บท 4100: Chapter 3209: The Detective's Death (23)
What troubled Shiller was Night Owl.
Night Owl was no good person, belonging to the ranks of Evil Batman, and he continuously attracted Bruce's attention.
Yet, his identity was ironically that of a police officer, and logically speaking, American police shouldn't have arrived so early. His premature appearance suggested ulterior motives.
Shiller wasn't too clear if Night Owl knew Bruce was also playing the game when he fabricated his backstory. If he knew, he definitely would have crafted a backstory that aligned with Bruce, naturally positioning himself by Bruce's side.
However, the identity of a police officer was crucial, as many files could only be accessed at the police station, and police naturally held the right to interrogate. To clarify what was happening in the village, using law enforcement authority for direct investigation was the simplest approach.
But if Night Owl was also a corrupt cop with the intention to silence them, that would be an enormous problem.
Night Owl was purely a brother-controller, and Bruce completely dominated in this respect. Shiller knew he himself wasn't particularly skilled at attracting attention, making it nearly impossible to win over Night Owl.
Given this, he had to prepare for the worst-case scenario— the demise of the Primary Universe Batman right there, as he and the Pale Knight would stand together against the remaining three.
Don't ask Shiller why he didn't just join if he couldn't win. As long as the opposing faction harbored Greed, he could never join because Greed spared no Shiller equally.
Thinking this, Shiller stood up and said, "All of those who can stand, let's go."
The crowd turned their heads and looked at him. Shiller added, "Besides Mr. Hunter here, the rest of us are not severely injured. If we all leave, there's nothing valuable left here to attack."
"Are you going to abandon him?" Pale Knight frowned at Shiller.
"A professional Doctor has already given an answer," Shiller replied. "There's no saving him. It's completely irrational to slow down our investigation for a doomed man."
"I disagree," Pale Knight said. "Since you can heal our spirits, there must surely be a way to heal the body. It's too early to talk about giving up now."
"I also disagree," Greed said. "Mr. Hunter was severely injured while covering our retreat. From a humanitarian perspective, we can't just leave him here."
Shiller wasn't even sure who the villains were anymore— why did it seem like he was the cold-hearted one?
"Then you can stay with him," Shiller said. "And pray that the Wandering hasn't attached to him, so it won't snap your neck the moment he turns into a corpse."
"I'll stay and look after him," Night Owl stated. "Our injuries are the most severe among everyone. If we stay to recuperate, the situation might improve quite a bit. And if we do get attacked, your losses wouldn't be so great."
Everyone fell silent. It seemed like a solution with no other choice. The soon-to-be-deceased Primary Universe Batman and Night Owl, who had lost half an arm, were of the least value among them all, barely possessing any combat capability. Even if something unexpected occurred, it wouldn't really weaken the team.
"Now isn't the time for your grand gestures of kindness, young master," Shiller said looking at Greed. "If you really want to do something, go take their last portrait."
After saying this, Shiller turned and walked towards the door. Greed, with an angry expression, threw the half-piece of bread in his hand aside, seeming to have lost all appetite.
Everyone but Night Owl gradually followed Shiller out. Greed, last to exit, left the small room with just Night Owl and Primary Universe Batman remaining.
Shiller first went upstairs, searched the room where Jeff had stayed, but found nothing.
Then he moved to the third floor, to the room with the animal trap, crouched down to release and pick up the trap, and brought it back downstairs to place at the entrance of the stairs, as he explained.
"In case the Wandering really has possessed Mr. Hunter and controls his body after death to leave the room, the sound of the trap can alert us and also buy time."
"Do you think he'll come up here looking for us?" Pale Knight's brow never relaxed; he always found Shiller somewhat strange.
"A monster's goal is to kill. Rather than leaving the lighthouse to go to the village, it's faster to just trap us upstairs," Shiller said as he ascended the stairs. "Killing us wouldn't prevent him from returning to the village to kill later."
Pale Knight could only reluctantly accept this reasoning. After a moment of thought, he proposed, "Should we have someone keep watch downstairs?"
"Do you think any of you can defeat the Wandering?"
Shiller's retort stumped Pale Knight, but it made perfect sense; the remaining few weren't fighters. They might handle a corpse in coordinated action, but single combat was out of the question.
"Then let's send two people," Greed suggested. "Two people downstairs to guard, and three upstairs to explore. This arrangement should be just right."
As his words fell, he saw the dark muzzle of a gun pointed at his forehead. Shiller, standing on the upper stairs, turned around, pointing a shotgun downward directly at his brow, and said, "You'd better keep quiet during the next exploration."
Greed nervously said, "Aren't you afraid that monsters might possess me, and using firearms on me would curse you too?"
"I am actually a clergyman. Madeline's conclusion is wrong; attacking monsters with firearms does not result in a curse."
By then, Shiller had figured everything out. Among all established settings, the only reliable sources were the rules directly told by the Transcendent and the introductory animation. Anything else appearing in the game could potentially be a deception devised by others to weaken their opponents.
For instance, the notion that firearms shouldn't be used to attack monsters was merely based on Madeline's research. No one knew Madeline's true standing in the academic world; it was likely that she was merely a character in a background story fabricated by some player.
Besides using her to enhance his own origin story, she was also used to articulate their self-set rules through her voice.
And the rule barring firearms for attacking monsters evidently interacted with the possession rules of the Wanderers.
Knowing that using guns on monsters could lead to curses, and that Wanderers could possess anyone unpredictably, would deter the armed from shooting their companions—what if they hit a Wanderer and were cursed?
Everyone had different initial items at the start, but as soon as they watched the opening sequence, it was evident that some would have guns. The saying goes, shooting monsters might not cause much damage, but it sure does threaten people effectively.
Thus, there would certainly be those, in order to even out the disparity with those armed, who would think of ways to diminish the threat of firearms to the minimum.
They couldn't prevent the gun holders from firing through background stories, but they could invent rules that gave gun holders pause.
This way, relying on firearms to gain the most influence in the team would be difficult, while the unarmed could more smoothly contest for influence.
When creating background stories, although one wouldn't know if others had guns, their own identity could suggest whether they were armed—professions like painters or photographers were unlikely to possess firearms.
Therefore, the person who set the rule about firearms invoking curses on monsters must be someone without a gun.
Although there were many possibilities, Shiller believed it was the work of Greed.
Fortunately, though Arrogant didn't flesh out his background story well, his profession was a significant advantage. Clergy trained by the Church in the field of monsters were the authority.
If he said using firearms was safe, then it was safe. Anyone who disagreed would have to provide examples, but their identities and professions meant they couldn't, as it would be ridiculous for a photographer to know more about monsters than a priest, wouldn't it?
Shiller realized that his advantage wasn't any fabricated backstory but his current statements. No one present had the professional knowledge or background to refute him; any attempt to speak up would be silenced.
With this realization, Shiller's steps lightened a bit. He retracted his gun, turned around, and ascended the stairs. He glanced again at the spot where the nameplate fell, illuminated by the light streaming through the windows. There seemed to be traces of glue on the ceiling.
Thus, the nameplate wasn't thrown here by some supernatural power but was instead stuck to the ceiling and had fallen.
If this was a trap set by Greed, fabricating it as a frame-up against Nya, he had to establish in the background story a reason why someone had to do this.
The Hunting Dog on the first floor, the animal trap in the room, the tripwire mechanism in the storehouse seemed to be traps left by the Lighthouse's Guardian to deal with Invaders.
Thus, the nameplate could also be a trap, though its potential lethality was not apparent. Could it also involve a curse?
Wait, Shiller suddenly thought, could the hotel's world view and their current game universe actually coincide?
The hotel too housed various anomalies and monsters with corresponding restrictions. Although it was eventually proven to be Nya's conspiracy, the Transcendent could easily transfer that universe's worldview here—having boldly copied and pasted Arrogant's skills, what wouldn't he dare do?
If that were the case, then the entire world now resembled a giant hotel, with the previously anomaly-filled hotel rooms morphing into cities or villages.
If the worldview was copied by the Transcendent, he likely wouldn't apply it mechanically but would find a logical explanation for the pervasive anomalies and monsters.
Could he set the hotel as the origin of the anomaly's spread?
If that eerie hotel had truly existed in this world's history, then the 1913 nameplate wasn't an item thrown across worlds but an antique of this universe, its presence in the Lighthouse unexplained.
Shiller pulled out the nameplate from his pocket, staring intently, but could discern no clues.
And if the hotel's rules still applied here, then could he, by nailing this nameplate in its designated location, re-enter the mysterious 1913 room?
What lies in that room? And how does it relate to the current state of this world?
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