The chimes of midnight.
In an instant, no matter which floor they were on, almost everyone looked nervous. Even the players with special abilities swallowed subconsciously. Although Yun Xiaoyue, an ordinary person, tried to remain calm, she still grabbed the hem of Zhuge's suit.
“Hahahahahahaha…!”
"Let's start! Come out! Let's fight!"
"Only the last survivor can leave my castle!"
The sound that had been heard before echoed again, and everyone was on high alert, staring at their surroundings, fearing that something would suddenly jump out from some corner of the wall. Zhuge, in particular, as an official, had an extremely solemn expression on his face.
Gradually, the voice of the Phantom Duke disappeared, but the evil ghost in the urban legend did not appear, and the whole villa fell silent again.
However, just when everyone was relaxing a little...
... ..suddenly!
"Everyone! Can you hear me?!"
"Come downstairs immediately!"
"Gather on the first floor! Don't get separated!"
Gu Moli stood in front of the stairs on the first floor and spoke loudly at the same volume as when he was playing games and arguing with others. His voice was followed by the voice of the Phantom Duke.
"Fuck! I'm scared to death!"
"...I heard it!"
"I'll be right down!"
After a long while, Ren Xuan, Li Shaohua, Zhuge, and Yun Xiaoyue came down from upstairs one after another. Ren Xuan still had a bit of shame and anger on his face.
Gu Moli glanced at the blond young man calmly, and said with a twitch of his lips: "It seems that your courage is just like your outfit, both at the level of a street thug."
"Stop talking nonsense! Are men not allowed to be afraid of ghosts?!"
"hehe."
After ignoring Ren Xuan's rebuttal, Gu Moli looked at Zhuge and others again: "What is on the second and third floors of the villa?"
Hua Qiong on the first floor had just told me about this.
Besides, Gu Moli himself was also on the first floor, and the general layout could be seen at a glance. It was nothing more than a large living room, two guest rooms and a bathroom.
"Let me go first."
Zhuge spoke first. After all, he was an official, so he explained in an orderly manner: "Generally speaking, the second floor is not much different from the first floor. There is also a living room and a bathroom, no bedroom, only a study room, which has a large bookshelf and a corresponding desk."
"Do you have a pen and paper?"
"No, not only that, the books on the bookshelf seem to be locked from the bottom, and can't be taken down at all. The desk itself is made of wood, and there is a line of words engraved on it: "The knowledge of the Shadow Kingdom is not allowed to be consulted by mortals." It seems to have been engraved with a knife or something, and it's not very neat."
"Besides that?"
"That's all. That's about it."
"Then..." Gu Moli glanced at Ren Xuan, then turned decisively to look at Li Shaohua: "Is there anything on the third floor?"
"Hey! What about me? I've explored the third floor as well, right? Ask me!"
Just filter out the noise.
Li Shaohua looked at Ren Xuan strangely, as if he wanted to laugh, but he finally put on a serious look: "In fact, the third floor is a super large gym with a lot of fitness equipment and a very large sand table."
"... Sand table?"
"Yes."
Li Shaohua nodded. "It's similar to the ones used in wars, a huge sand table with a corresponding map hanging on the wall. There are also clear markings on it. It seems to be a model of the former Phantom Duke's territory. From houses to mountains and rivers, there are corresponding markings."
"Is that so? Is there a bathroom?"
"There is one room with a window, but unfortunately it is also locked from the inside."
"Ah." At this point, Li Shaohua seemed to have just remembered and continued, "There is a small staircase in the corner of the gym. I think it should lead to the roof, but unfortunately, the staircase is blocked. I tried to open it, but it didn't seem to be very successful..."
Gu Moli frowned slightly, and suddenly leaned close to Li Shaohua's ear and whispered, "Where are your skills? Have you tried using them?"
"Hmm..." Li Shaohua looked a little unnatural, but still answered: "I tried it, but I got a warning from the system right away, saying that it was destroying private property..."
After saying this, Li Shaohua immediately distanced himself from Gu Moli.
There are differences between men and women, but Gu Moli didn't care about it. Instead, he lowered his head and began to think.
Destroy private property
Um... .
"How is it, great detective? Do you have any ideas? We have been following your instructions..."
"Extra A, shut up. You're disturbing my thoughts."
"Well... !"
Ren Xuan was still a little unconvinced, but after being glared at by Hua Qiong who was standing behind Gu Moli, he shut his mouth obediently.
And the other side.
Gu Moli already had some idea.
Player skills cannot be used on this villa because it is considered to be destroying private property. Obviously, if it is the real Phantom Duke, his villa is definitely not private property. Why... .Please! This is a construction site! Phantom City was built here without government permission... .
... .At the very least, it is illegal occupation of land, and at the worst, it is the blatant destruction of private property!
In other words.
"Sure enough, this villa should have been built by a certain organization specifically for a certain purpose."
"and... .."
... .not player built.
The reason is the same as above. It is impossible for players to use their own abilities to do illegal things, so illegally occupying land to build a phantom city is obviously impossible.
but... .
Why
Gu Moli glanced at the nervous Zhuge with his peripheral vision. As an official, he should know the absolute rules of the Hero Trial best, but why? Why did he still look worried? Anyway, there would be no danger to his life, right? Or... .
... .A terrifying answer suddenly popped up in Gu Moli’s mind.
No way
The rules of the Hero Trial are absolutely unchanging and should not be breakable by a mere player.
“… .!”
Shaking away distracting thoughts from his mind, Gu Moli took a deep breath. No matter what, there were five players here, one of whom was an official staff member. Even if there were really players lurking, with the current VIP level of the players, it was impossible for them to have any terrible skills.
Moreover, compared to the player, Gu Moli is more inclined to believe that the murderer is an ordinary person.
But this raises a problem that must be solved.
This phantom city... .
... .How did it appear
In just three minutes, this villa rose up as soon as Hua Qiong left and accommodated everyone within three minutes. How did this villa appear
It’s hard to come up with an answer based on common sense, so it requires a little uncommon-sense thinking.
Everyone has different and questionable reasons.
It was originally a construction site that had been abandoned for several years.
A motionless chandelier.
Doors and windows sealed from the inside.
The clock in the corner of the living room is the only object that can determine the time.
A voice calling itself the Phantom Duke.
The gym's territory sandbox.
The curse words of the Phantom Duke.
On the back is a demon's head and an automatically closing door of the villa.
The sealed staircase leading to the roof in the corner of the gym.
Five of the six invited guests were gamers.
The entire castle is private property.
Almost everything in the villa was locked up, and nothing could be taken away except for very few items such as food.
“… … ..”
Gu Moli's mind quickly went through the clues he knew so far. The thirteen clues were like a ball of wool with countless threads entangled together. Only by finding the most core clue could he filter out the truth that was closest to the correct answer from this mess of reality.
And the way to leave Phantom City... must be hidden in these clues!