Artifact Report

Chapter 411 Mai Minghe: The more you spend online, the stronger your online sensibility becomes—this is an inevitable principle.
No one would mistake the dark figure for a human at first glance.

Although it is about the same height as Mak Ming Ho, it speaks clearly and articulately, without spitting anything out.

It has ears, hands, and even a cell phone—and so on.

In the dark, rainy night, Mak Ming Ho squinted hard.

Is that... a cell phone?

The resident had already lowered his hands, and now his long arms hung down, holding the hem of his robe in his hands and swaying it around his body, like a shy little girl gently twirling her skirt.

But the phone is still attached to its ear.

A sliver of white light leaked from the screen, illuminating half of its face—in Mai Minghe's opinion, it would have been better if it hadn't been illuminated.

Below the prominent, protruding eye is the lower eyelid. This is the same as in humans.

A curved slit appeared in the skin of the lower eyelid, revealing half of the second eyeball.

Below the second eyeball is the lower eyelid; inside the second lower eyelid, another opening appears, revealing half of the third eyeball... Each eyeball is partially enclosed by an eyelid, like a stack of towers, layer upon layer touching the jaw.

It feels as if its facial bones are filled with eyeballs, and then a skin is haphazardly covered up, with many openings in the skin so that each eyeball can have a chance to breathe.

This is something that would make any human want to die.

At the very least, Mak Ming-ho managed to suppress his fear and nausea, swallowing back a mouthful of acid.

"You—" Mercury had already jumped back several steps, clearly quite startled. "How did you get in? When did you arrive—"

"Ok?"

The resident lowered his chin and then gave her a coquettish look, rolling his eyes at her.

"Mercury, so you can be surprised and flustered too. Oh, or are you just too happy? After all, we're partners."

As it spoke, it put its hands on its hips and looked around.

The phone was loosely placed on its ear, and as it shook its head, a small gap appeared—only then did Mai Minghe see that there was also an eyeball under the phone, inside its ear.

"Didn't I rush over to solve your problem as soon as I got your call? I'm just too reliable, dependable, steady, and mature—very much like a Daddy, right?"

Mai Minghe doesn't understand the popular slang among young people, but he can vaguely guess the meaning—and after guessing, he feels uncomfortable.

Mercury seemed quite used to the residents' way of speaking, his expression remaining unchanged: "I'll ask you one more time. How did you get in?"

The resident sighed. "Of course I walked in myself. You didn't come in with a sedan chair carried by eight men."

Its eyes slowly scanned the area, finally settling on Mai Minghe one by one. "Is that your enemy? Besides her, I haven't seen any other targets nearby. Hey, you're not competing with her for that guy, are you? But I'll always unconditionally forgive you—"

Mercury cut it off: "She's not. Didn't you see that man? He's the target."

The residents looked at the driver.

"Oh my, fellow countrymen meeting again!" The resident clapped his hands, as if he had just remembered the phrase, and said happily, "This is not the target, you have misunderstood."

The residents' "fellow villagers"... Mai Minghe couldn't help but glance at the black abyss belt on the driver's head.

The driver was just a normal person a moment ago, but now the residents are calling him a fellow villager. Has he become a resident, or...?

She thought of Chai Si and Han Liuyue, both of whom were slowly pulled back from the Black Abyss. So… could other residents do the same?
No, if residents can also cross the Black Abyss, why didn't they come in sooner?
Has something major happened tonight?
"how did you find me?"

Judging from Mercury's tone alone, it would be hard to tell that she had just been shot in the shoulder. The anxiety and urgency she had shown earlier were immediately suppressed when she saw the residents, and her tone was almost casual, without even the slightest tremor of pain.

"Is it possible that I've always known your location? Otherwise, how could I have covered the hive network as you requested?"

"Oh? Tell me about it," Mercury said almost casually.

"Didn't you memorize my phone number?" the resident couldn't help but say proudly. "That memory of my phone number will stay with you wherever you go!"

The resident tilted his head back and laughed heartily—but then rainwater fell into his mouth, choking him and causing him to cough. He bent over, supporting himself on his knees, coughing very hard.

...The nest is always in some inexplicable place, adhering to the common sense and reason of humankind.

Mai Minghe had realized this long ago, but when she was in Blackmore City and thought about it again, she felt that everything was wrong.

She shouldn't have seen this in Blackmore City.

This city was where her parents settled after immigrating, a place that held her perhaps regretful life, and also the last scene Lan Zhui saw before she passed away.

So many human dreams, struggles, desires... brick by brick, have built this most magnificent and prosperous metropolis on Earth. Whether bright or dark, materialistic or not, it belongs only to humankind.

"Where did you come in from?"

As Mai Minghe opened her mouth, she suddenly realized that it was she who was speaking with a trembling voice. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so angry. "Which street? Which sewer?" "The old lady's swearing is pretty foul," the resident said, catching his breath.

Mercury raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask.

“When you bent over to cough just now, I saw a piece of broken board in your hair,” Mak Ming-ho said.

She wasn't lying—after all, even in the dim light of a rainy night, staring at that face for too long would easily exceed human endurance, but she dared not let her eyes wander, so Mai Minghe's gaze remained loosely fixed on its head.

Its hair was dirty, messy, and tangled, but it was still the part that most resembled a human.

When a resident bent over to cough, Mercury shone his phone flashlight on him, and in a flash, Mai Minghe saw it—a piece of light blue wood, tangled in the disheveled hair of a homeless man, which even the heavy rain hadn't washed away.

"Hmm?" The resident reached out, touched it, pulled it off, and glanced at it.

“I’ve seen it before,” Maming said with inexplicable confidence. “I know where you came from.”

Mercury glanced at her as if to say, "Does it matter?", but ultimately did not interrupt her.

"The welfare housing construction site on Lookout Street. You came out from there, didn't you?"

If the welfare housing construction site was originally intended for residents to move in, then everything makes sense—

"Wrong!"

The residents were overjoyed and clapped their hands a few times. "I came in from the welfare housing construction site on Cain Street. I was so close to getting it right, what a pity, my fellow debater! You have no idea, that apartment building was torn apart by Brianna, it was all smashed to pieces, leaving a huge crack... With her connecting the dots, I was able to get in so easily."

...Briana.

Hearing the name of a Nest Domination player again, Mak Ming-ho was slightly surprised but not unexpected, and could only sigh softly.

She was surprised because she never expected to hear the name "Briana" from the residents at this moment.

She glanced at the driver; he remained standing motionless. She wasn't surprised, because she already understood.

Each player in the Nest Domination game follows their own storyline.

As Mak Ming-ho walks along her storyline, the two lines of "Kim Shirley" and "Briana" undergo unknown changes and developments; their actions and consequences ultimately become two pieces of a puzzle, piecing together everything that happens tonight.

Who else?
What roles did she, Chai Si, and Fu Tailan play respectively?
It seems that everyone, in the process of pursuing their own goals, gradually becomes someone behind the scenes, helping to achieve those goals.

The goal, as it now appears, was to bring what was in the nest into the world.

It was at this moment that Mak Ming Ho made his decision.

"I'm going to find Brianna."

Mercury was taken aback. "You know that person? You know what's going on here?"

“I don’t have time to explain, but I might need your help. I’ll explain on the way.” Maming River pointed to the resident and said, “It’s your…partner? Contracted resident? Could you have it take us to Brianna?”

Mercury chuckled softly—she hid it well, and it took Mai Minghe a second or two to realize that it was a bitter laugh.

"I'm afraid I can't do it."

As she spoke, she picked up her phone and ended the call. She paused, staring at the screen as if waiting for something.

When Mercury raised her eyes again and saw the residents, she couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"What's wrong with me? I just got here," the resident said, feigning embarrassment. "Even if we met in person, we wouldn't send someone back this quickly."

The sound of mercury was almost calm.

“According to the usual rules, when I hang up the phone, it and its network of hives will disappear from the world.”

As she spoke, she walked step by step toward the machine gun that the driver had thrown aside, and somewhat clumsily picked it up with one hand.

The residents watched, unmoved.

"It hasn't disappeared. I expected that, so I'm not disappointed... However, if it refuses to leave as I command, then we have another pressing problem."

The residents chuckled.

"The terms of my contract with it were simply that I would provide it with a channel to target human goals; we each got what we needed," Mercury said softly. "It has never been my slave."

“Yes,” the resident said proudly, puffing out his chest. “I’m not like those residents who are terrified of you and that’s why they signed the contract.”

Mai Minghe was startled, then realized what he meant. "Wait, that means—"

“That’s right,” Mercury said slowly. “When it can enter the human world, it won’t need me anymore. There’s not a single clause in our agreement that can stop it from harming you and me.”

(End of this chapter)