Edward Murray

Chapter 22: Edward Murray

Remaining Time:

[3h 50m]

Several large red lanterns were rehung in the bungalow area.

With the dark night and heavy rain, the light cast by these large red lanterns only reached a radius of about ten meters around the bungalows.

Han Dong was observing and waiting on the second floor of a bungalow.

Waiting for Edward Murray to be killed by the Evil Spirit… after which, the final step of his plan would commence.

However, the plan did not proceed as he had envisioned.

In the midst of the downpour.

A youth, covered in oil, hobbled towards the front of the bungalow.

This person was none other than Edward Murray.

Moreover, his 'Steam Prosthetic', which he had spent a fortune to build and install, seemed to have sustained some damage, making it less flexible than before.

"Akaman is an Evil Spirit, and the event character is also an Evil Spirit… No! Why are there two Evil Spirits? The intel clearly stated no such information."

A major oversight had plunged Edward into a desperate situation.

Edward had mistakenly believed that the 'Possessed Chen Li' was the host of the Evil Spirit in this event, and therefore, he had not suspected any other members of the team.

Of course, Han Dong was partly responsible for this mistake.

When the team members split up, Han Dong had instructed Chen Li to wear red and carry a cleaver while following Edward.

This made Edward firmly believe that 'Chen Li was the Evil Spirit'.

Consequently, when he later encountered Akaman, he completely let down his guard.

That he was still alive was nothing short of miraculous.

Even a skilled fighter like the bald De Leon, who wielded a sledgehammer in the factory, had vanished without a sound when encountering an Evil Spirit while fully on alert.

Yet, Edward Murray had managed to escape a 'certain death situation' through some method.

He had even managed to flee all the way back to the bungalow area.

Staring at the bungalows where the lanterns had been rehung.

Coupled with the system notification he received – 'Number of surviving team members: [3]', which included the Evil Spirit Akaman… it meant that currently, only Edward and one other person were still alive.

Edward was a rather meticulous person, his mind racing as he recalled some subtle issues from his experiences over the past few days.

At this moment, someone's words echoed in Edward's mind.

"My name is Valen Nicholas… I haven't been very healthy since birth and have been idle at home. However, when I'm bored, I have a certain understanding of linguistics, so I should be able to handle translation."

"Captain… I'm not feeling well."

"Captain, I need to rest for a bit."

"Then let's split into teams like this… Miss Akaman and I will be a team."

This frail youth, Valen Nicholas, who had to stop and catch his breath after walking a short mountain path, surfaced in Edward's mind.

Regarding the 'Nicholas's' positioning.

Edward had initially regarded him as 'the translation tool to worry about the least'; with Nicholas's physical condition, he wouldn't have survived.

Leaving Nicholas for last, as a pawn to buy time, was Edward's plan.

However, Edward was completely mistaken… a person's frailty did not mean they had lost their chance to survive.

Monica was dead, and Akaman was a lurking Evil Spirit.

Facing the bungalows with the large red lanterns hanging high.

Edward's 'sunny' and 'friendly' demeanor vanished entirely, his face contorted with ferocity as he snarled, "Brother Nicholas, you're truly deceitful!

Considering your poor health, I let you rest in your room every day. All the basic preparations were completed by me and the team… and in the end, you betrayed me.

With your physique, you still want to become a 'Returner'?

You'll die sooner or later anyway… might as well be my stepping stone."

However, in response to Edward's angry roar and taunts, Han Dong did not appear.

Instead, only a woman in red, holding a baby toy in one arm and a cleaver in her right hand, slowly walked across the second-floor corridor and returned to her 'Room 6'.

Such a bizarre scene made Edward break out in a cold sweat.

Even now, he couldn't determine if 'Chen Li' was human or ghost.

At the same time.

On the muddy mountain path, an 'Evil Spirit' in a crawling posture was also slowly approaching the bungalows.

It was just that the Evil Spirit seemed somewhat off; its movements were slower than before.

The face was injured, seemingly cut by a sharp object and then burned at high temperatures, causing the corners of the mouth to split completely and turn black, making it incredibly eerie.

A thin tongue flicked out from the scorched mouth, and a slightly non-standard British accent could be faintly heard:

"This person... really has some skill! It hurts so much, just like my former father treated me with a branding iron. However, this feeling is quite nostalgic."

It wasn't a certain death.

Edward Murray learned from elders who had passed through Destiny Space that for any event corresponding to Destiny Space, no matter how perilous, there was always a 'way out'.

One such way out was 'Restriction'.

Another way out was the weakness of the dangerous creature itself. Once its weakness could be revealed or perceived, the opponent could be driven back to a certain extent, creating an opportunity to escape.

Most Evil Spirits 'fear fire', which was also information Edward had bought. However, there were a few exceptions that not only weren't afraid of fire but could even absorb it.

If he had encountered one of those, Edward would surely be dead.

However, under normal circumstances, his luck wouldn't be too bad.

Besides the usual steam-powered functions that greatly increased his strength and punching speed, Edward's Steam Prosthetic also had an internal combustion engine and a small nozzle.

It could spray fire.

That's right... this was one of Edward's trump cards.

If he couldn't control the 'time issue' and the Evil Spirit found him, this was the 'trump card' he needed to use.

But because the built-in 'flame thrower' was expensive, Edward could only afford to implant a standard model with a smaller capacity, which had completely run out of fuel during his direct confrontation with the Evil Spirit just now.

Even the internal combustion pipes were damaged. Even if he had time to refuel it, it wouldn't be able to spray fire anymore.

Standing in front of the bungalow, Edward remained as calm as possible, trying to think and find a way to break free from the predicament.

"There is only one way for me to survive... find that brat Nicholas and kill him directly!

I can now be 100% certain that Akaman is the Evil Spirit, but I cannot be completely sure about the Possessed Chen Li.

For a novice event, even a four-star one, having two Evil Spirits is absolutely impossible! Chen Li, this special event character, was likely instructed by Nicholas to pretend to be an Evil Spirit to mislead me.

It must be like this!

This is all Nicholas's conspiracy!

Where is that dirty, cunning rat hiding?"

Edward truly had talent and the qualifications to survive. Being able to calmly analyze the situation at such a critical juncture could be considered 'excellent', and his preparations were also quite thorough.

It was just a pity that he had already made a big mistake.

Just as Edward began to search the bungalow, Han Dong was sitting on the bed on the second floor, with his fingers interlaced in a triangle, pondering.

"Edward actually managed to survive a direct confrontation with an Evil Spirit... As expected, encountering an 'Evil Spirit' doesn't necessarily mean death.

There's no other way. Since Edward isn't dead, I'll have to change my plan temporarily."