Shackles

Everything returned to square one. It was as if the Peaceful Sleep Inn had granted its guests peaceful sleep once more.

The rules' unseen power fell silent along with everything else. Almost instantly, Yu Xing sensed that the rule of "lie down" was temporarily gone.

The more powerful one's abilities, the easier it was to sense abstract concepts. Rules, illusions, reality, and curses all had a natural advantage in this regard.

Yu Xing got out of bed, withdrawing the branches wrapped around Zhang Yu as he pushed open the door and stepped outside.

Just as he had "seen" moments ago, the corridor was spotless, without a trace of the cruelty that had taken place. But it wasn't as if nothing had been left behind—the deducer who had turned into a blood-and-flesh wraith wasn't going to come back to life.

The moment he stepped onto the corridor floor, the system spoke again.

[You have triggered a Side Quest: The Last Warmth]

[This Side Quest is triggered by the area. All deducers currently inside the Peaceful Sleep Inn will receive the notification.]

[Penalty for failure: Unknown]

[Reward for success: Individually calculated based on each deducer's contribution to the quest]

Just as the system had said, the notice was sent to all seven deducers.

Perhaps guessing that some people might learn what had happened to the Dark Star members by one means or another and be afraid to get up, the system added a separate message—

[Special Notice: It is currently safe.]

[All deducers who received the quest, please gather in the corridor.]

With the system's assurance, footsteps of varying rhythms sounded from the rooms.

Before long, the doors opened one after another, revealing faces with all kinds of expressions.

"Captain!" Zhang Yu spotted Yu Xing standing in the