CHAPTER 625: CHAPTER 622: GAME CHEATING

"Ronald, take a look at this!"

Even the most difficult maze now needed to be tackled with honesty.

However, as the two of them and a cat made their way forward, Patricia suddenly held up the compass, her tone revealing a weightiness.

"What’s happened?"

Ronald turned his head to look, and after only staring at the compass in Patricia’s hand for several seconds, he realized the severity of the problem.

They had just left the slums.

Theoretically, the Caster of the "Nine Commandments" should be solving the maze in the Riverside District.

Now their pace was accelerating rapidly!

As indicated by the compass, it seemed these people weren’t taking the bewildering turns typical of a maze, causing route deviations, but were instead moving at a steady speed toward the location of the harbor district.

This sensation...

It was as if the moment they emerged from the slums,

This group had found a secret shortcut that led straight to the harbor district!

—Indeed, another trap.

Facing this situation,

Ronald immediately confirmed that his earlier choice was absolutely correct.

To catch the escapees of the "Nine Commandments" in this picture book maze, familiarizing oneself with the game rules of this world and solving them was an essential condition for successful passage.

If we were to chase the opponents using the thought patterns of ordinary people...

Then the moment they followed these people out of the slums, the Casters of the "Nine Commandments" would use this convenient passage to quickly distance themselves from their enemies, completely eliminating the pursuers’ possibility of winning the game.

At this moment,

Seeing the actions of the two humans, the black cat on Ronald’s shoulder also spoke up while pointing the way:

"Great detective, the grand black cat clan knows of these people’s movement."

"At the exit of the slum maze, there is a landmark tower under construction. The escapees, with the help of the dog clan, got their hands on gliders and climbed to the top to fly down directly."

Gliders...

Hearing this unmistakably unambiguous term,

Ronald understood just how significant the golden hand these enemies had played within the picture book maze.

Everyone was supposed to be painstakingly exploring the ground-level maze.

Yet when it came to this group, they could glide down without any hindrance?

This was definitely a flagrant act of cheating, severely undermining the rules of the game!

Realizing what the movement on the compass truly signified, Ronald also became aware of the urgency of the situation.

—They needed to get through this maze first!

And they must beat these people to the harbor district exit!

"..."

"We don’t have much time left, let’s hurry on."

Ronald then beckoned Patricia and they proceeded.

He was not in a hurry, though; instead, he adopted a cautious forward strategy. Rushing might lead them into a dead end in the maze— that would be the most foolish of failures.

All while advancing cautiously, Ronald even kept a wary eye.

He didn’t forget the magnifying glass, one of the three items that seemed potentially useful, and began scrutinizing his surroundings to ensure they weren’t stepping into any absurd mistakes.

At that moment, the narration in the air chimed in appropriately:

"Great Detective Ronald had learned of the suspected criminals’ method of escape!"

"But he knew very well — panic would not offer him an advantage, only becoming more patient and prudent in his approach would ensure the best possibility of capturing the culprit!"

"..."

Under these circumstances,

Ronald’s party, consisting of two people and a cat, proceeded methodically through the maze in the harbor district.

At the edge of their vision, the largest pier in the entire harbor housed a luxury cruise ship moored there; this was the ultimate goal for both parties in the picture book maze.

Then, when they were the last two hundred meters away from the cruise ship.

Patricia, who was responsible for tracking the locations of the Caster members of the Nine Commandments secret society, watched the compass needle, and her expression changed in an instant.

"Ronald, they’re coming!"

This time, Ronald didn’t even need to look at the compass.

All it took was a glance towards the city center to spot the triangular shadow approaching swiftly through the sky.

— The five Casters of the Nine Commandments were sharing a gigantic glider.

There was even a dog atop, tasked with controlling the glider!

With the speed at which they were flying...

In about two minutes, these people would successfully land on the cruise ship at the port!

But for Ronald’s side,

The two hundred meters distance was truly a maze.

Even with the pipe pointing them in the right direction, and the black cat directly indicating some of the false forks, it would take at least five minutes to successfully navigate this place!

Could they really lose?

The stark reality was right before them.

No matter what, Ronald didn’t have a way to change this brutal situation at the moment.

After all, he had no extra options while within the confines of the game rules.

So...

Was he to be teleported back to the border forest area...

And then be honestly bound in place for twenty-four hours?

No, that was absolutely unacceptable!

Thinking this,

Anger surged through Ronald’s heart, fueled by desperation.

A reckless decision quickly formed in his mind.

Just then, Patricia also spoke up:

"Ronald, these guys are moving too fast!"

"They only need two minutes and twenty-four seconds to successfully land on the deck!"

With her precise control of numbers,

Patricia informed Ronald of the reality while also calculating the opponents’ speed and the distance, arriving at a highly accurate conclusion.

Faced with this harsh reality,

A rare tension crossed the girl’s face.

Was today’s pursuit of the Nine Commandments Casters going to end at this last stage?

Ronald turned back to look at Patricia.

And then, with a somewhat reckless smile, he said:

"Patricia, do you remember the scene when we first met?"

"Today happens to be the Harvest Festival celebration, and I’m going to perform an interesting show for you."

"In December 1831, I had the honor of boarding the Royal Navy ship ’Beagle’ as a naturalist, commencing a five-year-long global scientific expedition..."

Under Patricia’s gaze, Ronald recited the incantation from "On the Origin of Species" with a calm tone, and then activated the Complete Technique of this fundamental text.

With the Complete Technique of the maze picture book suppressing them,

Ordinary spells naturally couldn’t be used.

But "On the Origin of Species," also a Complete Technique, was completely different!

As soon as this ability was activated, Ronald instantly felt the familiar power return to his body.

And with this action,

The picture book maze began to strongly resist this intrusive original system!

It was like Ronald’s past experience at the Greenwich railway station, where the conflict between Bradshaw’s Railway Guide and Divine Comedy arose.

Ronald’s vision darkened.

His position had already shifted in that very instant!