Jiang Ran and Gwen landed beside Alice, and all the insects stopped thinking and stood there blankly.

"In the end, he still failed to create a being with its own thoughts."

Jiang Ran shook his head. It seemed that his initial guess was correct. The entire swarm had only one will and one thought, which was Lapres. Everything was just him playing a puppet show.

Whether the insects are hostile to Jiang Ran depends on Laples. The initial scream awakened all the insects. Who else in the entire insect forest besides Laples has such command ability?

It could be said that at first, Lapres only regarded him as an ordinary adventurer, intending to let him perish here, just like the adventurers before him.

The herbal soup that Jiang Ran presented reminded Laplace of Alice, and it also gave him the idea of ​​borrowing Alice's divine power, so he guided Jiang Ran all the way.

Those so-called intelligent giant insects are actually just products of Laples's schizophrenia, or rather, the entire Insect Forest is Laples!

"How can such a life be called civilization?"

Inside Laplace's chest cavity lies a luminous green stone, upon which is carved a striking letter—

“E”!

From beginning to end, it was all just a mistake.

Jiang Ran picked up the stone. The left half of the stone was extremely smooth, while the right half looked as if it had been cut open. This was not a stone, but half a stone!

“If the whole stone is the key to the lost city, then the other half of the stone—” Jiang Ran was referring to the distant place, “is in the deserted city.”

[Rule Six: If you are in a deserted city, please take shelter in a safe area before the night storm arrives. Ignore any knocking at night. Remember that there are no living things here, and do not trust anything that can move.]

[Rule 8: If you are in the deserted city, please do not damage any electronic devices. Please do not bring up any topics related to "gods" in the deserted city. You are free to move around the city during the day. Once night falls, please refer to Rule 6.]

The above two points are the currently known rules related to unmanned cities.

The stone-paved road came to an end, and we entered this deserted city on the mountain.

Skyscrapers stand tall here, the streets are impeccably clean, and you can see robot vacuums working from time to time. It seems no different from human cities, and even more futuristic.

There's just one problem: there's nobody here, not a single person.

As we passed through the mountains, the streetlights suddenly flickered, emitting a faint white light.

Touching the wall on the mountain, a string of numbers appeared, showing the current time. The eighth rule states, "Please do not damage any electronic devices here," and now it seems that this term is surprisingly widespread.

"Welcome to the automated hotel. This hotel is free of charge. Please do not damage any items inside, sir/madam."

He went into the nearest hotel on the mountain and lay down on the bed as if on vacation, without even closing the door.

He crossed his legs, turned on the hotel's monitor, and started watching shows on the bed, leaving netizens bewildered. What was he doing?

A place that looks safe may not necessarily be safe. If there is any sudden danger, can the mountain really respond in time?

To prepare for potential dangers in the deserted city and to avoid missing any clues along the way, Jiang Ran chose to walk instead of building a motorcycle this time.

The matter of dealing with the insect forest had already taken up a lot of time, and by the time the three arrived at the deserted city, it was already close to dusk.

Alice still chose to stay with Jiang Ran. She wove a huge bag out of silk thread and put Laplace's body inside. According to her, this was the material she used to make dolls, so she had to carry it with her at all times.

"What will the big brother do after he finds the Lost City? Will he stay and keep Alice company?"

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid that's not possible."

"Is that so...? Then can Alice come with you?"

Go with Jiang Ran? Jiang Ran shook his head helplessly. If Alice could transform from a native bizarre creature into a bizarre individual like the big black dog, they might have a chance to meet again in the future. If not, it would almost be a final farewell.

"That depends on you. If you really come to me, I won't object."

Although Alice is a dangerous person, Jiang Ran has figured out the principles of getting along with her. As long as he doesn't cross certain red lines, Alice can be considered a "gentle" little sister.

Well, this might sound a bit unbelievable, but right now, with a near-god-level combatant joining the team, Jiang Ran is naturally happy to welcome him.

"Alice, have you been here before?"

“No,” Alice shook her head. “But I think an old woman once said something to me.”

"Old woman? What did you say?"

"This seems to be the starting point of the night storm."

An old woman... Jiang Ran remembered the old woman he had met at the crossroads before. What role did she play in this instance? Jiang Ran hadn't seen her since then.

"By the way, I haven't had a chance to ask you yet, what exactly was that monster you fought last night?"

“That was ‘Night Raven,’ and it was the first time I’d ever seen him,” Alice replied. “He seemed to be looking for me, knocking on the door every night, as if he couldn’t pinpoint my location. But I don’t know why he suddenly broke down the door last night.”

"Night Raven?"

Jiang Ran recalled the words on the signpost leading to the left-hand road.

The crows of the night will bring final peace.

However, when it comes to the words on the sign, Mushroom's words are "We will all follow the predetermined path," which doesn't seem to have much to do with Mushroom. Although it can be forcibly interpreted, it still feels like an overinterpretation.

Everything seemed so mystical, just like the guy who created this place.

"Jiang Ran, it's almost evening. Shall we find a place to rest? If the Insect Forest has food, there should be some here too. Do you want to go get something to eat?"

"Getting something to eat is fine, but I'd prefer to get all this mess sorted out tonight—though that seems unlikely."

The three of them entered a hotel, which was equipped with highly automated facilities. However, since there was no one there, what were these facilities for?