Chapter 242 Encountering Trouble

Day 14 of the Highway Survival Game!

"It seems we have an inexplicable connection with the Silver Bullet. How come we always encounter things related to it in every dungeon?" Matsuda couldn't help but complain after hearing Morofushi Kagemitsu say this.

Akihara, standing nearby, asked with some confusion, "What's wrong with these people? Isn't the side effect of the silver bullet supposed to last for 30 minutes? 30 minutes have passed, and they've already eliminated all traces of their crimes, so why haven't they left yet?"

The others were also puzzled when they heard Hagiwara ask that question.

"Why don't we check what the restrictions are for this instance? What is the instance's destruction crisis? Then, after they leave, we can start our operation and contact Akai Tsutomu?" Feng Xingshou, who had the most instance experience among them, looked at Rum, who hadn't yet led anyone to evacuate and was chatting with Vermouth, and simply suggested.

Upon hearing Feng Xingshou's suggestion, the other three had no objections and began discussing how to proceed with this instance, since in this instance, Hagiwara and the other two were in the same dimension as Feng Xingshou.

They could also see the dungeon boundaries and exit, so after accepting Feng Xing Shou's suggestion, they decided to split up. After reaching a consensus, they all said, "Okay, let's do it that way!"

"Same as always, regroup here in 20 minutes."

"When we split up, don't just focus on finding the dungeon boundaries and exits. Also, remember to find all the resources that can be collected in this dungeon, and most importantly, figure out where the crisis that caused this dungeon's destruction lies."

"Anyway, on the surface, it seems to have nothing to do with Rum and his group's operation this time!" Hagiwara immediately made a speculation after hearing his friend say this.

Morofushi Kagemitsu, however, was somewhat puzzled: "Why would Rum use this drug to kill someone and silence them? Wouldn't it be more convenient to use other methods that the organization usually uses? Is this person's identity somewhat special? Is it necessary to prevent people from knowing that he was assassinated, or rather, to prevent people from knowing that he died at the hands of someone in the organization?"

Hearing Morofushi Kagemitsu's question, the others exchanged glances. They still didn't know enough about the organization and couldn't guess what kind of shady dealings were involved.

"Tsk!" Matsuda clicked his tongue and asked, "Could it be because he's a double agent for those Japanese government politicians, helping them turn their ill-gotten gains into huge profits? The organization doesn't want the officials behind him to find out, so they resort to this method?"

“That sounds reasonable, but I still think their actions this time might have a deeper meaning.” Morofushi Kagemitsu was most sensitive to the organization’s style and atmosphere, and his sense of unease was even stronger at this moment.

Feng Xing Shou saw that they had already discussed splitting up, but they were still talking about Rum and the organization. She had no good feelings towards the organization, or rather, towards the organization that killed her brother. She was indifferent to it.

Seeing them chatting again, he quickly urged, "Alright, let's get moving. Time is limited in this instance. If you want to chat or speculate on the significance of their operation, we'll have plenty of time back in the car."

The others watched Windrunner's anxious appearance with amusement, but this time they didn't waste any more time.

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So the four of them split up and began their operation. Feng Xing Shou, on the other hand, first looked around to make sure no one in the office noticed her. The existence of the instance boundary also indicated no location of the instance exit.

Based on experience, the dungeon exit would definitely be near where the cataclysmic crisis occurred. Therefore, she headed towards the office door to explore. The others also went out of the office and searched for any clues outside in different directions and rooms.

Their search revealed something astonishing: this was the deceased's office, and although it was a weekday, there wasn't a single staff member there.

Within the boundaries of this copy is a financial company, or essentially a loan shark company. What could be inside? Desks, office chairs, and computers—the kind of old, bulky computers from 1997.

Aside from being recycled and broken down into basic materials, it has no other use. It doesn't even provide food supplies or clothing. This time, Feng Xingshou was frustrated. She was hoping to gather enough resources to sell and buy those potions to try synthesizing them.

It seemed like another day of waiting wasted. Frustrated, she listlessly packed the desks, computers, and any other collectible items into her backpack. Then, she continued searching for the dungeon exit.

She searched and searched, and finally found something unusual in the break room of the financial company, because the exit of the copy was actually in this break room. After discovering this, she disregarded her previous agreement with the four people to meet again in 20 minutes.

He shouted to the group from inside the break room, "Hagiwara, Officer Matsuda Morofushi, come quick! The dungeon exit is in this break room. Do you see any impending catastrophe? I don't sense any danger in this break room."

Hearing her call, the three of them rushed over from the other rooms and saw Feng Xing Shou standing in the tea room. When they came over, the three of them were somewhat shocked to see the dungeon exit for the first time.

However, more than being shocked by the appearance of the dungeon exit, they were more astute in that upon seeing the exit, they thoroughly examined the small tea room. After looking around, all three of them keenly focused their attention on the tea brewing area within the tea room.

Hagiwara grabbed Kazehoshi's hand and led her away from the tea room. Officer Morofushi quickly said, "I'll go open the window for ventilation."

Then, holding his breath, he ran to the window of the tea room and tried to open it.

Matsuda also held his breath, stepped forward and opened the cabinet under the water heater in the tea room. Inside, there were two canisters of liquefied gas, both with the valves open.

Seeing this, he tightened the valve while saying to Zhufu, "Zhufu, be careful, the valve here is open, don't let it suck in."

Upon hearing Matsuda's reminder, Inspector Morofushi, who had been holding his breath, nodded without saying a word, but quickly opened the window.

After finishing all this, Matsuda called out to Hagiwara outside in the corridor, "Hagi! It's alright, come over here!"

After a while, the group gathered together again, but instead of staying in the tea room, the four of them went to the corridor and talked about their current situation.

Matsuda said, "We were really lucky this time. If it weren't for Kaze-chan discovering it early, we might have been poisoned when the instance collapsed."

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"Was it a gas leak? If so, why were there no reports of a fire afterwards? Or was it just gas poisoning without any subsequent fire?" Morofushi Kagemitsu was very puzzled.

Hearing his question, all three of them were taken aback. Then Matsuda speculated, "Perhaps something unexpected has happened."

“Perhaps this was designed by Masahiro Nomoto himself.” Hagiwara said, pointing around, “Look, such a large financial company, yet not a single employee is at work on a weekday.”

"If Rum, a cautious guy, had opened the valve long ago, preparing to cause gas poisoning and an explosion, do you think there would have been any need for the Silver Bullet? That organization prefers bombs, doesn't it?"

Upon hearing his words, all three of them looked in the direction of Masahiro Nomoto's office, where Rum and the others were still inside.

Matsuda immediately took a deep breath and added, "If Rum also knew about this, given his caution, he wouldn't stay in a place where he might be poisoned. They probably have no idea that the valve was opened."

That's why they used the silver bullets there and waited 30 minutes after they detonated to check for any abnormalities. Otherwise, why would they take any protective measures and stay in the office for over 30 minutes? Is this place dangerous enough to kill someone?

Upon hearing his words, the others considered another possibility, and Feng Xingshou also realized what they meant: "So, this was done by Masahiro Nomoto? He gave all the employees leave or laid them off, and deliberately opened the gas stove. What was he after?"

"Perhaps he wanted to start a fire to burn down something here, something that exists, something he didn't want anyone to find out, while Rum and the others had been in the office for so long without any problems."

The news reports also made no mention of the fire or gas attack that killed Masahiro Nomoto's body, suggesting that the office might have been special and wouldn't have been caught up in the destruction, thus creating this historical phenomenon. "Hagiwara said, unusually in a somewhat uncertain tone.

Then, puzzled, he asked, "What do you say he's going to destroy here? What is it that would make him willing to sacrifice his own company to destroy it?"

"Anyway, there will be plenty of evidence of money-for-power transactions. Perhaps he was worried about being investigated by certain people, so he left himself a backup plan, or perhaps there were other reasons that made him decide to destroy the evidence against the officials he had."

Hearing Hagiwara speak of these things with such familiarity, Kazehoshi was taken aback, thinking that they were probably trying to find the things that Nomoto Masahiro had painstakingly tried to destroy.

"I wonder what's inside? Is that why the organization targeted him?" Everyone looked at Feng Xingshou.

Unexpectedly, Matsuda frowned and said, "I think we should worry more about ourselves than about this."

"What's wrong? We've already found the exit from the instance. As long as we contact Akai Tsutomu, we can leave anytime, right?" Feng asked, puzzled.

Everyone else looked at Matsuda, and Matsuda couldn't help but reveal his crescent-shaped eyes: "Have you all forgotten? If Kaze-chan wants to contact the outside world and talk to the outside world, she must come into contact with real, living humans."

Inanimate objects cannot be allowed to cross dimensions, so in order to contact Akai Tsutomu, we must come into contact with people outside this instance.

But if we're going to talk to Tsutomu Akai, we absolutely can't let Rum or anyone from the organization know. Unfortunately, besides someone from the organization, the only other person in this instance died at the start.