Chapter 1323: Chapter 1323

"There is indeed something strange here. Taking the body out to be cremated so rashly is still a risk. We should leave the morgue now, find the underground boiler room mentioned in the letter, and see what's going on with that mine shaft. Skylark Miss, I know this is unfair to your friend Williams, but we don't have a better idea."

Seeing that everyone was undecided, the Hooded Man offered his suggestion.

This time, it was Jenkins who stopped him again, his expression grave.

"No one can go. No one can leave this morgue."

"What are you planning to do, Candle Mr?"

White Cat Mr asked in surprise, not understanding what had gotten into Jenkins.

"No one can leave the morgue right now. This isn't over. There's definitely something bizarre going on in here!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he knows me."

It was the Corpse Gentleman who answered the question.

"It's because this Candle Mr knows me. Just now, I finally remembered who you are. In my long life, I have met countless unique people, but only you are so illusory and unreal, like a shadow... If I recall correctly, Candle Mr, you joined our gathering last autumn."

"What is going on, Candle Mr? What have you been hiding?"

Hathaway asked with a frown. Of the four other players besides Jenkins, she was the one who trusted Candle Mr the least.

An unknown, deafening sound echoed from a distance, and then the model of Nolan outside the window and the scenery on the table all began to shake violently. The people at the table watched in astonishment as the three-story apartment building outside the window slowly collapsed, triggering a chain reaction that brought down the adjacent building as well.

The sound lingered for a long time. When everyone came back to their senses, they found that the scenery on the table had also been thrown into disarray.

"The curse is strengthening. The sudden earthquake has delivered the final blow to the already decaying buildings. In three action turns, the building the explorers are in will also collapse. The explorers must escape before then, or else, without any roll, they will immediately enter the 'Buried Alive' ending. Note: because the explorers are far from the building's entrance, you must spend three action turns to escape. During this time, you will have to make additional Agility and Constitution checks to determine if you are hit by falling debris."

"Candle Mr, we have to go now!"

White Cat Mr urged frantically.

"No. The investigation here isn't finished. I refuse to believe there isn't something strange going on. Don't you all think this earthquake is odd?"

"But people die when they're buried! Maybe you're not afraid of being buried alive, but you're controlling an ordinary human girl!"

Hathaway declared. The others generally shared her opinion.

"The Corpse Gentleman is forcing us to leave!"

Jenkins explained in a rapid-fire tone.

"What exactly is your relationship with the Corpse Gentleman?"

White Cat Mr asked the question once more.

A second sound rolled across the horizon. It was another earthquake, though not as powerful as the first.

"Because of your hesitation, an aftershock has accelerated the building's collapse. You still have three action turns to leave, but when making your Agility checks, you must add five to all roll results."

"Let the writer stay!"

Jenkins announced with grim determination.

"Candle Mr, what are you doing now?"

The Hooded Man said helplessly.

"Even if that writer is powerful, there's no way he can survive being buried alive, not to mention he's still cursed..."

"It's alright, Hooded Man. Let Candle Mr finish what he has to say."

Hathaway didn't complain about Jenkins. Instead, she calmly let him speak. Jenkins greatly admired the red-haired woman's rationality at that moment, unaware that she was currently thinking that if his next words failed to convince her, she would have Jenkins report Candle Mr to the Church as soon as the game was over.

As for the reason, that was unimportant.

"These morgue drawers and this whole room are definitely suspicious, and not in an ordinary way. If we leave now, we'll never uncover the clues here."

Jenkins explained to the group.

"But the writer will die if he stays."

Hathaway retorted. The source of thɪs content is novᴇlfire.net

"Since the writer you're controlling is so strong, he must have a way to deal with such a dangerous situation."

Hearing Jenkins's "hint," Hathaway checked her character card again, but she couldn't find any relevant information.

"Corpse Gentleman, can we control each other's explorers?"

Jenkins thought for a moment, then suddenly posed the question.

"You can only exchange them. One person cannot control two characters. Furthermore, once you choose to do this, regardless of the story's final outcome, the rewards for those who exchanged will be reduced to the lowest level, and the penalties will be raised to the highest."

The Corpse Gentleman explained. This was one of the core rules of B-11-1-0299, the "Story Within a Story," and he could not conceal it.

"Skylark Miss, if you trust me, let's exchange the writer and the noble lady's character cards. I promise I won't let any harm come to him... And I guarantee that if you ask that great writer after this is all over, he will tell you who I am!"

Jenkins felt this was the most sincere he had ever spoken since arriving in this world. Hathaway was probably moved by his conviction, or perhaps it was the undeniable urgency of the crisis in Nolan, or even more likely, her concern for Briny was greater than her concern for Jenkins. In the end, the red-haired lady slowly nodded, and then swapped her silver metal plate with Jenkins's.

The moment he got his character card back, Jenkins let out a long sigh of relief. He gave its contents a quick scan and found that it listed most of his publicly known information. As for the information that couldn't be made public, that was on there too, but written so cryptically that no one could possibly guess the truth without knowing the actual situation.

"I was worried for two hours for nothing,"

Jenkins grumbled to himself, then announced his move.

"The writer stays behind to continue investigating the last morgue drawer that was opened. His cat will be taken away by the noble lady."

The white cat, Vanilla, who was lying next to Jenkins's hand, immediately let out a complaining "Meow~," but the sound was conveniently drowned out by a clap of thunder from outside.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

The Corpse Gentleman asked one more time.

"Yes. I refuse to believe there's nothing strange about this. Corpse Gentleman, you've tried to stop me from investigating this place time and time again. I don't believe that's a coincidence."