What Else Is in the Pocket

Detective?

Zhou Zhi thought about it for a moment before he remembered this matter: back on the carriage, Judy had once asked where the detective gentleman had gone, but he hadn't cared at the time, subconsciously asking back and then answering that he didn't know, after which the other party said no more. He hadn't expected that these few brief words would be remembered by Taylor. Uh, maybe someone who provides intelligence? What, is he important?

"Then let me ask you another question, have you seen the Host's face?" Taylor said.

"No." On this point Zhou Zhi was certain, "He has always worn a mask... or two masks. In short, from the first time I saw him, he looked like that."

"A Sichuan Opera Mask," Taylor emphasized. "Because he is the GameMaster, it doesn't matter to us what he looks like, but a person wearing a bizarre mask has no way to communicate normally with the people of this world."

This world...

Zhou Zhi suddenly realized what the other party wanted to say.

"That's right, if Paradise is not a simple game, then if the Host wants to communicate with others, he needs a tangible identity. And an identity suitable for use in a serial murder case... a detective is clearly a good choice."

"Are you trying to say that the detective gentleman Judy asked about... is actually the Host himself?"

"And not some fictional phantom, but his true body." Taylor chuckled softly, seeming quite satisfied with Zhou Zhi's shocked expression. "Of course, these are all just my guesses; don't go asking the Host about this. Actually, what I care about most isn't this..."

"Then, then what do you care about?"

"Naturally, the reward. Look... following this line of thought, since the fun we've been looking for aren't tasks concocted out of thin air, then who is our real employer?" The Englishman leaned forward slightly, the oil lamp's shadow flickering uncertainly across his face. "Is it the Host, or that Miss Judy?"

"Is there a difference..." Zhou Zhi swallowed hard. "Only Paradise could bring us here, right?"

"Of course there is, much like outsourcing versus direct contracting. But you're young, so you probably find it hard to grasp this point."

Isn't it just cutting out the middleman, Zhou Zhi was just about to speak when the Host suddenly appeared in the center of the living room.

"Ah!" Zhou Zhi was startled.

"What's wrong with you?" Chaoyang looked toward him.

"No, no, nothing." Zhou Zhi looked guiltily at the ceiling. "Is Paradise closing?"

"No. Task updated: eliminate the mastermind—Kuiqi, the chief of the North City Police Station. You can open the task interface to check the detailed description."

"Woah, there wasn't a task interface before, you guys improve really fast." Zhou Zhi said as he clicked open the new interface. "But this time is really long, feels like we've hit the main quest."

"I have a question, Host." Taylor spoke up from the side. "Do players have to persist all the way until the end of the task? What if someone wants to leave early?"

"Paradise always puts client requests as the top priority. The two of you can choose to abort the game at any time." Chaoyang replied quickly while raising his right hand, striking a finger-snapping pose. "Mr. Taylor, do you wish to end your trip to Paradise right here?"

"No, no, no, you misunderstood, I was just asking casually," Taylor said, waving his hands hurriedly.

Chaoyang put his hand back down.

Over there, Zhou Zhi had already finished reading the task description and couldn't help clicking his tongue, "This guy is too vicious; Zhou Peipi is more conscientious than him!"

"Who is Zhou Peipi?" Taylor asked. "A relative of yours?"

"He's your relative!" Zhou Zhi gave the Englishman a blank stare. "We only have two people left, and the other side still has bodyguards; no matter how you look at it, the chances of storming in are slim."

"The new task phase will also unlock new exchange props. You can take another look at the weapon exchange column."

"No matter what, the difficulty of this task is too high..." Halfway through his sentence, Zhou Zhi suddenly froze because he saw a weapon with a painfully familiar appearance in the exchange column.

An automatic rifle called CQ-B.

The exchange points were 1000 points.

At the same time, the numbers above the exchange interface also jumped, displaying +1200.

"The previous phase of the task has been settled. The main quest rewards and extra rewards total 1200, which you can use in the new phase's tasks." Chaoyang added.

To Chaoyang, this was also a gamble. The firearm itself was fine, but every single bullet used by the gun was not provided for free. He needed to spend Wish Force to construct them, and the consumption of hundreds of bullets added together was much greater than the firearm itself, which was why he didn't want to provide modern weapons right from the start.

Compared to swords, bows, and crossbows, the expenses of using them were simply too large.

Only after acquiring Judy's Wish Force did Chaoyang have the spare capacity to manufacture these. If this mission failed, it would mean all his investments went down the drain, and until the next contract arrived, he would basically have to eat dirt.

While Zhou Zhi was still dazed, Taylor had already exchanged for the gun, skillfully disengaged the safety, and with a click pulled the bolt to chamber a round.

"Hahaha... This really is a good gadget, it's a pity Mr. Anthony and my friend Qiao didn't live to see it."

"It looks like this isn't your first time touching this gun."

"Of course, it's a replica M4. Qiao and I played with them plenty." Taylor didn't deny it. "Though it was mainly used at the firing range before, this is the first time in actual combat."

"But I've never used a real gun..." Zhou Zhi felt quite unsure of himself. As delinquent as he was, he still kept a respectful distance from illegal things. "Right, since there's Translation Tofu, can you give us a Firearm Tofu?"

This left Chaoyang speechless. The so-called tofu was actually soul memories; it had to be something he had mastered himself in order to share with Paradise players. Meanwhile, the prerequisite for fictional objects was that he had touched the actual object and completed the object's recording on the spot before it could be replicated in Paradise. The two were not the same thing.

In other words, he didn't necessarily know how to use the items he created.

However, Chaoyang quickly thought of a solution. "Sorry, Paradise temporarily has no similar items to offer. How about this, I'll let another player provide you with firearm experience—his consciousness will enter this body and then provide you with real-time guidance, while I will reduce the rejection between the two of you, allowing you to have control of the body as much as possible."

"Eh... you can do that!?"

Zhou Zhi was just about to ask how to operate it when he suddenly felt a swelling in his head, followed by a voice ringing directly in his mind, "Hey, Host, I haven't agreed yet!"

"Brother Zhang!" Zhou Zhi was greatly shocked. "You're still alive!"

"What do you mean I'm still alive, watch your mouth!"

"No, I mean, you actually managed to return to the game..." He looked happily at Chaoyang. "Then the other few people are actually..."

"They can also see the progress of the two of you. As I said before, you are a team, and the game is considered a failure and over only when all of you are wiped out." Chaoyang replied calmly.

Of course he knew that wasn't actually how it worked; for instance, he could completely decide when to cut off soul perception, letting those people fall into a thorough sleep, or directly send them back to their original bodies. However, at a time like this, he didn't need to explain it in such detail.

"You can just understand it as the others being in spectator mode. As for Mr. Zhang's questioning... I did this because I perceived your intense emotional fluctuation after learning about Haia Mila's situation. If you feel it's inappropriate, I can also retract this proposal."

Zhang Zhiyuan's voice instantly choked up, "I, I didn't ask you to retract it... Just ask for my thoughts first next time, all right?"

"Then why not just let Qiao and the others revive and start over?" Taylor asked in puzzlement. "With an extra helper, the success rate of the mission would be much higher, right?"

"Wait, I remember there is a resurrection scroll in the exchange interface, it just costs 1000 points." Zhou Zhi was already quite familiar with these props.

"That's right, I never said resurrection wasn't allowed from the start, but unfortunately, it cannot be used in the new phase of tasks."

"Why?"

"Because of time," Chaoyang explained. "Creating a new body takes at least an hour, and at this moment there are less than two hours left until dawn. If the eastern sky turns white and you still haven't eliminated Kuiqi, the mission will be deemed a failure. If you want to achieve final victory, you must act quickly."