5.Explore

"Go... up there? Brother, you--"

"I'm not here to gamble, I just want to talk to the Bazel brothers again." Lynn reassured Matt and quickly tried to clear his thoughts.

Supernatural phenomena had appeared again, and although he had seen quite a few of them, it was still a bit hard for him to digest.

Contaminated area.

Cleanup mission.

The Bazel brothers would be killed in ten minutes.

And the mysterious voice's initial address to him.

It seemed like something had been connected, leading to an even greater mystery.

Lynn had a rough idea of what his unique "Awakened" mark meant. It was like a passport to the other side of this alien world, signifying that his life was destined to be anything but peaceful.

[Nine minutes and thirty-seven seconds, nine minutes and thirty-six seconds --]

The countdown continued.

Time was pressing, leaving no room for Lynn to analyze too much beyond the mission.

Since someone was able to make such a dire prediction, "If they can make the Bazel brothers kill me, then it would be even easier for them to kill or disable me if I can't figure this out."

"Take me up there." With death looming, Lynn had to urge Matt to hurry.

"What's the point of talking to them? Look at the way they're looking at us. They're from the slums, yet they act like they look down on us. And they keep bringing up your injury..." Matt didn't like the Bazel brothers, and he believed that the further away from these two, the better.

"It's okay, I'll explain later. Let's go." Lynn couldn't contain himself and started pushing the wheels of his wheelchair towards the stairs.

"Brother, wait for me." Matt followed closely behind, quite...

Feeling reluctant, Matt quickly caught up and pushed Lynn to the stairs. As before, he carried him up to the third floor.

The third floor was obviously poorly renovated, with five gambling tables placed in the central open area, and two crudely made private rooms on one side.

Perhaps because everyone was busy celebrating Christmas Eve downstairs, or because it was mealtime and they had gone to eat, there weren't many people on the third floor at this hour.

Excluding the two occupants of the private rooms, there were only about fifteen gamblers and croupiers gathered in the hall, either playing or watching.

The murder is most likely to occur on the third floor, and the fewer people there are, the easier it will be to investigate the murderer.

However, Lynn did not feel relieved. He knew that the mysterious voice had given a task and dared to let him observe and even approach the Bazel brothers ten minutes in advance, which meant that things were definitely not that simple.

Otherwise, he could have easily identified the murderer and completed the task by spending those ten minutes staying with the Bazel brothers or secretly observing them, earning the reward of points, which he didn't know the purpose of.

"Hello, could you tell me where the Bazel brothers are?" Not seeing the Bazel brothers in the hall, Lynn approached the nearest person nearby, a gambler, and inquired about their whereabouts.

The gambler, engrossed in a card game, barely turned his head and simply pointed towards a private room.

"Thank you," Lynn said, acknowledging the information. Upon learning the location of the Bazel brothers, he glanced at his younger brother, Matt, who immediately understood and pushed him towards the private room, where they knocked on the door.

Shortly, the door opened, revealing the Bazel brothers, each embracing a young woman, indulging in drinking, smoking, and playing cards.

Upon seeing Lynn, Burton, one of the brothers, appeared surprised. "Lynn?"

"What's up? Want to join in?"

"Just curious, I'd like to observe first." Lynn naturally had no intention of actually playing. He simply wanted to use this excuse to buy time, allowing himself to naturally interact with the Bazel brothers more frequently and gather information from them before they were killed.

"What's the point of just watching? Let's give it a try," Burton eagerly suggested. After all, they owned the casino and stood to profit no matter what, so the more people they could lure into gambling and losing their fortunes, the more commissions they could earn.

"Brother," Matt called out.

"Alright, I'll just watch them play from outside first. If it feels good, then..."

"I'll just join you directly then." Lynn's goal of checking out the Bazel brothers' private room had been achieved, and he didn't want to waste his limited time playing cards.

"Alright, but you'll need to hurry. It's Christmas Eve today, and we'll be leaving soon," Burton said.

"Okay. By the way, is there anyone in the adjacent private room? If not, we could play there later." Just before leaving, Lynn inquired about the neighboring room.

Burton thought for a moment, "I don't think so. It doesn't matter anyway. If you feel like it, just come find us here again."

"Alright, we'll head over there then."

"Hmm."

Closing the door to their private room, Lynn still felt uneasy about the adjacent one, so he asked Matt to take a look and confirm that it was empty.

"Bro, didn't you say you weren't going to gamble?" Matt thought Lynn was planning to make a quick buck through gambling and seriously whispered his advice, "This isn't something good. While it may bring money fast, there's an even greater chance of losing everything! We can save money slowly, and besides, you can write novels. We'll eventually save enough money to get your leg treated..."

"I'm not gambling, I was just humoring him. Go check the bathroom again to make sure no one's over there," Lynn instructed.

Lynn reassured Matt and asked him to check the last area on the third floor.

"What are you doing...?" Matt couldn't understand the series of actions Lynn had taken since arriving on the third floor.

"I'll explain later, hurry up," Lynn urged, with less than seven minutes left.

Matt reluctantly went to check and reported back that the bathroom was empty.

At this point, Lynn had a clear picture of the layout and personnel on the third floor.

Excluding himself, Matt, and the Bazel brothers, there were seventeen people on the third floor.

Among those seventeen, there were two women.

Staying in the private room with the Bazel brothers, their corruption values were only in the twenties and thirties, making it unlikely that they would be capable of murdering the Bazel brothers. Furthermore, due to the significant disparity in physical strength and size, they basically lacked the ability to carry out such an act.

The other fifteen individuals were gamblers and dealers who were playing or watching cards in the main hall.

The corruption values of these individuals were relatively low, with the highest being only fifty-five, which was even lower than that of the alcoholic who often harassed him. It was indeed difficult to associate them with the murderer of the Bazel brothers.

However, for Bazel Burton, his corruption value was ninety, and for Bazel Chad, it was even higher at one hundred and ten.

The person daring enough to attack them would likely have a corruption value not too far from theirs.

Furthermore, the fact that an investigation was needed to uncover the murder after it occurred suggests that the killer did not act impulsively but rather with some degree of preparation. This point further distinguishes the killer from the gamblers at the table who have completely lost their senses.

In addition, the layout of the third floor is relatively simple, making it highly unlikely that someone could kill the Bazel brothers there and escape undetected.

Based on these points of analysis, Lynn concluded that the actual murder scene was not on the third floor, and the killer was not among the people there.

Or perhaps, the murder scene was indeed on the third floor, but the killer has not yet appeared. He has another means to eliminate his suspicion after killing the Bazel brothers.

As this thought crossed his mind, Lynn's gaze fell on the staircase.

"Six minutes and forty-four seconds, six minutes and forty-three seconds--"

"Brother, let's just go down and have a drink, watch some shows or something," Matt felt uneasy in the casino atmosphere. He was still afraid that Lynn, in a moment of impulse, would actually go and gamble with the Bazel brothers, losing their last bit of savings.

"Just wait a bit longer," Lynn's expression was complex.He now gazed intently towards the private room where the Bazel brothers were.

A grave choice now awaited him.

Should he take the risk and stay close to the Bazel brothers, or should he maintain a certain distance from them?

The former undoubtedly would allow him to gather more clues and perhaps even witness the murderer committing the crime when the Bazel brothers met their demise.

But this also meant that he would be putting himself in the same danger as the Bazel brothers, and the murderer, in order to ensure that the matter remained secret, might very well eliminate him as well.

The latter option, on the other hand, was safer. Before the final deadline of midnight,

leaving him a few hours of investigation time. The only drawback was that by distancing himself, he would inevitably miss out on some clues.

Put simply, it was a choice between more clues but more danger, or fewer clues but safety.

After much deliberation, Lynn decided on a compromise. He would retreat to a safe area and secretly monitor the Bazel brothers.

If that wasn't feasible, he could simplify it further by retreating to the second floor and noting down everyone who went up to the third floor. The murderer, without a doubt, would be among them.

"Matt, let's –"

Lynn was about to ask Matt to carry him,Lynn was just about to ask Matt to carry him to the second floor, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw an unexpected person ascending the stairs.