Conan Rick's Investigator

……

When we arrived near the mission location, it was almost noon.

The midday sunlight was at its brightest, which was more in line with Qin Zhibo's wishes.

Qin Zhibo first placed the statue of the Spider Fairy on the ground, then arranged the fishing line that controlled the life-size puppet, hung it on the treetop, and wound the other end down.

In this way, Qin Zhibo can hide behind the tree and control the puppet with the help of the fishing line.

Last night, Qin Zhibo learned puppetry skills from Takeda Shinichi, including puppet making and puppet manipulation.

Although the proficiency is only level 1, at least it is operable. Playing with the spider should be enough.

After arranging all this, Qin Zhibo put on the magic extractor and started to cast a spell.

Ludwig Prin was a magician, so what he recorded in his book was also the magic method of summoning spirits.

Qin Zhibo stood in front of the statue of the Spider Fairy, cleared his throat, and suddenly raised his arms and shouted.

"Hark! Spider God!"

"Hear! Atlach-Nacia! I call upon you!"

"Follow the spider's web and climb up from the border of eternal darkness!"

After saying this, Qin Zhibo immediately ran behind a tree trunk and hid.

The so-called summoning technique was just "emotional reading" to others, but only Qin Zhibo knew that the magic value in the magic extractor suddenly dropped by 10 points.

This means that the "reading" just now did consume magic power.

In fact, in addition to the corresponding spell and the magic power to cast the spell, there are other necessary conditions for casting the spell of summoning gods.

For example, for the Spider God, a statue or portrait representing his faith must be prepared, and the place where the divine summoning spell is performed can only be near the spider's nest.

In this way, the call of the divine spell can be transmitted to the dark and lightless world underground.

……

Qin Zhibo was hiding behind a tree, quietly watching the puppet in the open space.

As the fishing line on the puppet's body joints moves, the puppet, which is almost the same size as an adult, can make some movements similar to human pacing, and the range of pacing back and forth does not exceed 50cm.

Qin Zhibo's puppetry level is still low, and the conditions are simple, so what he can do is already the limit.

The summoning spell has been confirmed, and as to whether the Spider God will respond to his call, it all depends on luck.

The luck on Qin Zhibo's character card is 35, and his luck is generally lower than that of ordinary people.

But whether the Spider God responds to the call or not, it doesn't seem to be a good thing...

Qin Zhibo was watching the movements in the open space, and suddenly he felt an itch on his neck.

I casually slapped my neck, and a strange, damp and cold feeling blossomed in my palm.

When he pulled his hand back, he saw that he had killed a spider on his neck.

Oh, it's a spider...

Qin Zhibo took out Kudo Shinichi's handkerchief without changing his expression and wiped off the disgusting pus on his hands and neck.

According to the normal plot of horror movies, at this time, the protagonist must see a spider with a bloody mouth hanging upside down above his head.

However, Qin Zhibo looked up naturally and did not see the "horrible" scene he had imagined.

Dozens of silk threads sparkling with silver light swayed slightly under the green shade.

Looking closely, I saw that there were dozens of spiders hanging down from the treetops along the spider silk, like airborne special forces soldiers.

Qin Zhibo quickly bent down and moved to avoid the spiders and stood in a safe place.

When he returned his gaze to the open space, Qin Zhibo was surprised to find that there was an extra person out of nowhere in the open space.

The graceful kimono was slightly loose, the open hem fluttering in the breeze, and a pair of bare feet stepped on the grass.

It was a beautiful female face, and in the bright afternoon sunshine, her smile was as beautiful as a flower.

The woman walked slowly towards the puppet in the middle of the clearing, slowly raised one hand and put it around the puppet's neck. An air of danger and foreboding filled the air...

Qin Zhibo frowned slightly and used his investigative vision to observe secretly.

The woman's long hair fluttered slightly, and above her head hung an identification card:

Name: Takeda Misa

Gender: Female

Age: 26 years old

……

It's Takeda Misa!

According to the investigation results released by the police, Misa Takeda committed suicide, but in fact her body was not found.

At this time, Qin Zhibo did not see any body investigation points on Takeda Misa, which meant that she was still alive.

Is it true that she is not dead yet?

Qin Zhibo temporarily suppressed his inner surprise, hid behind the tree and continued to watch the situation. The fishing line in his hand unconsciously relaxed, leaving the puppet in a completely empty state.

In the open space, "Takeda Misa" had an indescribable weirdness in both her expression and movements, and her every move was not very graceful.

On her neck, Qin Zhibo vaguely saw an irregularly shaped scar.

The fact that "Takeda Misa" doesn't even realize that the person she is facing is a cold puppet is very problematic.

Unlike the legend, "Takeda Misa" did not say any provocative words throughout the whole process, but only made movements similar to "a bear rubbing against a tree" around the puppet.

As she was rubbing, she suddenly picked up the puppet with one hand and ran towards the woods.

Qin Zhibo stopped hiding and immediately stood up and chased after him.

Chapter 328 Exploring the Spider's Lair

In the forest, the woman named Takeda Misa was running wildly with a puppet on her shoulder, while Qin Zhibo was chasing her closely behind.

The fishing line tied to the puppet occasionally got tangled in the bushes in the woods, but this did not hinder the pace of "Takeda Misa" in the slightest.

She was as strong as an ox in motion, and she broke the fishing line easily.

Weird!

Her behavior is weird!

Qin Zhibo didn't understand what this "Takeda Misa" meant, but logically speaking, her actions were beyond human common sense.

There was no autopsy, which meant she was not dead yet.

But how did she survive these three years? Did she imitate Bear Grylls?

And why did she take the puppet?

And her physical strength is also somewhat abnormal.

With these questions in mind, Qin Zhibo tracked "Takeda Misa" all the way to a huge banyan tree in the forest.

Qin Zhibo discovered this banyan tree on his first day, but he didn't find anything unusual at that time.

But now, the huge roots exposed outside the soil actually opened a hole.

The entrance to the cave is very large, and an adult can enter by just bending down slightly. Inside, all you can see is deep and terrifying darkness.

"Takeda Misa" ran straight into the cave holding the puppet, and Qin Zhibo, who followed her, stopped outside the cave and watched for a while.

Qin Zhibo believed that he would never have missed such a conspicuous hole yesterday, so the hole must have opened suddenly.

"Could it be... this is the spider's nest?"

Qin Zhibo stuck his head and looked inside. Apart from the smell of humus in the soil, there was no other strange smell. However, everywhere he looked, there were a lot of gray-white spider webs, just like a Pansi Cave.

All signs indicate that this is the spider's nest.

The main challenge task is to enter and die, so Qin Zhibo of course had no choice but to enter without hesitation.

Taking a final breath of fresh air outside, Qin Zhibo entered the cave.

……

In the dark cave, Qin Zhibo did not use a lighter for lighting, but used night vision goggles.

This way it's less likely to disturb the things inside...

"Takeda Misa" had already run far away, but Qin Zhibo did not spend time trying to track her.

After all, the mission is to explore the spider's nest, not to track someone.

Besides, the interior of this place is not as complicated as imagined. The only passage left for animals of human size to pass through is a downward sloping passage in front.

The spider webs stacked like layers of pancakes above his head almost touched Qin Zhibo's scalp. On each spider web, there was a spider crawling waiting for prey.

Qin Zhibo was not sure whether there would be insects or moths that could enter here and be preyed upon by so many spiders, but the fact that they chose to build their webs here meant that there was food to be found here.

Fortunately, Qin Zhibo is not afraid of spiders, nor does he have claustrophobia or trypophobia, otherwise the torture here would be comparable to purgatory.

……

The road ahead is unclear, but fortunately there is a turning point.

In Qin Zhibo's night vision goggles, the cave in front suddenly became clear, and inside this underground cave, a huge space like an upside-down gourd unfolded.

Qin Zhibo stretched his head to look inside, but was stunned by the scene in front of him.

This gourd-shaped space is about the size of three basketball courts in cross-section alone.

On the curved surface of the cave, there are a large number of caves of strange shapes.

Hundreds... no, thousands!

They seem to come from different spatial dimensions. Some are paved with unusual stones that are not common in life, some are loose soil covered with tiny spider webs, and some even have thick plant roots extending from them.

It is difficult to explain how this strange phenomenon came about, but what is certain is that these caves are woven together in a strange way by some indescribable force, like a spider web.

And this gourd-like space is the exact center of the spider web!

With his feet on the very edge of the cave, Qin Zhibo leaned forward slightly while maintaining his balance to look at the very bottom of the gourd space.

Due to the special spatial structure here, Qin Zhibo could only vaguely see that it might be a deep cave that goes vertically downwards like a deep well.

An extremely evil aura emanated from the hole, which was about three meters in diameter. No one could tell where the darkness, which even night vision goggles could not detect, led to.

Perhaps the "dark, lightless underworld" inhabited by Ludwig Prinsen's spider god, Atlach-Nacha, lies beneath that cave...

According to Qin Zhibo's guess, this mission is the same as the first challenge mission. Only by exploring in depth can one obtain the complete mission reward, that is, entering that secret cave.

But from a safety perspective, Qin Zhibo did not want to confront the Spider God head-on.

Faced with completely unpredictable dangers, human instinct and nature is to retreat. Only a small number of investigators would rather risk death to satisfy their curiosity.

Perhaps when these investigators took this step, their will and thoughts no longer belonged to them.

But Qin Zhibo's mind is now clear.

That place is too dangerous, it's time to stop...

After confirming this judgment in his mind, Qin Zhibo was about to turn around and return the same way, but he saw "Takeda Misa" standing behind him.

Her eyes were blank, her expression was indifferent, and her mind was open...

As a man, Qin Zhibo glanced down unconsciously.

It was at this fleeting moment that "Takeda Misa" suddenly raised her hand and pushed Qin Zhibo.

Extraordinary strength erupted from the slender gray arms. Qin Zhibo lost his balance before he could defend himself and fell against the wall of the cave.

Since the cave entrance where Qin Zhibo was located was almost at the bottom row, Qin Zhibo's body had no chance to slide into other cave entrances. He could only slide towards the deep cave entrance that he least wanted to step into like oil pouring into a funnel.

Although the sliding speed is not fast due to the friction, it is inevitable.

Qin Zhibo thought quickly and took out the [Flying Claw] from the prop column.

When the flying claw was thrown, the investigator's strong hand bones grabbed the edge of the cave where he had previously stood, thus avoiding the trend of sliding further down.

But even so, Qin Zhibo could not determine that he had escaped from the trap.