Thriller Paradise

When Feng Bujue returned to the exit of the tunnel, Silkworm Mother had already disappeared, so did Uncle Worthless. Lifting his head up to look, the web that they had cut earlier had been restored. Upon closer inspection, he could see that… the broken bits had been replaced by fresher and lighter-colored silk web.

"What is going on…" Feng Bujue said to himself. "has he been captured?" He scanned the game menu again. Inside the team tab, Uncle Worthless' status was still 'alive', "Or has he escaped on his own…"

As brother Jue considered the possibilities, he started to research the details in his surroundings. His gaze first fell on the bodies of the Blade Butterfly Queen, he mumbled. "It has not been moved at all…" Then his gaze moved to sweep the nearby crystalline columns, "The damage on the columns are almost similar to when we left…"

"Hmm… It does not look like a serious battle has occurred here." Feng Bujue scratched his chin and concluded, "So he has been controlled after all…" Suddenly, something interesting entered Brother Jue's scope of attention. He immediately walked forward and squatted down. "This cigarette butt…" he picked up the burning cigarette and studied it closely it in his grasp. "This is undeniably left behind by Uncle Worthless. Assuming… he lit the cigarette the moment we started to run away and then started to delay time by talking with the boss, then… from how far the cigarette had burned, the cigarette fell to the ground about 2 minutes after it was lit.

"but…" Feng Bujue put down the cigarette and stood up. "The time that Ambitionist and the rest was 'controlled' was about 5 minutes after we have escaped. Does this mean that…" He once again titled his head upwards to look at the spiderweb in the sky, "…the boss' ability to use the silk thread to 'control' others will be affected by the distance the prey is from her web?"

"hey! Is everyone fine?" At that moment, Pegasus' shout interrupted his thought. Feng Bujue turned back to look and saw Pegasus, Atobe and Ambitionist were all running his way.

"Why didn't you guys take a longer rest?" Brother Jue asked evenly.

"How could a hero rest when someone is in need of help?" Pegasus answered heroically. One had to admit the dedication this man had. A few minutes ago, his Stamina Points was close to zero but now he was bouncing on his feet with energy again.

"Hah ha… Hah ha…" Atobe though was still the same. Once he stopped, he started to gasp for air. "Compared this kind of repeated back and forth endless sprints, I'd rather we end up in a battle instead!"

"Has Uncle Worthless been captured?" Even though Ambitionist was also covered in some sweat, he could maintain his usual composure. His logical ability was not affected so he began with a more constructive question, "I believe you have assessed the crime scene already, what is the conclusion that you come up with?"

"There's 80 percent that he has been captured by the boss." Feng Bujue shrugged. "But at least from the team tab, 'death' is a possibility that we can directly eliminate for now."

"Then the other 20 percent is…" Ambitionist pushed on his glasses and asked probingly, "…Uncle Worthless used his own power to escape from the boss' control but currently there is no idea where he is?"

"Bingo." Feng Bujue confirmed. "If it was someone else, these 20 percent wouldn't be possible. But if it's Uncle Worthless… then we have to consider that possibility."

"Yes~ yes. That man with the sunglasses is quite hard to read." Pegasus nodded in agreement like he knew something more than he was saying.

"Phew… then what should we do now?" Atobe finally evened out his breath and he asked. "Go searching for him?"

"Naturally." Pegasus answered instantly, "How could a hero of justice abandon their partner?"

"First, I am not a hero." Feng Bujue narrowed his eyes and countered, "Second, at least in this game, I am definitely in the camp of the villains…." He licked his lips. "But… considering the new main quest has not been triggered, other than to go and find Uncle Worthless, there is nothing better for us to do anyway."

"Eh~" Suddenly, Atobe appeared to be reminded of something and he interrupted, "By the way, do you think is it possible that Uncle Worthless has escaped back into the tunnel?" After he said that, everyone almost instinctually turned their heads back to the exit of the tunnel.

"Now that you mention it… in a moment of desperation, that is entirely possible." Ambitionist concurred.

"if that is the case, he probably would not be able to run very far." Feng Bujue said as he walked towards the tunnel. "Because the giant worm would not have been able to squeeze herself through. Uncle Worthless only needed to wait around the entrance and come out after the boss leaves."

"Warning. An energy wall filled with defensive magical circle ahead." Just as Brother Jue reached the mouth of the tunnel, before he even stepped into it, the system announcement rang out.

"Okay… it looks like we can eliminate that possibility." Feng Bujue instantly turned around to explain the situation to his teammates. Everyone gave it a way and everyone heard the same system announcement.

"This verifies our previous speculation." Feng Bujue said, "The last main question did not mention any 'elimination' is because of this. If we have not managed to exit the tunnel within the time limit, the defensive magical circle will be triggered and a group wipe will occur…."

"Regardless…" Ambitionist added, "At least we have managed to confirm that Uncle Worthless is still somewhere inside this crystalline maze and we have an affirmation… that there is no way for us to turn back."

"Main Quest updated. Side quest triggered." Just as the four were discussing what to do next, the quest announcement came and there were two of them that came in quick succession. They all opened the game menu and turned to the quest tab. The new main quest and side quest were respectively, "Arrive at the Cage of Despair" and "Arrive at the Lair of the Silkworm Mother and rescue Uncle Worthless before his death (or his departure from the scenario due to other reasons)"

"hey… this time, the main quest has none limitation what so ever…" Atobe observed. "not only did it not mention the 'elimination', even the 'time limit' has been removed!"

"Hah… that makes it look much easier, does it not?" Feng Bujue said a bitter smile. "But if you think about it… this is a sudden hike up in the difficulty!"

"Indeed, the time limit was more than just a system limitation, it was also a hint." Ambitionist explained, "From the time limit given by the system… we can gauge the distance between us and the target of the quest and the average time needed to deal with the mission." He paused for a second and swallowed his saliva. "And this most current main quest basically provides us with zero hint. It is just a simple directive… this means that it will much harder than the quests that precede it."

"Let's stop studying the main quest." Pegasus interrupted loudly, "Rescuing the ally of justice is definitely more important!"

"Ah… you're right. We should focus on the side quest." Feng Bujue added weakly, "Now the system has basically informed us of Uncle Worthless' condition. From the phrasing of the quest details, it does not sound like he can hold on much longer…"