Artifact Report

Chapter 64: Fu Tailan's Most Desired Thing

The second time I got the filler item was on November 7th.

This time, the makeshift item was still brought back by Reimi, but compared to the alarm clock last time, its relationship with time was a bit vague: it was a hard paper train ticket.

The starting station on the ticket is "Nest Central Station", the terminal station is "Blackmoor City Central Station", and the date is November 2026, , which is nine days later.

Generally speaking, artifacts themselves or near their origins will have a description of their function, but this ticket only has a few lines of text, and after reading it, it is still difficult to understand what it is used for:
ticket
Please note that non-human creatures cannot ride.

Please note that humans who have stayed in the nest for more than seven days must accept their fate of dissolution and death. Even if there is still a piece of them left, please do not try to get on the car.

Please note that the ticket is a single-trip ticket and only allows one person to ride once.

Is it a ticket that can take people from the nest back to Blackmore City without the need for a passage?
Being able to send people back to Blackmore City without having to follow the "return passage" rule seems to only make sense in a very narrow range of possibilities... For example, the hunter's passage was cut off by some accident; after all, anything is possible in the nest.

If it was a round-trip ticket from Blackmore City to the nest and back, Fu Tailan knew that there was someone who was so excited that he could break the dog leash.

All in all, it’s a bit far-fetched to say that this ticket has something to do with time; but to say that it has nothing to do with it, it does have some connection.

What finally made Fu Tailan decide to use the cat as the prince were two reasons: first, the ticket was small and could be held in the palm of the hand; second, it could change shape.

Although this change in shape is very slight and meaningless: it is light blue in a man's hand and light pink in a woman's hand.

"What color would a gender-fluid person hold it?" Remi said while chewing gum. "This fake image has a very conservative concept of gender. In this day and age, men are still blue and women are pink."

Anyway, as long as I can change my form, that's fine.

After the last "transaction", if Fu Tailan still pretended not to know that the target pseudo-image could change its form, it would be too fake, and Green would see through his ulterior motives at a glance.

Besides, the point is not to complete Vesile's commission, but to verify my own guess.

After finally getting through No. 13, Fu Tailan was unwilling to wait too long and quickly contacted Green. On the phone, Green seemed surprised that he had found another fake image so quickly, but still agreed to meet again - this time the agreed transaction location was still on the top floor of the Wei Building.

If there was any change, it was that the security had become even tighter, with a guard post every three steps and a sentry every five steps. Not only did Fu Tailan and his group have to pass through numerous checkpoints, but even a cleaner in the lobby was stopped and had his body and the inside and outside of his cart checked by security personnel before they let him go upstairs.

The one who came to pick up Fu Tailan was still the same bodyguard captain from last time.

"If I didn't know, I would have thought this was some kind of important military base."

Fu Tailan stood at one end of the bridge, and just as he was walking past the koi pond with his ticket in hand, she wanted to talk to him: "There are so many people going to work during the day, do you have to check every one of them?"

It seemed that no matter how many times he walked, the bodyguard could not get used to the dense crowd of fish mouths reaching high into the air from the pool and constantly trying to suck him in on both sides of the bridge.

He got off the bridge again, sweating slightly, and returned the ticket. Then he said, "Don't you know? This building has been vacated. The departments that used to work here have temporarily moved to another building."

It seems that calling Vesile neurotic last time was not fair; clearing out everyone in the building is what neuroticism is all about.

"No matter how safe it is here, he can't stay in this building forever." Fu Tailan said casually.

The bodyguard shook his head.

"This is not information I should tell you... However, no matter where Mr. Wei goes now, the security level is the same, or even higher. As for where he will go, I'm sorry, I can't say."

Last time, at least Green was willing to reveal that Mr. Wei couldn't leave; this time, Mrs. Fu didn't even know whether he was in the building or not.

"I didn't expect that we would meet again so soon."

When Fu Tailan and his group entered the reception room, Green stood up and said with a smile, "It's only been a while since we last went there... Well, today is November 15th, so it's been less than two months since we last met. Did you find a false image in just two or three days this time you went into the lair?"

He said "an illusion" instead of "the illusion we want", which made Fu Tailan feel a little nervous.

This guy is so smooth and slimy, just like a piece of butter that has turned into spirit. Could he be suspicious?

"We were lucky this time." He sighed and said, "But precisely because we found it so easily, to be honest, I'm not sure if it's what you're looking for. But since it's an artifact discovered in the designated area, I have an obligation to bring it to you for review, right?"

Fu Tailan made her point clear, and Green was at a loss for words. He could only nod and say, "The Morgan family is indeed very professional."

As they walked to a table in the middle of the room and before they sat down, Green took out a cell phone from his trouser pocket and placed it on the coffee table.

"I'm so sorry about the accident last time," Green said with a smile. "To avoid any unpleasantness this time, let's put our phones aside... No, don't turn them off, just in case something urgent happens."

Fu Tailan and Long Zhen looked at each other, but did not protest. They took out their mobile phones one after another and placed them on the table with the backs facing up, just like Green.

Green bent down and pushed the three cell phones aside, as if to make room for the artifact—even though the coffee table was empty.

"No need to bother," Fu Tailan said, not sitting down. Instead, he pulled his ticket from his trouser pocket and waved it in front of Green. "Look, the artifact is only this small."

"Oh," Green said, extending his hand. "We need a better artifact than this—"

Before he could finish his words, Fu Tailan had already gently put the light blue ticket into his hand.

The ticket was not big, and the skin on the edges of their palms inevitably separated when they touched.

As soon as Green held the ticket, Fu Tailan said, "This artifact is very strange. It is blue in a man's hand and pink in a woman's hand."

Green's eyelids twitched, and he immediately lowered his head, looking back and forth at the front and back of the light blue ticket.

"...Isn't this the ticket for tomorrow's train?"

Green glanced at his watch. "To be precise, it's a ticket that expires in four hours, and is only valid for one day, the 16th. Besides the departure and origin stations, there's almost no valuable information... What can I do with it?"

That being said, he spent nearly twenty minutes checking his ticket, which was longer than the last time he checked his alarm clock. During that time, he even picked up his cell phone and typed for a long time, texting someone unknown.

Fu Tailan waited patiently; after a while, Green finally raised his head.

"I just consulted with several hunters who work with Mr. Wei... After all, I've been retired for a long time, and I'm not familiar with the situation in the lair. I'm sure you understand. This ticket isn't what we want, but it's very interesting."

"Oh?" Fu Tailan leaned over and asked, "Are you interested in acquiring it?"

Green frowned for once and seemed to hesitate.

"I say it's interesting because there's no detailed description of its function. Generally speaking, encountering an artifact with an unknown purpose is like opening a blind box... You could get a surprising result, or you could end up ruining your life and property."

He shook his head and pushed the light blue ticket back. "I personally wouldn't buy a fake, and if I did, it would be for Mr. Wei. It's just that our current situation isn't suitable for taking such a big risk with a blind box."

...Wesile was indeed afraid of something, and it seemed that as time went on, his fear became more intense.

Seeing that Fu Tailan didn't move, Long Zhen reached out and took the ticket away. As soon as it entered her hand, the ticket immediately turned a layer of pink.

"So that's how it is. I understand," Fu Tailan said as he tried to find something to say to finish the story while raising his eyes - but he couldn't help but be stunned.

In that short moment, Green was staring at the ticket in Long Zhen's hand, as if he didn't even hear what he said.

What happened? Did you recognize the ticket?
"...Mr. Green?" Green immediately turned his gaze away. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Do you want to take another look at the ticket?" Fu Tailan asked with a smile.

"No, that's not necessary. No, don't give it to me..." Green waved his hand, refusing the pink ticket handed to him by Long Zhen. "What did you say?"

"I asked, if our family sent someone to open this blind box and bring you only the results, would you be willing to buy it?"

"It depends on its function." Green regained his composure and smiled softly. "But considering the expiration date, I believe you won't bring it back."

This time he only sent Fu Tailan and his group to the elevator.

"Next time you come across an item you're unsure about, take a picture and send it to me." He stood at the elevator door, his smile so faint it looked like it could be blown away in a single breath. "The Morgan family's head hunter should have some basic identification skills, right?"

As soon as the elevator door closed, Fu Tailan couldn't help it.

"Where did this guy come from? He doesn't look like Vesile's secretary, but more like Vesile's father. Hey, dealing with this kind of smiling but treacherous person must be like cleaning a toilet, right?"

The bodyguard who still had to lead the way looked embarrassed, so he pretended not to hear anything, lowered his head, and led the few people to the car.

Fu Tailan's complaints, which were full of twists and turns, were abruptly cut off when the car door slammed shut, and she fell into silence.

After the car drove into the main road, he extended a hand to Ji Mu who was sitting in the driver's seat in front.

"How?" Fu Tailan returned to his lazy state and asked softly. "Give it to me."

"Yes, it really rang."

Jimu, a new HR employee, had been waiting in the car tonight. He pulled a flat box from his pocket and handed it to Fu Tailan. "Shortly after you went upstairs, an Amber Alert went off on your phone. But mine didn't ring. That's strange."

……You've got it.

The last time Fu Tailan received an "Amber Alert" was the second after he touched Green's skin; no matter how he thought about it, he felt that one of the triggering conditions should be "touching Green who had received an Amber Alert before."

Assuming that the "Amber Alert" appeared just for Fu Tailan to see - this is very likely, because it was obviously sent to Fu Tailan alone - then since Fu Tailan didn't see it last time, will it appear again after the trigger conditions are met?

The opposite of this assumption is that "once you see the alarm, it won't sound a second time."

Judging from Green's performance, at least the opposite side of this premise can be verified indirectly.

After all, if the alarm will appear a second time as long as the trigger conditions are met regardless of whether the alarm is seen or not, how could he give Fu Tailan another chance to meet the trigger conditions?
In order to prevent Fu Tailan from receiving a second alert, it was impossible for him to meet with Fu Tailan again, let alone have physical contact?

Because Green saw the alarm, he never received a second one.

In other words, in Green's impression, an "Amber Alert" is something that only appears once.

In this case, it is understandable that he would have the perception that "as long as it is eliminated, I will never see it again."

Although the premise was verified to the contrary, it does not mean that the premise itself must be true. However, as long as there is a possibility of triggering the "Amber Alert" again, no matter how small, Fu Tailan has to try again and replicate the last scenario.

Fortunately, the odds were in his favor.

"I hope you won't blame me for resorting to this method."

Fu Tailan entered the password, opened the flat box, and took out her real phone. "Until I confirm the content of the Amber Alert, I can't leak it for now..."

He stopped suddenly and didn't say anything else.

Fu Tailan stared at his phone without blinking, the light from the screen staining his vision white.

Outside the car window, the bright lights and neon lights of Blackmore City seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

"...Too blue?"

The voice of Long Zhen turning around and calling him seemed to come from another world. To Fu Tailan, it had no meaning at all. It disappeared with a ripple on the water.

All he could see were notifications on his phone.

! Important information notification from the nest!

This is the only complete row of human text, and there are yellow triangular warning signs on both sides, each with a bold exclamation mark painted on it.

The text used in most of the information is definitely not any human language on Earth; it is as if the black ink is twisted and swirled, twisted into reptiles, and trying to crawl into the depths of the human soul.

However, among this "nest text", there are also many characters and patterns that Fu Tailan can recognize and understand; after omitting the non-human language and only picking out the parts that he can understand, he can also organize it into a message with a barely clear meaning.

The unknown nest domination game

Only player team
Currently collected are a key (graphic), a tongue (graphic), a black cube (graphic), and text editing software (graphic).

Brianna
Uncollected
Old radio (graphic)

Time (text)
???

A single player team has a huge advantage
Recruiting new rival Fu Tailan

...His interpretation should be correct, right?
The content of this message... should be saying that in the "Unknown Nest Domination Game", the only team of players currently has collected all four items.

Judging from the existence of the "key", this team of players is Vesile; and because they have collected all four items, they have a huge advantage.

Now, the "Nest Domination Game" is recruiting Fu Tailan as a competitor to Wei Xilai? And there are seven things that need to be collected?

In other words... the "time artifact" that Vesile commissioned the Morgan family to find for him is one of the goals in the "Nest Domination Game", right?
There are still many confusing and uncertain aspects of Fu Tai Lan; for example, whether the game has a time limit, and the notice does not specify what rewards the winners of the game will receive.

...Maybe it feels no explanation is needed.

Because the name of this game is called "Nest Domination Game", right?
Thinking of this, Fu Tailan spoke softly.

"Big sister...is there an artifact related to time in you?"

The young woman named Mai Minghe standing in front of him had her eyes lowered, wondering what she was thinking about.

Her hair, still messy and sticking up after being combed, looked as if she had cut it at home with scissors. It was totally unlike what a woman of her age would do - she must have put a lot of effort into pretending to be a homeless person.

"I'm sorry, big sister." Fu Tailan slowly tightened his grip on her wrist and said, "Because I...I want to be free no matter what."

　Finally posted! This chapter is super long, but that's not the problem. The real difficulty lies in jumping forward and backward through several points in time... It requires several transitions.

　　In any case, Fu Tailan's timeline was finally connected to November 18th, when he met Mai Minghe face to face.

　　PS: There are some changes in the previous chapter. If you haven’t seen it, you can go back and take a look. But in fact, it does not affect the main plot whether you read it or not.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)