“Another person has disappeared.”
Hearing Old Zheng's words, Lin Yu didn't hesitate and immediately reminded everyone.
Instantly, the scene became somewhat chaotic again.
“Another person disappeared?!”
Yue Zhenqiao frowned, completely unaware of when it had happened.
At the same time, Lin Yu turned his head, carefully examining the bodyguards behind him.
Without Old Zheng's reminder, Lin Yu could identify the missing persons based solely on his memory.
Two people, one with a saber, and the other with an injury on his left arm.
Although neither was a key figure in the escort team, with the initial two missing, there were only twenty-six bodyguards left in the stone house.
With two gone, Lin Yu could tell at a glance.
He quickly walked to where the two had been standing—there were even traces of blood on the ground.
Lin Yu looked at the bodyguards closest to him: “They were just here, do any of you remember anything?”
Lin Yu said in a cold voice, and the bodyguards showed confused and horrified expressions.
“No…”
“Right here?”
“Are you kidding me?”
Lin Yu frowned and summoned Old Zheng in his mind: “Old Zheng, them…”
Before Lin Yu could speak, Old Zheng had already investigated after seeing their reactions: “Their minds haven't been tampered with.”
Lin Yu sighed.
“They haven't? Then why?”
“Old Zheng, what about the two who disappeared? Any clues?”
Old Zheng replied again: “No, they just disappeared with a 'pop'… One second they were here, the next they were gone.”
“Of course, because my perception outside of mental energy isn't that accurate, I might not have noticed the process of disappearing if those two didn't realize it themselves.”
Li Nian also quickly came to Lin Yu's side, squatted down, and wiped the ground with her finger. Besides the bloodstains, the uneven stone bricks also had traces of being stepped on and sat on.
“The dust is thinner than other places, and there are some broken spiderwebs,” Li Nian rubbed her fingers and looked at Lin Yu, “Sister Zhu Ming, how did these two living people disappear?”
“The players are all here, so it must be the work of demons,” Lin Yu looked back at the three newcomers who were drawing their swords and setting up their guns, and the flying knife user who was trying to hide under the table to avoid the strange power that could make people disappear, “I don't think any of them have that kind of power.”
Li Nian nodded: “That's true…”
After saying that, Li Nian stood up and then conjured a shield and a pistol from the air.
“Hey, you three over there—the situation is getting worse, here are your items back!”
Li Nian said, throwing the props back from a distance.
After catching the shield, Little Fire Dragon subconsciously said, “Thanks.”
Dead Shot interrupted Little Fire Dragon: “What are you thanking her for? Are you stupid? It was originally yours.”
Squirtle laughed: “Yeah, Little Fire Dragon… But I can brag about this when I get out!”
“I've seen a master thief, I haven't even lost my [item]…”
Before Squirtle could finish speaking, he saw Li Nian conjure a stack of scrolls as if by magic.
“This is yours.”
Li Nian said, and Squirtle's face changed slightly as he touched the sleeve of his robe.
“When did you get it?!”
Li Nian threw the scroll back, grinning: “With those two, but yours was hidden well, so you didn't even notice it yourself.”
Lin Yu looked at Li Nian, filled with admiration, but didn't forget to joke.
“Good skill, don't steal my things.”
Looking at the wary Lin Yu, Li Nian said with a smile.
“Then be careful, Sister Zhu Ming, hide your things well!”
After Li Nian returned all the stolen items, she looked at the three newcomers who were still on guard and couldn't help but remind them again.
“Hey, this demon can make people disappear silently, you can't defend against it like that.”
Little Fire Dragon said with some dissatisfaction: “Then what do you say we should do?”
Although the missing were still just bodyguards, four people had disappeared in less than an incense stick's time…
There was still a long time until noon, and it was only a matter of time before the disappearance happened to them players.
Especially since these bodyguards couldn't disappear too much… Even disappearing for the most part was unacceptable.
After all, the six players together only had half a broken map. Without these bodyguards, it would be difficult to know how to get to Willow Town.
Lin Yu said calmly: “Of course, analyze the existing information, you bunch of useless fools… The common point that the four missing people have is that they are relatively 'healthy,' at least no heavily injured people have disappeared so far.”
“Secondly… I don't know about the previous two, but the two who disappeared this time should be relatively taciturn and have less interaction with others,” Lin Yu said again, “These bodyguards instantly forgot their existence, which means that the demon has some means of changing people's perception… Although I know a little about mental energy, so I can be sure that this phenomenon is probably not achieved by directly tampering with the mind, the existence of 'cognitive modification' is an undeniable fact.”
“People with simple relationships will disappear first, which also conforms to the rule of this 'phenomenon'—the connection between people is like a net. The more connections a person has with others, the more gaps need to be filled after disappearing out of thin air.”
Lin Yu said, and the other players and bodyguards were confused.
“So, we should now focus on monitoring those in the escort team who have the fewest friends and are the most silent?”
Dead Shot said, and Lin Yu nodded.
“Yes, but after finding the similarities, we must also find the differences… Find the differences from those of us who are left.”
“What I'm more curious about now is, why are these bodyguards experiencing cognitive confusion, but the six of us aren't?”
The simpler explanation is the difference between players and NPCs.
But…
Why does this difference lead to him still clearly remembering the appearance of the two bodyguards, while his colleagues who spend day and night with him have forgotten them?
Especially since Li Nian obviously also has an impression of those two people, which proves that this “cognitive modification” is indeed different for players and bodyguards.
This… Lin Yu found it strange, but temporarily had no clue.
While Lin Yu was struggling, Yue Zhenqiao also understood Lin Yu's suggestion.
“Okay, everyone come over… Those who are new to the job, those who usually drink less with everyone, and those who came from other towns, come to me—everyone stare at them together, try not to give the demon another chance to attack!”
