Chapter 2137: If There's No Real One, Use a Fake
The female player nearby sneered upon hearing this. "The instance is still here, how could the killer have left 008? It's just that this instance is too difficult, and no one has found any clues yet... Or maybe someone has been stuck in this instance for over a month, so they're trying to discourage later players from attempting to clear it."
"After all, this instance is different from others. Whether you find the killer or the stolen declaration, the instance ends immediately."
The player who had been rebutted wasn't angry either. Instead, he said, "Since you know that, why are you still spouting off like that? Aren't you afraid someone might deliberately trip you up?"
With that, he deliberately looked the woman up and down. "You don't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed, so I guess you're not afraid."
The woman laughed even louder. "With a mouth that foul and you haven't been beaten to death, it seems you're not much better. You're so eager to make yourself known—guess you don't get much attention usually, huh?"
The two of them bickered back and forth, but tacitly refrained from throwing any punches.
Xu Huo sat there for a while, and when he realized no one had contacted him, he stood up and left. Just as he walked out of the entertainment room, the female player chased after him and invited, "Want to clear the instance together? You haven't been in Zone 008 for long, have you?"
Xu Huo didn't refuse. Instead, he asked her, "Do you have any leads?"
The female player shrugged. "Plenty of leads, but nothing valuable. However, I do have a suspect in mind. Hear me out."
The two found a secluded spot to talk. The female player didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "I suspect the killer is someone from Stellar Corporation."
Xu Huo raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why do you say that?"
"You saw the information on the Message Collection Terminal. Just the act of creating confusion requires access to data from different city governments. Otherwise, there's no way to evade the calculations of the super terminal. But it's impossible for various city governments to collude in murder. Other players say it's some Artificer, but I don't buy it. Such a convoluted method is not something a player would have the patience to pull off. I'm more inclined to believe it's a non-player."
"A non-player with some power and authority, but not part of the city government—aside from someone in the Stellar Group, I can't think of anyone else."
"Technically speaking, the Stellar Group doesn't need to cooperate with various city governments to obtain large amounts of data through other channels. They're also the only ones who know how to bypass the super terminal's calculations. As for that declaration, it must have been cooked up by someone inside. What kind of declaration, once lost, would have its target be ordinary people? That means they suspect the person who took the declaration or knows about it is an ordinary person, or it's a declaration that players wouldn't care about at all."
"Indeed, following your logic, using such a convoluted method to kill and search for the declaration definitely wouldn't be a player, nor a gray player working at Stellar Group. The most likely candidate would be an ordinary person working there," Xu Huo said. "But if it's an ordinary person, how have they managed to kill nearly fifty people without being exposed under such tight surveillance?"
"A machine's eyes aren't human eyes. Even if a machine sees something, it can be erased." The female player said this with certainty.
Xu Huo nodded. "It's more likely that the killers are those robots themselves. After all, no one would suspect them no matter where they appear."
The female player's eyes lit up. "You're right! If it's someone from Stellar Group, they might actually be able to pull it off!"
"Unfortunately, the scope is too broad, and the other party hasn't committed any crimes for half a month. They probably won't show themselves easily."
"Do you have a way to narrow it down?"
"Since the instance still exists, it means the killer hasn't achieved their goal," Xu Huo said after a moment's thought. "Using that stolen declaration might be able to lure them out."
The female player didn't object. She just said, "A lot of people have tried that method."
Not just the city government and player organizations, but even some bold ordinary people had tried it. None of them succeeded.
"I wonder if the killer is certain the declaration is in the hands of their target, or if they saw through the setup in advance?"
"Wouldn't hurt to try?" Xu Huo said.
The female player perked up. "How do we try?"
"If there's no real declaration, it's not hard to forge a fake one." Xu Huo looked at the Stellar Corporation building in the distance.
The female player followed his gaze. "Stellar Corporation is impossible to get into. I've tried."
"No need to go in. Just get someone to come out," Xu Huo said. "The key is who holds this fake declaration."
"Instance players definitely won't work. Outer zone players won't work either. As for the local ordinary people, after nearly fifty deaths, they'd probably have caved and handed over the declaration by now." The female player looked at him. "Who are you planning to choose?"
"As for the stolen declaration, just because the killer is looking for a declaration doesn't mean it's the one they lost. Maybe it's someone else's stolen declaration, and they just happen to be searching for it too," Xu Huo said.
The female player didn't quite understand what he meant. "Will that work?"
"Don't you think this city is too quiet right now?" Xu Huo said meaningfully. "The quieter it is, the less likely anyone is to break the peace."
"Whether it's the city government or the player organizations, they all seem to have given up on the investigation. A few outer zone players can't possibly screen a large number of people. So the best way is to get others to help us."
"The city government has already screened a lot of people," the female player countered. "If we pick a target that's too far-fetched, probably no one will believe it."
"We don't need to convince everyone. Just having some people believe it is enough. But this method of mine might stir up quite a bit of trouble." Xu Huo looked at her. "What do you think? Dare to try?"
"What's there to be afraid of?" The female player laughed boldly. "The worst that can happen is the instance fails. If we can't clear it, Zone 008 is big enough that there's got to be a place to hide."
With that, she extended her hand. "Zhao Zizhen."
"Xu Zhi." Xu Huo gave a fake name.
The two reached an agreement and then turned back toward the station city.
Because of the report incident, within half a day, the Tian family had to face an inspection from the city government. Even if it was just a routine check, they had to confirm that the Tian family wasn't hiding any missing persons or bodies. Whether or not they could search all of the Tian family's properties, they had to show the public an attitude. By this time, the Tian family members could no longer move around as freely as before. Ordinary people who knew them, and players who knew them, would tail them wherever they went. Naturally, they couldn't search for people without restraint.
The hospital was the same.
The player whose head Xu Huo had nearly chopped off had survived thanks to his incredible vitality and advanced medical skills. He was now lying in the hospital recovering.