnt black, and the photos stored inside were unreadable. Only one photo of flowers and plants remained, and in a corner of it, a metallic object was visible—likely a space starship.
Xu Huo’s expression darkened. A space starship—the last time he’d seen one was in District 017. These large instruments capable of carrying people across districts were mostly purchased from the Game Government, except in cities with self-developed advanced technology like Platinum Eye. Regardless of origin, owning such a large instrument was a symbol of wealth and power.
Why would such a starship appear in Fairy Tale City?
Unfortunately, the part of the ship captured in the photo had no text or markings, revealing nothing about it.
Soon, the Eternal Star Hotel replied to his message. In a deeply regretful tone, they expressed sympathy for the lost child and informed him that Fairy Tale City was suffering a man-made disaster before the Eternal Star staff evacuated, so more than one child might have gone missing. Although this had nothing to do with Eternal Star, considering the family’s feelings and Xu Huo’s membership status, Eternal Star was willing to provide a copy of the club’s front entrance records from the eight hours before the staff evacuated.
Xu Huo opened the file and sped up the projection of the content at the club’s main entrance.
The buildings in the projection overlapped with the real ones, and figures moved on the streets again. But due to the camera’s limited view, only a small section of the street was visible from the club’s position. Only those passing directly in front of the door were fully recorded; most others showed only legs or feet.
The first few hours were normal. At around six in the evening, a player entering or leaving the club suddenly paused and said to a companion, “What’s going on?” The two hurried out. Then several more players came out, all looking surprised. But after leaving, none of them returned. About ten minutes later, voices came from near and far—first exclaiming about something appearing in the sky, then someone saying it was a space starship. Among the travelers, there were always some well-traveled individuals.
Just as people were questioning why a space starship would appear here, a sharp, thin screech rang through the city. Even the club’s recording instrument trembled. Then came continuous explosions, likely from other recording devices. But after barely a minute of chaos, the entire city fell silent. Everyone, as if losing their minds, began walking toward the direction of the space starship.
Then the club staff went out to check the situation, retreated back inside, reported to their superiors, and applied to leave Block Fairy Tale City.
Xu Huo rewound the projection a bit and caught a word amidst the noisy voices—Rabbit Ear Paradise.
He searched for information related to space starships on Under Dimension and found that this paradise existed in many districts under various wormhole points. It wasn’t a branch model like Eternal Star, but the name was too simple, with many duplicates.
This was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Xu Huo watched the recording twice more. With no new findings, he left Fairy Tale City for the scenic drive lane the city had opened, where many mutant creatures were still kept. Perhaps they might leave some clues.
After much effort, having overturned more than a dozen nests occupied by mutant creatures, he found a damaged positioning device. He photographed the serial number inside and uploaded it to Under Dimension.
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