[A prisoner awaiting the final verdict in court.]

Warning: This chapter contains scenes of violence that may be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

The same words, if spoken by Druid, Ranen, or Black Cat alone, wouldn’t have been as effective as when Archie said them.

This was because Archie was a psychological consultant for the police department and had intricate connections with the captain of the criminal investigation unit.

Hearing his words, the “Director” immediately turned pale but still insisted that he knew nothing.

“Mr. Director, I suggest you think carefully,” Ranen said with a smile. “After all, the files in the archive room could be destroyed by the fake dean at any moment. Right now, we are your only hope.”

The “Director” glared at them darkly and suddenly asked, “What do you want? Helping me regain my position must have some ulterior motive.”

In truth, their only goal was to overthrow Soren’s status…

But simply stating that wouldn’t convince the dean because he didn’t believe in anything related to the mysterious.

Archie remained expressionless, “That depends on what you can offer us.”

The “Director” wasn’t fooled, “If you want to negotiate, at least show me some files. You have nothing and just want to extract information from me. I’m not that stupid.”

“No need to be so tense. If all goes well, we aren’t enemies,” Ranen said. “We just need a little help from you… Think about it—do you want to stay here, being seen as a madman by everyone, or take a gamble with us?”

This time, the “Director” remained silent for a long time, his expression shifting repeatedly before finally making a decision, “Alright… fine.”

Black Cat and Druid couldn’t help but clap in celebration.

[Is this for real? Officially letting it slide?]

[This feels just like when my tactics fail, and the game master has to let the NPC help.]

[I’m dying of laughter. Didn’t Ranen say he wouldn’t interfere? Isn’t this a bit too convenient?]

Druid didn’t care what the livestream viewers thought and eagerly stepped forward to untie the ropes binding the director.

*Tap, tap, tap—*

At that moment, urgent footsteps sounded from outside, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing in the next ward. It seemed someone had come in to check.

“Damn, it looks like a nurse is doing rounds,” Druid’s expression changed.

Ranen frowned. Why would there be a room check at this time? He clearly remembered that according to the hospital’s night rules, doctors and nurses were not supposed to enter the wards at night without an invitation.

At this moment, he glanced at the ward’s door lock, and his expression changed.

The door to the psychiatric treatment area was not locked.

The hurried footsteps outside sounded closer, seemingly right at the door. Ranen and the others had no choice but to hide temporarily. The space in the ward was limited, with only under the bed, behind the curtains, and inside the cabinet available for hiding. They quickly divided the spots and hid.

The ward door opened from the outside, and a nurse strode in, scanning the room with piercing eyes.

“What’s going on?” The “Director” pretended to have just woken up, rubbing his eyes in confusion as he asked.

“There have been intruders in the hospital recently,” the nurse said casually, still scanning the room. “Have you seen anyone suspicious?”

“No, I haven’t.”

The nurse nodded, seemingly satisfied, and was about to leave after a quick glance around. Suddenly, her eyes locked onto the trash bin beside the “Director’s” bed.

Ranen, hiding behind the curtain, saw her action through a small hole and felt a jolt in his heart.

In their haste to hide earlier, Black Cat had accidentally knocked over the trash bin and didn’t have time to put it back properly.

Every bed had a trash bin next to it, but the “Director” was tied to the bed and couldn’t move. How could he have knocked over the bin?

Sweat began to bead on Ranen’s forehead as he watched the nurse straighten up and continue scanning the room. Though the nurse had no face, Ranen felt as though her gaze was sweeping over him.

Finally, the nurse stopped in front of the cabinet.

This was bad—this was where Archie was hiding.

Just as the nurse was about to open the cabinet door, old Luke, who had been lying in the bed, suddenly acted up. He rolled off the bed, clutching his head and screaming in pain.

As if afraid the nurse wouldn’t take him seriously, he began banging his head on the floor, quickly drawing blood.

The nurse, startled, rushed to help Luke up, but he refused to stand, continuing to bash his head on the floor until it was bloody.

The nurse cursed under her breath and went out to call for help. A group of orderlies soon came in with a stretcher, strapped Luke onto it, and carried him out.

With the ward door left wide open, the footsteps of the nurses gradually faded. Black Cat and Druid, still shaken, rolled out from under the bed.

“Whoa, that scared me to death! What just happened?”

Archie was also drenched in sweat, almost ready to burst out of the wardrobe earlier.

But what just happened? Why did that old man do that?

Instinctively, Archie looked at Ranen, only to find Ranen watching him thoughtfully.

“Wait, did they all get drawn away?” Druid pointed out a gap. “Should we take this chance?”

The group immediately left the ward, cautiously heading outside, with Archie temporarily pushing down his questions.

—-

In the real world.

Edmund was out on a mission with his team. Lately, their task frequency had increased, and the unusual traces they encountered during their outings—clearly left by anomalies—had also grown more frequent.

It seemed like everything was signaling an ominous sign. Edmund had noticed that their leader, Geffer, had been increasingly irritable recently. However, when facing the team, he usually managed to keep his emotions in check. If it weren’t for Edmund’s habit of reading people’s expressions, he probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Once, Edmund quietly approached Geffer and asked him about the source of his irritation.

“What? You’re overthinking it. I’m not irritable,” Geffer said, looking normal. But when faced with Edmund’s calm and certain gaze, he couldn’t help scratching his head.

Thinking of Edmund’s combat prowess and his introspective, sensitive nature, Geffer let out a long sigh. “Alright, I have been a bit restless lately… You haven’t told anyone else, right?”

“No.”

“That’s good. Given the nature of this job, I didn’t want to bring it up and make you all anxious,” Geffer said. “Actually… this mission is a bit odd.”

“Our task is to investigate the increasing sightings of anomalies in Arkham City. This mission is classified as D-level. Generally, D-level tasks don’t involve significant dangers. If the captain determines the task content has exceeded this level and the team’s abilities can’t handle it, we can request assistance from the Inspection Bureau headquarters or apply to cancel the task.”

“Over these days, although we haven’t encountered any particularly high-level anomalies, to be honest, the progress of our investigation into this mission has been slow. I reported this to the Inspection Bureau headquarters and applied for a mission reassignment long ago, but I haven’t received any response.”

Geffer couldn’t help but sigh again. “It’s really strange. The Bureau usually processes things quickly, and with my experience, there must be some conspiracy behind this city. I even used the fast-track channel for my request.”

Edmund remained silent, lowering his gaze as he recalled what Ranen had told him before.

The Inspection Bureau… might not be entirely trustworthy.

“Anyway, there’s no major issue for now. If things get out of hand, I’ll leverage my connections to protest to the higher-ups. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you all safe,” Geffer said, patting Edmund on the shoulder.

Edmund didn’t respond, but since that day, his nightly progress in exploring the Dream Rift accelerated unconsciously.

He realized that the day when combat would be necessary might come soon.

This time, it seemed like just another routine patrol mission, except this time, they were acting on a tip from an informant.

“A group of people have been painting some unusual designs in a central plaza, and then another group of oddly dressed thugs comes along to destroy them. They often end up fighting. It’s really strange.”

This report from a concerned citizen had led the inspectors to examine the traces of the formations left behind, confirming their authenticity, and thus, their mission shifted to focus on tracking down these individuals.

On previous occasions, they always arrived too late, and surveillance footage rarely captured the culprits. But today, they seemed to have better luck.

When Edmund and his team arrived, they witnessed the players and some workers in construction attire nearly brawling. The workers were trying to paint a design on the ground per their boss’s orders, but the players had disrupted them.

Oh, wait, no, they weren’t about to fight.

They were already fighting.

The inspection team exchanged glances, observing the situation from behind a wall. A short-haired woman asked, “Captain, should we step in?”

“Not yet… let’s see what happens,” Geffer frowned, mainly because he wasn’t sure which side to assist. His investigator’s instinct told him that those drawing random formations everywhere were suspicious. He had sent photos and information about the remnants of those formations back to headquarters, but there had been no response—perhaps the matter was still under investigation.

But siding with the players…

Honestly, Geffer wasn’t keen on that either. It wasn’t the first time they’d encountered these peculiar folks, and previous encounters hadn’t gone smoothly. For instance, during a mission, these people would suddenly show up and throw everything into chaos.

Edmund, however, might have been the one who knew the most about the situation.

He knew the organization of Outsider was against Lord Ranen, knew the players were sent by Ranen, and understood the conspiracy of the Outsider.

But none of this could be disclosed to the inspection team.

All he needed to do now was one thing. Edmund lowered his eyes thoughtfully—how could he assist Lord Ranen?

“Captain, they’re coming over,” Aisha said, tightening her grip on her gun.

Geffer snapped back to reality and noticed that the battlefield was indeed moving closer to their position. He had to make a decision—either assist one side or retreat from the scene.

Geffer leaned towards retreating, letting these people tear each other apart. Just as he was about to raise his hand to signal a retreat, a shot from behind hit one of the workers in construction attire.

The worker turned angrily, shouting, “It’s an ambush! They’re working together!”

“Damn it, let’s move in!”

Geffer had been at the front of the group. He turned back quickly but couldn’t see who had fired the shot. By then, the enemies had already charged forward, leaving Geffer no choice but to lead his team in drawing their weapons to fight back.

As soon as the fight began, Geffer noticed something was off. The opponents displayed trained combat skills, strength, and technique—these were no ordinary people!

Geffer’s expression hardened, and his attacks became significantly more aggressive.

The players were initially confused, as they hadn’t heard about any reinforcements, but that didn’t stop them from seizing the opportunity to beat down their enemies!

With the players and the inspection team united, the workers who had previously held the advantage quickly fell into a disadvantage. The leader of the workers, a flash of malice in his eyes, grabbed a steel rod and charged toward Edmund.

Perhaps he thought Edmund was the easiest target, or maybe it was because Edmund seemed distracted by other opponents, leaving his back exposed. It looked like an easy hit.

*Bang!*

Aisha’s kick sent the worker leader flying back. “Watch out! Newbie.”

Edmund turned slightly, surprise flickering in his eyes as he discreetly retracted the small knife he was about to draw.

“Thanks,” he said.

Aisha gave him a complex look, shook her head, and said, “We’re even now. Sorry, I didn’t know you were in a ‘special state’ before.”

She paused, then added, “I don’t like weaklings in the team because they usually don’t last long.”

“It’s fine,” Edmund replied, understanding that this was her way of explaining. Geffer had privately mentioned that Aisha, despite her harsh words, was soft-hearted. She had witnessed the deaths of two teammates and preferred to drive out timid newcomers rather than see them die.

“Alright, then.” Aisha slapped Edmund’s shoulder and rejoined the battle.

In less than two minutes, the team of trained workers was subdued by the joint efforts of the players and the inspection team.

The players’ leader, A-Long, glanced at Edmund but acted as though he didn’t know him. He extended his hand to Geffer, saying, “Thank you for your help.”

“No problem,” Geffer replied, shaking his hand and scrutinizing A-Long’s expression. “But I have a question. Who exactly are these people, and why are you fighting them?”

A-Long was taken aback. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?” Geffer suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Their conspiracy,” A-Long pointed at the unconscious workers lying on the ground. “They’re all members of the Outsider organization. Their goal is to open the door to the Dream World here in Arkham. These formations are probably just preliminary preparations for their scheme… I thought everyone knew that.”

Seeing Geffer’s utterly shocked expression, A-Long seemed surprised. “You really didn’t know anything?”

Behind him, the players whispered in their communication channel.

Player A: [Are they really clueless, or just pretending?]

Player B: [Their expressions don’t look fake, but from Archie’s father’s notes, it seems the Inspection Bureau might be corrupt. Could they know but just not say?]

Player C: [Hard to tell, but we should stay cautious.]

Reading the surprise and suspicion in A-Long and the players’ eyes, Geffer felt a burning embarrassment. It had always been investigators like him enlightening clueless civilians; now the roles were reversed.

The worst part was that Geffer couldn’t argue, because they indeed knew nothing about the situation.

Moreover, these people mentioned the term “Dream World,” which wasn’t common knowledge. This alone lent more credibility to their words.

What was even stranger was that the intelligence transmitted by the Inspection Bureau headquarters, which used to respond quickly, fell on deaf ears this time.

Geffer pursed his lips. “If you have any information, could you share it with us?”

The players exchanged glances before A-Long finally spoke. “Alright, but we’re just following orders. We only know that there’s an organization called the Outsider in Arkham, planning something bad here. Our mission is to stop them, that’s all.”

“Following orders? Who are you taking orders from?”

“That… we can’t say.”

Geffer wanted to ask more, but he noticed something unusual around them.

During the fight earlier, there had been onlookers on the street. But now, without anyone noticing, the ordinary passersby had disappeared.

In their place were suspicious figures, all wearing masks and dressed in black, form-fitting outfits suitable for movement, clearly not here with good intentions.

The players immediately raised their guard. A-Long didn’t hesitate and fired.

In the next instant, everyone’s expression changed.

The bullets hovered, suspended in mid-air.

Among this group, there was at least one wizard!

Geffer instinctively wanted to retreat. The first rule taught in the Inspection Bureau’s training course was to run when encountering enemies wielding extraordinary powers, especially wizards, unless the number disparity between both sides was significant. This rule was a hard-learned lesson passed down from one senior to another.

However, the players didn’t know what retreat meant. Upon realizing there was a wizard inside, they became even more excited and charged forward with a roar.

“Captain, should we retreat?” the others hesitated and asked.

Geffer gritted his teeth. “We fight too!”

After all, they were investigators. They couldn’t afford to lose to amateurs!

—-

Albert casually tossed aside a corpse he held in his hand.

There were already many similar corpses around him. These low-level members of the Outsider organization hadn’t even realized what was happening before they collapsed into pools of blood, their bodies covered in burn marks.

Albert’s hands also bore burn scars, but they quickly began to heal on their own. He licked the wound left on the web of his hand and murmured, “One more left.”

He ignored the overwhelming exhaustion and the deep, soul-draining weakness within him. After quickly determining the direction, he headed toward the other node.

Albert didn’t know whether the information Amos had given about the two nodes was true, but he no longer had time to question it.

All he knew was that if the Outsider’s plan succeeded this time, everything they had worked for would be in vain.

He couldn’t endure another round of the mental torment brought by “that incident.”

When Albert arrived at the other node, he was prepared to confront the mysterious Amos, but to his surprise, Amos was nowhere to be found. Instead, two groups were locked in fierce combat.

Albert quickly recognized the Outsider by the masks they wore. As for the other side…

When he noticed their weapons and equipment, Albert’s pupils constricted. Without hesitation, he joined the fight.

Geffer was struggling to resist the assault of this mysterious group. Two of his team members were already down. Normally, he would have ordered a retreat by now, but this time…

More players aiding them had fallen, but they seemed fearless, fighting like warriors. In such a situation, how could Geffer have the face to order his team to retreat first?

He could only hope for Edmund now…

Geffer couldn’t see Edmund, but he knew Edmund hadn’t fled. He was hiding in the shadows, searching for the mysterious wizard responsible for most of their casualties.

Another team member went down, and Geffer could no longer hold out. Just as he was about to shout “Retreat,” Aisha, who was covering him, suddenly cried out, “Captain!”

She tried desperately to push Geffer away, but the wind blade spell had too wide a range. Both of their left shoulders and half of their bodies were hit by the wind blade, and blood sprayed a meter high.

Edmund, hidden in the shadows, finally caught the wizard’s trail. After two silver-glinting slashes, a head flew into the air.

The remaining Outsider, now without the protection of spells, became lambs to the slaughter. Edmund, like a lion among sheep, unleashed a spree of killing. After taking down two enemies, he sensed something was off. Why is there so little pressure?

Looking up, he saw that someone else was also targeting the group, and this person was killing far more swiftly than he was.

When the two of them stopped, almost no one was left standing. Edmund warily eyed Albert. “I think I’ve seen you at the police station before?”

Albert didn’t answer. Instead, he asked, “Aren’t you going to check on their injuries?”

Seeing that Albert didn’t seem intent on attacking, Edmund knelt to check on the captain’s injuries.

Fortunately, no one died immediately. Edmund let out a sigh of relief and performed simple bandaging for Geffer and Aisha. The players, however, were harder to deal with. They fought without regard for their injuries, and several had already breathed their last due to severe wounds. Now, in a state of death delay, they seemed to be enjoying the spectacle.

Edmund was unaware of the players’ death delay mode. After checking the breathing of several people, he sighed and stood up, looking at Albert, especially at his black robe, which at first glance seemed no different from the Outsider’s uniform.

“Who exactly are you…?”

“Has the headquarters contacted you?” Albert casually took out a badge from his chest and tossed it to Edmund, asking, “I’ve sent a lot of information back. They should have said they’d send people over.”

Edmund, cautious, didn’t catch it. The badge fell to the ground, and after a few seconds, he picked it up. The badge had a string of numbers on it, which was an internal code of the Inspection Bureau.

Albert… is an undercover agent for the Inspection Bureau?

Edmund thought to himself, cautiously replying, “I haven’t heard about that.”

Suddenly, he shivered, and the hairs on his arm stood on end.

A heavy killing intent and an aura of destruction rose from Albert, and Edmund didn’t know what he had said to provoke him. He quickly added, “I’m just an intern investigator. I might not have the clearance for some information. I had some trouble a while ago and just rejoined the team… Maybe our captain knows!”

The killing intent gradually subsided, and Albert pressed his lips together. “Let’s hope so.”

With that, he walked over to a small plaza and was about to destroy the magic array etched on the ground.

“Ah, it looks like I’m a little late.”

Hearing the voice, Albert slowly turned around, his expression turning serious as he looked at the newcomer.

The man had medium-length hair, gentle and kind features, and a constant fragrance of flowers surrounding him. He was the kind of man who would never make anyone wary, no matter where he appeared.

Only a few people knew how unusual he truly was.

“Amos,” Albert narrowed his eyes. “You did that on purpose.”

“What are you talking about?” Amos said innocently. It seemed like he had just noticed the situation around him, and he exclaimed in surprise, “How did so many people die? Wow, these people look like…”

His gaze shifted from the fallen, unaware Inspection Bureau team members to Albert, and he smiled. “It seems like they’re your people. Have you made contact with the main force?”

“You really do know.”

“Well, it’s not surprising. What you’re really asking is whether the leader knows your identity, right?” Amos curled the corner of his lips. “Unfortunately, the answer is—yes! He knows who you are, and the node task he gave us is probably just a smokescreen. That man doesn’t trust anyone, especially in this critical moment. He’ll go to the final place alone.”

Amos tilted his head, seemingly awaiting Albert’s reaction. Unfortunately, the blonde man remained expressionless.

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

Albert didn’t answer him. Compared to this man who spouted lies, anyone with a clear mind would be more inclined to trust themselves.

Amos sighed. “Should I say it’s pitiful or tragic? You didn’t really think the Inspection Bureau sent someone to rescue you, did you?”

“Look at them,” Amos gestured to the fallen, “A group of ordinary people without awakened origins, and a lucky intern,” he glanced at Edmund, “Do you think this scale shows that the Inspection Bureau values the information you provided?”

Albert’s entire body trembled.

“Ask him again, what exactly was your captain’s mission when he entered Arkham City?”

Since Amos had appeared, Edmund had been silently observing the two of them, not saying a word. But now that the topic had shifted to him, Edmund instinctively glanced at Albert, only to meet his bloodshot eyes.

That gaze was all too familiar to him—it was a mixture of despair, panic, and numbness.

It was like a prisoner waiting for the final verdict in court.