absurd deduction game.

"Damn it!" Cang Nong felt his scalp tingle and his brain felt like it was being pierced by countless needles. He couldn't help but groan in pain. He hurriedly activated [Mermaid Tears], and a layer of clear water enveloped him, barely resisting the all-pervasive mental pollution.

"Oh dear, what a... grand welcoming ceremony." Carlos chuckled, seemingly unaffected, but a self-made alternate "playing card" flew out of his hand—not towards the small princess fantasy, but towards the ceiling!

The playing cards exploded in mid-air, transforming into countless shimmering ribbons and sequins, like a miniature indoor celebration. These seemingly chaotic and useless things fluttered down, instantly disrupting the gaze of the archival eyes and temporarily blocking their mental pressure.

"Now!" Carlos shouted.

At that very moment, the floating princess fantasy emitted an even more piercing shriek! Its body suddenly expanded and deformed as if inflated!
The crayon lines disintegrated and reformed, the colors mixed and distorted—in the blink of an eye, it transformed into the terrifying appearance on the fourth and fifth pages of the sketchbook.

An indescribable monster that almost reached the ceiling of the archives room, composed of grayish-white rocks resembling cave walls, twisted limbs, tattered princess dress fabric, and countless writhing black hairs!

Its "face" still retained that empty smile and huge, pupil-less black eyes, looking down at them from above. Its massive body almost filled the central space of the archives room, and where the arms used to be, twisted, plaster-like tentacles lashed out at the three of them!
“…Strangle!” Cang Nong suppressed his discomfort and slammed his hands to the ground.

The water on the floor of the archives instantly surged, turning into a raging torrent that coiled around the plaster tentacles the monster lashed out like a giant water python, attempting to crush or at least impede its movements. At the same time, countless sharp water blades burst forth from the water, slicing towards the monster's body.

However, the grayish-white plaster material was exceptionally hard, and the water blades only left white marks when they cut into it, making it somewhat difficult to choke the turbulent water.

The monster's other tentacle easily tore through the water's restraints, and with a whistling sound, slammed into Cangnong!

"Tsk, be careful!" Carlos appeared in front of Cang Nong like a ghost, blocking the attack with his body. This sudden act of selflessness made Cang Nong's pupils shrink sharply, his mouth gape open, and he was speechless.

However, in the next instant, the "Carlos" in front of him turned into a thin, wet paper figure. The paper figure chuckled and exhaled a puff of plaster-colored smoke before crumbling like pieces of plaster.

"boom!!"

The plaster tentacles, which had been blocked, deflected and smashed against the wall, and Carlos himself appeared not far away with a grin.

"Thanks!" Cang Nong broke out in a cold sweat.

"Don't get distracted, little brother." Carlos flicked his wrist, and several playing cards with paper doll designs shot towards the monster's huge black eye like flying knives. "Aim at one spot!"

The playing cards spun in the air, their trajectories unpredictable, seemingly surrounded by the forces of time and space, and carrying the effect of disrupting energy and spirit.

The monster let out an angry roar, its huge black eyes blinked, and an invisible barrier appeared, blocking the playing cards.

But it was clearly enraged. Its massive body pressed forward, crushing the filing cabinets like toys in front of it, and the eyes on the papers rolled around like snowflakes.

It opened its "mouth"—a constantly spinning, dark vortex from which came even more frenzied girlish laughter and whimpers, and a powerful suction tried to swallow the three of them in!
Just then, Yu Xing made a move.

He did not participate in the initial attack, but stood quietly at the back, observing. The mental pollution from the Eyes of the Archives had no effect on him, whose alienation level was 99%.

At this moment, facing the dark vortex that the monster was devouring, he finally raised his hand.

Countless dark brown, twisted branches, like a swarm of wildly dancing snakes, suddenly burst forth from the shadows behind and beneath his feet. They were no longer in a state of nothingness, but had coalesced into solid entities, covered with eerie black patterns!
A strong and terrifying aura of curse emanated from the black patterns, affecting even the invisible concept of "fantasy" in the air, causing it to rot and wither.

The branches did not directly attack the monster's main body, but rather precisely wrapped around the collapsed and scattered filing cabinets and the countless files that were "watching" them.

"Crash-!"

A heartbreaking voice sounded.

The branches roughly squeezed and crushed the wood and paper, each crushed file eye emitting a faint, agonizing groan like a bursting bubble before fading completely.

Yu Xing is eliminating the source of the monster's power and the extension of its perception in the most violent and direct way!
The monster let out a painful shriek, the suction of the dark vortex weakened significantly, and its massive body trembled, as if the Eyes of the Archives were closely connected to its body.

Yu Xing's gaze locked onto the monster's enormous main eye, and she smiled: "Cang Nong, right? You've spent so much time, so here's the monster's head for you."

Cang Nong understood immediately.

He gathered all his power, and the water around him surged and roared, eventually condensing into an enormous, high-speed spinning water drill that, with a piercing buzz, pierced straight into the monster's huge black eye!
Carlos grinned, flipped his hand, and a velvet top hat with fine shimmer appeared out of thin air in his palm. He grabbed a handful of powder that shimmered with a dangerous red light from it and threw it forward!
"That's fun, let me cheer you up!"

The powder exploded in the air, turning into countless blazing, trailing microscopic streams of light that swarmed and covered the monster's entire body like a bee, carrying a strong mental explosive attribute!
At the same time, Yu Xing's countless branches shot out like javelins from all angles, blocking all possible escape routes for the monster and heading straight for its core.
The water drills roared, fireworks exploded, and branches pierced through.

Three different yet powerful attacks struck the target precisely at the same time!
“Ouch——!!!”

The monster let out a deafening, terrifying scream that was no longer the girl's voice!
Its enormous black main eye shattered suddenly like glass, and its grayish-white plaster body was covered with cracks and charred explosion marks. Countless branches pierced deep into its body, frantically draining its primordial power.

【tasty! 】

[Another extra meal for the mastermind.]

[Brother is so happy again.]

Layers of undulating consciousness signals came from the branches, flooding into Yu Xing's mind like a hodgepodge. He adapted very easily at this moment because he was the trunk itself.

The trunk is the central point of the branches that extend outwards.

Yu Xing savored the unique flavor of the fantasy monster, converting the remaining energy into his own nourishment, and squinted his eyes contentedly.

The monster's enormous body convulsed and twisted violently, and finally collapsed and disintegrated amidst a series of unwilling screams!
The grayish-white rocks and twisted limbs crumbled like weathered sand sculptures, turning back into countless ashes and distorted shadows. In the end, only the hand-drawn book remained, falling with a "thud" onto the puddle-filled ground, the crayon marks on the cover completely faded, losing their original purpose.

In the archives, the thousands upon thousands of eerie archival eyes closed as if the tide were receding, turning back into ordinary, wet, tattered crayon patterns on paper, but the paper was soaked in ink, with almost no intact sheets remaining.

Silence fell again.

The only sound was the "drip-drop" of water droplets falling from the water flow controlled by Cangnong.

[Side quest updated: You encountered and killed "Canvas Remnant - Dragon Princess" (Fantasy Creature)]

Recorded by the rings of the ideal state, their contribution values ​​all jumped significantly.

Cang Nong plopped down in the puddle, panting heavily, his face a mixture of excitement and lingering fear: "It's...it's over? My god...this thing is too weird!"

Carlos straightened his slightly disheveled collar, put on the velvet top hat that had just appeared on his head, and resumed his elegant magician demeanor. He smiled and said, "You have quite the potential, little brother. All your abilities are related to water control. Are you a core sacrifice?"

Cang Nong paused for a moment, seemingly wanting to deny it subconsciously, but realizing that the two people in front of him were both powerful figures who had broken through to the next level, he knew he couldn't hide it from them, so he could only nod: "Yes... I was lucky..."

Carlos started chatting with him with great interest.

Yu Xing didn't listen. The branches that were wrapped around him slowly retreated into the shadows. He walked to the sketchbook that had completely lost its power, bent down to pick it up, glanced at it with a deep look, and then casually handed it to Carlos.

It was another item that could be taken out as a sacrifice, just like the lantern in the cemetery, so it was all entrusted to Carlos for safekeeping.

He glanced around the messy old archives room.

Water, mixed with scraps of paper and grayish-white monster remains, spread across the ground.

More importantly, the files that were originally piled up were now almost entirely covered in black ink, with either distorted, closed eye patterns or speckled gold coin-shaped stains, making it impossible to see any of the original writing.

"What a pity," he commented calmly. "These files are completely ruined. I need to speak with Principal Princeton as soon as possible tomorrow morning."

He paused, then added, "Fortunately, these were old files that had been abandoned and were no longer in use. We solved the monster that had been troubling the school for days, so the good outweighs the bad."

A barely perceptible glint flashed in Carlos's emerald eyes. He did not refute Yu Xing's high-sounding words, but simply spread his hands elegantly: "Of course, we are dedicated investigators of the ideal country."

Their behavior at this moment perfectly matched their identities as people who had come to deal with a monster incident.

Cang Nong looked at the two of them, hesitated for a moment, and then mustered up his courage to say, "Um... Boss Xing, Boss Magician, I... can I go with you? I promise to be obedient and not hold you back!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Xing turned to look at him, a half-smile appearing on her face. Her scrutinizing gaze made Cang Nong a little nervous: "You?"

He shook his head slightly, his tone carrying a factual smile: "Too weak. They won't be of any use following us; in fact, they'll easily become a burden that needs to be taken care of."

Cang Nong's face fell instantly, looking somewhat disappointed, but he wasn't unconvinced. After all, anyone who had witnessed the strength of these two would know the difference in skill level.

“However…” Yu Xing changed the subject, “If we happen to set our sights on the same target again, a temporary collaboration like today’s is not out of the question.”

The situation took an unexpected turn, and Cang Nong's eyes immediately lit up. He nodded hurriedly, "Great! Thank you, boss! I'll be going now, I won't bother you any longer!"

He seemed quite satisfied with such a promise, and immediately took his leave, dragging his still somewhat weak legs, and quickly left this place of trouble.

As Cang Nong's figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs, Carlos's smile faded. He snapped his fingers, and vibrant blocks of color instantly enveloped him and Yu Xing.

The next second, the two were back in the warm and bright living room of the magician's office.

What came into view was a pile of messy papers and a piece of blue clothing.

Yi Qing was seen gracefully floating above the sofa, his blue robe trailing on the ground, looking with great interest at the pile of things that had suddenly appeared on the living room floor—stacks of old, messy, yet perfectly intact, yellowed files!
The Green Demon pointed with his jade-bone fan at the suddenly appearing "hill" on the ground, his tone carrying just the right amount of curiosity: "You startled me just now. These... are your spoils for tonight?"

Carlos took off his coat, hung it up, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and laughed when he heard this: "Just a little magic trick."

He briefly described what happened in the old archives, and then said, "Fortunately, before opening that sketchbook, I anticipated that if a fight broke out, the contents of the archives would most likely be lost. So I used a substitution magic trick in advance to replace all the contents of those open filing cabinets with prepared waste paper."

Therefore, those that were affected by the battle and covered in ink stains were not the real old archives at all.

The real files had already been secretly moved by Carlos to his living room.

Yi Qing was incredibly clever and instantly grasped the key point. He paused slightly in his fanning motion: "Such a grand scheme... Yu Xing, do you think that tonight's battle in the old archives was deliberately orchestrated by someone behind the scenes?"

Yu Xing had just "fed" a fantasy concept monster of quite good quality and was in a good mood.

He walked to the sofa, sat down, poured himself a glass of water, and then slowly explained, a knowing smile playing on his lips:

"The timing and location of that hand-drawn book are too coincidental. It doesn't look like it's more like... it was deliberately placed there recently."

"So, what was the purpose of the person who placed this document?" He took a sip of water, his gaze sweeping over the surviving files on the floor. "Let's see what consequences it caused." (End of Chapter)