Based on Jones's extensive experience observing various supernatural副本 (instances),
the longer an instance lasts, the more sudden the troubles encountered may become.
To avoid being intoxicated by temporary success, he had maintained his composure throughout.
Anxiously approaching the elevator, Jones, for the sake of safety, first had his assistant lead several travelers up.
Only after confirming there were no issues upstairs would the assistant descend to collect the others.
One could say he had pushed the concept of prudence to the absolute limit of his imagination.
On the eighteenth floor, the decor was extremely luxurious. Only those holding an apple could push open the door to the Dean's office.
Strangely, however, no one was here; it was merely a spacious room.
Most Chosen Ones found their rooms completely empty.
But in only two Chosen Ones' rooms did a person appear.
To be precise, there was a corpse.
After Zhang Yangqing and Jones entered, they discovered a figure leaning against a chair.
This person was motionless.
After checking, Zhang Yangqing confirmed the person was stone dead.
At that moment, the notification sound of Zhang Yangqing's phone suddenly rang; a message had been sent by the Dragon Country expert group.
The message began with the honorific, "Respected Celestial Master Zhang."
Then came the content, which reminded Zhang Yangqing that there were no corpses in the other Chosen Ones' rooms—only he and another Chosen One who had not been sprayed with freshener had one.
Perhaps this was the trigger condition for special rewards and hidden treasures.
The expert group had also made a significant impact on his presence.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have had a chance to appear in this round.
Zhang Yangqing thought it over; after all, he could not see the screens of the other Chosen Ones.
If the expert group said so, then the reward item was right before his eyes.
In the previous supernatural world, Rahman, a Chosen One from the Pyramid Country, had successfully cleared the instance more smoothly because he obtained a reward item.
If Zhang Yangqing wasn't mistaken, the person before him was the Dean of the Smiling Hospital.
His clothes were the reward item for this time.
Within this instance, changing clothes allowed one to change their identity.
By wearing the Dean's clothes, one could set traps and use their identity to summon doctors or nurses to kill them one by one.
This could reduce the difficulty of the instance.
Those without the clothes would have to risk fighting the doctors and nurses.
Zhang Yangqing then had the travelers search the Dean's corpse for any clues.
First, it was evident that the Dean died of a knife wound—specifically, he had been stabbed in the back.
It was a clean, lethal strike, suggesting the attacker was extremely confident in their knife skills.
Furthermore, there were some [Sales Contracts] on the table.
They clearly stated a "Inpatient Department Renovation Plan."
The plan involved raising the patients here like livestock and then selling them to a slaughterhouse.
In other words, the Dean had made a deal with the head of the slaughterhouse.
Zhang Yangqing wasn't particularly interested in the Dean's actions; after all, this was a supernatural world, and he was no hero.
Everyone was simply trying to survive and get out.
Thus, he had only one goal: to find out what the hidden treasure was.
Jones also realized this, but he found it somewhat eerie.
He didn't know what type of supernatural entity the Dean was, but whoever could kill him was certainly formidable.
Hidden treasures often came with special guardians.
These guardians might not necessarily be weak; in fact, they were likely to be very strong.
So, even though he realized he might obtain the treasure, he bravely chose to... give up.
Being able to recognize one's own limitations is actually a good thing.
It is precious for a person to have self-awareness.
As long as he survived, Jones felt that since he possessed no special abilities, any accident would mean death in this place.
Now that he had already obtained his rewards, why go looking for trouble?
As for the people from the slaughterhouse coming over, that was none of his business.
Besides, he didn't even know where the treasure was; he had too little information.
On the other side, after learning this news, Zhang Yangqing took two supernatural entities dressed in security uniforms to search for the treasure.
As for the others, they were to stay here and wait for the right moment.
At 4:30, Zhang Yangqing would bring the group back.
There might be danger ahead, and having too many people might actually be a disadvantage.
The current time was 4:05, meaning he had twenty-five minutes to explore the hospital's treasure.
When Zhang Yangqing led his group out, the viewers from Dragon Country were very confused.
"Where is Celestial Master Zhang going? Does he already know where the treasure is?"
"No way, there's nothing written about the treasure's location. How could he know?"
"I think Celestial Master Zhang is just using his identity as a security guard to patrol and familiarize himself with the terrain."
"No, look at his route; it's very clear. He's heading for the Surgical Building."
"I get it! The Surgical Building, the operating room—the only ones who use knives there are the lead surgeons!"
It seemed some viewers had already guessed correctly; Zhang Yangqing's intention was exactly that.
Because Zhang Yangqing had specifically requested the Director to take him on a tour of the hospital.
And he had indeed visited the operating room.
The knife wound on the Dean's back was, how should one put it, steady, accurate, and ruthless.
A single fatal blow.
The opponent was likely a master of the knife and extremely confident, as they didn't bother with a second stab.
Someone capable of this could be a surgeon.
Based on the information he had, he decided to head to the operating room to look for clues.
At this hour, only the footsteps of Zhang Yangqing and the two traveler-security guards echoed through the hospital.
The place was becoming increasingly desolate, creating an empty, terrifying atmosphere.
Fearing sudden accidents, most Chosen Ones chose to stay in the safe house to recover their strength and adjust their mental state.
But that was for the other Chosen Ones; the viewers knew that if this man from Dragon Country encountered someone, it wasn't certain who would be in more danger.
He had now transformed into an Arbiter capable of slaying all supernatural entities!
Soon, Zhang Yangqing arrived at the operating room with practiced ease.
Opening the door, he found one lead surgeon, two ordinary doctors, and two ordinary nurses.
The two nurses were not wearing blue masks.
They were somewhat surprised by the appearance of the security guards.
"Why aren't you patrolling? What are you doing here?"
The lead surgeon stood up and spoke sternly, yet he still maintained a smile.
Smiling seemed to be their service motto here.
Zhang Yangqing didn't waste words; he pulled out a stack of documents and tossed them over.
"You killed the Dean, didn't you?"
As soon as he spoke, the atmosphere in the medical room turned heavy.
It felt as though a fight could break out at any moment.
Looking at the documents on the floor, they were indeed the [Sales Contracts] from the Dean's office.
Only then did the lead surgeon realize the security guard must have been to the Dean's office.
So, he spoke plainly: "Actually, we can make a deal."
Zhang Yangqing was in no hurry; he wanted to gather more intelligence.
In this world, information was the most critical thing, helping Chosen Ones make judgments.
"What kind of deal? Tell me."
Then, the two began negotiating on behalf of their respective factions.
The lead surgeon could be considered a good person with a conscience; he wanted to save the patients here who were being kept in the dark.
So, when he learned the Dean was selling the patients, he stabbed the Dean to death and prepared to gather men to attack the slaughterhouse representative who would arrive at seven o'clock.
If those two died, the [Sales Contract] would cease to exist.
This was the lead surgeon's plan, showing he possessed the spirit of a healer.
His method was to have Zhang Yangqing gather more people capable of resisting and then inject them with enhancers.
This would increase their chances of survival against the slaughterhouse butchers.
Once successful, he would naturally reward Zhang Yangqing.
The so-called reward was, of course, the hospital's treasure.
Anyone could see that this was a massive gamble.
The level of the supernatural entity of the slaughterhouse butchers was still unknown.
But judging by the name, they certainly wouldn't be weak.
Consequently, the viewers split into two camps. One side felt Celestial Master Zhang had enough skill to take the risk.
The other side felt there was no need to invite unnecessary trouble; even if Celestial Master Zhang remained unharmed, the travelers would suffer heavy losses. If the reward didn't outweigh the loss, it would be a bad deal.
Because the butchers coming here wouldn't be just one person, and it was unknown where they would come from.
Furthermore, how to complete the lead surgeon's mission remained an unknown.
"So, do you choose to cooperate with me, or...?"
The lead surgeon paused.
The feeling was as if he were saying: "Since you know my secret, either cooperate with me or die."
The corners of Zhang Yangqing's mouth curled up slightly as he said, "I choose to kill you and take the treasure directly. Is that okay?"
Your proposal is very righteous, but I'm not interested!
Since you're being so impolite, why should I be polite?
My strength allows me to play this way!
(End of Chapter)