How is there still the matter of mint blue

"They will check the palms of your hands... cluck."

After the "officer" finished speaking, its head tilted to the side like a broken puppet.

Its hollow eyes stared at Zhu Yan, seemingly eager for his praise.

For a brief moment, Zhu Yan wanted to file a complaint to the Central Authority.

The Alpha Wolf was clearly afraid of his retaliation and intentionally blocking his path!

Zhu Yan gripped the knife in his pocket tightly, wishing he could slaughter these "officers" right here and now.

But he couldn't.

On the surface, he was still a [Hunter] of the Paradise.

And giving in to his emotions wouldn't solve anything!

"Very good. However—" Zhu Yan mimicked the "Captain's" tone perfectly, his mind racing.

[Hunters] were not allowed to enter the [Bar] in the next level, so if he used [Roleplay] to disguise himself as another horror creature, could he obtain the same clues as the players?

"[Hunters] are not that weak," he smoothly continued, his gaze lightly settling on the "officer" stationed at the post.

[Carnival Paradise] truly had no humanity.

He still needed to find an excuse to coax the information out of them!

Perhaps because Zhu Yan hadn't mentioned any punishment earlier, the "officer" lifted its head from where it was bent against its chest, and its legs stopped trembling.

Now, meeting Zhu Yan's malicious gaze, the "officer's" shoulders subconsciously hunched, and its entire body stiffened.

Zhu Yan smiled at it intently.

"But you all are very weak," he ruthlessly critiqued. "I don't know why some things would sell the notes out. Could it be that they were threatened by the players?"

The stationed "officer's" legs began to clatter again.

This was exactly the effect he wanted!

"[Hunters] cannot enter," he said coldly. "But [Hunters] can threaten you to enter—"

"I wouldn't dare!" the "officer" shrieked.

For a moment, a dead silence fell over the cramped space, leaving only the sound of the "officer's" trembling legs knocking together.

Oh.

There really was a catch!

Zhu Yan raised an eyebrow.

The lingering scent of black mud on his body terrified the "officer."

"I... I wouldn't dare..." It cautiously peeked at the students outside the thick plastic curtain, its voice shivering.

"If I bring a [Hunter] inside, the boss will kill me."

"I-I will strictly follow the rules. If I enter, I will only bring players who have collected all the fragments..."

"Captain, p-please rest assured!"

Damn.

What did it mean by "only bring players who have collected all the fragments"?

Could horror creatures not enter alone?

Zhu Yan smiled at it: "And what if you enter alone?"

The "officer" bowed its head: "I wouldn't dare."

Fine.

A list of conditions quickly and clearly formed in Zhu Yan's mind.

To enter the legendary [Bar], he needed a player with all the fragments and the appearance of a horror creature.

The latter could be achieved through [Roleplay].

The former...

Zhu Yan quickly glanced outside the door curtain.

Earlier, didn't Yang Zhanbai invite him to join their team?

Saying something about meeting near the flower shop within twenty minutes...

How much time was left?

Thinking of this, he maintained his haughty facade and let out a cold snort.

"As long as you know your place. Dismissed!"

The "officers" looked as if they had been granted amnesty and filed out one by one.

They skillfully guided the students back into the brightly lit store, as if it were a trap cage that could snap shut at any moment.

Zhu Yan, maintaining the Captain's appearance, took long strides and turned into a hidden alleyway not far away.

A moment later, back in his human form, he squeezed into the chaotic crowd, pushing his way toward the [CC Flower Shop].

The surrounding whispers drifted into his ears.

"Officer, what about the notes?"

"Yeah, we've been waiting forever."

The "officer's" reply was very slippery.

"It's true," it said. "Don't worry, we'll keep an eye out for new notes."

Cunning.

Zhu Yan cursed inwardly as he spotted the dim flower shop that looked entirely out of place among the other storefronts.

He jogged hurriedly toward it, the "officer's" voice fading into the distance.

"Everyone, hurry inside the store! We don't know when the bus will arrive, you need to clear a path..."

Zhu Yan finally squeezed to the edge of the flower shop and saw his reflection in the glass.

Behind the colorful reflection, there seemed to be a large, swaying black shadow—

Zhu Yan instinctively tried to get a clearer look, but a hand grabbed his arm.

"Brother, over here!"

It was Yang Zhanbai.

He pulled Zhu Yan to the edge of the crowd and pointed cautiously toward a spot.

"Here."

Yang Zhanbai said. They were being jostled by the bustling crowd behind them, making it hard for Zhu Yan to hear him clearly.

He looked in the direction Yang Zhanbai was pointing. It was a narrow gap between the [CC Flower Shop] and the adjacent store, only wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.

"You go in first!" Yang Zhanbai shouted.

Zhu Yan glanced back at the crowd pushing toward the neighboring store, seized the moment, and squeezed himself into the gap between the walls.

His jacket scraped harshly against the walls—fortunately, the narrow path wasn't too long. In just a few seconds, Zhu Yan stumbled into a relatively open small space.

"You actually came?" A hand pulled Zhu Yan up.

It was a boy wearing a disposable mask, one of Yang Zhanbai's temporary teammates, though Zhu Yan couldn't be bothered to ask for his name.

He quickly surveyed his surroundings.

There were walls on all four sides, decorated with uneven little bumps that looked incredibly rough.

That narrow gap was the only passage connecting this place to the outside.

At that moment, Yang Zhanbai was struggling to squeeze through from the other end, his hood getting scraped off in the process.

His striking red hair was tied low at the back of his head, with a bright mint-blue hairpin clipped to one side.

"I thought you were dead!"

Yang Zhanbai quickly pulled his hood back up and grinned at Zhu Yan.

"How did you make it back from the officers?"

He looked behind him, then pointed to one of the walls.

"I just saw them having a meeting. We found something here. What about you? In those almost twenty minutes, did you find any clues?"

Zhu Yan nodded, his mind spinning fast.

His goal was to enter the next level's [Bar] under the identity of the "Captain."

Therefore, he first had to figure out a way to inextricably bind Yang Zhanbai—or these few people—to the "Captain."

"I did, brother, I did."

Zhu Yan looked at Yang Zhanbai and simply started weaving a half-truth.

"After I handed over the note, the officer brushed me off and told me to give it to a higher-up. It didn't want anything to do with it."

"I went to hand it over. The thing didn't attack me, but it asked me—"

Zhu Yan paused, pretending to look around vigilantly.

"It asked me if I had received any other notes while buying things, and asked what I had bought."

The few of them quickly exchanged glances.

"Buying things?" Yang Zhanbai asked sharply. "What do you mean by buying things?"

What did it mean by buying things? It was an excuse called buying things.

With this excuse, Zhu Yan could find a reason to split them up, making it convenient for him to transform into the "Captain" and swiftly hand out clues directly to Yang Zhanbai!

This way, he could greatly shorten the time it took to enter the [Bar].

"I don't know." Zhu Yan frowned slightly, the lie rolling off his tongue effortlessly.

"I haven't bought anything. Everything here was given for free."

Yang Zhanbai looked at Zhu Yan, then at the other few people.

"There is still a difference between buying and being gifted."

He quickly came to a conclusion.

"Since buying was mentioned, and specifically asked about, it means this action is unusual."

"Let's give it a try. What if it's another important clue?"

Zhu Yan deeply agreed and smoothly picked up the conversation.

"With so many shops around, I think taking action now is the safest and fastest approach."

Mainly because it would make it easier for him to change his identity and stir up trouble.

Zhu Yan raised his head and glanced at the massive [Floating Clock] in midair.

The monsters outside were all busy corralling their food.

The next time the clock chimed would probably be evening, and it was highly likely that the [Carnival Paradise] would directly announce the mission to kill the [Hunter].

How much of a time interval would be given on the new note?

There wasn't much time left for him to lay out his plans.

"We split up. Whether we find anything or not, we must return here in 20 minutes."

"Aren't we going to look for human shops?" the bespectacled man asked. "What will we do when it gets dark?"

"That's exactly why we need to split up," Zhu Yan said, recalling everything that was happening outside.

On this block surrounded by police officers, there might not actually be any human shops.

These ordinary players either had to fight head-on, risking being completely targeted and specifically hunted down just to break through the encirclement.

Or they had to find an alternative route and try their luck in the [Bar].

"Let's go. The faster, the better!"