Alloy

The sky was completely dark by now, and the few remaining households in the old residential complex had turned off their lights.

Thick fog seeped out from a manhole cover and gathered in a chaotic corner of the bike shed, taking on a human shape as it crouched down.

Zhu Yan looked around.

After confirming there was nothing nearby, he turned on his phone’s flashlight and read the instructions for the 【Portable Surveillance Forgery Device】 by its faint glow.

“Portable Surveillance Forgery Device: Flip the button beside the device and make sure it remains switched on to use it.”

“After activating the device, drip your own blood into the blood chamber. Once the blood has been completely absorbed, the device will automatically fabricate the surveillance footage you wish others to see.”

“As long as you do not switch off the button, it will continue operating. If you accidentally turn it off, repeat the above steps the next time you use it.”

“Note: Carry the device with you while using it. The device must remain within two meters of you, or it will be unable to fabricate reasonable surveillance footage.”

The 【Portable Surveillance Forgery Device】 was a tiny silver box with a clasp attached to one corner, making it easy to hang from his clothes.

The button was on the side of the silver box, beneath a blood chamber no bigger than a fingernail.

Zhu Yan lowered the button, took out the Level 13 military knife, aimed the blade at his index finger, and jabbed it cleanly.

Blood filled the chamber before rapidly drying up a few seconds later.

The silver box gave a soft buzz and began to tremble lightly. A dim blue line even lit up along its side.

Zhu Yan stared at it for a while. Before long, the blue line vanished.

“…Has it started working already?”

He muttered to himself, then opened his zipper and carefully hung the little box inside his clothes.

Only after making sure it would not fall out did he take a piping-hot sandwich from his ring, along with a cup of milk tea, and leisurely begin to eat.

He had specifically come up through the passage for the sake of this hot meal.

The air in 【Merry Madhouse】 was always filled with all sorts of strange smells: the scent of blood plasma, the stench of monsters, and the sickly sweetness of 【Shuddering Delight】, like industrial sugar.

A day had passed inside the instance, and Zhu Yan was already ravenous.

Unfortunately, he could not stomach anything down there. Besides, eating human food aboard the 【Monster Tram】 would have been far too strange.

Otherwise, he would have been happy to eat on the way to the 【Hall of Mourning】 without wasting any time.

……

Elsewhere.

Zhu Zeyu lowered his head and looked at the short list of medicines in his hand as he walked through the long corridors of the 【Human Alliance】’s medical department with a nurse.

This was deep inside the top floor of the White Building. The elevator did not go directly there, so they had to change elevators once.

Five minutes earlier, Jin Rongxu had been surrounded by a crowd of people as they escorted him into a hospital room. After his “memories” had been read, Zhu Zeyu had been sent out. The doctor on duty had merely prescribed him a few potions to strengthen his constitution, treating them as his reward for clearing the instance.

“…So, will Captain Jin Rongxu’s hand recover?”

Zhu Zeyu put on a dispirited tone as he asked the nurse beside him.

The nurse was a stern-looking woman with a pair of gentle, bright eyes. She was said to be an Awakened with a healing-type talent.

At his question, she restrained herself and raised the corners of her lips in a smile.

“This wasn’t your fault, child. You treated Captain Jin’s wrist injury very well.”

“We have a specialist orthopedic surgeon handling it. He’s already rushed here personally.”

She pressed the elevator button, and Zhu Zeyu hurried after her.

“Ah, an orthopedic specialist… Can’t the military doctor do it?”

【Walking Corpse】 could use the abilities its player had possessed while alive.

The military doctor had previously been the healer on Jin Rongxu’s team, and her healing abilities were quite powerful as well.

It was just that Zhu Yan had not yet had the chance to examine her specific abilities.

“Oh.” The nurse mistook Zhu Zeyu’s poorly concealed urgency for concern over Jin Rongxu’s injuries. “Well, the situation is now essentially settled. The 【Hunter】 is destined to be captured soon. They’ve already set up an ambush.”

Zhu Yan had known this from the beginning.

After Jin Rongxu returned, he had not hidden the matter from the small group of people outside the hospital room.

“Even if he’s clever enough to escape, there’s no way he’ll be able to get Captain Jin’s things.”

Oh.

Apparently, in the nurse’s mind, the 【Hunter】 had only two possible choices: go to the 【Hall of Mourning】 and obediently let himself be captured, or go to the 【Hall of Mourning】, see the law-enforcement officers, and flee without collecting his reward.

But Zhu Yan’s true body had already boarded the 【Monster Tram】, and he had even arranged to meet his humanoid friend in two hours.

Poor Jin Rongxu. How had he failed to realize that many of the city halls of the 【Hall of Mourning】 were interconnected?

“…I see.”

Zhu Zeyu suppressed a laugh.

“That’s right,” the nurse continued. “Captain Jin plans to use this opportunity to upgrade his left hand.”

“The orthopedic specialist who came this time will fuse an alloy into his wrist bone.”

“An alloy?”

“It was supposedly developed specifically for this purpose. There’s a research genius in White Reed City who also became a player. He’s extraordinarily talented, and the alloy he created can withstand attacks from Level 12 weapons.”

“Then, is the 【Hunter】’s weapon only Level 12?”

The nurse turned to him in surprise.

“When your memories were read just now… Did you forget? The healing potion you used was said to be Level 9.”

“A Level 9 potion was able to heal the gunshot wound caused by the 【Hunter】, and it worked extremely quickly. We assessed his gun as being between Level 8 and Level 9. Of course, he must have even more powerful weapons.”

The nurse sighed and looked at him with something close to pity.

“…You’re lucky to be alive. I heard what happened to you. In the previous instance, the 【Hunter】 intended to stab you to death. He never expected you to survive and even bring that knife out with you.”

“A Level 13 knife…” Envy flashed in her eyes. She let out a cold laugh. “To throw it away just like that—what arrogance.”

Zhu Zeyu felt like laughing.

“Anyway, it’s good that Captain Jin is upgrading his defenses. With him around, my life won’t be too bad.”

Oh, ho, ho.

Zhu Yan sneered inwardly.

Captain Jin’s defenses were getting upgraded, were they?

With something this good, Zhu Yan refused to believe that Jin Rongxu would only put it in his wrist.

Wouldn’t he be fusing it into his entire body?

What a shame.

The level of that potion had only been something Zhu Yan had casually made up in a dream. He had never expected this group of people to take it seriously.

At the thought of Jin Rongxu perhaps still celebrating in the hospital room, convinced that the alloy’s level was completely sufficient, Zhu Yan wanted to laugh.

Captain, Captain Jin—your cloak is fake, your knife is fake, and the alloy…

It really would be chopped in half by the 【Hunter】.

……

Zhu Yan crossed the magnificent square in front of the 【Hall of Mourning】 and adjusted his genuine 【Demon Cloak】.

The corners of his mouth curled upward in delight. He nearly laughed aloud.

“Good evening, Mr. Demon.”

Before the grand entrance, a uniformed humanoid respectfully nodded to him.

Zhu Yan cut straight to the point.

“Do you know the situation in each hall? I need to handle some business at a hall with no humans.”

The humanoid pressed the microphone on its chest and repeated Zhu Yan’s request.

While waiting for a reply, it blinked in a remarkably humanlike manner.

“I understand, sir.”

“Having to smell delicious food while taking care of business—and not being allowed to eat any.”

“Oh, that’s torture!”