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Chapter 918 Honkai Impact 3rd Victims' Alliance

Ren Leshan was taken aback, looking at the motionless rat-loving-cat beside him.

It wasn't the two of them... it was someone else's voice.

No, it's not even certain if they're human.

Meanwhile, Mouse Loves to Eat Cat had already discerned the direction from which the sound came. With a look of fear on his face, he shrank his neck and glanced at Ren Leshan's back. Then, he turned off his flashlight and hid behind the claw machine with lightning speed.

"Come and hide!" Mouse called out quietly to Ren Leshan after hiding behind the claw machine.

Actually, the claw machine in front of you isn't very big, so it's not easy to hide there. Besides, it emits a very eye-catching light, and even if you don't look anywhere else, you'll definitely glance at the claw machine when you pass by. Hiding next to the claw machine is the most unwise choice.

However, after spending some time with the rat, Ren Leshan had gained a deeper understanding of it, so he wasn't surprised to see it act this way.

That's fine too. When the ghost comes, the first thing it will see is the rat hiding here, and it will be the first one it kills.

With this person as a shield to buy time, one can run further.

Ren Leshan ignored the rat's invitation and was about to run in the opposite direction of the sound, but he immediately noticed the swaying lights behind him.

It's the beam of a flashlight.

Ghosts don't need flashlights.

Ren Leshan frowned slightly and turned to look in the direction from which the sound came. From a distance, he could see a bright beam of flashlight light; someone was approaching with a flashlight.

The owner of the flashlight was clearly the one who made the "click-click" sound.

The mouse who loves to eat cats seems to have understood the principle that "ghosts don't need to use flashlights," and he suddenly darted out from behind the claw machine: "It's a person, it looks like a person."

As he spoke, he turned on his flashlight again and shone it across the other side. The two bright beams of the flashlight met in the darkness, like fellow villagers rushing to recognize each other.

Ren Leshan did not jump to conclusions. He cautiously retreated behind the mouse who loves to eat cat and observed the slowly approaching flashlight beam.

If it were a human, the situation wouldn't be much better. This would be another reckless young man who makes no attempt to conceal himself in the dark by shining a bright light, and whose footsteps can be heard a hundred meters away.

Being with two hotheads is no different from being with ghosts; encountering a ghost is just a matter of time.

As the flashlight beam and the clapping sounds grew closer, Ren Leshan was finally able to make out the outlines of the approaching people.

She was a nervous-looking girl. As soon as Ren Leshan got close enough to see the other player's information, he immediately checked their nickname – "Anzhi Tinglan".

He immediately matched the name to the person in his mind.

The person who set the number of obstacles on the second level is Anzhitinglan.

Judging from the newcomer's behavior, Ren Leshan originally thought she was someone the rat knew on the list, but it turned out she wasn't.

But he still asked the mouse-loving-to-eat-cat to confirm: "Do you know him?"

The mouse that loves to eat cats shook its head: "It's not from our base, I don't know it."

It's hard to imagine how many abnormal people this abnormal instance has attracted, since not everyone in the group behaves in such a similar way. Ren Leshan even suspects that the instance is indirectly increasing the difficulty by stuffing in a bunch of burdens to lower the survival rate.

Thanks to the lights from the claw machine and the bright beams of flashlights, An Zhitinglan spotted the two people from a distance. By the light, she recognized one of them as the man she had met earlier at the claw machine near the supermarket entrance.

Cautious, careful, highly vigilant, and wary – this is how Anzhitinglan described Renleshan.

This man always gave An Zhitinglan a sense of familiarity; he was very similar to her, like someone who would kill others for her sake.

Anzhi Tinglan knew her own character well and genuinely distrusted Renleshan, who resembled her.

However, Anzhi Tinglan recently discovered some clues and had some suspicions that she needed others to verify. She originally wanted to find the two idiots she had encountered before, but they had disappeared. Instead, she ran into Ren Leshan and his companion here.

Even if this person is scheming, it's still better than encountering Gu Mian, An Zhitinglan thought to herself.

Fools don't deserve your scheming and plotting. In order to prevent Renle Mountain from wasting her time on her, Anzhi Tinglan decided to imitate the behavior of the two people she had encountered before.

"I remember now, I recognize this name, it's on the list from the previous dungeon!" Seeing that it was a person, the voice of "Mouse Loves to Eat Cats" grew louder again.

Ren Leshan had already adjusted his expression and eagerly stepped forward to get closer to An Zhitinglan, while also glancing unintentionally behind her.

"Great, we've met another new player. Were you also pulled into this instance alone?"

Looking at the warm expression on Ren Leshan's face, An Zhitinglan felt somewhat disconnected.

But her expression was flawless: "Um...yes, I am alone."

Ren Leshan generally knew the names of the people around Gu Mian, but that didn't stop Gu Mian from possibly making new friends recently. Since that fat guy surnamed Wang appeared in the instance, there was a chance that Gu Mian and those around him would be pulled in as well.

Ren Leshan was completely relieved after confirming that An Zhitinglan had entered the instance alone and did not know Gu Mian and her group.

Anzhi Tinglan continued, "Before coming in, I was in an abandoned supermarket hoping to find something useful, and then I was inexplicably pulled into this instance... This instance is really strange, it didn't even give me any quests. Do you have any quests on your instance panel?"

"Mouse Loves to Eat Cat" quickly replied, "We didn't either. When I came in, I also found it strange that this instance only gave us a list. At first, I thought it was just me, but after meeting you all, I found out that everyone was like this, and then I felt relieved..."

"This must be a very special instance that requires everyone to work together to clear. Fortunately, many people from our base have entered the instance this time. I saw their names on the list. As long as we meet up with them, we will definitely be able to figure out what kind of instance this is."
"I saw your name on that list too. If I remember correctly, you set two layers of obstacles. I set four layers and got two. How many did you set?"

Before Anzhi Tinglan could say a few words, the rat had already revealed all its secrets.

Ren Leshan listened from the side, his eyebrows twitching slightly but he didn't say anything. When asked, An Zhitinglan glanced at the bright flashlight in the rat's hand without showing any emotion: "Four. I set up four obstacles on the second floor. Are there many people on the list of those who set up the rules who were with you?"

As she spoke, she also observed the claw machine next to her. It looked no different from the ones she had seen before, and seemed quite normal.

"We're from the same base, both Liu Liu Da Shun and Tian Xin Xiao Qi are." When talking about the base, Mouse Loves to Eat Cat's expression became more confident.

"I guessed it," Anzhi Tinglan thought to herself.

Besides her, there were only five people on the list. Fatty and Guigu were from Gu Mian's camp, and the remaining three were Rat, Six, and Seven. Rat said he knew people on the list, so it must be Six and Seven. These three seemed to be birds of a feather.

Meanwhile, Renle Mountain was also reflecting on the matter.

He had always suspected that the two loud and boisterous people he saw at the supermarket entrance were with the rat, but he didn't know who the mysterious invisible man was.

Meanwhile, Anzhi Tinglan remained silent, only secretly observing Renle Mountain out of the corner of her eye.

But Ren Leshan's next words stunned her.

"Isn't there that guy who angered Guiguzi? You know him too." He was talking to a mouse.

"Yes, I know him. He used to be the leader of our base. He had a mishap while entering a dungeon a while ago and was teleported to another place. He's not in the base anymore. Now our leader is someone else. But he's not a good person. Everyone in our base used to be deceived by him. If you run into him, don't trust him."

Ren Leshan couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

He took in this burdensome fellow at the base, and in his mind, Guiguzi could be considered a saint. Unexpectedly, the burden himself didn't appreciate it.

"But if you run into Guigu, you can ask him about the number he set... What's wrong with you?" Mouse Loves to Eat Cat said, noticing that Anzhi Tinglan was in a daze, and couldn't help but ask.

Anzhi Tinglan counted on her fingers: "Oh, I was thinking if we add the people you mentioned, we'll have collected five out of six clues. We're only missing that one... that fat guy with the surname Wang. Does anyone know him?"

This person actually knows Qi Huo Guiguzi? Guiguzi is one of Gu Mian's people, but this rat seems to only know Guiguzi and doesn't know Gu Mian or the others around Gu Mian.

While Anzhi Tinglan said she was counting, her heart was actually in turmoil.

She never expected that this dim-witted person would know someone close to Gu Mian.

By the way, when she landed at Gu Mian's house after leaving the chessboard instance, she heard those people talking about the base. It seemed that some people on Gu Mian's side had also been teleported to other places in the same situation as her.

At that time, Anzhi Tinglan was focused on secretly escaping and didn't pay much attention to their conversation, only seeming to have heard the name "007". Now it seems that the one who was teleported away was this 007, and the one who was teleported to Gu Mian's house was Guiguzi.

Therefore, the rat only recognized Guiguzi and did not recognize the other people around Gu Mian.

“I don’t know this fat guy, and I don’t know Brother Ren Leshan either,” the rat chimed in. “But we’re all players, so if we find him, he should be willing to share clues with us.”

"Mmm." An Zhitinglan nodded firmly, but she had no desire to go looking for any fat man. Was she trying to get too long of a life to go after Gu Mian?

Once she'd had her fill of using the two of them, she would leave without engaging in any further activities to find people with them.

Ren Leshan on the other side nodded in agreement: "You're right. The most urgent thing is to get everyone on the list together and analyze what kind of copy this is."

He was joking; he wouldn't go looking for that fat guy surnamed Wang. That fat guy might already have met up with Gu Mian. Ren Leshan planned to ditch these two burdens and act alone later.

On the surface, both of them seem to be living a peaceful life, but in reality, they each harbor ulterior motives.

"By the way, did you see anyone else or the claw machine when you came from your side?" Mouse Loves Cat was completely unaware that the two people beside her were thinking of abandoning her, and was still naively asking An Zhitinglan.

Anzhi Tinglan came from across the passageway; Mouse Loves to Eat Cat and Renle Mountain haven't gone there yet.

"I didn't run into anyone, but I did see a claw machine, just like the one here, next to the elevator."

"The elevator?" Ren Leshan grasped the key point. "The elevator is over there."

Such a large shopping mall must have other floors, and Renleshan is also intentionally or unintentionally looking for elevators or stairs.

"Yes, it's an elevator, but it's out of power and can't be used. There's a claw machine next to the elevator, and besides the claw machine, there's a map of this floor. I came this way because I saw the map marked that there were stairs here. Didn't you see the stairs when you came?"

Ren Leshan thought for a moment and asked, "Is the staircase next to a supermarket?"

“Yes,” Anzhi Tinglan nodded. “I have looked at the map carefully. Apart from the unusable elevator, the only other way to access the other floors is through the staircase next to the supermarket.”

When Ren Leshan came out of the supermarket, he guessed that there was a staircase behind the fire door of that dead end, and now it seems that he was right.

"Have you seen that staircase?" Mouse Loves to Eat Cat looked at Ren Leshan curiously.

"I've seen it. I came from that side. But when I looked, there was a fire door blocking the way. I don't know if it was locked."

In fact, after leaving Liu Liu Da Shun and Tian Xin Xiao Qi, An Zhi Ting Lan also went to the supermarket entrance to see that dead end and saw the fire door as well. After all, Ren Le Shan stared at that dead end for a long time when he left the supermarket, and An Zhi Ting Lan also wanted to see what was inside.

For the same reasons as Ren Leshan, she did not go into that dead end but took another road.

She did find the elevator and the mall map afterward, and after seeing the map, she was pretty sure that the stairs were behind the fire door. However, the fire door was in a dead end, and to open it, she would have to go into the dead end. If she went in alone, she might be blocked by a ghost, which would be her only way out.

Two or more people had to go together, with one person keeping watch outside the dead end so that they could warn the people inside to run if anything went wrong. So Anzhi Tinglan didn't head straight for the stairs, but planned to find someone first, and then try to open the door together.

At this moment, Mouse Loves Cat waved his hand and said, "Even if the door is locked, it's okay. There are three of us who can break it open."

The three of them banged on the door together to attract the ghost, and then blocked everyone in a dead end, right?
Amazing wisdom.

"Let's hurry over there and take a look. We haven't found any clues on this floor, and the claw machine we finally found doesn't seem special. Maybe the clues for this instance are on other floors." With that, Mouse Loves Cat impatiently headed back the way they came.

Ren Leshan originally wanted to shake off the two, but since An Zhitinglan had brought the location of the stairs, he might as well use the two of them to open the fire door and clear the way for the stairs.

However, if they go back, the "invisible man" might still be there. Ren Leshan is unsure whether the other party is a ghost or a player who used special items.

Those two high-profile players did see the invisible man; if they're still around, asking them might give us some clues.

Anzhi Tinglan wondered if Liu Liu Da Shun and Tian Xin Xiao Qi were still nearby. She was also thinking about the two of them. If they ran into her, her identity would be exposed, and Ren Leshan would immediately know that she was the one who had been spying on him at the supermarket entrance.

But it doesn't matter, her purpose was to tell others where the stairs were so that they could help her open the fire door.

Even if their identities are exposed, the door still has to be opened; they can't stay on the first floor forever.

The door opened, so her identity didn't matter anymore; she had no intention of actually teaming up with these people anyway.

The cooer comes running! The cooer runs running! The cooer squeals!