Chapter 10 City in the Ocean of Black

However, Chen Ge completely ignored him and instead began to size up the room. The entire room was gray, filled with death and despair, but it was the only place underground that possessed light.

"Outside?" Chen Ge looked out the window, his pupils contracting. This was clearly underground, but it felt like being high up in a building. Outside was a gray expanse, and not a trace of life could be found in the dim sky.

"What's going on? Aren't we underground?" "Brother Shen" exclaimed, looking at the world outside in confusion.

"What's going on with this hidden map? Am I running into ghosts again?" Even the boss, hearing Brother Shen's voice, was distracted and forgot about retaliating against Chen Ge.

Chen Ge ignored them and looked at the room. It resembled a study, with many books on the shelves, mostly related to medicine.

"Psychology, medical books... The owner of this room..." Chen Ge looked at the books and couldn't help but think of the young man in the photograph in the other room.

After searching the bookshelves and desk for a while, Chen Ge finally found a yellowed letter in a drawer, with a few short lines written on it: "In the black ocean, there float cities. In the deepest despair, push open that door. Become the master of a 'city' and you will obtain the key to eternal life."

"What does this say?" Brother Shen leaned in to look, but Chen Ge frowned and handed the letter to him.

From this letter, he could already discern some things. The black ocean was likely the boundless black mist seen in Blood City, and the cities were existences similar to Blood City.

"The 'He' in the mission... could it be the master of one of these cities?!"

The last two sentences gave Chen Ge much to ponder. The black phone had never given such hints before; only this time was it completely different.

The only explanation he could think of for something the black phone was so wary of was the master of a city described in the letter.

"Could this also be another city? But this is clearly a dream." Chen Ge pondered, but then looked at the three people beside him. They had previously mentioned the term "hidden map," which was very strange, as if telling him that he was not an outsider in this dream.

"The most crucial thing is the change in the outside world..." Chen Ge looked at the gray sky and the lifeless city with little color, and his mind couldn't help but sway.

Chen Ge searched the desk again, eventually finding only half of a torn-up work permit, with the character "Jiang" still visible.

"'Jiang'? Is this the young man's surname, or is it the surname of the city lord?" Chen Ge was puzzled. There were too few clues now, and they were still trapped in this small room.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, the door was violently rammed, and everyone tensed up. Chen Ge grabbed a baseball bat from the corner of the room. Although it didn't feel as good as his battle-hardened Skull-Crushing Hammer, a weapon was definitely better at this time.

But after the one collision, there were no other sounds outside. Chen Ge remembered the previous scene and slowly turned the doorknob.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Da Yu shouted, trying to stop him, but it was too late. Chen Ge had already opened the door.

"What's going on?" When he approached, he saw the same scene outside. Where was the darkness? Where were the ghosts?

Outside was the same as inside, a gray expanse. This color seemed to be the main tone of this world. Whether it was in the room or in the city outside, gray was the predominant color.

"What's the situation?" The world seemed to have changed in an instant, and even Chen Ge hadn't reacted yet.

"Could I have entered the middle layer of the dream?" Chen Ge speculated based on his knowledge of dreams. The disappearance of the shallow dream's scenery most likely meant that he had entered the middle layer of the dream.

Looking at the door in front of him, he couldn't help but ponder. Was this the special door?

Thinking about it carefully, it seemed to be the case. In the darkness, this door isolated the darkness and the ghosts, so it was indeed special.

"Then the next step is to find a way to bring the haunted house employees in!" After confirming that he had left the shallow dream, Chen Ge strode out of the room. The three behind him were still hesitating, but Chen Ge had already begun searching for useful information.

"The unlit road, a way to bring employees into the dream, must be found as soon as possible." The shallow dream was extremely dangerous, but at least he could wake up after death. However, the middle layer of the dream was different. If no one woke him up from the outside, he wouldn't be able to wake up.

After a brief search of the room, Chen Ge didn't stay any longer. Although this room was special, it didn't have the clues he needed now. He had to find a way to bring his employees into the dream before encountering danger in the middle layer.

However, not long after he left the room, footsteps echoed in the corridor. Approaching him was a young man, about the same age as him, with short, choppy hair, simple casual clothes, and a pair of deep eyes, as if the entire dream was contained within them.

"It's him!" Chen Ge's heart jolted. This young man was clearly the person in the photograph in the room, and most likely the one who wrote the letter!

At this time, the person in front of him was also looking at him, or rather, at the baseball bat in his hand. After a moment of silence, the other party spoke first, "Friend, if I'm not mistaken, this baseball bat is from my house, right?"

Chen Ge was stunned, looking at the baseball bat in his hand, and a series of excuses flashed through his mind. But before he could speak, a series of hurried footsteps came from behind.

The boss and the other two came charging down, each holding something as a weapon.

The young man's eyes twitched. He looked at the four people in front of him and said speechlessly, "This is... a group effort?"

Chen Ge was shocked. There wasn't even a trace of fear on this person's face, as if that emotion didn't exist in him.

"Um... sorry, we woke up in your house, and we took these things as weapons for self-defense," Chen Ge said sincerely, but the young man clearly didn't believe him.

"Forget it, you guys should leave quickly. It's getting dark, and I have to go home too." The young man glanced at his watch. Surprisingly, he wasn't planning to pursue the matter any further. It seemed that in his opinion, going home before dark was more important than recovering his stolen items.

Chen Ge sensed something and immediately asked, "Brother, what did you mean by what you just said? Is there something different after dark?"

The young man paused, looking incredulous. "You guys don't know? How did you survive until now?"

Chen Ge and the other three were stunned by his words. Not being able to survive until now if you don't go home before dark?

Looking back and forth at Chen Ge and the others, the young man clicked his tongue in amazement. "You guys wouldn't happen to be outsiders, would you? This is the first time I've seen outsiders who don't even know these common sense things."

"Common sense?" Chen Ge and the other three were taken aback. Going home before dark was a well-behaved child's common sense, right?

"Brother, can you tell us more about it?" Chen Ge felt that something was strange, and it felt very similar to the game he played with Xiao Bu. Day and night were two different extremes.

The young man glanced at his watch again and said, "If you want to know, then come to my house first. You can't stay outside after seven o'clock."

After saying that, he didn't care whether Chen Ge and the others believed him or not, and walked past them towards his home.

"What do we do?" Da Yu couldn't help but ask, but before he could get an answer, Chen Ge had already started walking back.

"Go back." The boss had no choice. Although the young man's words might not be credible, as long as there was even a slight chance that they were true, they wouldn't dare to wander around outside now.

A few minutes later, the group returned to the house again. Looking at the messy house, the young man pointed inside and said, "You should clean it up for me, right?"

The faces of the boss and the other two froze. The mess in the room was mostly their handiwork, and Chen Ge's technique was very professional. Everything he had rummaged through had been put back in its place. They thought that Chen Ge must be a police officer in reality.

They had no choice but to honestly clean the room, while Chen Ge and the young man began to talk.

"Friend, my name is Chen Ge. I'm really sorry about this time." Chen Ge took the initiative to speak. He usually wouldn't, but he really cared about the identity of the young man in front of him.

"Jiang Xuan, nice to meet you, outsider," the young man said with a smile. There was a lot of unspeakable meaning in his smile, a feeling that made Chen Ge even more afraid than when he faced the Red Specter alone.