“This fog... is very strange.”

Liu Wudai gazed at the gray-white mist swirling around them and said softly, “It seems to isolate spiritual senses, sound waves, electromagnetic waves, spiritual energy, and other methods of detection. We can only see with our naked eyes.”

“Mm.”

Wanli Fengdao narrowed his eyes, his hand lightly pressing on the hilt of his sword. “The usual MO of paranormal scripts is to cut off players' channels for obtaining information, creating the unknown and panic.

Tsk, whether this is rational or irrational paranormal, it's not good news...”

If the players were facing an irrational paranormal event like The Grudge, it would indeed be terrifying.

And if it was a specific, powerful ghost, it wouldn’t be much better—how strong would a vengeful spirit that could create a mist barrier that even fourteen Lv15 players couldn't see through be...

“The rubble on the ground is all ordinary sandstone, with nothing noteworthy.”

Li Ang said calmly, “Well, summoning-type items in the inventory can’t be used. Drones, creatures, everything can’t be taken out of the pack.

And the life created by using skills...”

He reached his hand into the ground, a flash of electricity in his palm, extracted elements from the soil, and refined them into a piece of white paper. With a few quick movements, he folded the white paper into a paper crane.

Then he used the Intermediate Undead Animation skill on the paper crane.

According to the results of his experiments in the real world, the paper crane awakened by Undead Animation should be able to fly like an ordinary bird and demonstrate a level of agility and intelligence beyond that of ordinary birds.

However, even after Li Ang had indeed had his sanity value deducted, the paper crane remained still and lifeless, without moving.

He couldn't get the zerg units in his backpack, nor could he take out Chai Chai from the Soul-Guiding Banner.

Before the mission had even officially started, Li Ang’s strength had been weakened considerably. It was truly an inauspicious start.

“Can't use it?”

Mule glanced at Li Ang, who was holding the paper crane in silence, and asked softly.

“Mm.”

Li Ang nodded, put the paper crane into his pocket, and said casually, “By the way, how did you end up joining this guild? I didn't think you'd be interested in the Doorway Contention.”

“I'm really not interested.”

Mule said indifferently, “For an intelligence merchant, showing their face in person and participating in the front lines of the battle for benefits

is always the most dangerous behavior.

But in the Killing Field game, it’s a case of advance or retreat. Even if you don't want to get involved in the struggle, you have to find ways to improve your strength and experience level.

Besides, Miss Liu's personal strength isn't bad, and you're also on this team.”

“So, in general, it's to earn experience and seek shelter?”

Li Ang nodded. “I might not stay in the Corvids for long, but Miss Liu is indeed a good partner.

She’s rich and generous, worth relying on.”

"You're not bad either."

Mule glanced at him, lowered his voice, and said with a slightly teasing tone, "The Unblemished Furnace's business scope has already expanded to Brazil."

This sentence was clearly a jab at a certain energetic social group in Brazil who used Li Ang's diarrhea potions to create a "shit has hit the fan" barrier in street fighting.

The teased Li Ang didn't feel the slightest embarrassment and smiled faintly. “How customers use it is their business.

I just need to sit in my Ferrari, use facial recognition to open my iPhone 11 Pro Max, tell Siri to open Alipay, log into my diamond member account, put on my AirPods Pro wireless headphones, and listen to the notification tone for the transfer arriving.

Successful people only care about the result, not the process.”

...Your definition of a successful person is just someone who can afford an iPhone 11 Pro Max? That’s really upper class.

Mule's eyes twitched, and he didn't respond.

The group was worried about the surrounding fog, so their pace wasn't very fast, but they still arrived at the Dolphin Hotel entrance before the time limit.

There were no ornamental trees, telephone poles, cement roads, vehicles, or anything else around the hotel. It just stood alone in the wasteland.

The hotel's golden doors were tightly closed. Looking through the brown transparent glass on the doors, one could vaguely see a marble floor without any dust and extinguished crystal chandeliers.

The front desk, where a receptionist should be sitting, was empty, and no one could be seen.

Bai Haozheng withdrew his searching gaze, reached out and pushed the door, and found that the door itself was strong and sturdy. On the inside of the door hung a heavy lock attached to an iron chain.

Judging by the style of the keyhole, it seemed difficult to pick.

“Hello, is anyone there?”

Bai Haozheng tugged at the iron chain, and when he found that even a player's strength couldn't pull it open, he shouted through the crack in the door.

His voice echoed in the empty hotel lobby, without receiving any response.

“Okay, as expected.”

Bai Haozheng sighed, his fingers passed through the crack in the door, picked up the lock hanging below, and carefully examined it.

"Are you going to pick the lock?"

13mark, a cloaked man wearing a spherical fishbowl helmet, stepped forward, emitting a mechanically synthesized electronic voice from the tie he wore on his chest. "Let me do it."

He took the lock from Bai Haozheng's hand with his right hand, and his left index finger split into three petals. A thin metal rod extended from where the finger bone should have been.

The surface of the metal rod extending towards the lock core rippled like a liquid, gradually forming racks of varying lengths and shapes,

and finally embedded into the lock core.

*Ka-*

The lock opened with a click.

13mark extracted the iron chain and lock, pushed open the door, and said calmly as he stood at the entrance, “Everyone, please.”

The implication was that he was responsible for unlocking the door, and exploring the hotel was up to them.

“Hmph.”

The brawny, bare-chested man, the Oni of Hidden Sight, snorted and strode past the golden door, standing inside and scanning the lobby.

“It’s the same as outside here, I can’t use spirit sight.”

He turned his head and said with a gloomy face, “Come in, it should be fine.”

Since the stage one mission objective was for the players to enter the hotel, and the time limit was so strict,

it was highly unlikely that there would be a trap set at the hotel entrance that would guarantee death upon triggering.

The players stepped into the hotel.

Bob and the other two, who had been guarding the entrance, pressing their palms against the golden door to prevent it from suddenly closing, felt a surge of overwhelming force from the door, pushing them to involuntarily release their palms and fall backward.

The hotel door then slammed shut with a loud “bang!”

When they tried to push it again, the entire door seemed to have been welded to the space, remaining completely still no matter how much the players pushed, shoved, or attacked it.

[Stage One Mission Objective Completed]

[Stage Two Mission Objective: Find the Dolphin Hotel Accommodation Guide and survive in the hotel for 180 hours]

[Mission Reward 1: 1000 experience points]

[Mission Reward 2: 2000 game coins]

[Mission Reward 3: For every life, existing in any form, that is eliminated in the Dolphin Hotel, you will receive 500 experience points and game coins]

“We’re trapped again. Wait, why did I say ‘again’?”

Li Ang glanced at the closed door, sighed, and turned around to look at his teammates standing in place.

The other players had gloomy expressions.

Survival missions were always one of the mission types that players least wanted to see.

Whenever this type of mission was triggered, it meant that the system believed that the players would be under constant threat to their lives during the execution process.

Of course, that wasn't the only reason why all the players present looked so bitter.

In Mission Reward 3, players received 500 experience points and game coins for each life eliminated, existing in any form.

This seemingly implied to the players that there would be monsters such as ghosts and evil spirits in this script,

but it also implied that players could kill each other—humans also counted as a type of "life."

This was probably why the system had forbidden players from using summons in advance.