SCP Corporation: Contain Bonfire
Chapter 147 - 147 147 Unable to Leave_1

Chapter 147: Chapter 147 Unable to Leave!_1 Chapter 147: Chapter 147 Unable to Leave!_1 Whoosh whoosh whoosh~

The wind wailed, the rain was torrential, and a ghastly howl that seemed both human and otherworldly arose in this place…

On the ground, all of the flames that had been granted some sort of eerie new life were extinguished by the storm.

In an instant, it became exceptionally dark here…

And the crimson glow on the huge flesh orb also flickered uncertainly, as if it could be swallowed up at any moment by the suddenly worsening downpour.

At that moment, a terrifying pressure suddenly descended from the dome above.

A blurry mass that faintly resembled a human face, a “dark cloud,” fell from the apex and opened its “big mouth” to swallow the giant flesh orb, formed of the adherents of the “Mother of the Red Moon” cult, in one gulp.

When everything here returned to normal, other than some gnawed marks, there was almost nothing left on the ground.

…

Elsewhere, the others were unaware of what had just transpired; after driving a distance, they kept a vigilant watch on what lay behind them until, after roughly ten minutes without a sighting of that thing, they finally heaved a collective sigh of relief.

That thing was too tenacious, and it seemed to possess some inexplicably bizarre tricks—it was best to run when one could.

After all, this wasn’t a game; there were no experience points for killing it, so there was no need to waste time on it.

On the moving bus, some people deftly found materials like sheet metal and foam adhesive to patch up places where the wind and rain leaked in, to avoid rainwater being blown in, or heads occasionally flying out of the misty rain into the bus’s interior, causing more trouble.

“How much longer until we reach your so-called base? Can you be sure of the route this time?”

Dog Brother and the others, still clad in their bright raincoats, sat in the back half of the bus.

They had intended to rest, but suddenly a message from Colin popped into their heads—

“Inquire… confirm the accuracy of route etc., and complete the investigation of ‘Rain City’ as quickly as possible.”

“The route’s fine, this path was recently scanned, and we can guarantee its accuracy,” said Gao Haiwen, stationed near the bus door, after looking at his phone that was two to three times thicker than a regular one, speaking up: “If we don’t run into anything else on the road, it’s about an hour away. If we do encounter other troubles, it could take two to three hours on foot, so we might be late, but rest assured, we will definitely arrive by twelve tonight.”

“By twelve tonight?”

Dog Brother caught the key phrase and also recalled some previous incidents, asking, “What happens after midnight?”

It seemed that when they had first arrived, Gao Haiwen had mentioned that “Rain City” was in a “safe time,” where not much danger was expected.

But he had never seen him elaborate…

“Didn’t I tell you before? ‘Rain City’ represents the stomach of a certain creature, think about what the function of a ‘stomach’ is?”

Gao Haiwen pushed his damaged, black-framed glasses up on his square face and continued without waiting for anyone to ask, “At midnight, ‘Rain City’ will enter a digestion period, and the rain will become heavier, increasing the likelihood of corrosion, and those ‘Flying Brains’ will become even harder to deal with…

“Besides that, there’s a certain chance that some odd phenomena will occur.

“Exactly what I couldn’t tell you; I remember experiencing it once or twice, and each time when I opened my eyes, I was reborn back at ‘Passionate Paradise’, waiting for Friday to re-enter ‘Rain City’ again, so I don’t know much.”

“Alright… Oh right, speaking of revival, could those cultists that just died revive as well?” Dog Brother immediately asked, thinking to gather more intelligence to expedite the task of investigating ‘Rain City.’

To this question, Gao Haiwen gave an affirmative answer.

“We’ve encountered them more than once here, and in this place, there’s only one situation where death does not lead to revival, and that is being taken away by anything ‘crimson.’ In other cases, even if you’re completely transformed into a puppet by the ‘Narrator’ and then die, you’ll be revived and start over…”

Pausing, Gao Haiwen added, “The only difference is, you might lose part of your memory, or something else, and the likelihood of being targeted by the ‘Narrator’ would increase significantly.”

“So it is…” Dog Brother and the others nodded, quickly checking the mission progress.

47%.

There was still a lot of work to do; they couldn’t rest yet.

After some thought, Loafing Immortal changed the subject, “Right, with an hour’s journey left, can you now reveal what kind of method you’ve prepared for escaping this place?”

“A way to leave this place? It’s no longer possible…”

Gao Haiwen subconsciously wanted to say something, but at that moment, lines of “Narrator” text appeared above and below within his field of vision.

[In a certain sense, there truly is no method of leaving here anymore. Anyone who enters either becomes a marionette of the ‘Script Book,’ is taken away by ‘….,’ or only has the option to enter ‘Rain City’ and be repeatedly ‘digested’ until they become witless residue.]

[However, this scenario only applies to those who have used parts of the ‘Book of Fate’ and those who have died in this place before. For those who have neither used the ‘Book of Fate’ nor died, specifically those affiliated with the Bonfire Company, there indeed exists a possibility to leave.]

[You remember this knowledge acquired from a chance investigation and let out a wry smile, telling them that when you said it’s impossible to leave, you meant yourselves. They still have the possibility, the chance to leave…]

[And the method to leave is in the base, as long as they get there, they will know the method to leave…]

[You will do everything in your power to assist their departure in exchange for only one thing: to have your information reported to the outside world, letting them know that your mission is complete.]

The “Narrator” text on the retina seemed to be visible only to him; no one else could see it. Deep in Gao Haiwen’s eyes flickered a barely noticeable struggle.

“Wait, what do you mean? It’s not just ‘no longer possible’?” Dog Brother furrowed his brows; this was not quite what had been promised.

Previously, the other party had clearly stated that they would have the opportunity to leave upon reaching the base, so why was it suddenly unfeasible now?

While speaking, he subtly prepared himself, gripping the handle of the knife in his right hand and touching another item in his left that had not been used yet, to prevent any betrayal.

“Heh heh…”

Gao Haiwen gave a bitter laugh, the struggle deep in his eyes vanishing, “That’s not it. What I’m saying is already impossible for us, but you, who have neither used the ‘Book of Fate’ nor died, do have the chance to leave.

“As for the method of departure, I’m not currently in a position to share it with you, so you’ll have to wait until you reach the base…

“Our people will do everything possible to send you out. On that front, I have no reason to deceive you…”

Really? I don’t believe it…

Colin’s colleagues showed no expression on their faces, but deep down they were a thousand times skeptical.

They generally didn’t believe in the “good fortune” of pies falling from the sky based on the internal deception and intrigue of the Company.

However, considering the current situation, they did indeed need to rely on Gao Haiwen to gather intelligence more quickly, so they were momentarily unable to leave him.

Besides, with Brother Shunzi watching out, there shouldn’t be any major issues… right?

Several people thought unanimously that they might not have a handle on the situation, but that didn’t mean Brother Shunzi didn’t…

If Brother Shunzi hasn’t indicated a problem, then there probably isn’t one.

“Don’t worry.”

Gao Haiwen’s face was sincere: “All I need is for you to help me pass some information to the outside…”

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