Phantom Species

Suren's words sent huge waves crashing through Baldhead's heart.

He immediately shot back, "Did this manor really contain relics left behind by Sir Isaac?"

Suren spat out another mouthful of bloody phlegm before replying, "Yes. At least, that was what the Treasure Map I obtained recorded."

"..."

Upon receiving confirmation again, the bald brute's eyes darted repeatedly, as though he were weighing something.

Excitement, anticipation, conflict, and a hint of concern.

He looked at Suren, suspicion flickering in his eyes, but his killing intent was genuinely restrained.

If he had not known the manor's secret, killing him would have been no big deal.

But now that he knew there was such an enormous treasure hidden within the manor, how could he possibly give it up?

As a seasoned Wasteland Hunter Captain in Old Lindun, how could he not know the value of Sir Isaac's relics?

That legendary Great Alchemist had supposedly pushed ancient Alchemy to its limits and was hailed as a Demigod. Over his lifetime, he had developed countless new Alchemy Formulas and peculiar potions, with innumerable patented inventions. Every Alchemy Manuscript he left behind could fetch an astronomical price in the Lindun Black Market.

Baldhead had personally witnessed someone pay the staggering price of three hundred Gold Krona at a Black Market auction for a useless page of daily notes, simply because it had been handwritten by Sir Isaac.

One had to know that the "DH-031 Enhanced Modified Model" Mechanical Arm he wore was worth only a few dozen Gold Krona, even including the materials and modification costs.

Although Baldhead knew Suren might be hiding something, anything connected to that man was worth gambling his life on!

If he truly found any relic left by Sir Isaac, he would become rich overnight. Why would he need to risk his life hunting the wastelands for the rest of his days?

With that thought, Baldhead narrowed his eyes and coldly asked, "Kid, who exactly are you?"

"I don't know either."

Suren put on a confused expression for a moment, then added, "My memories were erased."

The information on his retina had said the original owner's memories had been erased, so there was nothing wrong with that answer.

"..."

Hearing that, Baldhead pondered for a moment.

He apparently did not doubt him, nor did he press further.

Having been exiled from the Inner City and placed under an assassination bounty, Suren's identity was certainly not simple. The explanation of erased memories made sense as well.

Rather than digging deeper into Suren's identity, he asked, "Where did this Treasure Map of yours come from?"

Suren replied, "I don't know who left it for me."

"..."

Baldhead frowned at those words but said nothing.

They had searched Suren during the interrogation earlier and found nothing that could possibly have been a Treasure Map.

He also guessed that Suren was still holding something back. There was no point in forcing the issue. No one would be foolish enough to reveal everything they had to save their life at once.

Which meant he was even less likely to kill him now.

The iron grip around his neck loosened, and Suren knew that his life was safe for the moment.

Though he looked rather bedraggled, he remained calm inside.

If he truly wanted to survive, he still had to think of another way.

Baldhead was clearly wary of him as well, repeatedly questioning him about the details of the Treasure Map. But just then, a desperate cry that sounded like ghosts howling and wolves wailing came from outside the door.

"Captain! Captain, where are you? Save me!"

The sudden wail instantly made the atmosphere in the room strange.

The moment Baldhead heard it, his expression turned grave.

Only then did he realize that they were still inside a Cursed Space suspected to be Grade A danger level!

This manor still concealed unknown dangers.

Suren did not know what terrifying thing that person outside had encountered, but judging by the despair in his voice, he could guess that something horrific had happened beyond the door.

Baldhead frowned deeply, grabbed Suren by the neck with one hand to use him as a shield, and walked over to open the door.

With a click, the door opened.

At that moment, a blood-soaked figure burst in, his face full of panic.

Baldhead clearly recognized the man in assassin's leather armor and called out his name with a frown. "Marcus?"

When the man saw Baldhead, color suddenly returned to his pale face. He cried out in wild joy, "Captain Ivan!"

After a pause, the terror on his face turned into the relief of a survivor. Gasping for breath, he said, "Oh, God. Captain, I finally found you!"

Watching silently from the side, Suren finally learned their names.

Captain?

It sounded like some sort of organization.

Suren examined the wounds and bloodstains on Marcus's body, then looked at the smoking firearm in his hand. He found it rather strange. A gunman with cuts from a sharp blade had been slashed by a knife?

Or perhaps it had not been a person?

Clearly, things were not so simple.

At that moment, Baldhead saw that Marcus was alone and stuck his head out to inspect the corridor, but he found nothing unusual.

After closing the door, he asked gravely, "Where are Vice-Captain Mark, Daniel, and the others?"

"Captain... They're dead. They're all dead!"

Marcus's eyes were filled with terror. As though recalling something, he said through tears, "Just now... just now, after we entered this Cursed Space, we got lost while walking around. Then we discovered that there were so many terrifying puppets in this house! There seemed to be an Anomaly of the Phantom Species controlling those puppets. It was everywhere. It wanted us to play games with them. Hide-and-seek. If it found you, you died."

"Phantom Species?"

After hearing his subordinate's stammering account, Bald Ivan's face was full of gravity.

Phantom Species?

Anomaly?

Suren caught several words he understood, yet they went beyond the limits of his original knowledge.

Taking the chance to catch his breath, he tore a strip of cloth from his clothes and bound the wound on his hand tightly.

Having witnessed the Supernatural Abilities of this world, it was not difficult for Suren to understand that these words probably referred to some kind of supernatural creature.

"It" had just killed more than a dozen of Baldhead's men.

Although Marcus's story sounded bizarre, it was not all that unbelievable to Suren, a transmigrator.

He was not particularly shocked. Instead, a strange sense of familiarity rose within him. A horror plot? This seemed more like the proper way for things to unfold.

Vaguely, he could even infer some of the Phantom Species' preferences from the account—for example, it liked tormenting and killing humans, and it liked childish games.

It seemed that Baldhead was no longer the only deadly threat. Now there was also a Phantom Species.

Baldhead was still carefully questioning his subordinate about what had happened, when Suren, whose thoughts were racing, seemed to notice something. His brows lifted.

"Huh?"

His gaze moved away from Marcus and suddenly landed on the red, black, and green soldier puppet in the corner of the study, which looked like a Nutcracker Puppet.

Before, he had thought it was merely a decoration in the study.

But perhaps it had been an illusion—Suren had just seen the puppet's eyeballs seem to tremble.

At that moment, the puppet's pitch-black eyes were staring directly at the three people in the room.

After thinking back briefly, Suren noticed the anomaly. I thought I remembered wrong, but it really moved.

He remembered clearly that when Baldhead had pinned him against the opposite wall earlier, the puppet had been looking left, directly at them.

Now, they had moved to the doorway on the right, yet the puppet's eyes were still staring at them.

Like this: →_→!

It was a habit he had developed from playing horror Secret Chamber games in the past. In enclosed environments, his eyes instinctively gathered every clue around him to break the deadlock.

That was why he had noticed the difference in the Nutcracker Puppet.

So I was being watched by a "person."

Suren had discovered the anomaly, and realization flashed through his eyes.

He had initially thought he was mistaken, but now that he had heard there were murderous puppets in this house, Suren immediately became certain that everything in the room had been under the surveillance of someone hidden in the shadows.

Perhaps it was the so-called Phantom Species.

Still, even after noticing this, Suren did not reveal the slightest abnormality on his face.

Though he still did not know what the Anomaly in this room actually was, judging from the expressions of Baldhead and Marcus, it was certainly something dangerous.

But that did not mean the Anomaly would be more deadly to Suren than those two.

It might even be good news.

If he wanted to survive Baldhead's grasp, this Anomaly might also be something he could use.