The People Behind the Casino

They reached the end of the street.

The two immediately ducked and hid behind a trash can by the roadside, and the six children were strung together like gourds.

To keep them quiet, An Ying gave them six cookies, which at least shut them up.

Did you find anything in the bookstore just now?

Tao Yuan nodded. "There's something very strange."

"Many people here are gamblers, but there are anti-gambling newspapers on the bookshelves, as well as some police daily newspapers from ten years ago."

"The latest news is still about another Casino being destroyed," Tao Yuan said strangely. "It's really odd that it's here. How can these people tolerate such a newspaper being displayed here for others to see?"

An Ying thought of the fourth Rules, and suddenly a thought flashed through her mind, "Perhaps it's related to the fourth Rules."

Tao Yuan paused, An Ying glanced at her, quickly walked back a short distance, and then returned.

Seeing the questioning look in Tao Yuan's eyes, he shook his head. "Disappeared."

The place where they had just entered the bookstore had been replaced by another Snack Stall, with no trace of the bookstore, as if it had never existed at all.

"It seems the existence of this bookstore is indeed suspicious," Tao Yuan muttered to himself. "We could clearly see the bookstore and even go inside, but it disappeared after we left. This means there used to be a bookstore here; otherwise, we wouldn't have encountered it."

"Since the bookstore disappeared after we left, does that mean that something happened in the original world that caused it to go out of business? Why did it go out of business?"

An Ying spoke coldly, "That newspaper."

"Yes, that's the newspaper."

Tao Yuan said, "The books and newspapers in this bookstore should have some kind of positive guiding function. They can help some people break free from those crazy and uncontrollable 'addictions,' and some people may even regain their sense of self and refuse to gamble through these newspapers and books."

"These things are like the antidote, so in order to destroy them, the Casino targeted the bookstore. The bookstore owner was charred black, and there were also black soot marks at the entrance, so the bookstore was very likely burned down, and he died in the fire."

"I also saw other reports in the newspaper, all about philanthropists, who seemed to have nothing to do with this place, but a few names looked familiar."

"Ci Zhemao, Wang Zhishang, Tong Kou."

An Ying recalled, "I vaguely remember Ci Zhemao. It seems he was killed a few years ago in revenge. They said he tortured and killed dozens of his team members and had a severe mental illness."

"Yes, there are two others. I think I've seen their news as well."

"They are not philanthropists at all; they are probably one of the people behind this."

Tao Yuan said, "Although they died outside, they might still be alive in this Weird World. Do you think if we find these three and throw them into the monsters' wrath, we can get Perfect Clear?"

An Ying nodded. "That's a good idea! Provided we're right about the mysterious person behind it all."

"Let's take it one step at a time. Let's go to the Security Room and check Sheng Qingqiao's location; he should be inside too."

Meanwhile, the names of these individuals sparked a flurry of discussion in the live stream.

[I know Ci Zhemao. He's a psychopath. He likes to cut people with knives and laughs hysterically. He wasn't normal before the strange occurrences, but he's rich and powerful, so no one dares to defy him.]

[Wang Zhishang used to live in the same villa area as me. He looked respectable, but he had a particular fondness for perverted things. I even saw him collect the heads after killing people, arranging them neatly.]

That Tong Kou was a beast! He loved cutting off the legs of young men and women, he liked deformed people, he was disgusting. My brother killed him a couple of years ago.

[Good riddance! These days, who doesn't have some mental issues? But we're all perfectly normal. Those who aren't normal are just inherently malicious; don't blame them for being mentally ill.]

[These people are disgusting, and they were philanthropists before? Were the adults in the past blind?]

[I remember, they were indeed very wealthy and famous before, and they were featured in the news many times.]

[Children, you don't understand how treacherous society was back then.]

[These people are truly deceitful; if Tao Yuan's guess is true, they are more terrifying than the supernatural.]

I wonder how things are going with Captain Qin Rang. I'll go check out that livestream.

Inside the Tailor Shop:

Bai Yang had barely sat down when a notification for Battle Royale appeared in front of him.

He and Qin Rang turned to look at the female owner of the shop. She was no longer alive; she had turned into a charred, blackened corpse.

"A charred corpse. It seems she was burned to death. Was there a fire here before?"

Bai Yang nodded. "The tables and chairs in the shop are all blackened and charred in patches; they were most likely burned."

The two waited for a few minutes. The Female Specter in the shop remained silent, like a mannequin. Apart from the mannequins dressed in new clothes, the only other people in the entire Tailor Shop who moved were the two of them.

"You focus on repairing it, I'll go take a look around," Qin Rang said.

Bai Yang nodded and took out the Teddy Bear Doll, placing it beside him.

Although it hasn't been repaired yet, it's the only Puppet he has that can put him to a fight right now, so it's safer to keep it by his side.

That wretched moon nearly killed his Little Rabbit, and the sun he's about to face is no pushover either; he'll have to sew it up securely.

While repairing the tattered Little Rabbit, Bai Yang pondered how to bring that giant sun down later.

He and Flower Language are still in this Instance. Flower Language is a Weird Card, fused with the abnormal personality in the True Form's mind. If the plan is really to eat the sun, she can only provide support at most.

Therefore, his new Doll should ideally possess the ability to digest. What kind of Doll is most likely to awaken the Parasitic Spirit's digestive abilities?

We can't just give it the ability to randomly grow bigger, like Rabbit Plush Toy.

While Qin Rang was calmly repairing the items in Bai Yang, he stood at the shop entrance and looked outside.

After the Battle Royale began, the eerie forces outside were chasing after the players, and many players ran into various shops to escape the Battle Royale.

It seems there are "Safe Houses " for the daytime Battle Royale, but these "Safe Houses " themselves may not be very safe.

Qin Rang searched the Tailor Shop thoroughly, but found no written information left behind.

He could only try to strike up a conversation with the woman once again.

When is your boss coming back?

The woman slowly shook her head, and black carbonized matter fell off in a rustling sound. Qin Rang slightly choked, but he still managed to maintain his smile.

He's been gone for a long time now, and I'm waiting for him.

It's been a long time? It can't be...

"Oh, so you're here to buy things too, just like me!"

The woman said, "The boss is my lover."

Qin Rang's heart sank.