CHAPTER 604: CHAPTER 526: THE ISLAND

"These two I’ve never seen."

The little girl pointed at the pictures of the White Horse Tombstone and the Gray Rain with the handle of her skipping rope, then indicated the Astronaut, "I’ve seen this one. He went to the City Hall on the mountain an hour ago.

There’s a guard at the entrance, and unauthorized people can’t enter unless..."

Her latter words were subtly spoken, and Claudia understood immediately, taking out a large bag of luxurious, exquisite candies—High-level Transcendents’ metabolism is much faster than ordinary people’s, so they often carry high-calorie snacks like energy bars, Snickers, and five-nut mooncakes.

Unexpectedly, the little girl looked at the candies disdainfully and said to Claudia in a mature tone, "I’m already dead, alright? What use are food for the living to me?"

What?

Claudia was stunned, and the players hiding at the street corner were also left scratching their heads.

In many horror and supernatural themed literary works, once the protagonist exposes an NPC as already dead, the latter immediately turns into a soul-reaping Evil Ghost, triggering a bad ending.

But the way it’s happening now, with the NPC actively declaring themselves as dead, is as rare as Liu Lu’s arranged marriage with Dong Xuelian—it’s quite uncommon.

Dong dong dong—

At this moment, a deep, resonant bell sound came from the top of the Bell Tower,

The little girl looked up at the Bell Tower and said indifferently, "It’s five o’clock in the afternoon now. If you want to know how to enter the City Hall, bring me a matcha ice cream before seven o’clock. The Robinson Store on the east side of town has it."

After saying that, she didn’t give Claudia a chance to ask further questions and vanished directly.

"..."

Claudia looked at where the girl disappeared, frowning as she walked to the street corner, "Did you see that?"

"We saw it."

Wanli Sealed Blade pondered, "It’s certain, she is not a ghost in the usual sense."

Brother Xiao Dao, who has entered the martial path through weaponry, participated in many classical fantasy, folklore supernatural script tasks, and has slain not a thousand, but at least eight hundred Dead Spirit creatures.

That little girl just now, skipping rope, had no trace of sinister or resentful aura about her, completely not matching the characteristics of a Dead Soul.

"What I am more concerned with is the time she mentioned."

Mian Yue squinted her eyes, "It’s five in the afternoon now, and she asks us to bring her ice cream before seven. If we treat this as some kind of task, then such ample time signifies..."

"It signifies they assume we’ll encounter trouble on the way."

Li Cheng summed up, "For now, it seems without more clues, we should act according to the NPC’s guidance. But before that, there is one more thing to do."

He adjusted the Information Integration Glasses on his nose, quickly ran to the foot of the Bell Tower, and, with monkey-like Agility, climbed the high tower to inspect it.

The clock system of the Bell Tower is powered by a turbine machine, drawing high-pressure hot water to the surface, and due to pressure reduction, some hot water instantly "flash vaporizes" into steam, thus driving the turbine generator.

Therefore, besides notifying the town of the time, the Bell Tower also functions as the town’s power station and substation.

Also, due to using geothermal power supply, the clock system can operate unaided for a long time.

It’s somewhat unfortunate that the clock’s power structure is hidden in a compartment. The compartment itself, like the rooms of other buildings in the town, is sealed by an Invisible Power, making it unbreakable, so knowing the exact time is impossible.

"The classic door can’t be opened from this side; let’s explore the front area later."

Li Cheng, unsurprised, clicked his tongue and climbed over the window, descending the Bell Tower, "Huh, why do I feel a bit tired?"

Ever since absorbing a large batch of genomes, he hasn’t felt fatigue for a long time; his muscle cells’ efficiency in using ATP is maximized, never accumulating lactic acid.

Coupled with the Assembly Puppet, he can even directly implant stored fat onto himself when needed.

The current fatigue is not an illusion; since the player panel can’t be opened to see the detailed data of the Physical Value,

Li Cheng held his breath and concentrated, looking for the fluorescent protein gene from the genome the group gifted him, read the ATP information within his body through skin fluorescence on his right forearm.

————

"So tired."

At the same time, on a sunlit beach, the Gray Rain, who was transformed into a swimsuit, sat under a coconut tree, drinking coconut water while roasting freshly caught fish over a campfire.

Looking at the pile of shells, shrimp, crabs, and sea urchins stacked like a hill next to her, she had been eating for quite some time.

Uh...maybe it’s because the Entropy Devouring Cloud itself lacks a strong individual will; thus, the Land of Beautiful Dreams it created is especially peaceful, truly just a safe, bountiful tropical island.

Gray Rain immediately applied her knowledge from survival reality shows, using the drill wood to make fire (relying mainly on brute force) and finding seafood from the sea to eat.

Initially, she pretended to use Liquid Metal to make a fishing rod and line, but after failing to catch fish, she decisively changed tactics, turning to a dragnet, directly scooping from the seabed.

As she gorged herself, the Griffin flapped its wings, flying back from a distance, shaking its head at the White Horse Tombstone waiting on the beach.

The entire sea area, including beneath the sea, was covered by an unknown thick metal dome, which with the Player’s Strength, was utterly impossible to exit.

"This is not good."

Instinctively, the White Horse Tombstone clenched the sand in its hand, crushing it into finer powder; from the prior communication with Pifu, it was clear they’ve been teleported to another Land of Beautiful Dreams with specific content.

The Tombstone and the others are effectively left out.

The lack of control, with the initiative not in his own hands, was unsettling; the two Players sighed simultaneously, and the Griffin, seeing the carefree look of Gray Rain, couldn’t help but ask, "Aren’t you worried about Pifu and them?"

Gray Rain chewed on octopus tentacles and mumbled, "First, this isn’t the real world. Second, we’re trapped under the dome, worrying is pointless. Third, I don’t think any situation could actually trap Pifu."

"You certainly have confidence in him."

The Griffin’s eyelids twitched, "Aren’t you afraid of the plot spiraling out of control, a false seal turning into a real deadlock, trapping him beneath the dome, freezing him in time?"

"If that happens, I will go find him."

Gray Rain replied without looking up, "I am a robot; I don’t need to breathe. I can directly extract energy from matter. No matter how thick the dome, I’ll drill through it, be it in a hundred years, a thousand years, or ten thousand years."

"..."

The two Players exchanged a glance; Gray Rain’s tone was calm and composed, yet carried a persistence and determination.

Watching her cut open a coconut to use as a drinking vessel, muttering, "Drink till drunk, drink more coconut goblet,"

The Griffin couldn’t help but lower its voice to ask, "Is she an idiot?"

"Great wisdom often appears foolish, probably."

The White Horse Tombstone sighed, taking out a beach chair, a barbecue grill, and a picnic tablecloth, heading towards Gray Rain.

The White Horse Tombstone sighed, taking out a beach chair, a barbecue grill, and a picnic tablecloth, heading towards Gray Rain.