absurd deduction game.

The night Sarah and Anthony went "out on an archaeological expedition".

Sarah was trembling when she kicked open Anthony's door with the courage to fight the cultists to the death.

In that instant, she couldn't see anything. After rushing inside, she instinctively grabbed the cold walls of the hotel, with only darkness and a ghostly green light in front of her.

In the darkness, her trembling breaths were exceptionally clear, and fear gripped her heart.

After a long pause, she tentatively asked, her voice trembling, "...Professor Anthony?"

The eerie green glow deep within the room flickered slightly.

It's like something is stretching out.

Immediately afterwards, a voice rang out, seemingly Fernail's voice, yet carrying a damp, chilling tenderness that sent shivers down one's spine.

“Miss Sarah, how dare you, as a mistress who cannot be seen in the light of day, disturb my husband and me’s wonderful night?”

Sarah's hair stood on end, and she stepped back, her back slamming against the doorframe.

A sharp pain jolted her awake, making her realize that she had come to save someone.

"What did you do to Professor Anthony!" She didn't bother to refute the term of address as her lover, and mustered her courage to ask in a shrill voice, her fingers tightly gripping the cold crucifix.

A faint green light flickered slowly, filling the entire room.

A soft laugh came from the bedside, and gradually the light source grew brighter, barely illuminating the outline of the room.

Insect nest.

Countless enormous pupae were piled up densely in the corner, connected by something like a net. They were the source of the eerie green light, and they were all breathing in unison.

Bathed in green light, the bed in the room was highlighted.

Professor Anthony lay motionless on the bed, his face obscured, while Fernail, dressed in a light nightgown, stood with her back to Sarah, her fair back exposed, her legs straddling Anthony.

Sarah was horrified by her posture.

As Fernell slowly turned her face, Sarah's eyes widened suddenly, and she let out a suppressed, almost broken gasp.

The person standing before me, Funel... seems to be her, yet not her.

Her face was still beautiful, even paler and more delicate than usual, gleaming with a jade-like luster under the pale green light.

But her eyes... had no whites, no pupils, only a dense array of compound eyes.

What Sarah found even more incomprehensible was that something was slowly wriggling beneath the skin of Furner's bare neck and arms.

Those could hardly be called blood vessels; the lines were thicker and clearer, with a regular, heart-like pulsation, and an eerie dark green color.

“Anthony?” Fernail repeated the name softly, stroking Anthony’s warm chest in her palm, a graceful smile curving her lips, yet sending a chill down one’s spine. “He’s doing well. He… is undergoing a transformation.”

She chuckled softly and turned slightly to show Sarah what was happening on the bed.

Anthony lay on his back on the bed, his body seemingly relaxed. But his head…

Sarah covered her mouth tightly to keep from screaming.

Anthony's head was completely covered by a translucent, dark brown substance, like the shell of some kind of insect cocoon.

The substance was still wriggling slightly, its surface glistening with a wet sheen, and one could vaguely see the outline of Anthony's face twitching slowly and painfully beneath.

“This is a black… pupa?” Sarah murmured, her mind blank.

“A beautiful form, isn’t it?” Fernail’s voice carried a hint of appreciation. She lifted herself up, separated from Anthony, swung her long legs off the bed, and slowly walked towards Sarah. She gently reached out a hand to stroke Sarah. “He is becoming…something more perfect. It’s a pity that this process takes a little time. I was planning to have some more fun with him.”

Her fingers were long and slender, with dark green nail polish on her nails, instantly reminding Sarah of the finger she had seen through the hole in the wall earlier.

"What...what are you?" Sarah's voice trembled violently. She leaned against the door, her legs weak, and she could barely stand.

“Things?” Fernel tilted her head slightly, her eyes turning to Sarah, her eerie gaze seeming to suck in one’s soul. “I am Fernel, Anthony’s wife, the wealthiest businesswoman in Yorickf Town.”

She paused, her tone suddenly softening, tinged with regret: "And you, you should have finished your studies and become an excellent girl. Why did you get involved in these... things you shouldn't know?"

Sarah's heart pounded, fear almost overwhelmed her, but a stubbornness rose from the bottom of her heart.

She recalled the image of her brother's tragic death, and the despair in Anthony's trembling confession to her.

“My brother… Tate…” Sarah gritted her teeth, staring intently at Fennell, “You killed him!”

Fennell's smile faded slightly, and she tilted her head as if in reminiscence.

“Ugh… that awful investigator,” she said softly, her tone as flat as if she were talking about the weather. “He’s so curious, always looking where he shouldn’t be. I had to… ask him to be quiet.”

“You killed him!” Sarah’s tears welled up, a mixture of fear and anger.

“That’s a necessary step.” Fernail’s voice remained calm, even carrying a hint of serious inquiry. “Some materials need to be fresh to achieve their best effect. Your brother… provided some very high-quality ‘raw materials’.”

Sarah felt a wave of intense nausea, her stomach churning.

“You devil…you are a devil!” she hissed.

“The devil?” Fernail chuckled softly, a strange resonance echoing in her chest. “No, my dear. I just…see further and go further than you.”

She took another step closer to Sarah.

Sarah immediately raised the crucifix in her hand, trembling as she pointed it at her: "Don't come any closer!"

Fennell stopped in her tracks, her eyes fixed on the simple silver cross, the corners of her mouth curving into a deeper smile.

“A very interesting little toy,” she commented, with a hint of barely perceptible disdain in her tone. “Unfortunately, it can’t stop what’s truly meant to come.”

The moment she finished speaking, Sarah suddenly felt a strong wave of dizziness.

The eerie green glow in the room seemed to come alive, starting to spin and twist. The walls were melting, the floor was undulating, and the cross in her hand became scalding hot, so hot that she could barely hold it.

Even more terrifying, she began to hear voices resounding directly from the depths of her mind.

It was a cacophony of countless tiny, overlapping, incomprehensible whispers, like thousands of insects flapping their wings, crawling, and gnawing at the same time.

The stench of decay filled her nostrils, making it difficult for her to breathe.

“Ugh…” Sarah curled up in pain, and the crucifix in her hand fell to the ground with a clatter.

Fernail stood a few steps away, quietly watching her struggle.

“Look, you’re so fragile.” Fernail’s voice cut through the chaotic whispers and clearly reached Sarah’s ears. “Humans are always like this, thinking they have the truth and the weapons, but in reality… you can’t even feel what’s going on in your own heads.”

Sarah knelt down, covering her ears with her hands, but the whispers came from within and could not be blocked. She felt something cold and sticky crawling up her spine, seeping into her skin, and drilling into her veins.

She looked down in horror at her arm.

Beneath the skin, there seemed to be extremely fine, dark green lines appearing and disappearing quickly, so fast it was like an illusion.

"What...what did you do to me?" Sarah's voice was already trembling with sobs.

“I’m helping you get used to it.” Fernail crouched down to be at Sarah’s eye level.

Those dark green, swirling eyes were so close, Sarah could see her own distorted reflection in them.

“Your brother left something behind, and you have it too, a very interesting genetic trait…it’s perfect as a ‘container’.”

container?

Sarah didn't understand, but she instinctively sensed extreme danger.

"No... I don't want to..." She struggled to get up, trying to escape.

But her body felt as heavy as if it were filled with lead, and her limbs were weak and powerless.

Even more terrifying, a strange sense of calm was rising deep within her heart. The fear, anger, and nausea were being slowly replaced by a warm, drowsy, almost blissful sense of languor.

"Shh...don't struggle." Fernail reached out her cool fingers and gently brushed Sarah's sweaty forehead. "You'll be alright. Get some sleep, and when you wake up, everything will...be different."

Sarah felt a strange numbness wherever her fingers touched.

“Sleep.” Fernail’s voice was like a hypnotic incantation, carrying an irresistible force. “Sarah Jones, you are very useful. When you wake up, you will be a poor female student who is ashamed of her affair with the professor. You will become my backup plan… and then, wait quietly.”

"Waiting for...what?" Sarah's eyes began to glaze over, her consciousness sinking into sticky honey.

“Wait for the day I need you.” Fernail’s voice faded into the distance. “If all goes well, perhaps you will always be Sarah Jones. But if something unexpected happens…”

She didn't finish speaking.

Although Sarah couldn't understand, she instinctively sensed that she was falling into hell.

The chill brought by this realization even briefly overwhelmed the eerie drowsiness.

She wanted to scream, to fight back, to tear the beautiful yet terrifying face in front of her with her nails.

But she didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.

She could only watch helplessly as Fernail stood up, walked to the cocoon containing Anthony's head, and gently stroked it, as if comforting a sleeping child.

Then, Fernal turned around and gave her a perfect, gentle, and aloof smile befitting a noblewoman.

Goodnight, Miss Sarah.

Darkness surged in like a tide, engulfing Sarah's last vestiges of consciousness.

Before she completely lost consciousness, she vaguely felt something extremely tiny and sharp, something that burrowed into the depths of her throat, traveled downwards, and finally settled quietly in a warm place deep within her chest.

Like a seed, waiting for the day it sprouts from the soil.

……

Time and space reset in an instant, and the final resting place was still that sun-drenched, blood-smelling guest room.

Qu Xianqing's blood-stained sword was slowly being pulled from Sarah's chest.

The blade trailed a thick line of blood, which refracted a dark red light in the sunlight.

On the face that Funnel controlled, which belonged to Sarah, the coldness, resentment, and anger of being completely exposed receded like the tide, and the light in her eyes quickly dissipated and went out.

When the sword tip completely leaves the body, the supporting force also disappears.

The body, now a fusion of two souls and burdened with pain, collapsed forward, crashing heavily onto the blood-stained carpet.

Her furrowed brows relaxed, and the last trace of Fernal on her face disappeared as if erased by an eraser.

Instead, there was a sense of relief and calm, tinged with a touch of... the lingering bewilderment of a young girl.

Sarah's lips moved unconsciously, and a faint breath escaped from deep in her throat, accompanied by a few almost inaudible syllables, dissipating brokenly in the sun-drenched and blood-stained air:
"elder brother……"

Her eyelashes fluttered, and her pupils dilated completely, reflecting the dappled light and shadow on the ceiling.

"...I'm coming to find you."

As soon as he finished speaking, his life came to an end.

Qu Xianqing: "..."

Once she was sure the person in front of her was dead, she bent down, picked up Sarah's body, and put it back on the bed.

"You've worked hard," she said softly.

Almost the instant her words fell—

A system prompt appeared.

[Main quest complete: Things took an unexpected turn; the unspeakable deity, halfway to its descent, was intercepted by the true gods, and the High Priest of the Tantric sect's last breath was extinguished.]

After this, the remaining members of the cult will be arrested and eliminated one by one. The crisis in Yorickf town has finally passed, and the people in the church can look forward to a hopeful tomorrow.

[Congratulations to all players who completed the deduction! The mission is complete. The dungeon rankings will be tallied immediately.]

The notification sound echoed in the minds of every strategist. In the ruins of the attic, Carlos, who was helping Yu Xing bandage and treat the injured church personnel, raised an eyebrow.

"Rankings are tallied... I should be number one, right?"

After entering the God War, the leaderboard became inaccessible, and it's unclear whether the God War awards points.

But Carlos wasn't worried.

He had always been ahead, and even when the ancient gods descended, he was still at the forefront, and no one could surpass him.

Sure enough, the contribution rankings were announced the next second. Carlos was still in first place, and his points had jumped up significantly. Yu Xing and Qu Xianqing followed closely behind, while Lingren, through some secret efforts, managed to catch up to fourth place.

The good news is that no one will die today because they ranked last in contribution points.

Following the public announcement, each participant calculated their own results. Carlos heard the system say:
[Congratulations on ranking first among the investigators! Utopia has prepared a special reward for you. Please go to the central square of Yolikev Town and wait for the carrier pigeon to deliver your letter and package.] (End of Chapter)