Chapter 986: Follow the Vine to Get to the Melon
Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
(TL: The title is a Chinese idiom which means to follow the clues.)
Everyone's expression changed after hearing Sheyan's answer.
It's one thing to go up against a powerful party, it's another to go up against a powerful party with the support of their realm behind them.
But Sheyan said calmly, "Don't worry, it's not such a bad thing. Realms should not be able to directly involve themselves in the fight between contestants- just like Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. If Stockholm party's actions really had the shadow of their realm behind them, I don't think our Noah Realm C would stay quiet. A promising and powerful team like ours should be afforded more opportunities and benefits by the realm, just like the way the United States Congress would allocate higher annual funding to special forces compared to ordinary troops."
The others felt that Sheyan's words had their merits. At that point, the bus stopped and Sheyan stood up. Although he was still affected by the maggot-like energy remnant, his back was straight, and his eyes shone with a peculiar excitement.
How could he not feel excited at the prospect of going up against such a formidable enemy?
Sheyan slowly stepped off the bus with a slight unsteadiness in his gait. He looked up and saw the huge building of Cyberdyne Systems towering majestically in front of him. Sheyan's heart was filled with a complex emotion. The last time he was here, he did not even dare look straight at that building. Now, although the building still gave off a tremendous pressure, he was already trying to figure out how to squeeze out more benefits from it.
The streets of Los Angeles were still full of people and noises. Rows of colorful but outdated windows lined the streets. On the streets, there were quite a number of people who were listening to a walkman while dancing along to the rhythm.
Mogensha whistled at a woman who looked like Sheva Alomar and walked up to her for a chat. Zi walked towards a display window. Although her expression remained cold and aloof, her eyes burned with lust...no, with desire.
Sheyan moved a little closer and heard her mumble, "A vintage Prada handbag, 1978 edition! Wow, a limited edition Chloe, and is that the special Hermes Birkin bag?"
Meanwhile, Reef looked enamoured with the antique lighters in an antique shop. His eyes were shining as he checked the merchandises on display.
Sheyan's gaze fell on Sanzi who was still staring at him. He sighed helplessly and said, "Now why do I feel like we're the ones from a rich family instead?"
"Brother Reef, even if you get something you like here, you may not be able to bring it back to the nightmare realm. Even if it can be brought back to the nightmare realm, it certainly can't be brought back into the real world," Sanzi could not resist telling Reef.
Reef's reply turned Sanzi speechless. "Ignorance truly is bliss. These beauties are so rare in the real world that they might as well have gone extinct. Having them in your possession, even for a few seconds, is a great pleasure!"
Sheyan and Sanzi could say nothing to that. It could be seen from this that the gap between the rich and the poor was present everywhere, even in the cold-blooded nightmare realm.
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After Sheyan's third angry roar, the group finally left the shopping street and headed straight for the Bassaterre Steakhouse that was a hundred metres away from Cyberdyne Systems, albeit a little reluctantly.
Mr. Vincent's vehicle was luckily parked outside the steakhouse - Sheyan could recognise it at a glance. This wasn't yet the era when SUV's were so popular that their annual market share could top 60%, so Vincent's cross country jeep really stood out in the crowded parking lot. It looked a lot older than before due to the torment of the wind and the sun, as well as the owner's neglect.
Sheyan looked around, but unfortunately could not find Mr. Vincent among the many diners. Since Sheyan he had been arrested here before and Jinkuang was in his usual slumbering state, the task of gathering information naturally fell on Sanzi's shoulders. He had a frightening amount of Charm after all.
Zi unsurprisingly expressed a strong displeasure towards the cracked leather stools, greasy floor, and the thick grease on the tables. When Sheyan suggested a cup of coffee, she simply asked for a glass of water, which ended up serving more as a decoration than a drink. Zi thought that the food and drinks here were probably all tasted by cockroaches before they got to be tasted by humans.
"Vincent? Oh, you're talking about that guy with the large beard. He hasn't been here for a week, and I don't think he'll ever come back."
After a $17 tip from Sanzi, the sexy-looking waitress was more than eager to talk to him.
"Why? Because the last time he asked for the bill, he found that he'd accumulated a considerable amount of debt in our steakhouse, and Mr. Vincent seemed to be in a poor financial situation, so he mortgaged his vehicle here and we never saw him again."
"Our boss was still complaining two hours ago that the jeep was totally not enough to pay off the debt at all. The seats are hard, the shock absorption is poor, and its brakes are horrible - a slight touch and the whole car will screech to a halt. Our staff don't like using the car for this very reason. The abrupt braking can turn fragile eggs and butter from delicious ingredients into garbage in an instant - causing the staff to lose bonuses and get a good earful from the boss."
The waitress lost interest in the topic of the vehicle after that. She threw a wink at Sanzi and said, "I'll be free at about 3 in the afternoon. Maybe we can have a drink at the bar next door?"
"Sure!" Sanzi replied excitedly. "Oh no I can't! I'm sorry, I have something to do this afternoon."
Sheyan stood behind Sanzi with a look of resentment on his face. He suddenly realised that Sanzi's main source of motivation for adventuring in the nightmare worlds may just be the beautiful women in these worlds, and the attention he got from them thanks to his high Charm!
Sanzi managed to buy Vincent's jeep from the steakhouse owner for $1,000 without much effort. The interior of the jeep was almost exactly as it was when Vincent had left it, because it had only been a week since then, and more importantly, nobody liked to drive it at all. That was the point that Sheyan found appealing.
After circling around the vehicle a few times, Sheyan suddenly squinted his eyes. He quickly burrowed underneath the jeep and found an accessory that was visibly out of place. The accessory was brand new, and after it was dusted off, its appearance contrasted sharply with the old vehicle parts around it. The jeep obviously had just been repaired not too long ago.
Sheyan then rummaged around in the vehicle's interior and finally found a warranty from an auto repair shop called Rohank Power in the trunk. The warranty was crumpled like a piece of scrap paper. It showed that the jeep had undergone maintenance there and changed a certain accessory at the cost of a few hundred dollars with a three month warranty.
Obviously, no matter who the owner was, no one would throw away a warranty that had not expired yet. Following the clue, Party Ace found the Rohank Power auto repair shop two hours and fifteen minutes before they had to leave the world. Then, from the registration information in the shop, Vincent's address was found.
Sheyan could only hope that Vincent had not moved away. But given that rents in Los Angeles were usually paid annually, the chances of finding their target should be quite high. They quickly rushed towards Vincent's residence.
Vincent was actually living on the 13th floor of a building, which was an unlucky number in western superstition. It seems like he was not a superstitious person.
As soon as Sheyan and his party had just stepped out from the elevator, they immediately felt that something was off. After experiencing the previous explosion, they were all on high alert and were extremely cautious. They instantly scattered and put some distance between each other.
The deeper they went, the stronger the chill they felt. Sanzi's mice were pretty energetic though. They scouted in front of the group with vigor, as if their pace of life recovery was accelerated.
Sheyan noticed that the parts of the wallpaper that were in contact with the floor had turned moldy, giving off a gloomy atmosphere of decay. Ordinary people may just feel that this place was a little gloomy, perhaps the residents here would fall sick easily, but contestants would feel a faint killing intent from this place.
Sheyan had one of the highest Perceptive Sense in the team. His senses were particularly keen, and he could gradually sense an intense feeling of death from a spot on the left! If he was not mistaken, that spot happened to be Vincent's home. The closer they got, the stronger the eerie feeling.
"It should be a contestant," Reef said confidently in the party communication channel.
Suddenly, Sanzi's face turned pale. He wobbled back a few steps and issued a muffled groan. The mice he sent to scout ahead had all burst into meat paste. Two trails of blood trickled down his nostrils.
Immediately afterwards, the solid wall started rippling like a water surface, and the wallpaper rapidly peeled off the wall, forming a bizarre giant mouth at least 5 square meters in size. The mouth emitted a chilling scream and bit down at Sanzi!
Zi reacted quickly. With a flick of her wrist, a sharp ray of light was shot from the tip of her crescent dagger and pierced mercilessly into the strange giant mouth, splitting it in two!