Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 171 Bargaining Chips and Negotiation

The next morning.

A ray of morning light shone through the kitchen curtains, and Yukiko stood in front of the sink, her left ring finger resting on the cold metal edge.

Her face was reflected in the water—the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, but her eyes were sunken, and her pupils were so dilated that they almost filled her entire eye sockets, as if they were being stretched by some invisible fear.

The reflection is abnormal.

She quickly unscrewed the medicine bottle, took out the blue pills, and swallowed them dry without pouring in water.

"Do you know anything about this medicine? To be honest, these pills taste terrible; they only have a fishy and bitter flavor."

Qin Mei's voice came from behind.

Yukiko did not answer, but simply turned on the tap, as if she wanted the water to wash away the reflection.

“I don’t know much more than you do. In the end, I’m just an ordinary citizen.” Yukiko sighed. “All I want to do is protect my daughter.”

In fact, Yukiko had already roughly deduced that Qin Mei and the others were Chinese.

"The US military stationed in Japan," Qin Mei suddenly cut to the chase, "Why did they only seal off the outskirts of Black Crow Town and not evacuate the civilians? Are they just letting you die here?"

Yukiko turned off the tap and shook the water droplets off her hands: "Do you think the US military stationed in Japan would care about the lives of ordinary civilians like us?"

"Yeah, that's true."

"For them, Black Crow Town is an excellent testing ground—closed off, severely aged, and with strong government control. It is the perfect place to observe the behavior patterns of balloons and collect data."

Yukiko's fingers unconsciously rubbed the medicine bottle.

"I suspect that these blue pills and silver thermal blankets are products of US military research. They can gradually make us unable to see the balloons, reduce the balloons' perception of us, and suppress changes in our skin."

Qin Mei nodded. What she needed was research data from both the US and Japan to find hope in cracking this meme contamination problem.

"Go to the town government today," Qin Mei said in a low voice, "and find the file your husband left behind."

Yukiko nodded silently and took the silver thermal blanket off the hook.

Qin Mei also took the blue pill to ensure her SAN value slowly recovered. However, this process was extremely slow. But once it took effect, the balloons would disappear. Furthermore, as long as they covered their faces with the silver thermal blanket, the balloons would not attack them.

But one thing will never change.

That means if the balloon is popped, the balloon itself will inevitably suffer the same fate! Without exception!
This is the most disadvantageous point for Shadow Blade. The enemy has Hunter Jiang Jin and Gu witch Liu Yan, who can shoot from a distance or use Gu worms to attack their balloons!
Even though they are reincarnators, they have no means to defend against the balloon.

Fortunately, Qin Mei could sense any approaching Gu worms or undead hounds and retaliate accordingly. But that was all.

After all, the team now only has three members left, and their numerical advantage over the Nirvana team is gone. Moreover, the enemy still has Yu Tianlun, a former LV4. He's a reincarnator who survived the Hundred Ghosts Parade dungeon! Qin Mei knew that if she were to fight Yu Tianlun one-on-one, unless she risked her life, she would have almost no chance of defeating him.

Undoubtedly, she is now the one who needs to hide, unless she can spot the enemy's balloon first. Otherwise, she will have to wait for the Scarlet Team to arrive.

The Crimson Team is the largest subgroup under the Bloody Team, with a total of sixteen members. Zhou Chen is one of the best at LV3 level. With him in, there's nothing to worry about.

At that time, Yu Tianlun will be doomed!

“I’ll go out to join the patrol around 7:30, by which time the drug will have mostly taken effect,” Yukiko continued. “Before I leave, could I see Yuko one last time?”

Currently, Qin Mei is separating the mother and daughter and trying to avoid them meeting as much as possible to prevent them from exchanging information.

“Okay,” Qin Mei instructed, “but you must keep a five-meter distance between each other, and I must be present for all conversations.”

Are you that cautious?

"I've had some problems before because I wasn't careful enough."

Next, Shirakawa Rin brought Yuko over.

"Yuko..."

"Mom!" Yuko was about to run over, but Shirakawa Rin grabbed her arm.

Sun Jing also raised his gun and aimed it at Yuko's head.

"Sun Jing, put the gun down." Qin Mei immediately stopped him, "Let the mother and daughter say a few words first."

"Commander, it's better to be cautious." Sun Jing still held his gun high. "I don't want any more accidents to happen."

"Fine... whatever you want."

Qin Mei could see that her prestige within the team was declining, and she could no longer command her subordinates.

……

"The location where Lin Ping and Li Zhen died might not be far from Qin Mei's place. However, we haven't been able to find it," Jiang Jin said after swallowing the blue pill.

“It’s possible that the power she unleashed as a medium caused the Gu worms to instinctively avoid getting close.” Liu Yan also found it difficult to control this. “But in this way, we can roughly determine the search area. Soon, we should be able to find Qin Mei’s location. The Scarlet Team could come in at any time, and we must find her before that happens.”

At that moment, Liu Yan never imagined that the location where the two died would be so close to where Qin Mei was. And coincidentally, Qin Mei and Shirakawa Rin's balloons hadn't appeared yet, while Sun Jing's balloon was covered by the balloons of the Oda mother and daughter.

"Have Tomie, Deathstroke, and Gu worms search in three separate groups." Yu Tianlun's strategy was to prevent the team members from going out as much as possible. Even if the balloons couldn't see them after taking the blue pills, Qin Mei, as a medium, might still be able to see them.

“Be careful of Shirakawa Rin. We don’t know enough about her abilities because she hasn’t been with us for very long,” Yu Tianlun said. “However, she is a shrine maiden, so she may be able to control the paper dolls.”

“The paper dolls that LV1 can control aren’t too powerful, and they can’t be too far from the reincarnators, so they’re not a big deal,” Xu Yinqiu said. “Our biggest advantage is that we have remote summoning capabilities, and the balloons won’t attack the Death Knell, the Gu worms, or Tomie.”

Of course, this advantage will be completely broken after the Crimson Team enters, because the Crimson Team also has remote summons just like them.

Even now, Yu Tianlun feels that their chances of defeating the Crimson Team are still slim.

The best strategy is actually to find a way to return to Rusty Town, allowing the Crimson Team to stay in this instance and face the head-swapping balloons.

The problem is, they don't know how to leave the instance; they're currently completely clueless. It's unlikely the reincarnation system would allow them to leave so easily.

The biggest problem once the Crimson Team enters is that Han Wei is there as a temporary member! Their location will be instantly exposed! A fierce battle will then be unavoidable!
At that time, they will have to do everything they can to protect the balloons that could kill them at any moment!

Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.

However, there was nothing they could do. Their team didn't have any anti-healing professionals, and even if they did, it would be impossible to instantly kill a Level 2 Reincarnator from a distance.

“Speaking of which…” Jiang Jin couldn’t help but think of Wu Ge, “If only that child could join our Nirvana team.”

Meanwhile, Jiang Jin also had another idea: to recruit Murong Yan. However, given their deep-seated grudge against the Bloodstained Team, she certainly wouldn't dare join at this time. But if she joined, the Annihilation Layer Pass she obtained from clearing the fully rule-based dungeon could then be used by the Nirvana Team. Of course, this would have to wait until they successfully escaped the dungeon alive.

After sending the Death Knell and the Gu worms away for a long time, Jiang Jin and Liu Yan returned to their room.

They both felt the effects of the drug taking hold, and the unnatural nylon texture on his skin temporarily disappeared.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"who is it?"

“We are patrol officers from the town government’s disaster prevention office,” a deep male voice came from outside the door.

Jiang Jin's hunter vision appeared, and he saw the scene at the door—five patrolmen wearing silver armbands. The leader was a tall man with a folding crossbow hanging from his waist, and another person was carrying a bag containing a silver thermal blanket.

Jiang Jin opened the door a crack and asked, "What can I do for you?"

“Routine check.” The team leader showed his credentials. “Please show your passports and confirm that you have strictly followed the rules, especially whether you have taken the blue pills.”

Jiang Jin handed over four passports issued by the reincarnation system.

The patrol captain carefully examined the photos, then suddenly looked up and said, "Are you here for tourism? Black Crow Town isn't exactly a tourist destination."

“We are amateur folklore researchers in China,” Liu Yan stepped out from behind and replied, “We study various local folklore.”

Upon hearing this, the captain was skeptical.

"So, you've been strictly following the rules, right? Even if you're foreigners, if you don't follow the rules and something happens, it'll cause us a lot of headaches. Black Crow Town is currently under lockdown, so you can't leave."

"We are aware of this. We strictly adhere to the relevant rules."

Did you check this morning to see if your balloons had appeared?

"Have."

And so, the patrol captain asked a series of questions.

“Be careful.” The captain returned the passport. “Pay special attention to people with ring-shaped bruises on their necks or patrol officers who are not wearing silver armbands.”

Jiang Jin nodded his thanks, but out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a middle-aged woman at the end of the patrol.

Her gaze briefly met Jiang Jin's before quickly shifting away, but the tremor she felt in that instant betrayed her shock. What was going on?
After the patrol left, Yukiko followed behind, her heart pounding like a drum.

She recognized the man and woman who opened the door—these were the same people Qin Mei had shown in the photos last night.

The man and woman in the next room were also in Qin Mei's photo!
"Oda." The captain suddenly turned around. "Next, you and Yokota will inspect the West Ward shopping street. We'll continue south."

"Yes."

She and the man named Yokota turned and headed towards the fork in the road. At that moment, two choices flashed through her mind:

Asking these people for help is clearly Qin Mei's enemy—but Qin Mei has kidnapped Yu Zi, and would these Chinese people care about their daughter's life or death?
He planned to steal the files and inform Qin Mei of Jiang Jin and others, betting that they would keep their promise in exchange for his daughter's safety.

She touched the key hidden in her bosom; the cold touch of the metal made her decide.

"Yokata, let's split up and patrol."

"Okay then." Yokota didn't seem to care much. "We'll contact each other via walkie-talkie later."

"it is good."

Inside the Black Crow Hotel.

"There was a woman on patrol who looked at us strangely."

Yu Tianlun also became wary: "Could it be someone connected to Qin Mei?"

"Not necessarily. It's also possible that the patrol teams within this instance themselves are problematic."

Yukiko then began moving towards the town government building.

In fact, the disaster prevention center inside the town government office building was actually a temporary observation station set up by the US military.

Yukiko flashed her patrol team armband and passed through security smoothly.

Yukiko walked quickly through the office building with her head down, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

The safe that her husband described before his death was in the innermost archive room—

"stop."

A hand wearing a rubber glove stopped her.

Yukiko looked up and met a pair of cold eyes; it was a Self-Defense Force officer.

"What are you doing here? This is the archive storage area."

Yukiko, quick-witted, said, "The section chief asked me to pick up some reports for today's briefing."

The officer narrowed his eyes, then suddenly reached out and ripped open her collar—

"what are you doing!"

Yukiko struggled to back away, but the other person just sneered: "There's no ring-shaped bruise on your neck... You said section chief, which section chief?"

"Section Chief Yuji Asano."

After thinking for a moment, the Self-Defense Force officer said, "Go in, you have ten minutes. Come out immediately after you get the file."

After the Self-Defense Force officer left, she went to the door of the archives room, took out the key to the archives room that her husband had left her, opened the door, and then closed the door behind her.

She was initially worried that someone would be watching the place, but she didn't expect that the security was actually quite lax.

Chinese people talk about the Japanese craftsmanship and their meticulousness, but in reality, the Japanese government is just a makeshift organization. When something goes wrong, they just bow and say "Smith, Masai."

Yukiko, trembling, found the safe in the corner and took out the safe key left by her husband.

The moment the cabinet door opened, she immediately took out everything inside.

First, there is the report on the incident in 41 (in both English and Japanese); second, there are three sealed "balloon samples"—nylon fragments in special containers; and finally, there is a spectral analysis of the 1966 Leonid meteor shower.

Upon opening the report from 1941 (Showa 41), she found a conclusion circled in red on the last page:
[Cosmic dust brought by balloons and meteor showers exhibits a resonance phenomenon. It is speculated that when electromagnetic waves of a specific frequency pass through the dust, they may stimulate some unknown activity within it.]

Yukiko quickly stuffed the sample bag, report, and other materials into a brown paper bag.

It went so smoothly.

After leaving the office building, she found one of the households and knocked on the door.

"Yukiko?" It was her friend, Hanako Kobayashi, who opened the door.

“Yukiko, my balloon appeared today too, but I’ve already taken my medication,” Hanako Kobayashi said. “Will that be alright?”

“Listen to me, Hanako.” She handed her the brown paper bag: “If I don’t bring Yuko to see you before 2 p.m.… immediately give this to the people in rooms 108 and 109 on the first floor of the Black Crow Hotel, and tell them my home address, saying that the person they are looking for is there.”

One p.m.

Qin Mei sat at the dining table, her fingertips lightly tapping the surface, her eyes fixed on Yukiko, who had just entered through the door.

"Did you get the information?" Qin Mei's voice was soft, but it carried an undeniable sense of pressure.

Yukiko stood in the entrance hall, her face pale but her eyes resolute.

Her right hand trembled slightly, but her left hand gripped the safe key tightly.

“I got it.” Yukiko took a deep breath. “But I have conditions.”

Qin Mei's lips curled up slightly, but her eyes remained icy: "Didn't we already agree on the terms?"

“I don’t believe you. Untie my and Yuko’s bracelets and leave.” Yukiko looked directly at her. “Then I’ll tell you where the information is.”

Sun Jing, sitting at the dining table, sneered, his fingers already resting on the hilt of the gun at his waist.

Shirakawa Rin remained kneeling silently in the corner, but the paper figures had already floated up silently, ready to block the exit at any moment.

Qin Mei slowly stood up, her boots making a crisp sound on the floor.

She walked up to Yukiko, tilted her head slightly, as if sizing up an interesting prey.

“Mrs. Oda,” she said softly, “have I been too nice to you and your daughter, giving you the illusion that you can keep haggling with me?”

She began to regret her momentary lapse in judgment.

Yukiko's throat bobbed, but her voice remained firm: "The data isn't on me."

Qin Mei's pupils contracted slightly.

“I’ve entrusted it to someone I trust for safekeeping,” Yukiko continued. “If I don’t go to her within an hour, she’ll take the information to your enemies.”

"You found them?" Qin Mei's voice suddenly turned cold.

Yukiko did not deny it.

The air solidified instantly.

The next second, Qin Mei suddenly reached out and grabbed Yukiko's neck, with such force that she almost lifted her up.

Yukiko's face flushed red, and she instinctively tried to pry Qin Mei's fingers off, but the other woman's strength was astonishing.

At this moment, she noticed that Qin Mei's skin was turning pale and bloody tears were flowing from her eyes!

She didn't look like a human being at that moment, but rather like a sinister female ghost!

"You think... this will threaten me?" Qin Mei began to partially unleash her demonic form. "Tell me, where is the data?"

Yukiko managed to squeeze out a few words: "You...killed...me...you should know...the consequences..."

Yuko rushed over from the living room, but Sun Jing grabbed her hair and pressed the gun directly against her temple.

"Mom! Mom!" Yuko screamed.

Qin Mei's fingers tightened, and Yukiko's breathing became increasingly difficult; her vision began to darken.

But her eyes remained stubborn, fixed on Qin Mei, as if to say—you dare not kill me.

Qin Mei saw a mother's stubbornness, and at that moment she understood. Yukiko had never trusted them; she brought up the information to have leverage over them.

However, she also ran into Jiang Jin and his group today, which, if she wasn't lying... gave her a second bargaining chip!

Qin Mei never expected that she would be tricked by a character from the dungeon's storyline!
(End of this chapter)