474: Chapter 474 Wanting to Come In and Wanting to Go Out

"This room isn't bad; it has quite an atmosphere."

Zhou Yan sat in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the city night view before him, and nodded with satisfaction.

After paying for his meal, Zhou Yan quickly began studying the other-world version of a mobile phone.

Being a transmigrator himself, he had a high level of acceptance for such things, so it didn't take long for him to become proficient in using it, even using the phone to book a luxury suite for himself.

According to what Mu Qianqiu said and the information he gathered from the internet, the Desire Realm was indeed currently closed to entry and exit.

Except for those with official backgrounds who could bring one or two accompanying outsiders, anyone else entering had to register and was subject to twenty-four-hour monitoring by the Skynet system.

Through the floor-to-ceiling window, Zhou Yan looked at the brilliant starry sky outside and could clearly sense that almost all the brighter stars were various types of small robots.

The last time he had seen this type of robot was in Ma Hao's Secret Realm.

And now, he could tell at a glance that these models plastered across the sky were certainly much more advanced than the ones he had seen back then.

If he still tried to force his way through, once these monitors sounded the alarm, he would likely have to enter parkour mode again.

"If I really want to run out, I'm afraid I'll have to deal with these monitors first."

"Speaking of which, why hasn't Yuan Chenling replied yet? Calculating based on the time ratio, he should have received it by now."

At the moment, Zhou Yan really didn't know what to do. As for urgency, he was indeed anxious.

After all, he had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do for these two missions.

But the current situation couldn't be changed for the time being.

Currently, other than forcing his way through, he could only pin his hopes on Yuan Chenling and Mu Qianqiu.

But neither of them had replied, leaving him with no outlet for his energy, forced to scroll through videos and watch the night view.

When he first arrived, he was indeed a bit excited. Although Zhou Yan had seen what Taiyi City looked like through the Divine Statue and his own Main City had cyber elements, they were mostly born of fantasy and were nowhere near as effective as something built on a real foundation.

But looking at it for too long would become boring, and for some reason, he always felt like having a bout of cyberpsychosis on these streets filled with a sense of cyber-technology.

"Wait!"

Zhou Yan stood up abruptly, only then remembering.

"That's right, I still have my Main City."

"Then couldn't I treat the corpse pieces as rewards, have those players take them out, and then use the corpse pieces to resurrect?"

A bold idea instantly appeared in his mind. The Main City functions hadn't been used for a long time, so much so that he had temporarily forgotten he still had these resources to mobilize.

As soon as the idea surfaced, Zhou Yan quickly planned to give it a try.

Although this method might not necessarily work, the Main City was so large and had so many functions; if this path didn't work, there might be other channels.

Relying on oneself is better than relying on others; it's naturally better if one has a way.

Acting as soon as he thought of it, Zhou Yan plunged into the Main City.

Just as Zhou Yan entered the Main City, the television in the empty living room suddenly lit up.

On the screen was still the same news reporter from before, but her face appeared more urgent, completely devoid of the nonchalance she had when explaining entertainment gossip earlier.

"Breaking news."

"Tonight at 21:32:48, three unidentified outsiders crossed the Desire Realm gateway and descended upon the Flying Boat Hotel, approximately eighty kilometers outside Dream City."

"After subsequent inspectors arrived at the hotel, they only found four corpses and some residual mana in the room."

"According to the informant, because the hotel is remotely located, the passenger flow is stable and sparse, usually hosting the same group of guests."

"When he passed by the hotel to rest as usual, he suddenly heard a scream. Following the sound, he only found the hotel owner's corpse."

"After the inspectors arrived, they further investigated along the trail of the bodies and found three more corpses on the second basement floor of the hotel."

"According to the preliminary autopsy report, the three deceased died from high-intensity mana impact, and the hotel owner died from an unknown energy curse."

"According to the analysts' assessment, this should be a premeditated killing. The perpetrators are likely hiding near Dream City or have even already infiltrated Dream City."

"Since the Skynet system has not yet obtained more clues, the strength of the three individuals cannot be estimated for the time being. Citizens are requested to minimize outings and avoid areas with sparse crowds."

"Inspectors are quickly following up on subsequent matters. Citizens, please do not panic excessively."

"Inspection Bureau, Evidence Room."

"Have you found anything?"

A white-haired old man with a large beard, holding a cup of coffee, asked the Black inspector who was performing tests at the desk.

If Zhou Yan were present, he would probably sigh.

"This really is a classic American duo."

The Black inspector took off his gloves and, without hesitation, snatched the coffee from the other's hand and took a large gulp.

"Old John, let me reiterate: in the future, can you find a more professional member of the Yao Race for this kind of work? With just these few hairs, what do you want me to check? Check how to improve hair quality to make it smoother?"

The Black inspector pointed indignantly at the four hairs fixed on the evidence table.

Old John approached indifferently, stroking his chin as he scrutinized the hairs.

"You can't put it that way."

"The people from the Yao Race have all been reassigned to maintain the concert venue; after all, the Joyous Union Sect paid for it."

"The rest of the people need to follow up on subsequent investigation information and are all at the front line, unable to return, so I can only trouble you."

"But these three stowaways were quite ruthless. One Foundation Establishment, two Core Formation, and one Nascent Soul, all killed so cleanly?"

"Not only was the residual mana cleaned up completely, but even these few remaining hairs show no clues, obviously having prepared a plan for any potential subtle evidence left behind."

"With such a clear purpose, such crisp methods, and seemingly not low Realms..."

Old John smacked his lips and snatched the coffee back from the Black inspector's hand.

"In this situation, let alone you, if the Yao Race really came, they would be at a loss too."

"Report all the specific details; we'll see what the higher-ups say."

"As for me—"

Old John looked at the virtual projection in front of him, raised his cup to the Black inspector, finished the remaining coffee in one gulp, and said:

"Jack, it's time for me to get off work."

With that, Old John strode out of the Evidence Room, coming and going in a hurry.

Leaving only the Black inspector, Jack, his gaze still fixed on those few animal hairs shimmering with various lusters.

"Old fellow, lazier than anyone when working, more eager than anyone to get off work. After all that, I still have to write the report myself."

"Working with a bunch of vermin like you all day, how can the security of Dream City ever be good!"

After cursing a few times, Jack put his inspection equipment back on and continued to study the hairs.

He had no choice; who else but him would end up with this rotten job?

Even if he couldn't find a result, he had to at least go through the motions and pad it out a bit; he couldn't just hand in a blank sheet and be scolded all day.

Thinking this, he continued to observe, seemingly focused but actually just loafing around. He had already started calculating what to eat for a late-night snack after work.

Just then, one of the hairs suddenly flashed with a strange light. The light swept across Jack's eyes, and his gaze immediately became dazed.

"I... what was I going to do? Right, go eat a late-night snack."

He took off his equipment somewhat absentmindedly and turned to leave the Evidence Room. Before leaving, Jack also subconsciously turned off the power switch for this area.

As for whether the monitoring room noticed anything unusual?

Coincidentally, of the two inspectors in the monitoring room responsible for supervision, one was sleeping, and the other was suffering from diarrhea after eating bootleg pre-prepared meals and hadn't appeared for two hours.

"Big Sis, can we leave now?" A young boy's voice suddenly rang out in the Evidence Room.

"Time is short; listen for my command later. When I say set off, do exactly as instructed before, clear?" A female voice also rang out in the Evidence Room.

"Are you sure there's no problem?" Another clear male voice asked followed.

No one would have guessed that the three unidentified persons, whom the Inspection Bureau was urgently broadcasting about and had been searching for for several hours, had actually been hiding in the Inspection Bureau all along, even being studied right under the researchers' noses for several hours.