Lebeite walked ahead following his senses.
They walked off the highway,
a patch of grass taller than a person appeared before them.
Luo Di quickly recalled, "When the clown captured me alone, I followed him here. The carnival is deep within this tall grass."
The tall grass seemed extremely eerie, some even taller than trees,
sharp, dense, concealing, alive.
The latent unknown dangers within forced the trio to halt temporarily.
During exploration of unknown areas in the corner, it’s common practice to use living creatures to test the area instead of various perception methods.
Many low-quality slaves, living creations, have their value there, hence the related business thrives.
But Luo Di and his group didn’t have spare slaves, so they had to try conventional methods to explore the high grass.
Just as Wu Wen was preparing to separate flesh and bone,
Lebeite directly reached out to touch the tall grass, walking into it without hesitation.
After his body passed through the grass, his head reappeared.
"No calamity, just abnormal plant growth. It might be sharp, so be careful not to tear your clothes and skin. It’s relatively easy to get lost inside, but otherwise, no problems found."
Luo Di also dragged the coffin along, following inside, throwing out a question he’d been curious about:
"Lebeite, you seemed to say before sleeping last night that you’re unaffected by disasters?"
"Yes, my father confirmed this when I was very young.
Maybe because I was born in the corner, the fear pervasive here sees me as ’one of their own.’ The various disasters covering different areas don’t affect me specifically, just need occasional caution. Thɪs chapter is updated by n0velfire.net
Of course, this only applies to regions above the shallow area, given I was born here.
Going deeper would be different."
Luo Di nodded as a matter of course, but the squad leader behind him was dumbfounded.
As the team advanced through the tall grass, they also discovered other taboos in this area.
These vivid tall grasses would completely block out light and constantly move and make various noises, seriously affecting an entrant’s sense of direction.
Once an individual attempted to use floating or flying techniques, as soon as their feet left the ground they would be madly assaulted by the tall grass.
Fortunately, Lebeite had balloon perception, continuously maintaining a correct sense of direction.
Nevertheless, the team walked through the tall grass for a full hour, discovering many corpses of those who had gotten lost inside.
as Lebeite broke through the outer layer of tall grass,
various colors, bright and vibrant.
A retro-style but vastly expansive amusement park lay before them, all facilities operating, its bright lights dispelling the night.
This area’s time was already distorted; Luo Di and the others had clearly woken up not long ago in the morning, yet it was nighttime now... or rather, this area was always in nighttime mode to accommodate the amusement park’s nighttime opening.
there were many tourists here,
as if they were really at a human world’s amusement park,
couples, friends, families, even elderly people were active here, with a long line at the entrance.
From outside, the ferris wheel and roller coaster were also filled with passengers.
these passengers shared one characteristic.
Their faces were painted white, holding more or less a smile.
Luo Di immediately thought of the previous encounter with the clown at the Black Coffin Supermarket, where he seemed to be purchasing slaves excessively.
Wu Wen stepped forward to explain and speculate:
"They can’t buy this many; the Black Coffin Supermarket allows a maximum purchase of one hundred slaves at a time. That guy was probably just completing staff recruitment at the supermarket.
The ’tourists’ here should have been prepared long ago,
even during the incident at the City of Sin, he should have purchased many slaves after the game ended.
I suspect many slaves were probably caught by him in the shallow area.
That’s why when Luo Di entered the corner’s shallow area, this clown found you immediately.
There’s a high likelihood he was active in the shallow area at the time, capturing various slaves, and it just so happened he met you and recognized you."
This explanation from the squad leader made sense, but doubts still lingered.
"Of course, I still don’t understand why, after recognizing you, this clown was so bent on holding onto you... Even when he actually caught you once, he didn’t kill you on the spot but went to such lengths to bring you here.
Perhaps he originally wanted you to become one of the ’members’ of the amusement park? But it doesn’t make sense, given the amount of effort he expended for you alone."
Luo Di shook his head, "I don’t know, but the answer must be hidden inside the amusement park... However, what does this madman truly want to do?
Not only did he buy such a large area in the corner,
he also spent substantial resources to build this massive retro amusement park.
And waste a lot of time and money, bearing the risk to gather so many ’people.’
Just to create an amusement park similar to reality to satisfy his mental needs as a [clown]? He might as well become an avatar, disguise himself as a dean of a certain amusement park for a direct experience."
Lebeite offered a guess from the side, "Could it be similar to Mr. Question Mark, making money through games? For entertainment? But he’s probably only in the mature stage, not yet at that level?"
Wu Wen didn’t like making such unfounded guesses, "We’ll know once we go inside... like Luo Di said, the answer should be hidden within."
Luo Di remained cautious, "How about we find the [exit] of this enclosed space first, then consider entering the amusement park? If anything happens, we can withdraw immediately."
something quickly approached.
"Anyone who comes to the amusement park cannot leave directly, even if unwilling to enter they can only circle outside endlessly.
The only [exit] is hidden within the amusement park, to leave, you must enter and play.
I believe you saw many corpses as you passed through the grass, those guys tried to leave and got stuck inside.
By the way! Want to buy a balloon?
Two coins apiece, they sell for ten in the amusement park."
The one who approached was an old man, dressed in rags, emaciated, holding various styled balloons, different from the clown’s monochrome balloons.
His face was still painted white, bright red lips constantly smiling.
Luo Di didn’t directly refuse but instead proactively asked, "What’s the use of balloons?"
"Balloons, aren’t they what kids love most? I’m just obliged to sell them, if I don’t sell them, I’ll die... So can you buy one? Haha."
"Then I wish you a good death, hee-hee!"
The old man laughed strangely, standing there, waving farewell to the group.
Failing to sell balloons, he appeared even more aged, with parts of his skin and teeth beginning to fall off.
Even facing death, he stared at the young group not buying balloons with wide eyes, seemingly smiling, yet his tongue kept spinning, transmitting an unseen and untouchable curse.
Luo Di didn’t seek the exit again, not because he believed the man’s words.
Instead, he thought since the clown went to great lengths to lure them here, leaving easily was almost impossible, [exit] was indeed most likely hidden within the amusement park.
To leave, to solve the mystery, to confront the clown, they must enter.
Entrance ticket checkpoint.
Luo Di and Wu Wen had special tickets given by the clown personally, allowing direct entry, while Lebeite as an extra participant needed to buy at the window.
But when he reached the window, ready to pull out corner coins to buy a ticket, he unexpectedly found a ticket in his pocket.
"When did it get placed? Just now by the old man, in the high grass, or had it been there since we were in the car...? This outing truly is interesting."