Ita Era

Chapter 54 Going Home (17)

The Foolish Dagger clone activated, and upon reading the information, immediately erupted in fury, demanding, "I'm dead? How could I possibly be dead? What happened?"

The AI ​​assistant replied, "No comment."

Foolish Dagger: "Where did I die?"

"No comment."

Silly Bone cursed inwardly, but after regaining his composure and accepting reality, he said, "Open the latest suspect location map."

The electronic map has dozens of highlights, and the AI ​​updates the location every half hour. It also draws a trajectory map based on the previous target location.

Sha Bi moved his finger back and forth on the map, then tapped on NB711: "No signal feedback for several hours, have they entered Blackwater Ditch Road?"

AI Butler: "No comment."

"Anyone who dares to enter Blackwater Ditch and comes out alive deserves my attention." Sha Bi fixed his gaze on the exit of Blackwater Ditch Road. Sha Bi said, "Mobilize the aircraft; I'm heading to the Southern City Special Agent Base."

"The aircraft will be ready in 5 minutes." Am I going to die? It must be an accident, definitely an accident, absolutely.

……

Chu Yu kicked open the restaurant door, and Ding Shi entered the restaurant with a gun. He cautiously walked around the restaurant for five minutes, confirming that the restaurant was safe, but did not find the rope.

Chu Yu and Ding Shi searched ten shops along the road and drew a safe zone. Mu Mu and the other two remained at the car at the village entrance.

Ding Shi climbed onto the restaurant's rooftop and looked around. There were dozens of houses on each side, but no signs of human activity. He wasn't looking for Ferrand, but for a rope. None of the ten shops had ropes; clearly, Ferrand had prepared something. But then another question arose: where did Ferrand intend to lead this village of nearly a hundred households?

If he wasn't mistaken, Ferrand should have placed the clues in a more obvious location. Thinking this, Ding Shi saw the elementary school about 300 meters away. The school had been abandoned for decades, yet a flag still fluttered on its flagpole. There was a flag, and there was a rope.

Ferrand has placed his piece here; now it's up to him to decide how to respond.

Ding Shi knew what was going on and called out to Captain Chu Yu. Chu Yu came up and, with Ding Shi's guidance, also saw the flag.

Chu Yu said, "It's better to do more than to think too much. Let's go."

The two went downstairs, first explaining the situation to Mumu and the others at the village entrance, and then headed towards the primary school along the path. The path had side streets, houses, and weeds, making it seem like anyone could hide anywhere.

Carefully navigating the narrow path lined with weeds on both sides, the path suddenly opened up ahead, leading to a winding dirt road and a log bridge. Chu Yu quickened her pace: "Be careful, the log bridge might have been tampered with."

"Don't move!" Ding Shi shouted, and Chu Yu stood frozen in place, maintaining the posture of a golden rooster standing on one leg.

Ding Shi gripped his gun with both hands, looked around to make sure the surroundings were safe, then walked to Chu Yu and pulled her clothes to make her step back. Chu Yu crouched down to examine the path; there was a patch of fallen weeds and some loose gravel. Ding Shi kicked a stone into the weeds, and a bear trap jumped up with a crisp snap. Looking at the trap's sharp teeth, he knew that stepping on it would basically ruin his foot.

Ding Shi's face was grim. He said, "He also used the sun's position to hide the trap with a few shadows. He didn't tamper with the path through the weeds because we were very vigilant at that time. He took advantage of our mindset as we had just walked out of the path through the weeds and were about to face the narrow bridge to set the trap here."

Ding Shi complained, "Didn't the system raise Ferrang's IQ a bit too high? He's always been facing ordinary people who accidentally wander into non-signal zones. How could he possibly develop such a cunning mind?" What kind of traps would such an opponent set up ahead?

Chu Yu triggered the second bear trap, and after a moment of thought, asked, "Ding Shi, how about we skip the shortcut and cross it directly?" "Cross it directly?"

"We'll go through houses and cross rivers. No matter how clever he is, he can't predict which straight line we'll choose." The village entrance to the primary school is one straight line. Our current location to the primary school is another straight line. Chu Yu said, "He's the landlord here. We can only catch him off guard by acting unexpectedly and quickly."

Ding Shi was somewhat surprised: "Your idea is good."

Chu Yu flashed a peace sign and smiled sweetly: "I'm a headhunter, and the intricacies of the workplace are nothing more than the Thirty-Six Stratagems."

Chu Yu asked, "Are you ready?"

"All right."

"Set off."

The two left the path, jumped into the dry field, climbed over the field, jumped into the river, waded to the other side, passed through two houses, and quickly approached the primary school.

A motorcycle sped out of the elementary school, turned right, and drove off. It was too far away for Chu Yu and Ding Shi to see it go. The two quickened their pace and entered the school, reaching the flag quickly.

The flag was raised by a cotton rope, which, while not exceptionally strong by rope standards, was sufficient.

Lower the flag, cut the knot, and you'll get a 70-meter-long cotton rope.

After getting the item, the two intended to retreat quickly, but Chu Yu was blinded by the reflection. Looking up, he saw something shiny at the top of the 28-meter-high flagpole.

"Ding Shi." Chu Yu called out to Ding Shi, who then went to his seat. Ding Shi looked up, his eyes also dazzled by something on the flagpole.

"That can't be right," Ding Shi said. "This dungeon has no skill slots and no item slots, which means we can't bring things in from outside the dungeon, nor can we take things out of the dungeon. So it shouldn't be anything special."

Chu Yu said, "Perhaps? Perhaps it's a playing card that can reveal the truth." Chu Yu had been very interested in the truth when Ding Shi described his spoils. Ding Shi's truth came from the seven of spades in San Niang's coffin. What Chu Yu was looking at on the flagpole now seemed to be a playing card.

Ding Shi said, "I respect your opinion."

Chu Yu's original intention was to ask Ding Shi to get it, since a piece of flesh had been cut from her arm. But Ding Shi didn't seem very gentlemanly; he said, "If you like it, then go get it. I respect your decision."

Chu Yu could only tell the truth: "I can't climb up."

Ding Shi also spoke frankly, sighing, "What a coincidence, me too."

Chu Yu laughed and asked, "Do you think there might be a ladder?"

Ding Shi said, "It's not a ladder. We can't take the cotton rope down. We should use the cotton rope to lift people to the top and get this card." Now that the cotton rope has been removed, leaving only the bare flagpole, there's no way to get it.

"Let's go." Although Chu Yu felt quite regretful, she made a decisive decision to give up.

The two continued walking in a straight line and successfully returned to the village entrance. Kai and Ding attached ropes to the two vehicles, and Kai reversed to tow away the first black sedan. Then came the second, and then the third. By the time they finished, it was already past four in the afternoon. Only 30 kilometers of the Blackwater Gully road remained.

(End of this chapter)