After Luo Di unsuccessfully attempted to find the masked man, he returned to the stairwell, "Katayama, did anything strange happen to you just now?"
"Yes, someone suddenly appeared and offered me some dried fish. I chose to refuse, and then he left disappointed."
"Huh? He didn’t attack you? Or attempt any fish parasitism? He just left?"
"Damn! I should have refused too."
Luo Di couldn’t help but curse, lifting his arm to sniff again. Indeed, there was a faint fishy smell, and the color of his skin seemed to have subtly changed.
"Is this related to my own abilities, like my agility, or my reaction speed not being high enough? It seems so... If it were the Squad Leader or Lebeite, they might’ve avoided it.
If I had chosen correctly or passed the test, would I have received some benefit?
Seems interesting enough to think about for next time."
The two quickly climbed the stairs, during which Katayama struggled multiple times, forcing Luo Di to assist by supporting him.
They soon found the door of the resident who applied for welfare, coincidentally meeting the family returning with fish.
The resident was an independent elderly man living alone, with the room piled high with various picked-up cans and cardboard boxes.
He was in his eighties,
but his body appeared quite robust.
Seeing Luo Di, a worker from the welfare center, the elderly man proactively expressed that he didn’t mind whether the application would be approved or not.
Ever since he started eating sea fish, his health had significantly improved. Not only had his rheumatic pains disappeared, but even his slightly lame right leg had recovered. He could now go out to pick up trash, and as long as quality wasn’t an issue, sea fish could be obtained for free.
Luo Di inspected the room and confirmed that the "curse" had no relation to it. He simply helped the old man fill out a report and took a few photos before wrapping up.
The car door was locked.
"It indeed has nothing to do with the main storyline. The influence of the transformation seems to prevent us from touching the main storyline, intending to trap us here until we completely change?
Looks like we need to find the main storyline ourselves and actively engage with the ’curse’.
Katayama, you mentioned that the movie plot involved caretakers at the welfare center going missing, leading the protagonist to help and discovering the curse at a solitary house."
"Then we should go back and check if any caregivers have gone missing recently. If necessary, we can employ special methods."
Katayama caught onto a key piece of information in that sentence, "If we’re going back to the welfare center, can I just lie back in the car... I’m not a formal employee anyway, so I won’t be of much help."
With that answer, Katayama immediately fell asleep, his shriveled body seeming to merge into the passenger seat like a cushion.
However, Luo Di noticed that Katayama’s face appeared somewhat rounder, and there was once again a slight amount of mucus.
"This coastal city is too humid, not to mention that fish are sold everywhere... Breathing also introduces moisture to the body.
Katayama’s ’risk’ must be properly used, as it might become a critical factor for success. He almost doesn’t exhibit any external danger in a dry state, which serves as a good hidden point.
Alright... Punishment Device Creation!"
Luo Di maximized the Hell Power, attempting to create a micro precision torture device, one that could be used long-term.
During creation, a demon horn appeared on Luo Di’s forehead, though it quickly receded.
The interior of the car became unbearably hot,
so Luo Di hurried to open the windows to let out the heat.
A searing hot iron appeared in his palm, seemingly just a glowing piece of iron.
If examined closely, a filamentous structure could be observed on the surface, seemingly able to integrate with flesh, akin to a chip.
"Katayama, wake up! I need to discuss something with you."
No matter how Luo Di called,
or even forcefully patted him, there was no response. Since that was the case, Luo Di decided to proceed with the task and explain to Katayama later.
As the special iron gradually cooled back to normal temperature, Luo Di applied it to Katayama’s abdomen.
The iron seemed to possess vitality, quickly burrowing under the skin, with its filamentous structures rapidly integrating with blood vessels, organs, and nerves.
It continuously released heat, evaporating excess moisture, allowing Katayama to remain in a dry state indefinitely.
In truth, this process could cause a great deal of pain, being a product of the Punishment Room, but Katayama just turned over, furrowed his brows slightly, and continued snoring.
[Welfare Center, Manager’s Office]
"Manager Tan, I’ve taken care of the house call, and the relevant materials have been sent to you.
I would like to ask if any caregivers have gone missing recently? I seemed to have heard a colleague mention this before."
Though the manager praised Luo Di’s efficiency a moment ago with a smile, his expression immediately changed when this matter was brought up.
"What are you talking about? All our dispatched caregivers are doing well. Stop asking these bizarre questions and get to your other work."
Luo Di placed one palm on the manager’s balding head, and tentacles instantly burrowed in through both ears, causing Thought Influence.
Since it’s an altered dungeon, there’s no need to strictly follow the plot, or the plot itself may have already been compromised.
Desperate situations call for desperate measures.
But just as Luo Di was about to leave the gray tentacles in the manager’s brain, turning him into an ally.
Manager Sato began to retch uncontrollably, followed by an outpour of digested fish remnants.
The situation was identical to the previous encounter with the middle-aged man Luo Di had intimidated.
the door to the manager’s office was suddenly knocked upon.
Luo Di eyed the shriveled corpse on the ground and nearly ten pounds of fish residue with a grim expression; exposure would alter the entire plot, making the transformation even more likely to target him.
The door wasn’t locked,
and seeing no response to the knocking, the person outside directly turned the knob and pushed it open.
A spectacled employee holding documents walked in.
"Manager Sato! I brought the urgent materials you requested."
"Just leave them on the desk." The voice came from within the office, with Manager Sato engaged in eating, making the room reek with the smell of fish.
"Sorry for interrupting your meal."
But the manager didn’t respond and continued eating fish,
only stopping after the employee fully exited, completely burning away the contents in his mouth with Hellfire.
Under the desk lay the sorted remains of the corpse and vomit gathered by the tentacles.
Luo Di quickly burned it to ash with high temperature, letting the ashes drift out of the window.
"Time to use the Squad Leader’s ability again... I feel more skilled now, Mr. Kraft’s gray characteristic seems very adept at this, to the extent that I’ve become proficient in meticulous disguise."
Not yet relinquishing the disguise, he continued using this identity to seek information, swiftly uncovering information about the "missing caregivers", finding out that as many as seven caregivers had disappeared within the past month.
The disappearance of so many people might not only be related to the curse, but also have something to do with fish.
"We’ll have to check them one by one."
Luo Di took the relevant information of the seven individuals, preparing to visit them one by one.
The city isn’t large, and if luck would have it, he might get things done before dark.
Continuing to maintain the disguise of Manager Sato, Cheng Yao left the office to let everyone see, thereby proving the manager wasn’t dead at the welfare center.
Even if later on, they realized the manager went missing, they wouldn’t suspect him.
However, things didn’t proceed as smoothly as anticipated.
After a whole day of visiting,
all the houses served by the seven missing caregivers showed no problems, with no signs of curse activities. Their so-called disappearance seemed more like being "eaten" by those elderly who couldn’t care for themselves.
In fact, one elderly even mistook the fish-smelling Luo Di for actual fish and tried to take a bite out of him.
Luo Di had somewhat guessed along the way already,
that the welfare center might have thoroughly erased all house-related curse information; or perhaps, the transformation itself had blocked information from all angles to prevent Luo Di from coming into contact.
Finding where the curse resides will probably involve slowly tracing the clue of "solitary houses".
Now it’s already one in the morning,
and Luo Di was struggling to go on, planning to sleep for four hours before continuing his investigation.
Katayama never woke up, and Luo Di carried him back to their rental room to continue sleeping; it seemed he was very tired in this dry state.
Just outside the cheap rental where the two resided,
a pale-skinned young man found his way there,
he leaned in, sniffing the air in the car, soon locking onto the source. Google seaʀᴄh novelFɪre.net