Artifact Report

Chapter 306 Dual Perspectives: Fu Tailan and Brianna
The defensive towers stood tall and straight in the darkness, an incongruous sight against the backdrop of the luxurious estate.

The drones that were changing shifts, like a swarm of giant bees leaving their mother hive, flew right over Fu Tailan's head as he opened the car door, buzzing as they scattered and disappeared into the night.

...He has already entered the scope of the illusion surveillance.

The manor must know he's here; but it's uncertain when they'll realize he's an intruder.

From this moment on, Fu Tailan knew that she might need to take action at any time.

Any communication, a glance, the slightest tremor in the air... could be a harbinger of an impending attack.

He gripped the backpack strap tightly, deliberately lagging two steps behind the two people in front of him, walking towards the security center; every step felt like walking under an inescapable, enormous gaze.

On the east side of the Wei family manor stands a small building, which is not connected to the manor. It is mainly used as rooms for employees and bodyguards; the entire basement floor has been converted into a security center.

As they passed by the main building of the manor, a group of low, dark figures that had been slowly pacing around suddenly stopped and then walked towards them step by step.

Erect ears, a thickly furred back, the sound of large claws slapping the ground...

...A pack of dogs? Surely not wolves?

Fu Tailan swallowed hard, feeling that something was not quite right.

“Hey, Lowell, stop dawdling,”

A guard in front of him turned around and called out to him, seemingly oblivious to the approaching horde of black figures, their size comparable to giant wolves. "Hmm? Did you take a bag with you when you came out?"

Fu Tailan slung her backpack over her shoulder, completely ignoring his words. "You go your own way, you're being nosy."

The man laughed and cursed, then turned his head away.

A dark figure strode towards Fu Tailan—the moment he saw it clearly, he almost cried out in surprise, and cursed inwardly.

Vesilé's style is exactly the same as always; he likes to create nests in the human world.

These large, dog-like and wolf-like creatures, upon closer inspection, reveal that they cannot be any human being: although other parts are no different from wolves, their muzzles are long and protruding, reaching twenty or thirty centimeters in length, and covered with narrow, fine grooves, so delicate that they seem almost man-made.

In each of the narrow slots covered with short hairs, there was a sheet of paper...

what?
Is that a memory card?

Fu Tailan stared at it, stunned for several seconds, until the "wolf" wrinkled its nose and took several deep breaths before he came to his senses and hurriedly followed the guards ahead. He glanced back and saw that the "wolf" had lost interest in him and turned to walk away.

What is its function?

Since guessing was pointless anyway, Fu Tailan quickened her pace, temporarily putting this question aside, and followed the two people in front of her, swiping their cards to verify their identity and entering the elevator. As soon as the elevator doors opened, a spacious, busy office area, almost like a hotline center, unfolded before her.

Rows of monitors, with dark black control panels, stretched out like long dragons, then turned back, creating several walkways.

The security personnel, wearing headsets, seemed to be assigned to monitoring units; each person appeared to be responsible for monitoring a portion of the manor area. Just as the elevator doors opened, Fu Tailan caught half a sentence—"4:42 AM, Prima is asleep, her location unchanged, no unusual changes in the surrounding personnel..."

Fu Tailan glanced down at her phone; it was 4:42.

Is Prima Vecchio's code name?

In other words, each designated area is monitored 24 hours a day; the movements of protected targets are tracked and updated every minute...

But what surprised Fu Tailan so much that she forgot to take a step was not this.

He stared at a wall dozens of meters away, directly opposite the elevator, speechless for a moment.

It was a list of names projected onto the wall.

[November 16, new people added within a 10-kilometer radius in the past 30 minutes]

[November 16, 4:42 AM, current population within a 11-kilometer radius]

The name of the "Lowell" he replaced, along with the names of two other guards, was prominently listed at the top of the list.

Under each name, there is a series of sub-menus: personal information, location, items carried... all of which are currently hidden, and it is not immediately clear how to open them.

Fu Tailan let out a soft breath, feeling a layer of cool sweat on her palms.

fortunately……

Fortunately, he was replaced by a guard sent out from the security center.

The names of three insiders left the security center; then the same three names returned—this was all too normal and reasonable, so none of the security center staff thought to click to check the details.

Otherwise, as soon as they opened the "Carried Items" submenu, they would immediately realize that "Lowell" was carrying several suspicious items... Even if not everyone could recognize the decoys, the person in charge of the security arrangements would definitely be able to identify them at a glance.

With such an impenetrable safety net... how could Vesilé have died?

How did the person about to kill him break through?

There was at most one hour left before Vesilé died.

Fu Tailan must find the assassin's weak point first—only then can he seize the opportunity to reap the benefits.

The first thing to do is to get him into the manor openly and legitimately; and that is now almost impossible.

Even the guards on duty at the security center don't have permission to enter the manor unless it's their turn to work...

It seems this identity also needs to be changed—besides, they will probably start to suspect me soon.

He happened to know someone who might be the ideal candidate for a new identity.
"...The guard at post number one hasn't returned yet?"

Brianna rubbed the corners of her eyes. Even in this strange and undefined state, she still felt tired and sleepy, which was really inexplicable.

It was already past four o'clock, and I had just closed my eyes when I was woken up by a call from the security center. Even half the residents would find it unbearable.

"Yes, they've reportedly been missing for forty minutes. Post number one requested instructions, so we sent out a few more people to search; they're still on their way—"

“Again?” Brianna caught the security director’s choice of words.

The head of the security center is not a hunter, nor is he obligated to report on security work to Brianna; he will only seek the advice and help of "Secretary Green" when he believes that something may involve a deception.

The pizza delivery guy also disappeared as soon as he turned around.

Brianna listened while gently tapping her fingers on the table.

...Trouble is brewing.

The closer you get to the finish line, the more dangerous it becomes.

Now that she knows the location of the artifacts—though she could never touch them without Vesilé's permission—would the current danger drag her into it as well?
It would be disgusting to die again for a father like that.

"It's pointless to just make people disappear."

Moreover, the missing person was just a low-ranking gatekeeper. To put it bluntly, he didn't even deserve to be a target.

Brianna is now fully conscious.

She stood up, looked down, and realized that she had fallen asleep without even changing her clothes. It seemed that after leaving the safe room, she was too eager to enter another world and forget about this human world.

"After someone disappears, the person in the shadows probably fills that person's place and sneaks in; that's probably what the person behind the scenes intended."

Aside from that, Brianna could hardly find any reason for a junior guard to go missing—unless it was all just an accident and a coincidence, like the man was simply hit by a car while smoking.

But at the crucial point where she had gathered all four artifacts, she didn't believe it was a coincidence.

"The pattern is very clear. There should be a certain total number of people on site, but there's always one missing—because the person who takes over the original body has to discard the original body in order to take over. When they switch to the next identity, the previous person naturally disappears. The pizza deliveryman was the first, and the guard named Marlowe was the second. Judging from this pattern, the guard probably already has something to do with it."

The first three people who went to search for the pizza deliveryman all returned, which means that the person who replaced the guard at Post No. 1, Marlowe, has very likely infiltrated the manor again by blending in with those three.

"...Does such a deception exist?" the security supervisor asked hesitantly. "Like changing batons in a relay race...changing identities?"

"There's nothing that doesn't exist in the lair, only things you can't imagine."

"I immediately brought those three people here—"

“Okay,” Brianna said, grabbing a few small cards from the table and striding out the door. “But I doubt you’ll be able to find one of them.”

“I’ll call back,” the security manager said, and then hung up the phone.

Brianna stepped out of the side door of the main building, strode into the courtyard, and whistled.

"Alpha Wolf?" she called out, standing on the grass. "Alpha Wolf, please come here!"

A minute or two later, a dark figure with its head drooping and back high slowly emerged from the woods. It traversed the darkness and the streetlights, its fur shimmering with an eerie glow, like a flowing, tangled nightmare.

Brianna looked at the cards in her hand and picked one out.

It looks like a card, but feels like bone; perhaps it should be called a "bone slice".

She carried this bone fragment with her when she met with Fu Tai Lan tonight—no, it should be the evening of the 15th.

She doesn't believe in coincidences.

If the night passes uneventfully, then Brianna can still believe that Fu Tailan simply dialed the wrong number by accident.

Looking at it now... it seems like too much of a coincidence.

On his way to the manor, he dialed the wrong number; shortly after he arrived, someone used a decoy to sneak in...

"In this one,"

Before the alpha wolf's eyes, she gently reached out and slid the bone fragment into a small, empty groove on its muzzle. "There is a scent that belongs to someone named Fu Tailan."

The alpha wolf gently opened its mouth; its lips parted wider and wider, gradually curving upwards until it became a smile indistinguishable from a human's.

The scent of Futau Blue—or rather, the scent of Futau Blue in the eyes of the nest creatures—immediately surged out, thick and wispy, climbing and clinging to the air, as if a dense fog had been created that could be touched by many feet.

The smell was icy and hollow, its edges shimmering with an almost dazzling blood-silver sheen; the sheen decayed in an instant, dripping down and scorching the grass blades, causing them to hiss and emit white smoke.

Each person's "scent" will manifest in different forms.

Brianna never mustered the courage to ask herself what she smelled like.

"...Yes. We've found the owner of this scent." The alpha wolf replied in perfect human language. "'Fu Tai Lan' is nearby."

really.

Before Brianna could ask her next question, her phone suddenly buzzed.

She looked at the three characters "Fu Tai Lan" on the screen and slowly straightened up.

(End of this chapter)