Artifact Report

Chapter 439 Fu Tai Lan: A Mystery and a Group of People Jumping Off Buildings

Fu Tailan lay motionless on the empty, wet road in her nest, gazing up at the night sky.

There were no stars, no rain, and no moon.

Only countless high-rise buildings and roads, parks and rivers, streetlights and shops... are upside down in the sky, turning the dome into a human landscape painting, which is then placed on the nest.

It's strange. When you look up from the human world, the nest appears upside down over Blackmore City; but once you enter the nest, Blackmore City is in the sky.

However, Blackmore City seemed much more distant.

"When I was in Blackmore City, I saw with my own eyes the residents and the rules fall into the world. How did that happen?"

Fu Tailan remained lying on the ground, asking almost lazily, "They can't be falling upwards, can they?"

The coil residents were standing beside him.

The coils that form its head were drawn with a black oil-based pen, almost blending into the night, making it look at first glance as if a headless woman was standing next to it.

“Things falling from the nest eventually end up in Blackmore City above. From Blackmore City’s perspective, it looks like they’ve fallen from a nest in the sky. Isn’t that interesting? Hard to imagine, right?” the coil resident said with a laugh. “Because the two are each other’s sky.”

Even Fu Tailan found it somewhat difficult to understand.

"Ah, here we come."

When the coiled creature turned its head, only half of its face could barely reappear from the darkness—if a few black lines could be considered a face.

After losing blood and crying bitterly, Fu Tailan had no strength left in his body. He could only roll his eyes – all he could see were the feet of the newcomer.

The newcomer always stood on tiptoe, high on its toes, and was even wearing ballet shoes; however, when it walked, it had nothing to do with ballet steps, and its two pointed, upright feet were more like the two sickles of a praying mantis.

As if pricking the ground with the toes, the resident "walked" closer to Fu Tailan and stopped next to his head.

Years of hunting experience told Fu Tai Lan that the new resident was trying his best to be patient and not let a toe poke into Fu Tai Lan's face.

"My face doesn't look good," Fu Tailan said weakly.

"Huh? You also have the ability to hear thoughts?" The new resident bent down, revealing the back of a ballet dancer's head in his field of vision.

Its hair was neatly tied into a bun and adorned with a white veil—yet the back of its head was its face. As for the back of its head, it was still just a back of its head, also tied into a bun.

How can it talk if it doesn't have a mouth? Oh well, it's just a resident, after all.

"Have you brought the items?" the residents of the coil asked.

“Here you go,” the ballerina said, handing over a handbag. “I’ve got everything. It’s just that some things are a little hard to find.”

As long as you don't look at their appearance, this conversation is perfectly normal, perfectly human.

"You found the first aid kit too? That's amazing." A resident of the coil praised, then took out a white box with a red cross on it from his handbag and handed it to Fu Tailan: "Take care of your hand injury to prevent infection."

“We also have germ residents in our lair,” the ballet resident added. “It’s a pity they’re so rare and don’t live long, otherwise you hunters would have gone extinct long ago. What a shame.”

Fu Tailan slowly got up and looked at the first aid kit.

There was still a large splatter of blood on the first aid kit, as if it had only recently dried.

...This is clearly a human-made product; it even includes the name and address of the manufacturing company.

He looked at the ballet dancers, but couldn't tell anything from the smooth back of their heads.

Fu Tailan decided not to ask any questions and began to treat the wound—he was already very skilled in first aid and quickly disinfected and bandaged it.

“Blood loss is a bit tricky,” the coil resident actually poured him a glass of water. “Here, have some.”

It was a small plastic bottle that looked a bit like a health supplement.

"what?"

“Iron supplements,” said a resident of the coil.

Fu Tailan stared at its two hastily drawn eyes, outlined with black lines. "Isn't this the nest? Why are we talking science now? Can't you come up with a more fantastical illusion?"

“This is an artifact,” the coil resident said. “It’s twice the dosage of a normal iron supplement.”

...What a useless illusion.

Fu Tai Lan still ate it.

This is something handed to him by a resident; it may be iron, or it may not be iron, but it doesn't really matter what he ate.

I never wanted to be a hunter; I always wanted to retire and live the same life as other seventeen-year-olds…

But Fu Tailan suddenly realized that the people surrounding him, taking care of him, and giving him medicine and water were actually two residents he had never met before.

Perhaps Coil is right; his only home is his nest.

“This last thing is really useful.” The coil resident opened his bag as if presenting a treasure. “Ta-Da! A telescope.”

Is it an illusion?

“…No.” Fu Tailan grabbed the binoculars and lay down again with a thud.

The coil residents lay down beside him; the ballet residents seemed unable to lie down, so they remained on tiptoe, squatting on their toes, looking up with them—they were indeed quite flexible.

Fu Tailan wasn't stupid; he knew he was just a useful knife.

But even if these residents intended to take advantage of him, at this moment, it seemed to matter no more.

He raised his binoculars and, following the instructions of the coil residents, slowly scanned the city of Blackmore.

He peered through the clouds, pausing on the isolated streetlights, drifting along the river that flowed through the city, seeing many panicked, distorted, laughing maniacally, bewildered people... or rather, people from the past.

It turns out that the human world has always been so far away from him.

He was like a god above the clouds, watching the world from afar with detachment, able to let go at any time and stop watching at any time.

Only when Fu Tailan's gaze returned to the vicinity of Carter's apartment building did he suddenly curl up—in that instant, it was as if guilt had turned into a giant elephant, crushing his chest with one foot.

Is Fu Han still foolishly waiting for him to return?

When Dad realizes he's gone, will he be disappointed and in pain? Will he be determined to go into the nest?
Should he look for Fu Han in the lair?

Will Dad forgive him?

“It’s alright,” the resident of the coil suddenly said softly. “People have to walk their own path. There’s no reason to ride on your son’s back for a lifetime.”

Fu Tailan took several deep breaths before her heartbeat finally calmed down.

“I…I never want to feel this way again,” he said hoarsely. “I want painkillers.”

“Then there’s only one way,” the coil resident laughed.

Fu Tailan was silent for a few seconds, then hummed in agreement.

“Now, follow this road uphill, yes… keep going uphill, then turn here.” The resident of the coil stretched out his hand, guiding Fu Tailan’s gaze, and said, “Use your binoculars to look at that open space.”

Between several buildings, there was a vacant lot; in the distance, it seemed as if several small figures were standing.

Fu Tailan raised his binoculars.

“…Chais,” he said softly, “and Caronan. Who’s the other man?”

“It was the host,” the coil resident said calmly, “who was also killed by Chase, Kaironan’s biological son, Damian. He had just been recruited as a player for the Domination Game before he died, and after his body fell into the nest, he became the resident ‘host’.”

Fu Tailan was taken aback. Chais Monroe—?
That Chess Monroe who's like a dog on his knees?

Did he kill his adoptive father's biological son? Did Caronan know about it?

The coil resident explained, "In this Domination game, the most powerful illusion right now is in the hands of the host. The Nest's invasion of humanity was also his doing... Can you find any clues about the ??? on him?"

"You don't know either?" Fu Tailan asked.

"It's not in my hands, how would I know?" the coil resident said matter-of-factly. "Aren't you a child prodigy? Go look for it. If you can take it, the chances of others winning the game will be quite slim."

The residents of the coil seemed to have been monitoring the host the whole time, recording his every move and route tonight in great detail.

Damian—the host—no longer ruled the game players after his death. However, somehow, during the inhabitants' process, he became part of the game's setup, responsible for sending fake reports to the players.

This explains why, after Damian obtained the illusion, none of the other players received a notification.

Fu Tai Lan unfortunately had to deal with Chai Si twice tonight.

Damian seemingly obtained the information at the exact time that he was dealing with Chai Si—if Chai Si had received the notification at that time, he wouldn't have been unresponsive, and Fu Tailan wouldn't have been deaf to it.

"You're saying... that he was born into the human world. That means the host only obtained the illusion after entering the human world," Fu Tailan said. "Since you've been monitoring the host, shouldn't you know better than anyone how he obtained the illusion?"

"That's the strange thing."

A resident of the coil said, "I've been watching the host closely. It's certain the artifact wasn't initially in his possession. After ??? appeared, the host drove all the way to Kaironan without stopping, and no residents had any contact with him. So, when and how did the host get the artifact?"

Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit strange.

Fu Tailan raised his binoculars again—this time, he shifted his gaze away from where Chai Si and the others were, and carefully looked back at the host's route, following the directions given by the residents of the coil.

How did they manage to do that? To steal something, you first need to know how the host got it, since you have so little information.

While Fu Tailan was still thinking, he suddenly had a jolt and quickly turned his binoculars—he wasn't mistaken, several figures were jumping down from the high-rise building next to him, as if they had agreed to commit suicide together.

Could it be that someone couldn't stand the nest invasion—no, that can't be right.

The people who jumped off the building together were all exactly the same in gender, appearance, and build.

They are all the same person.

“Ah, that’s another player who dominates the game, Kim Selena,” said the coil resident. “Or should I say several? She’s actually benefited from this misfortune, or at least she’s quick-witted. Anyway, the observer can’t see her anymore.”

(End of this chapter)