Chapter 2136: Unsolvable Instance
Although the technology in Zone 008 was well-developed, players and their bizarre items could exploit technological loopholes, creating an awkward situation—ordinary crimes committed by ordinary people sometimes didn't even require human effort, as various instruments and armed robots would naturally complete the process of evidence collection, suspect confirmation, arrest, and final conviction. However, player crimes became more "mysterious" due to various external factors, with many cases unable to even determine when they occurred.
Among the famous cases in Zone 008's past was a group crime resembling a cult ritual. The process was bloody, and the victims' deaths were extremely brutal. The incident was only discovered a week after it happened. At that time, all members of a small-scale religion popular in Zone 008 were killed, not a single one escaping. Yet after investigation, no trace of the perpetrator was found. It was as if they had suddenly come from another zone, killed everyone in the religion, and then calmly left—no motive, no aftermath.
So, excluding those with unstable minds, it was far too easy for players to conceal their criminal motives. Of course, any action leaves traces. This killer, whose identity was suspected to be an Artificer, deliberately expanded his targets, creating multiple overlapping targets for the city government. This precisely demonstrated his thorough knowledge of these people's whereabouts. Because so many locations were involved, some speculated that the killer might hold a position in the government, and a high-ranking one at that.
However, this guess was quickly overturned. Unless special circumstances occurred, different cities did not share resident data, making it difficult to investigate from this angle. They had to return to verifying personnel at the victims' gathering locations.
Since locations with high personnel overlap were ineffective, they would have to check the subsequent locations listed as well. But such a sweep didn't guarantee results either. The scope was too broad, the time span too long, and the number of people fitting the crime conditions suddenly increased, including many players. Some players refused to cooperate, and the various city governments could only stare helplessly.
Nearly fifty cases had left no valuable clues. Everyone believed that the chance of this person making a mistake in subsequent crimes was extremely slim. Instead of searching for a needle in a haystack, it was better to take precautions and travel in groups—that was what ordinary residents thought, because each case only killed one person.
Just as players were sneering at this, the killer broke his previous pattern. Half a month had passed since the last crime, inevitably making people wonder if the killer had already retrieved his "declaration."
This protracted "lost item retrieval" seemed about to end. By this time, many who had long pursued the truth had also lost interest, including the city governments and player organizations.
Having never caught the killer's trail, and now that the other party had stopped committing crimes, it was naturally like a kite with a broken string.
Except for the victims' families.
The middle-aged man should be one of them. Faced with anyone curious about the case, they unhesitatingly revealed everything they knew, hoping that one day someone would find the truth and capture the criminal.
After reading all this information, Xu Huo spent some money to buy so-called "inside news" from the underground market. Some of it had leaked from the city governments and player organizations, but it was all vague. Because of the victims' gathering locations, some suspected that the killer was actually a high-ranking government official, and not just one person committing crimes. They suspected these cities had conspired to alter case information, since the "declaration" involved high-ranking government officials—this was a silencing tactic.
This was a conspiracy theory, and many opposed it. Not every crime scene was first reached by the Enforcement Team. After player organizations publicly announced their involvement in the case, many players voluntarily joined daily city patrols. They later actively cleared the city government of suspicion. Currently, the theory of government involvement only circulated in a very small circle.
After reviewing all available information and clues, Xu Huo thought briefly and then went out to find a location frequently visited by Outer Zone Players.
In the district, some Outer Zone Players ran businesses. Besides providing lodging for other Outer Zone Players, some would publicly share Instance names and backgrounds for reference by later Clearance Players. Ready-made clues were also released. Of course, they were well-informed, and some key clues required payment.
The small underground entertainment room was dimly lit. Outer Zone Players in various outfits gathered in twos and threes. Some were just drinking, others discussing Instance strategies. As soon as Xu Huo walked in, a waiter approached, asking if he was there for leisure or to buy Clearance clues.
Xu Huo said the latter, and the waiter led him to the right side of the entertainment room. "Players interested in buying or selling Instance clues trade here. You can select the Instance clues you need by clicking on the virtual menu on the table. Our shop is not responsible for the authenticity of the transaction content, but after a successful transaction, we take a 15% service fee."
"Then what's the difference between this and me going out to buy information myself?" A female player at a nearby table, who had also been led over, said after hearing the waiter's words. "What service do you provide to charge such a high fee?"
The waiter smiled and explained, "We only provide a trading venue. If you don't like it, you can change venues."
The female player frowned. "What if I negotiate with someone and then go outside to trade?"
"That's also fine," the waiter said without changing expression. "However, many of the people selling information in our shop are regular customers with guaranteed credibility. The information you buy here is more reliable than outside. If someone sells false information in our shop and gets tracked down by buyers more than three times, they'll be blacklisted and can never enter again."
In other words, trading in the shop might guarantee authenticity, but outside, there were no guarantees.
The female player grumbled as she sat down, swiping open the virtual menu and selecting the "Stolen Declaration" Instance.
Xu Huo also chose this Instance.
The two sat for ten minutes without any transaction intention notification. A player at another table said, "You're out of luck, running into such an unsolvable Instance."
"What do you mean?" Xu Huo asked.
The man tossed a die in his hand and said slowly, "Because all the information about the cases in this Instance has basically been published on the Message Collection Terminal—time, place, people, even the crime methods are crystal clear. Where the deceased went in the past six months has been dug up completely. All the information has been cross-referenced by the Super Terminal. It's almost to the point of checking the family tree of the dogs related to these people. Even so, nothing was found. It's possible the killer has already left Zone 008. After all, he hasn't shown up for half a month."
"That's why I said you're out of luck."