CHAPTER 623: CHAPTER 620 DETECTIVE TOOLS

——First, head to the riverside district.

In this increasingly chaotic picture book maze world, Ronald swiftly made his decision.

His choice was not made merely in order to follow the game’s rules.

Instead, Ronald took into serious consideration the current actual situation in Spring City.

Like those five casters from the Nine Commandments who had run southwest. Based on the direction they were now heading, they would inevitably have to pass through the slum district, a small part of the riverside district, then through the commercial district, and finally reach the harbor district, which was their intended escape destination.

From a purely geometrical standpoint.

This was indeed the shortest straight-line route to the harbor district.

But if one took into account the city districts they needed to cross, then the reality was starkly different.

This route, in fact, would lead to a considerable amount of trouble.

Take the upcoming slum district, for example—where the buildings and human activity would become obstructions in the maze. Ronald could intuitively be certain that it was definitely the most difficult maze to navigate in the entire city of Spring City.

Just considering the difficulty of passing through the districts, they knew they would inevitably face many problems.

——What about the hint Ronald had received, then?

——First, go to one’s own home in the riverside district.

Given there would be no additional troubles, they only had to pass through the riverside district, then the commercial district, and they would immediately reach the final destination, the harbor district. Moreover, advancing along the Wis River would also provide the best natural landmark in Spring City.

He made up his mind.

Ronald immediately reached out and patted his companion’s shoulder:

"Patricia, let’s go."

"We don’t really stand a chance of joining this battle now; escaping from this world constructed by the Complete Technique is our first priority."

"..."

Patricia silently nodded her head.

Gazing at the peas-sized fighting in the square, she finally withdrew her gaze as the conversation ended.

They descended the tower ladder back underground.

In the maze where the terrain had completely changed, the two groped their way outside.

Compared to their previous crossing of the border forest district, the difficulty of moving forward this time was much higher. Due to the fierce battle taking place in the cathedral district, nearly every so often, the surrounding maze terrain would change due to the movement of the crowd.

Under these incessant changes, Ronald and Patricia spent nearly half an hour before they finally got out of there.

Having struggled to reach the location of the Wis River, and recalling the scene when they left the church square, Patricia finally couldn’t help asking her own concern:

"Ronald, do you think this battle is happening in reality?"

Ronald nodded in response:

"It is very likely."

"Do you remember when we first entered this world, the descriptions we heard? They revealed some information..."

While groping through the maze, Ronald shared his speculation with Patricia. The girl calmly accepted the outcome, but her cute face also inevitably showed a tinge of dejection:

"If this were the real world, as Nicholas, I would also want to contribute to this battle..."

Ronald spoke to comfort her:

"You’re overthinking it now."

"Without our actions, both the casters from the Nine Commandments hidden in the industrial district and those guys we’re now chasing would definitely have a greater impact on this city."

"..."

During their conversation, the two continued to move forward.

On the way to Ronald’s home located in the riverbank district, they encountered a new type of maze.

— Ships.

Because they had to navigate in strict accordance with the Wis River’s waterway, they sometimes had to board the docked ships by the riverbank or the cargo ships still in operation to maneuver whenever certain paths were completely blocked.

It took them another fifteen minutes to go back and forth.

Finally, it was purely by chance that they leaped off the boat where they’d shared the barbecue earlier that morning and then saw the apartment sitting quietly by the riverbank.

So...

What exactly did the Sphinx’s reminder mean?

With such doubts, Ronald circled around to find the apartment’s main entrance and then made his way up to his room on the third floor with ease. As soon as he opened the door, he saw a few items on his desk.

A magnifying glass, a compass, and a smoking pipe.

These three items were glistening on the table, clearly arranged as if worrying that others might not notice their presence.

At that moment, Patricia, who was beside him, asked pertinently,

"Ronald, we didn’t have these things in your house when we left last night, did we?"

"Don’t mind that." Ronald shrugged his shoulders, his tone quite innocent as he continued, "We’ve already encountered a talking cat, statues that wanted to strike, and pancakes seeking help before being gobbled up."

"Now, if something new appeared in my house, it wouldn’t be surprising at all."

Patricia nodded her head cutely,

"You make a good point."

"..."

In the midst of their conversation, Ronald walked up to the desk and picked up the three items.

Then, his body was no longer under his own control.

It was as if in a game, once a player obtains a new item, the character would display it. Involuntarily, Ronald raised the magnifying glass and looked at the table—details that were invisible to most people, such as the manufacturing date and usage experiences, immediately came into view.

— This is a typical tool in detective games.

After showing off the magnifying glass, Ronald also held up the compass high—under the protective cover, the needle immediately started spinning, pointing slightly southwest, and it even wavered slightly from side to side.

The function of the compass was also very clear, it was an artifact to indicate the positions of the "Nine Commandments" Caster members.

At last, Ronald took the smoking pipe and took a fierce puff.

"Cough... Cough cough cough..."

Ronald, who disliked smoking, was immediately choked by the taste of the tobacco. But at the same time, he felt his head clear up and the pathways for solving the maze puzzle became much more distinct in his mind.

— This was something to help with pathfinding.

After showing the three artifacts, control of his body returned to him.

Looking at the items in his hands, Ronald had to admit that the clue from the Sphinx was extremely important. Each of these three artifacts could provide significant help right away.

At this point, Ronald turned to look at Patricia.

The girl was staring at him with wide eyes, clearly shocked by this dazzling collection of artifacts, which was also outside her range of life experiences.

So Ronald handed the compass over to her:

"Patricia, this compass will indicate the locations of the ’Nine Commandments’ Casters. You hold onto it and observe their movements."

Patricia took the compass and then looked at Ronald,

"What about you?"

Ronald glanced at the maze outside, then took a deep drag from the smoking pipe:

"I... Cough cough cough..."

"I’ll handle navigating the maze..."