Artifact Report

Chapter 456 Mai Minghe: A Trap Within a Trap

...The two seats the man in pajamas sat in were both regular seats.

The dark blue fabric of the seat was old and faded, the paint on the armrests was scratched, and there were several old stains on the seat cushion, like oil floating on the sea.

A living person simply vanished without leaving a trace.

No, that might not be the right way to put it. Mai Minghe glanced at the old man and the pregnant woman's high belly.

Of course, she couldn't see anything—even though she knew perfectly well that if the man in the pajamas still existed, he was inside the womb of an old man and a pregnant woman.

The old man and the pregnant woman were absentmindedly stroking their bellies. Like the other two pregnant men, wherever Mai Minghe and Ashley went, their eyes followed them, and they kept muttering the same sentence to themselves.

"I wish they were twins, I wish they were triplets..."

Mai Minghe quickly turned his head away, pretending not to see it.

Since both seats are regular seats, the pajama man didn't sit in the wrong seat; the only reason he was "reversely" sucked into the old man's stomach and became his fetus is "breaking the rules".

In other words, when it is not allowed to get up, even just slightly raising your buttocks and leaving your seat for a moment is considered a violation. And as long as you violate the rules, even if you are sitting in a safe ordinary seat, the other passengers can still take advantage of you.

Even if the reason for the violation was that they were deceived by residents without understanding anything?

Isn't this just sending ordinary people to their deaths one after another? Where is the fairness?

...Ah, that's right.

Originally, this bus trap was not meant to catch ordinary people; it was supposed to be a trap only hunters would step into.

Mai Minghe let out a long breath and pressed down his slightly trembling hands.

Driven by a thirst for revenge and a desire for dominion, they introduced their lair and its traps into the world...

Mammy River is determined to win the game of domination because she cannot allow someone like Damian or Ashley to gain ultimate control over the lair and the human world.

She really wished the other human on the bus wasn't Ashley, so she could have someone to talk to.

However, Maming River really couldn't say for sure how much of Ashley was human.

When it was time for them to get up and move around, they both stood up and continued to walk around and observe; the bus was only so big, so Mai Minghe inevitably brushed past her a few times.

Most recently, Ashley knocked on the driver's side window and asked the driver a question—the driver didn't respond at all; however, when Mak Ming-ho leaned over, he heard a faint, high-pitched sound coming from Ashley's direction, like a strand of hair brushing past the edge of hearing.

"...I'm asking around for you..."

what?
Who's speaking? Is her phone on?

Mai Minghe quickly glanced at Ashley's ears.

She remembered that Ashley wasn't wearing headphones—it was just a fleeting glance she took.

But in that very glance, Maming River caught sight of something fleshy that suddenly shrank deep into Ashley's ear and disappeared.

“Stay away from me,” Ashley snapped, turning back to yell at him.

...No matter how he thought about it afterward, Mai Minghe still felt that the flesh-colored thing looked a lot like a finger.

There were five people on the bus, but three and a half of them couldn't even be considered human, which was already quite unsettling.

But when he thought about how most of the rules inside the train were still hidden mysteries, and how the next stop might attract new ordinary people, he didn't know how to protect them, and Mai Minghe almost wanted to curse.

She stared at the screen inside the car, and the screen stared back at her blankly.

The long, continuous advertisement for human intestines finally ended, but after it ended, no second advertisement lit up. Instead, the bus route and the names of the stops along the way were displayed.

Next stop:
Reflections in puddles on the road
Only a genius could deduce what the next stop would be from the phrase "reflections in puddles on the road".

As for the next stop after "Reflections in Puddles on the Road," that's even more baffling—

Mental hospital cafeteria / train dining car / highway gas station
So what exactly is it?
Despite feeling there were many hidden rules, Mai Minghe looked at the bus thoroughly but didn't see any explanations that would be given in a typical nest trap.

There should have been an explanation from a resident, even if there was no one to explain; but Maming River and Ashley knocked on the driver's side window several times, and the blurry figure behind the dark glass remained motionless, as if it were just a decoration.

"Passengers please note that in thirty seconds we will be arriving at the next stop, 'Reflections in the Puddles on the Road'."

When the car radio came on again, Mak Ming Ho was still empty-handed, having found no new information.

Based on her previous experience, she still had twenty seconds of free time left—with a childlike sense of reluctance, Mak Ming-ho stood at the drop-off point, lost in thought about whether she should just get off the bus, while continuing to listen to the radio.

"Passengers who are not getting off, please carefully select a suitable seat and do not occupy the spot where the deceased was placed. Passengers who are about to get off, please prepare your fare."

Mai Minghe paused, then looked up at the ceiling. Was the car radio different from last time?

Didn't we mention the fare last time? Oh right, you always have to pay the fare when you take a bus.

Mai Minghe's gaze shifted to the transit card sensors on either side of the car door; she had seen them several times earlier, but had never realized that she should pay the fare, treating them merely as decorations like the stickers inside the car.

There are only sensors; there's no cash payment option. How do I pay the fare?
"The right to use the reserved seat is valid for one stop only, and will expire at the next stop. This train is about to arrive at the station, and a new passenger will be boarding shortly. Ten—"

Is it possible to rent the right to use a designated seat?
This time, the car radio provided quite a bit of new information; perhaps it's worth taking a closer look during that dark and quiet time after parking.

Mai Minghe turned around and walked back to her regular seat; Ashley had already returned to his seat, staring at her expressionlessly... as if waiting for something.

By the time Mammoth finally understood what Ashley was waiting for, it was too late.

"three--"

The car radio countdown had only two seconds left.

Her hair stood on end. Ashley swooped down from the last row like an eagle, his shadow enveloping Maming River.

Wait a minute, doesn't this count as using force?

Mai Minghe was not a weakling, but Ashley was a well-trained police officer who was not only stronger but also far more skilled in grappling and combat than a civilian like her. Mai Minghe felt her collar being gripped tightly as a hand like a steel claw grabbed her clothes at her lower abdomen.

With a strong tug from Ash, she was pulled up from her seat, staggering.

Ashley didn't hit her because there was no need.

As soon as Mak Ming-ho fell onto the aisle floor, she took the opportunity to sit in his seat.

"one."

The car radio finished counting down the last number.

The bus was plunged into darkness in an instant.

“…Oh dear,” the car radio slowly rose from the desolate darkness of the world. “Passenger Mak Ming-ho did not sit properly when the car stopped, violating the rules.”

Mai Minghe was ice-cold all over, and with one trembling hand, he groped for the seat next to him, slowly propping himself up.

She understood everything.

Ashley set a trap from the very beginning.

The bus had rendered all the weapons harmless, so Ashley deliberately misled Mak Ming-ho by saying, "We're probably not allowed to fight," thus reassuring Mak Ming-ho to sit comfortably not far from her—however, the weapons turning into baguettes and toothbrushes could have another explanation.

"Physical harm to passengers is not permitted."

Ashley pulled Mak Ming-ho out of her seat just before the countdown ended, but he didn't hurt her at all; he just made her break the rules.

The only question is, how could Ashley be so sure that the rule was "no harm to passengers" and not "no fighting"?

Was it because she set up the entire bus trap?

Surely she can't know all the rules all the time?

What will happen to me next?
Countless thoughts and fears surged through his mind like a turbulent current; Mai Minghe's thoughts were shattered by a barrage of sharp emotions, unable to form a coherent idea.

She sat down in an ordinary seat according to her memory—but it was already too late.

"Passenger Mak Ming-ho, please wait for the penalty notification."

She sat blankly in the darkness, repeatedly recalling the few seconds that had just passed, always suspecting it was a nightmare and that she would be fine once she woke up.

What will happen next?
Will she be attacked by a newly boarding resident, or by those two men who are pregnant but not yet pregnant sitting on her? Will she eventually be sucked in like the man in the pajamas and become a fetus in a resident's womb?

Why do humans, for their own selfish desires, crush their fellow human beings like insects?

The lights inside the car came on again.

Light, color, shape, sound... like strokes of oil paint, each returning to its original position on the canvas, reconstructing a bus.

A pale-faced young woman was standing in the bus aisle. As the light came on, she involuntarily blinked a few times. She was tightly wrapped in the collar of her raincoat, and her fingers were almost bluish like those of a dead person.

She was just an ordinary person, her face full of shock and confusion. Just then, she looked up and met Mai Minghe's gaze.

"How—how did I end up in the car?" the young woman asked, as if seeking help.

Mai Minghe opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

The young woman didn't wait for her reply. Instead, as if suddenly remembering something, she turned around almost nervously and immediately screamed.

"It's him!"

She called out as she backed away from the back of the bus, revealing another man behind her. "He got on too—please, please someone call the police, he's been following me—"

...The man looked like an ordinary person as well.

It seems there are no residents at this station. What's going on?

Mai Minghe felt as if a giant wooden hammer was hammering at the back of her head; her mind and thoughts could not escape it at all, and every time she tried to think, she would be smashed into pieces by the wooden hammer.

Each fragment reflects the same fear.

“I’m a police officer,” she heard Ashley say. “What’s going on between you two? Tell me.”

(End of this chapter)