Not long after Li Ang left the Automated Pet Box, he heard the long-awaited system prompt.
[Trigger conditions for the mission have been met]
[Mission Type: Script Mission (Solo)]
[Mission Name: Bloody Dawn]
[Stage One Objective: Find out the cause of Eileen Raphael's death]
[Time Limit: 1 hour]
[Reward 1: 100 Experience Points]
[Reward 2: 100 Game Coins]
[Penalty for Failure: Erasure]
[5 minutes until teleportation, teleport now?]
"Hmm?" Li Ang raised an eyebrow. Another solo script mission, huh? The mission name is cryptic, and the objective is to investigate the cause of someone's death, with stages—implying that discovering the cause of death will trigger the next mission objective. There's a 1-hour time limit, and the rewards aren't that generous, suggesting that the first stage of the mission won't be too difficult...
His thoughts raced, but he didn't pause. He and Miss Chai quickly packed up all their equipment and waited quietly in the living room for the teleportation.
When the time came, Li Ang opened his eyes to find himself sitting in a parked sedan, his hand on the steering wheel, which was on the left side of the car.
It was late at night. The sedan was parked quietly on the side of the street, bathed in the circular glow of a streetlamp, like a character waiting to make an entrance on stage.
To the left of the street was a neatly maintained public lawn. To the right stood a row of small, red-painted villas, each with its own lawn and courtyard, separated from one another by shrubs and wooden panels. Some villas even had large trees in their courtyards, complete with children's treehouses, and others had family swimming pools.
"Is this... a community?" Li Ang raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Is this mission's world set in Europe or America?"
The term 'community' refers to a socially cohesive group of people with similar backgrounds who offer mutual assistance and enjoy a friendly, lively atmosphere. In the United States, community culture often centers around churches, with faith serving as a common bond. Neighbors in such communities are typically more connected than those in areas simply defined as 'neighborhoods.' A well-run community is typically managed by an HOA Homeowner's Association, elected by the homeowners. This association functions similarly to a local administrative office but holds more authority. It is responsible for selecting efficient property management companies, organizing regular community events, and may even hire security teams or establish patrols composed of homeowners to ensure residents' safety.
The public lawn is well-tended. Houses are generally three-story villas with luxury decorations and high occupancy rates. Each household's courtyard is also very thoughtfully maintained, Li Ang observed, glancing out the car window. It's at least an upscale community for the middle class...
At first glance, this upscale community seemed unlikely to harbor any dangers. However, Li Ang still needed to ascertain whether this place was the Mortal Realm, and if not, how different this world's background was from the Mortal Realm he knew.
He pulled out the car key, which was still in the ignition under the steering wheel, and looked at the tag on the keychain.
A Toyota sedan. Inexpensive, cheap, with low maintenance costs, he noted.
Although the car was clean, with the faint scent of cleaning agent lingering in the air, its interior clearly showed its age.
What am I doing in this upscale community, driving an inexpensive Toyota sedan? Li Ang wondered. He then muttered, "Anyway, first, I need to figure out exactly who I'm supposed to be."
He reached out to adjust the rearview mirror and, by the light of the overhead streetlamp, saw his current appearance.
"What the fuck?!!"
In the mirror, Li Ang now appeared as a white woman in her early fifties with fluffy, brown, shoulder-length hair, a round face, average looks, deep wrinkles, and a rather plump figure. She was wearing a loose red short-sleeved shirt, jeans, and cheap athletic shoes.
She bore a striking resemblance to Aunt Su Shan.
Damn it, is that me?! Li Ang thought, a wave of near-suffocation washing over him as he stared at the rearview mirror. The elderly white woman's face reflected his own utter shock, and he couldn't help but cringe.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Miss Chai, who had been hiding inside Li Ang, could no longer contain herself. She burst forth from his chest, laughing uncontrollably.
"Shush, keep it down," Li Ang muttered, giving her the stink eye as he locked gazes with Miss Chai on his chest. "You knew all along, didn't you..."
Miss Chai continued to laugh silently, her mouth wide open. She had noticed the appearance of the character Li Ang was portraying from the very beginning but had kept it to herself, eager to see his ghost-struck face.
"Sick sense of humor," Li Ang muttered, shaking his head helplessly as he pushed Miss Chai's head back into his chest.
This mission had no restrictions, so Li Ang could move about in the guise of this elderly white woman and freely use his skills, equipment, and items.
He opened the glove compartment, flipped down the sun visor, and searched around. He found an old cell phone, a wallet, a handgun in a plastic bag, and a stack of documents, including a driver's license.
The cell phone was an older model without fingerprint unlock. Li Ang had no idea what the four-digit PIN was, so he simply pocketed it.
This isn't the Mortal Realm; it's just that the backdrop is very similar to the United States, Li Ang thought as he quickly scanned the documents. He then said aloud, "The woman I'm playing is named Catherine Raphael. She's fifty-two years old, a hospital nurse with a meager salary, barely making ends meet. She lives in the southern suburbs of Frankfurt City. Eileen Raphael, the mission objective, is Catherine's daughter."
He pulled out several photos: Eileen as a child in a dress, Eileen in a beauty pageant, Eileen's high school and college graduation photos, and vacation pictures of Catherine and Eileen together.
The relationship between mother and daughter seems harmonious, but there are no photos of the father... Li Ang mused, looking at the pictures.
He raised his hand, examining it in the rearview mirror. No traces of a ring on the left ring finger. There are three possibilities. First, the father betrayed the marriage early on, abandoning his wife and child, ran off, or they divorced peacefully. Second, he might already be dead. Third, Catherine was quite wild in her youth and doesn't know who the child's father is.
Li Ang paused, glanced at Catherine's average-looking face in the mirror, and said aloud, "Considering everything, the first possibility is the most likely."
So, the situation is that Eileen Raphael has died under mysterious circumstances, and I, playing her mother Catherine Raphael, must uncover the truth behind her daughter's death. The question is, why isn't Catherine at the Frankfurt Police Station? Why is she here in this upscale neighborhood instead? And carrying a handgun, no less...
He took out the plastic bag containing the handgun. Inside, he found rope, two magazines, two boxes of ammunition, and a supermarket receipt.
The receipt shows a purchase time of 5 PM on August 8th, at Walter Supermarket. The phone shows the current time as 11 PM on August 8th.
Li Ang flipped through the documents again, finding a palm-sized map book of Frankfurt. He opened it, and a dried yellow leaf fluttered out. The page the leaf had been on was marked with a small, red-penned circle. Next to it, a name was written in sloppy handwriting: George Carter. Comparing it with the surrounding road shapes, the area circled on the map is exactly where this car is parked.
Li Ang lifted his head, gazing towards a villa down the road. And George Carter's house is right there.