Clown Game
Chapter 382 - 360: Death

Chapter 382: Chapter 360: Death

The recent events were quite complicated. Chen Xiao seemed to be up to something, the chubby café owner also encountered a mysterious weirdo, the Foundation’s plan was going smoothly, and The Splitters were concocting their little schemes. Everything was as that madman said a couple of years ago: people always have their own ideas, secrets, and plots; that’s what makes humanity so interesting and dangerous. As time advanced, stories evolved, plans were perfected, and many threads were converging towards a certain direction, each person believing they would weave it into the pattern they desired.

Among these many threads, there was one that spiraled around the remote Southeast Asia region, looping around the edge of the South Seas, and finally extending into a village on the Malay Peninsula that hadn’t even been named yet.

Yes, it hadn’t been named because the village itself wasn’t that big, and moreover... there wasn’t a living soul left. More precisely, not even a single corpse remained. It was as if a foreknown earthquake had shaken all the buildings to collapse, and the people had already left...

However, the uneaten lunches and decomposing animal corpses scattered around suggested that a massacre had occurred here, quick and encompassing the entire village. The people hadn’t left; they must have been killed in an incredibly short time, but for some reason, not a single body was left behind.

A huge mechanical arm inserted itself into the gap between the ground and the cobblestones, then easily lifted them up to reveal a well. Abraham peered down into it and then shrugged, "You see, I told you there was no one." His tone conveyed a slight reluctance.

At that moment, Abraham was still wrapped in a large denim jacket which was clearly new—the previous one had burnt to ashes in the last mission. Underneath the jacket, appeared a body slightly thinner than the last time he was in Dark Realm. The metal surface had a faint red glow, and on each side hung a huge mechanical handgun.

"Let’s check that building over there..." The response came from a man in his thirties, wearing glasses and not particularly tall, dressed in a common black suit that didn’t seem bulletproof at all.

Abraham sighed deeply, "Do we still need to keep searching? We’ve already gone through four villages without finding a single survivor. Plus, didn’t we already scan this place? There’s nothing alive left here."

"Thermal imaging isn’t accurate enough. In a state of suspended animation or under special conditions, the body’s functions reduce to the minimum. Moreover, it’s noon now, and there are nearby sources of fire, so determining the presence of survivors through heat isn’t very accurate," the man in glasses said calmly, then stepped over a large piece of building rubble and continued forward on his own.

"See, I told you to bring the scout model body, but no, you didn’t even bring any life detection instruments..." a girl, not yet 20, emerged from behind Abraham’s massive form. She was as lean as any girl her age with a rebellious hairstyle draped to one side, and a row of earrings on her left ear exuded a strong punk style.

"Easy for you to say," whispered Abraham irritably. "We haven’t encountered anything strange yet, but what if we do get into a fight? What am I supposed to do if I’m equipped with just scouting gear—run up and hug the enemy?"

"Whatever." The girl scoffed and, noticing that the man with glasses was facing away from her, she quietly pulled out a handheld game console from her pocket and began to play with it.

Abraham frowned, "You’re going to play even during this short break? If Nolr catches you, you’ll get scolded again."

Bluebird stared defiantly at her game console, "Just let him keep searching blindly. How could there be any survivors? When Ziliang gets here, we should hurry to the next village."

Knowing he couldn’t control Bluebird and fearing that the man with glasses would continue to nag him, Abraham was caught in the middle, and eventually, he just sighed helplessly and followed Nolr not far ahead.

Oh, by the way, this man who had not disclosed his name was Nolr, full name Hermes Nolr, 26 years old. He constantly wore a stern expression, making him appear older than he actually was. With the capabilities of the Omega Team, he could completely dominate various missions, but regardless, as a team, you always need someone smart, right? So, about two years ago, Mr. Nolr, in an unreasonable fashion and radiating a dazzling aura, arrogantly stood before all members of the Omega Team, and naturally, he was accepted into the team...

Mrs. Liu once said, a few years ago, there was a guy who moved from D-rank to C-rank within a month, and that person... was Nolr. Not just that, he was promoted to B-rank the following month, then joined a previously unknown field team. Two months later, the entire team was promoted to A-rank, and the entire team even received a special honor from the Foundation. Meanwhile, the mastermind behind all this had already voluntarily applied to leave the team and kicked open the doors to the Omega Team, all within about half a year of joining the Foundation.

If you ask what this bespectacled guy could do, that made the Omega Team notice him in such a short time... Actually, you should ask what he couldn’t do, because he seems to be able to do everything except fight.

So, long story short, Nolr, Abraham, and Bluebird were here to trace a former Omega Team member, "Dos". But as the investigation progressed, more and more mysteries began to appear, such as these suddenly missing humans, why Dos, clearly alive, would avoid being traced by the Foundation, and why the videos that surfaced with him featured so many screams and tentacles. What exactly had happened in these villages?

Nolr didn’t know yet, so he wanted to find a survivor, or even just a body would do, but all that was left in every village was some ruins.

"Hey, don’t just stand there, keep searching, there must be some clues!" he shouted, feeling increasingly uneasy.

Suddenly, a small stone on top of some ruins far from him suddenly rolled down.