Life Dungeon Game

Chapter 328 Following the Clues (Long Chapter, Please Add to Favorites, Subscribe, and Vote)

As the sun rose, the cruise ship finally docked at the port of the Republic of Nolei.

A support ship from the research institute unloaded the extraordinary items from the ship and sent other personnel to transport them.

Meanwhile, the explorers who survived the ruins, such as Heo, were given a special plane to fly directly back to Middle-earth.

The ship docked at around 7 a.m., while the plane took off at 11 a.m. The journey from the port to the airport took about two hours, so there wasn't much time for everyone to rest.

He put the Adam Type 1, the Arbitration Scales, the Puppet Crystal Ball, and the Time Beacon into the pirate treasure chest.

He kept the magician's hat he brought from Xidu, the remaining Corpse Flower solution, and the most conspicuous bone sword close to his body. If these things disappeared, he would need to explain to people why they had disappeared.

Since the Miracle Wand couldn't fit into the pirate's treasure chest, it remained clipped to his waist and hidden inside his coat.

After disembarking from the cruise ship, everyone had a very short time to enjoy the exotic scenery.

The architecture of the Republic of Nolai is mostly similar to that of the Tia Empire, which was once part of it and has retained many Tia Empire traditions after gaining independence.

Fortunately, they also have KFC here.

He Ao led Liu Nan into Kaifeng Cuisine, ordered two hamburger sets, and asked for two paper bags.

The Kaifeng cuisine here doesn't include the dishes specially supplied to the Central Plains, but some classic hamburger sets are still available.

Liu Nan wasn't picky about food; she ate whatever He Ao ordered.

“Offering favors for no reason,” Liu Nan squinted at He Ao, her fair index finger slightly raised and twirled in the air, “It’s not easy to get a meal from you. Is there anything I can help you with?”

"Was the cruise ship that took us to the ruins always docked on the island?"

He Ao didn't stand on ceremony. He took a tissue, wiped the table in front of him, and asked softly.

The reason for asking this question came from the gravedigger.

The tomb keeper is a spy planted by Dawn in the research institute. He was sent to infiltrate the tower of the ruins in an attempt to gain control of it.

He Ao is now almost certain that the person who instructed the tomb keeper to enter the ruins was most likely the same person who entered the ruins ten years ago and took away the central processing unit of the tower in the ruins.

After ten years of preparation, he sent the tomb keeper into the ruins, intending to retrieve the time beacon hidden in the bathroom of the central control room of the tower.

They even faked commander privileges for this purpose.

Although in the end, both the command authority over the spacetime beacon and the tower fell into He's hands.

After the ruins were destroyed, the tomb keeper did not return alive. The enemy's plan failed, and they are certainly investigating the cause of the tomb keeper's death.

The other party definitely wants the spacetime beacon in He Ao's possession.

The transfer of high-level privileges was bound to be exposed sooner or later.

Even if no problem is found this time, the next time the ruins open or the time after that, as long as the other side sends someone into the ruins and finds that they can't enter the tower, they will definitely suspect the person who returned alive from the ruins this time.

Moreover, the Dawn Adventure's attack on the research institute's cruise ship may well be a sign that the spacetime beacon has fallen into the research institute's hands.

Therefore for

He Aolai believes that rather than waiting for someone to come after the investigation, it's better to take the initiative and seize control of the situation by taking the lead.

He also needs the removed central processing unit to find out what exactly the thing related to hypermemory is being held captive beneath the tower.

So as soon as He Ao came out of the ruins, he began to investigate the other party's identity and whereabouts.

Now that he had learned about Li Ming indirectly, He Ao had a guess about the other party's identity, but guessing alone was not enough. He needed a breakthrough, a breakthrough that would allow him to understand the other party more deeply and confirm his identity.

The tomb keeper is such a breakthrough point.

The gravedigger is dead, but in this world, everything that passes by leaves a trace.

The gravedigger entered the ruins at the behest of the other party, and the gravedigger was disguised as an E-level superhuman.

In the morning, Yang De brought He Ao the letter of appointment and contract for the position of vice minister, and activated the vice minister's authority.

He Ao immediately checked the information of the tomb keeper as soon as he obtained the authority of the deputy minister.

Of course, he didn't just look up the information on the tomb keeper; he looked up the information on everyone who entered the ruins this time, and placed the tomb keeper in the middle to the back position.

It looked like a newly appointed deputy minister curiously looking through the information of those around him.

However, even with the deputy minister's authority, he could not find out the true identities of the specially appointed researchers, but he could find out the extraordinary items that the specially appointed researchers registered before entering the ruins.

For example, what Heo registered were the magician's hat and the corpse flower solution.

Upon departure from the destination, the head of the local research institute will check whether the extraordinary items carried by the specially appointed researchers entering the ruins are the same as those registered.

When boarding the plane in Dongdu, there will be a strict security check to verify whether any other supernatural items are being carried.

He Ao was even able to access video recordings of the security check.

The tomb keeper did not register any extraordinary items. He Ao reviewed the video footage and clearly saw that he had nothing with him and boarded the plane directly.

However, the gravedigger was actually holding a C-grade extraordinary item, the Puppet Crystal Ball, in the ruins.

Yes, this crystal ball is now in He Ao's hands as well.

The fact that the gravedigger manipulated the squirrel that died in front of Heo shows that when they first entered the tower, the gravedigger was behind Heo. Only after Heo left did he discover the dead squirrel and begin to manipulate it.

In other words, when the tomb keeper arrives at the ruins, the distance between him and the tower is greater than that of Heo.

His physical abilities were far inferior to He'ao's, and he was farther away than He'ao, but he reached the tower before He'ao.

This shows that he used the power of the puppet crystal ball from the very beginning to control the strange beasts for transportation.

According to the research institute's historical records, the places where explorers first arrive at the ruins are relatively safe, with no more than E-level monsters, and the locations are completely random.

Therefore, the chances of the gravedigger finding an 'unclaimed' C-rank puppet crystal ball near the landing site are almost zero.

Therefore, it can be seen that the puppet crystal ball was brought into the ruins from the Overworld by the Gravekeeper, and the fact that the crystal ball was not found during the security check suggests that this thing is not...

It was brought out of the Central Plains by the tomb keeper.

Of course, this is reasonable. It would be suspicious if an E-level registered superhuman were to carry a C-level superhuman item.

Therefore, the puppet crystal ball could only have been obtained by the gravedigger after he left Middle-earth.

However, the research institute's plane flew directly to the Liu family's private island, and there was no opportunity to come into contact with other people along the way. The research institute staff on the plane also underwent strict security checks, so it was impossible for them to bring in any other extraordinary items.

On the private island, everyone was confined to a large hall surrounded by Yang De's research team, all of whom were Yang De's confidants and unlikely to have been bribed by Li Ming.

Furthermore, Yang De would occasionally hold rallies and speeches, making it unlikely that the gravedigger would obtain the puppet crystal ball on the private island.

That leaves only one possible location.

On the cruise ship traveling from the island to the ruins passage.

There are Liu family staff members on this cruise ship. If He Ao needs barbecue seasoning, Liu Nan can have someone bring it out for him immediately. These people are the original crew members of the cruise ship, and they are members of the Liu family.

It's easier to win over the Liu family than the people at the research institute.

Also on the cruise ship, the gravedigger bumped into the talker, who said he was acting suspiciously, and that he was probably looking for the staff member he was supposed to meet.

Of course, there is one last issue: there are actually strength restrictions for entering the ruins, and the highest level this time is D-rank.

That's why the research institute only allows people below level D to enter the ruins. People above level D might not be able to enter the ruins, and it could even cause the passage to break.

This D-level restriction also includes extraordinary items.

If He Ao's speculation is correct, the fact that the tomb keeper was able to bring in a C-level puppet crystal ball proves that the person behind him probably has a way to bypass the power restrictions of the ruins' passages to a certain extent.

It's unlikely that the other party found this method on their own, since even research institutes are currently at a loss about it, and the technological gap between the two sides wouldn't be that large.

This method clearly originated from the central processing unit he took away.

That central processing unit probably possesses a lot of secret knowledge that is unknown to others.

He Ao collected his thoughts and continued to stare at Liu Nan.

If the tomb keeper's puppet crystal ball was given to him by the cruise ship staff, then where did the cruise ship staff get this thing from?

This is He Ao's purpose in seeking out Liu Nan this time.

"No way," Liu Nan shook her head in response to He Ao's question.

“Cruise ships can’t be left on the island forever. I remember those cruise ships were all transferred from cruise ship leasing companies under a nearby group. They’re towed over when needed, and left there to make money when not needed.”

"Where did that come from?"

He asked softly.

"It seems to be a cruise ship charter company from the Republic of Nolai. Wait a moment..."

Liu Nan took out her phone, seemingly checking something.

He Ao went to the bar to get his food and placed the hamburger in front of Liu Nan.

“It’s the leasing company from the Republic of Nolai,” Liu Nan said softly, putting down her phone.

"The crew members are all veteran crew members who have worked for the group for many years. Most of them are from China. The cruise ship was towed directly to the island by a tugboat. All crew members underwent security checks before departure."

From the Republic of Nore to the private island, it was almost the same route that Heo and his group had taken before.

"Did you come into contact with any other ships along the way?"

He Ao asked casually.

"Let me ask."

Liu Nan opened the hamburger box and sent a message to someone.

After a while, she picked up her phone and showed it to He Ao, "There was a refueling stop along the way, but it was a lateral refueling. They just threw the pipe over to deliver the fuel. There was no contact with people. They even recorded a video. Here, take a look."

"Send me the video to take a look?"

He Ao took a bite of his hamburger, glanced at it, and said casually.

Why are you suddenly interested in this?

Liu Nan asked softly.

"This is my first time seeing the ocean. I'm quite curious about the ocean, ships, supplies, and private islands. I didn't have time to be curious before, but now that I have a little free time, I thought I'd ask."

He Ao casually replied, "The hamburger buns here are so hard, they're a bit hard to swallow."

He was indeed curious, but the main reason was to investigate the origin of the puppet crystal ball.