Chapter 226 - 225: Bizarre Intelligence

Chapter 226: Chapter 225: Bizarre Intelligence

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At Gu Su’s concerned inquiry, a bitter smile surfaced on Xi Yue’s face. His tone was filled with the relief of a survivor, mixed with a hint of his sorry state, as he slowly began to recount their ordeal.

"We didn’t face any major obstacles on the way, really. At first, we ran into some scarecrow Spirits.

"Those things were nothing special. They were slow, their attacks were simple, and with our teamwork, we dealt with them easily enough."

He paused, his fingertips gently tracing a wound on his arm. "Later," he continued, "we ran into a group of skinless Spirits. Their raw, red muscles were completely exposed. They looked terrifying, but their actual combat strength was nothing special. We managed to get through, thanks to our equipment and tactics.

"We all thought the rest of the journey would be that easy. But we didn’t expect to be stopped by a group of strange kids before we even got close to the entrance of the Inverted Tower.

"Those little things didn’t look like much, but they were incredibly vicious. If we hadn’t reacted quickly and fought for our lives to break through, we would’ve died back there without a chance to escape."

’Strange kids?’

Gu Su froze. The description of the Little Butcher from his Mysterious Handwritten Manuscript instantly flashed through his mind. He reacted almost at once, looking up at Xi Yue and asking with certainty, "Did you run into the Little Butchers?"

"Little Butchers?" Xi Yue’s brow furrowed. He pondered for a moment before realization dawned, and he nodded again and again.

"Yes, yes, that’s them!

"Those little things really did have butcher knives—the kind for slaughtering pigs—fused to their arms. Incredibly sharp. That name is a perfect fit."

As he said this, Xi Yue seemed to realize something. He stopped short, his gaze locking onto Gu Su. His expression grew serious, and his tone became probing.

"Wait a minute, Gu Su. Now that you bring it up... have you fought those Spirits before? Or seen them?"

Seeing Xi Yue’s serious expression, Gu Su decided not to hide anything. This information wasn’t exactly a state secret, after all. Sharing it could improve their ability to work together.

He shook his head and said openly, "I haven’t fought them directly, but I’ve gathered some intelligence on the Spirits in this region, which happens to include information on the Little Butchers."

As he spoke, Gu Su pulled the Mysterious Handwritten Manuscript from his coat. His fingertips brushed across the rough cover as he prepared to open it for Xi Yue and the others.

’It’s just sharing some intel, which costs me nothing,’ Gu Su thought. ’If anything, it will give Xi Yue’s group a clearer picture of the enemy, making things smoother for us later.’

But when Xi Yue saw the Mysterious Handwritten Manuscript, a light flashed in his eyes. He stared intently at the manuscript but didn’t reach for it. Instead, he looked up at Gu Su and asked softly, his voice tinged with understanding.

"You found something like a book or a newspaper in this area, didn’t you?"

Gu Su was taken aback. He raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"

He was surprised; he’d never mentioned to Xi Yue that he was looking for books, yet the man had guessed it instantly.

Xi Yue smiled, explaining with the patient calm of a seasoned veteran.

"You’re new to this Game World, so you might not know this yet. For a newcomer, the most important thing in the first few days isn’t rushing to fight or scramble for resources. It’s gathering as much intelligence as possible about the region.

"And the fastest, most effective way to do that is to find any books, newspapers, or other texts left behind in the area and extract useful information from them."

As he spoke, Xi Yue took out a few items from his pack and placed them gently on a nearby rock.

The four players with him did the same, pulling items from their own bags. Clearly, they all understood the importance of intelligence and were adept at extracting key information from complex texts. Each one carried an item or two for processing intel.

There was a wide variety of items. A few were similar to the Mysterious Handwritten Manuscript in Gu Su’s hands—notebooks for recording and copying intelligence.

There were also several quills, their tips glistening faintly with ink, placed next to small inkwells.

In addition, there were tools like magnifying glasses, their lenses polished to a shine, clearly meant for examining fine textual details.

It was obvious these were all excellent aids for processing intelligence, enabling them to more efficiently pull useful information from books and newspapers.

Seeing all this, Gu Su had an idea. He turned and walked to the Deceitful Tree, retrieved the Koba District Bedtime Story Collection from the Altar, and hurried back to Xi Yue. He placed the book gently on the rock and said,

"I have a bedtime story collection here, too. It’s got a lot of information on Spirits in it. You can all take a look."

But Xi Yue waved a hand at Gu Su and explained calmly, "Don’t trouble yourself, Gu Su. There’s a rule in this Game World.

"Once a piece of intelligence has been read through one method, anyone else trying to read it in the same way will get the exact same information. Nothing new will be added.

"You’ve already read the information in this book with your method. I just need to see what you got and record it. There’s no need to waste time reading it all over again."

Gu Su froze, a look of confusion on his face. He’d never heard of a rule like that and was still processing it when a figure silently descended. Crow’s Caw fluttered its bone wings and landed steadily on Gu Su’s shoulder. It leaned close to his ear and whispered a few words only they could hear.

After hearing what Crow’s Caw said, a gleam appeared in Gu Su’s eyes, and his confusion vanished. He turned to Xi Yue and the others, a smile spreading across his face as he spoke in a cheerful tone.

"So that’s how it works. I guess I’m not as informed as I thought.

"Speaking of which, a fresh batch of bedtime story books was just delivered to me. I haven’t had a chance to extract the intelligence from them yet. Would you all like to take a look?"

"That would be great," Xi Yue replied instantly.

He’d already noticed that Gu Su’s Mysterious Handwritten Manuscript wasn’t particularly effective; it had only managed to copy entries for a few Spirits from the Koba District Bedtime Story Collection. Because Gu Su had already used it to transcribe from the book, any chance for others to copy it was wasted. Now that new books had arrived, however, Xi Yue was confident they could find information on many more Spirits.

"Gu Su, I won’t stand on ceremony, then," Xi Yue said immediately. "This is exactly what we need right now.

"Take this as compensation. I insist you accept it."