Mystery: Mr. Witch and Ms. Hunter

Chapter 276 The Fallen City

Adele glanced at Qiao Qiao in surprise and found that the other party seemed not to hear her.

"Is this also part of the test?" Adele asked in confusion.

"You just have to answer 'yes' or 'no'. If no, choose yes."

"...Then I choose yes." Adele glanced at Qiao Qiao again, "But this question makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Do you object to police executing thugs? In front of children?"

"...Yes." Adele hesitated for a moment, but continued to answer.

"Do you think I won't kill you? If you think I won't kill you, choose yes."

"..."

Adele looked at Qiao Qiao for the third time, but it seemed that only she could hear the sound, and Qiao Qiao was completely unaware of the abnormality of the sound.

"Yes."

Adele began to feel a little scared. Although she was confident that she would not be killed by the other party, the other party's questions one after another sounded like a noose that was gradually tightening.

The other party continued to work hard to tighten the noose, and he was asking questions again.

“Do you like police lights?”

"Yes."

"Will you sacrifice yourself for peace? Even if it costs someone else's life?"

"I don't know..." Adele replied somewhat painfully.

"You can only answer 'yes' or 'no'." It was still a cold mechanical voice, but the pressure contained in it almost crushed Adele.

"Yes……"

"Do you approve of sacrifice?"

"Yes."

After Adele answered these questions, the voice on the other end of the phone paused and suddenly started asking some common questions.

“Do you think that food being eaten is a sacrifice?”

"Yes."

“Do you like a happy life?”

"Yes."

“Do you want people to live happily?”

"Yes."

"Wait, why did you take so long?"

Qiao Qiao suddenly asked Adele, and then shouted to the people on the other side of the tower, "Which set of standards are you following?"

Although she did not hear the question asked by the person on the other end of the phone, she realized from her experience that the reliability testing process was definitely not as long as it was now.

However, the other party did not answer, but instead quickened his speaking speed and quickly asked Adele:

“Do you feel happy when you eat food?”

"Yes." Adele answered more and more smoothly. She felt that these questions were relatively acceptable.

"Wait, don't answer that!"

Qiao Qiao pounced on Adele and grabbed the walkie-talkie in her hand. Adele dropped the walkie-talkie on the car in panic. The walkie-talkie made a sharp sound, and the last question came from it, which was distorted into a shrill and strange sound under the effect of the malfunctioning walkie-talkie.

"Will you bring me happiness?"

……

There was a moment of silence in the car. Neither Adele, Qiao Qiao, nor the person asking questions on the other end of the phone spoke. Only the roar of the engine could be heard.

"Why didn't you answer?"

"Just answer 'yes'..."

"Say 'yes'!"

The voice of the person on the other end of the radio gradually became distorted, and he roared into the receiver. Then Adele heard the sound of gunfire, shrill screams and angry curses on the radio, which lasted for nearly five minutes.

Briefly, everything returned to calm. The radio terminal seemed to have fallen to the ground. A panting man approached the terminal. It took him more than ten seconds to calm his breathing. He responded to Adele with difficulty:
"...Long live humanity."

There was a deafening explosion behind Adele, and the originally magnificent duty center was broken in half and exploded into a gorgeous fireball.

Something spread out from the fracture and fixed that half of the building in the air, like a bird drowning in the wind.

One after another, indistinct creatures walked out of the gap, jumped down around the half of the building, and used their own gravity to hang themselves on the barbs that grew from that indescribable thing. With Adele's vision after becoming a Beyonder, she saw that many of those people were wearing gray-black uniforms similar to Qiao Qiao's.

The radio gave a final, piercing buzz, announcing its death. Adele threw the radio into the back seat, and Qiao Qiao did not stop her.

"It looks like they have won this battle."

After a while, Qiao Qiao sighed softly, "But humans haven't lost yet."

"We move towards the hotel. There are other guards there, as well as other uncontaminated people. We have to guard that place and not let it fall..."

Qiao Qiao was busy again. "During this period, you should read the rules for on-duty personnel first, and follow the rules when you encounter problems. Of course, the most important thing is to remind me to read the last page every hour."

"Okay." Adele stopped talking nonsense and quickly took the manual and started reading it.

Strangely enough, after she came to this strange world, she could immediately communicate freely with the people here and understand any language in this world.

The contents of the code seemed to have been revised many times. Adele saw strange symbols and numbers on it, indicating that this code was the thirteenth revised version.

I: This code cannot be used in conjunction with any code lower than this version. Other lower version codes must be destroyed. Please only use your own code to avoid confusion and unnecessary misunderstanding.

II: The end page is red and blue. Red and blue are acceptable colors. If you are in danger, please shine a light on the end page. The paper of the end page is reflective and fluorescent. But don't use this as a last resort.

III: Any items covering the head, wrapping personal belongings and seized items are prohibited. If anyone violates this rule, they must be arrested and transferred to the interrogation room. Music headphones, hearing aids, and medical stethoscopes are exceptions. Night vision goggles can only be used at night according to the circumstances. Please keep them in the sundries pile at other times.

IV: When you go out, please make sure you have:

A. At least four military flash grenades and two defensive grenades. Magnetic thermite grenades can be carried as needed.

B. At least four military-grade high-definition flares. Officers have the authority to designate field teams to carry more.

C. At least two medical tranquilizers. Try not to use painkillers and addictive drugs. Military doctors need to carry at least ten.

D. At least one portable high-frequency red and blue strobe light and two spare batteries.

E. Compass, military mechanical watch, dark graffiti spray can, military noise-isolating earplugs, radio, flare gun and ammunition.

If there is a shortage, be sure to seek help from the quartermaster and military doctor.

V: Destroy any object consisting only of Arabic numerals. After destroying it, please recite the contents of the last page at least once. If you cannot destroy it, please stay as far away as possible and do not look directly at it. Record the coordinates and call for airstrike support. Such objects include but are not limited to:

A. Graffiti, signs, clothing, banners or warning signs.

B. Paper with numbers written on it.

C. Lights, bodies, vehicles, birds, clouds, drone formations, or other objects with digital features.

Adele subconsciously explained all of this based on her knowledge of mysticism, but found it all so incredible.

This manual does not mention the existence of extraordinary abilities and extraordinary creatures at all... In other words, this underground ruins is even earlier than I thought, and even the original creator did not appear at that time?

Adele frowned. The characteristics of the dangerous existence mentioned in the manual were very similar to those of high-level existences and starry sky pollution. For example, the dangerous numbers had extremely obvious characteristics of spiritual mathematics, which were similar to those of the Moss Ascetic Order.

VI: The observatory does not exist. The observatory is not a building in this city. The tall building you see is just a mirage. You will stay away from the observatory. Please recite this rule silently when you are in danger. The last page can be shelved only when executing this rule.

VII: You may get lost when traveling at night. Please stay away from any buildings with starry features. The observatory does not exist. Please review Rule VI and repeat.

VII: When on duty at night, it is forbidden to leave people or limbs outside the vehicle for any reason, except for helicopters. If you encounter a creature or entity, please deal with it according to the situation.

Next was the red and blue last page, which recorded what Qiao Qiao had just read aloud. Adele took a quick look at it and then put the manual into her pocket.

"I've noticed the thing in your hand a long time ago. Is it the Assassin's Creed peripheral?"

When Qiao Qiao saw Adele finish reading, she asked curiously, "It looks a bit like Altaïr's hidden blade... You're not going to cut off your ring finger, are you?"

Adele, who suddenly heard someone mention her name before her transformation, was choked by saliva and started coughing violently.

"...Uh, of course not."

Adele replied awkwardly, "I always wear it on the back of my hand."

"Your clothes are weird, are you cosplaying? What kind of cosplay is this? A gender-swapped Altair? I didn't expect you to be so fancy."

Qiao Qiao glanced at Adele again. The white and red striped cloak on her body was so reminiscent of her that it was hard not to think in that direction.

Adele did not respond. Although she knew that this world should be the world before the mysterious revival, without supernatural powers and no potion system, Qiao Qiao's words always made her suspect that her identity as a witch had been exposed.

"We're almost at the Hilton."

To ease the embarrassment, Adele took out the translated regulations that Wendy had given her from her pocket.

"Wow, it's already this old, and you're still drawing maps by hand?" Qiao Qiao glanced over and said, "I didn't realize that your handwriting is quite similar to mine."

"Really?" Adele was quite surprised. After all, her notebook was almost entirely filled with notes written by Wendy, and the generalist approach seemed to have increased her efficiency in transcribing.

"Yeah, look at the way this Z is written. I always thought I was the only one who wrote it this way."

Qiao Qiao pointed at the Rune language markings on the map and said, "But what's the part below? Is it some kind of ancient writing?"

You may not believe it, but this is the text of the future...

Adele complained silently in her heart, but still went along with what the other person said.

"I didn't expect you were a scholar, Wendy. We are in the same field."

Qiao Qiao sighed, "I just didn't expect that we were colleagues when we were scholars, and now we are colleagues in the patrol team... It's really fate."

Adele also felt a little emotional and thought of the real Miss Wendy.

Maybe she and Qiao Qiao would get along very well... Adele thought to herself.

……

At this time, the real Miss Wendy was sitting on the sand outside the air wall, staring blankly at the observatory that suddenly appeared.

Although she was very curious about the observatory, she took into account that the existence of the observatory was directly denied by people of her time, and the rules of the community repeatedly emphasized that the observatory did not exist. Although she had become a Beyonder, she did not have any proactive Beyonder abilities after all. Even if she had a hundred guts, she would not dare to take the initiative to explore such a place that might be contaminated alone.

Tracy stood beside her, looking at her with a slightly dazed and lost look.

“What can I do for you?” Wendy was originally immersed in the melancholy of not being able to explore the ruins of her hometown. However, it was difficult for her not to notice being stared at by a Sequence 5 Witch of Pain.

Facing the notorious pirate general, Wendy was even more restrained than she was in front of Adele. Although Adele was a little bit more contemptuous in front of her, she was a role model compared to Tracy, a pirate general who was rumored to kill people without blinking an eye.

After all, compared to other pirate generals, when "Sickly Girl" Tracy first started to venture into the five seas, her reputation was known throughout the continent for her main business of human trafficking. In Intis, parents often threatened their children that if they didn't obey, Tracy would capture them and sell them to the southern continent.

Wendy, who is only 22 years old this year, didn't grow up listening to Tracy's stories, but she was also frightened by her deeds when she was 11 or 12 years old. Although she later understood that Tracy would not sell the efforts of the North Continent to the South Continent because she couldn't make any money that way, she still had an instinctive fear of this pirate general.

"Ah, nothing."

Tracy smiled a little sadly, a smile that could make anyone who heard it sad or saw it cry. "You look so much like Elaine, I was distracted by mistake... I'm so sorry."

Wendy, who had been sailing on the sea for many years, naturally knew the gossip about Tracy and Elaine. When she was on a business trip in the Rhoside Archipelago, she was almost captured by pirates and taken to the Black Death to report. Now, of course, she didn't dare to say a word, as if she was afraid that Tracy would kill her on the spot.

However, Wendy's worries did not last long, because soon, a figure dressed in black flew out from the Honeysuckle Queen, and the black hurricane it created even cut the waves in half.

Behind him was Catalina, who was also flying very fast. The two of them collided twice in the air, and then the other one dived towards the observatory without saying a word, while Catalina looked around and landed next to Wendy and the others.

"Mother, what happened? Who is that man?"

Tracy asked hurriedly. Catalina didn't seem to be injured, but she must have been attacked by surprise and was somewhat embarrassed. Hearing Tracy's question, she said bitterly:

"I don't know, but judging from his attire, he seems to be a demigod of the Church of Evernight..."

(End of this chapter)