Chapter 162 - 161: Exiled Criminals

Chapter 162: Chapter 161: Exiled Criminals

Li Qing remained expressionless. "I’m used to it. No player likes a Maze Administrator."

Feng Ling smiled, teasing him. "You’re all in this together. Do you have to be such mortal enemies?"

"In the real world, have you ever seen a prisoner who liked a prison guard?" Li Qing shot back.

Feng Ling was taken aback for a moment, then thought to herself, ’That’s a pretty fitting description. Even though the Alien Species call themselves players, they’re clearly more like a band of exiled convicts.’

’And the Maze Administrator? A jailer watching over the convicts?’

’This jailer has it pretty rough, too. Exiled right along with the convicts, can’t go home, and has to watch his back to keep from being killed by them.’

"Feng Ling!"

Someone shouted her name from the distance.

Feng Ling turned to look and saw Su Yuqing and Xu Yiming waving at her, along with several other Hunters.

"We’ve found something!" Xu Yiming yelled.

Feng Ling immediately hurried over. "What did you find?"

Su Yuqing told her, "Someone found a body up ahead. There’s an eye on it that looks a lot like the one you showed everyone before. You should go take a look."

This news immediately snapped Feng Ling to full alert.

She followed the Hunters forward, where many others had already gathered. Everyone was waiting for Feng Ling to examine the body.

The corpse was that of an adult male, frozen a deathly gray-purple and covered in a layer of white frost. Nestled between his collarbones was a grayish-white eye.

Feng Ling needed only a single glance before nodding with certainty. "That’s right. It’s the same kind of eye. This person was an Alien Species, and a member of the organization called the Star Association."

She continued her examination, discovering that the corpse had been almost completely devoured by beasts from the chest down.

"...I don’t know how it died." Feng Ling sounded a little disappointed as she reached out and pried the eye off the corpse.

She wondered to herself, ’How many of these eyes will I have to collect before I can get the real Eye of Horus?’

Just then, a Hunter in the crowd spoke up. "Should I give it a shot?"

Feng Ling looked toward the Hunter who had spoken.

He was a young man, about eighteen or nineteen, not very tall, with a quick-witted look about him.

Xu Yiming immediately said, "Let Little Hai try. I remember his Card can see residual images from before death."

The Hunter, addressed as Little Hai, waved his hand and smiled. "Honestly, I’m not sure it’ll work. This body has obviously been dead for a long time... If the brain’s been dead too long, I won’t be able to see anything, even with my ability."

"Give it a try," Feng Ling said, getting up to make room.

Little Hai squatted down, blew warm air onto his hands, and wiggled his stiff fingers a bit before cautiously placing them on the corpse’s head and closing his eyes.

Everyone fell silent, holding their breath.

After about half a minute, Little Hai’s eyes shot open. He violently snatched his hand back and began to pant.

"How did it go?" Xu Yiming asked him.

Little Hai, still shaken, blurted out, "I saw Ms. Ye!"

In the crowd, the color drained from Su Yuqing’s face. "You saw Ye Zheng?! How is she? Is she hurt?"

Little Hai’s chest heaved, his emotions still in turmoil as he answered haltingly, "I... I don’t know. The vision was too short... I saw Ms. Ye lunging with her weapon—at me, ah, no, I mean at the Alien Species. Then the vision cut out."

He had seen it from the Alien Species’ point of view, which meant he had essentially experienced its death. That’s why he was still terrified.

"It looks like Ye Zheng’s team ran into an Alien Species in the Maze, and she killed it," Xu Yiming deduced. "The Maze is basically a playground for the Alien Species, so running into one isn’t strange. It’s a shame we arrived so late, or Little Hai might have been able to see more."

Su Yuqing’s jaw was tight, his lips pressed into a thin line. His mind was racing, uncontrollably flashing through the worst-case scenarios.

Encountering an Alien Species in the Maze wasn’t strange, he knew. The Alien Species liked to enter the Maze in packs to earn points, just like a party raiding a dungeon in an online game.

But there was only one body here...

Where were the other Alien Species?

Were they dead or alive? Their survival, to a certain extent, was a reflection of Ye Zheng’s own safety!

And Ye Zheng, where is her team? Why were there no other Inspectors in the vision when the Alien Species was killed? Is it because the creature has been dead too long for the image to be clear, or has Ye Zheng been separated from her squad?

Where on earth is Ye Zheng right now?!

Su Yuqing’s expression grew darker by the second. He felt as if his own theories were about to drive him insane.

Just then, Feng Ling asked him, "Have you tried calling Ye Zheng since you entered the Maze?"

Su Yuqing froze for a second before quickly pulling out his phone to dial Ye Zheng’s number.

He was so caught up in his worries that he’d forgotten something crucial—he could use his phone to confirm Ye Zheng’s location.

Su Yuqing clutched his phone, only to hear the dead tone of an unreachable number.

"That tone means she’s outside the signal coverage area. She’s not in Area A." Su Yuqing took a deep breath and put his phone away. "The Maze has four zones. D Area is the largest—it’s the area that vanished after the Maze Master died, and it has normal signal reception. But the call didn’t go through earlier either, which means Ye Zheng isn’t in D Area. That leaves only Zone B and Zone C."

Feng Ling nodded slightly. "Then let’s go search Zone B and Zone C."

After she said that, the expressions on the faces of the surrounding Hunters grew complicated.

Xu Yiming also noticed the subtle shift in the atmosphere.

It was only to be expected. While the Hunters had entered the Maze with the noble ideal of defending their home, they were also there to earn Contribution Points.

A single Contribution Point was worth hundreds of thousands—a tangible benefit that brought both fame and fortune. This forest was teeming with countless Pollution Bodies, which were not only plentiful but also low-risk. Who would be willing to just walk away?

Even Xu Yiming himself would have been reluctant to leave if not for his concern for Ye Zheng’s safety.

But Su Yuqing was clearly impatient to go...

"Alright, here’s the plan," Xu Yiming said, raising his voice. "We’ll split up. One group will stay here and continue clearing out Pollution Bodies. The other will go to Zone B and Zone C to search for our people."

He paused, then added, "Old Su and I are definitely going to look for them. As for the rest of you, it’s your call."

The crowd exchanged glances.

Feng Ling stepped up beside Su Yuqing. "I’ll go look for them, too."

This forest held no interest for her anyway.

The Hunters slowly began to split apart. Some moved to one side, some to the other, while a few wavered in the middle, hesitating and unable to decide.

The majority of the Hunters chose to stay in Area A.

The Hunter named Little Hai, however, walked over to Su Yuqing’s side. He smiled and said, "I’ve already killed plenty of Pollution Bodies today, so I should have a fair amount of Contribution Points. Ms. Ye is my idol. I want to go with you guys and help."

Another Hunter who came over added, "That’s right. Zone B and Zone C should have plenty of Pollution Bodies, too. We’ll just be changing locations, it won’t get in the way of earning Contribution Points. Besides, knowing Captain Ye Zheng might be in danger, we can’t just stand by and do nothing."