Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 741: The Identity Swap between Aggressor and Victim

Chapter 741: Chapter 741: The Identity Swap between Aggressor and Victim

The waterway had only an entrance, no exit.

Having wandered through the water channel for some time, Xiao Ling and Yu Guangnan had carefully trudged every inch, only to discover at the end that it was a dead end; to exit, they would have to first backtrack.

Of course, there was the option of drilling a hole from above, but they were unclear what lay directly above them; rashly boring a hole might result in them being buried.

However, this also appeared to be the best option at the moment, as long as they found a suitable spot.

The tourist map showed the layout of the buildings above ground, and picking an open spot would allow them to emerge.

But the layout was only approximate; the safest bet was to find a larger venue to ensure they wouldn’t hit any of the building’s support structures.

While they sought an escape route, Xu Huo had almost reached the end of the water channel. Besides the occasional narrow cavity under the water at certain intervals, this waterway was fairly safe. The only information to be gleaned was from the stone tablets carved into the rock walls.

The names of these people did not overlap with those of the patients and doctors listed in the Infectious Disease History Museum, so it was impossible to definitively say they died during the epidemic.

But the fact they had their own monuments here pointed to their connection with The Solar Museum City.

There were men, women, and children. His first thought was of family ties, such as the pedigree mentioned in the game scenario where the merchant had many children. However, their ages did not match; switching to the merchant’s kin seemed slightly more fitting.

Yet judging from their ages, these people were at least free from the troubles of genetic diseases.

They, coupled with the Doctor Shang in the history museum, implied the message that the story of genetic disease might not necessarily be true.

Since the reason for genetic diseases did not hold, the role that the surnamed Shang merchants played in this warranted deeper contemplation.

If the body experimentation theory held, the merchant as the leader or one of the masterminds had an unusually high number of relatives dying at the same time; even if this person was heartlessly using his own kin for experiments, the children should have been raised— that would maximize the benefits.

Over twenty with the surname Shang, along with those possibly their spouses, a major family was almost wiped out; the Shang family had indeed suffered the most.

Those who inherited Museum City were descendants of the Shang. The only reason they would have specifically included such information into the museums must have been to record this part of their past.

If this history were positive, the descendants of the Shang family could have clearly presented these acts of resistance against the epidemic in the history museums, just as they had displayed. The cryptic and semi-concealed way they chose to reveal it naturally beckoned further inquiry.

The Museum City was highly likely built by the Shang family, but the Shangs were also victims. The research supposedly triggered by genetic disease seemed more like a study on the Shang family members themselves...

Xu Huo paused in his thoughts—the Doctor Shang indeed made a prime subject for study, having escaped unscathed from numerous epidemics; this was not simply a matter of luck or personal immunity.

If this were the reason, it would not be impossible for Shang family members to die in large numbers within a short time.

Assuming this line of reasoning was correct, aside from the Shang family members, a large number of test subjects would still be required. These people likely would not be considered part of the missing populace; imprisonment, forced breeding, they had crossed beyond the bounds of "secrecy."

"The Shang family was murdered because they had a doctor immune to the epidemic, who became a key experimental subject. After their deaths, their bones were discarded in Museum City, and the Shangs were not the main instigators of human experimentation."

The progress of solving the mystery of the disappearances advanced to 4/6; the Wax Figure Gallery, Insanity Prison, the Doll Dress-Up Shop, and now here, at the Styx Ferry—a total of four places.

At this juncture in unraveling the mystery, they could roughly piece together a general narrative of the Museum City—the Shang family initially built it, perhaps for epidemic resistance, either for isolation and treatment or for medical trials.

The distinctive case of Doctor Shang made the Shang family a beacon of hope for curing diseases. Of course, by then, the original intentions behind the institution of Museum City had changed, along with the main players. These people were very likely not working for the salvation of others, hence the calamity it brought upon the Shang family. The frequent childbirth by the "young merchant to ensure family continuity" could have been both voluntary and coerced.

Of course, it wasn’t long before the Museum City’s activities were exposed, and continuing human experiments became impossible.

The disappearances were not an overnight occurrence, but rather a drawn-out saga, evading public outrage for years; it was implausible without protection from either the government or the authorities. Hence, after the Museum City scandal was uncovered, it metamorphosed into yet another disgrace, with a merchant conveniently scapegoated.

The Shang descendants’ rebuilding of the Museum City and their use of galleries to re-live past events were likely because there’s no legitimate way to exonerate their family... But by now, guilt or innocence was no longer the issue. So much time had passed, and those involved in the incident were probably almost all gone. With Zone 009 entering the game scene, one family’s history didn’t hold much significance.

Next would be the Beheaded Cemetery. It was peculiar that all were executed by beheading.

But with two progress markers still remaining, if it’s not the temporal puzzle of the instance, then other hidden content within the story of the Museum City awaits discovery.

Xu Huo was just about to retrace his steps when he heard the noise of a heavy object falling into the water ahead—it sounded quite substantial in scale.

Xu Huo hurried forward to find Xiao Ling and the other two attempting to drill a hole overhead; he didn’t rush out, instead observing from the sidelines.

"Did we choose the wrong place? Why can’t we break through the floor?" Long Aotian said impatiently.

"The underground rock layer might be too thick," Xiao Ling replied, her actions unceasing as she scraped at the stones above with one tool after another.

"It didn’t feel this deep when we came down," Yu Guangnan added, helping out, but as the falling rocks increased in number, their echoing sounds seemed to travel farther.

A few seconds later, the group that had ambushed them the night before appeared at the other end of the water channel.

"Did you kill all those people outside?" asked the man leading them, the same one who had clashed with Xu Huo. After catching sight of Xiao Ling and the others, he glanced ahead.

Not to be outdone, Long Aotian responded at once, "Were those sons of bitches your people? So what if we killed them? Instead of focusing on clearing the instance, if all you do is murder and pillage, killing them is like exterminating pests!"

"Who exactly are you people?" Xiao Ling asked cautiously, ready to defend, and using hand signals to silently communicate with Yu Guangnan before adding, "You didn’t come here just to clear the instance, did you? Maybe you’re not even ticket players."

"Don’t you know?" the man replied with a counter-question, his gaze settling on Yu Guangnan.

"Who doesn’t know that new instances might hold quality items," Xiao Ling said: "What kind of secret would warrant killing over?"

"You’d be better off searching for items than wasting time on killing, don’t you think?"

The man didn’t argue with her and instead asked, "What about the other person?"

As he asked this, both Xiao Ling and the concealed Xu Huo frowned simultaneously. He inquired about only one person, meaning they had likely already encountered Xu Ruosi and Jie Ling.

"We don’t know," Xiao Ling replied immediately. "We just met in the instance; if we get along we cooperate, if not, we go our separate ways."